Braid Review

I first heard of Braid over a year ago from some internet article discussing indie game development. My first reaction upon seeing the art style of the game was this would be one to watch, we'll see where this goes. Time went on and I had forgotten about Braid. Then, this week I was reminded by someone that indeed, Braid was releasing on XBLA. All that I knew about it up this point was that it was a 2D platformer with a time rewind mechanic, ala Prince Of Persia: Sands Of Time. I was hoping though, that this game actually used this device as an actual gameplay mechanic and not a way to simply save frustration from the player because the developers could not find a balancing point in the difficulty of the platforming. Thankfully, I was right.



I purchased Braid right away even though it was priced higher than most. A few minutes reading the hype thread and I was good to go. Now, we all have certain themes and settings that we may be drawn to in games or movies, I for one am a huge fan of surrealism in any form. Braid at first glance seems to be a surrealistic satire on the Mario element and any story in general that would involve "saving a princess". The way the narrative is presented here is actually quite different than most games that would rather shove an hour long opening cinema scene down your throat or just give you a line of text before throwing you into an unknown world. Here the story is presented in the form of paragraphs from books that appear before each of the worlds. At first, the story appears to be pretty straightforward, the protagonist - Tim - is on some sort of quest to save the princess as usual. You're given more and more backstory as the game progresses and very little on the front end, perhaps implying that you may be beginning at the end. After all, time, space and how they function are the ideas at play here.



Now that I've gotten all that out of the way I will simply say that Braid is the Portal of 2008. It has awesome puzzles, intriguing narrative, takes game design to whole new level all while being able to be completed in a single sitting. That is, if you're a genius of some sorts. While there were only a few parts in Portal that had me stumped, Braid had me staring at the screen on many different occasions, jaw gaped, just wondering how in the hell I was supposed to solve this puzzle. Though the feeling that one gets from actually completing each of these challenges is far more rewarding than just about anything else that I've experienced in gaming lately, high challenge; high reward.



It is the combination here of the inspired watercolor art style, taking pieces of our favorite games and reimagining them in an even more surreal fantasy world, mixed with the classical score that sets the backdrop for some of the best game design I've ever seen, hands down. I believe that all developers could learn a thing or three from Jonathan Blow, the writer and designer of Braid. And when you take all that and throw in a narrative that concludes the tale with the kind of emotion you seldom see in this medium, you my friend, have a winning game right here. For only $15, Braid is a steal. My favorite game of the year so far, a rare experience that everyone owes themselves to check out.

5