Braid!
polycounter lvl 18
Anyone else grab this XBLA gem?
Fucking gorgeous game, with some of the best music/sound design I've seen[heard] in a video game. Shit is ridiculously good and entertaining. It's got a great humor about it as well, parodying/paying homage to some of the great tropes laid down by Mario. The dinosaur rules.
Game is also damn hard, which is nice.
"Braid is an ingenious and startlingly creative puzzle game, built with an understanding of good game design that even some of the industry's most revered figures could learn from."
Everyone should go play it.
Fucking gorgeous game, with some of the best music/sound design I've seen[heard] in a video game. Shit is ridiculously good and entertaining. It's got a great humor about it as well, parodying/paying homage to some of the great tropes laid down by Mario. The dinosaur rules.
Game is also damn hard, which is nice.
"Braid is an ingenious and startlingly creative puzzle game, built with an understanding of good game design that even some of the industry's most revered figures could learn from."
Everyone should go play it.
Replies
Should be a nice classic little platformer, with the added element of the time-manipulation.
http://braid-game.com/
I think I'll probably pick it up here and see how it all goes.
Bought it last night at 3am after getting home from the bar drunk and played until 6am. Was in a total zen state the whole time and ended up making it halfway through World 5 so being drunk didn't seem to affect me too much.
Really looking forward to The Misadventures of P.B. Winderbottom...
though, i cant figure out how to get some of the pieces in the first world... aargh, only missing 2 or 3.
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3753/the_art_of_braid_creating_a_.php
Anyone else make it though?
If so, what'd you think of the end/epilogue?
Also, how did you interpret the meaning of the game? I think there were a lot of cool themes going on, though some could have been more clearly defined in my opinion. It seemed like there was some really good stuff, but the story telling was done pretty ham handedly. I definitely got vibes of the idea of the princess being a metaphor for atomic weaponry, and also got some of the more personal metaphors she stood for. Though I'll probably give the last level a bit of a replay and check out the epilogue again when I'm less tired before really thinking on it too much.
Overall, it was an excellent game, there needs to be more of this kind of thing around.
Game is the talk of the office here this morning.
I might try a speed run sometime this week. 45:00? I have no idea how tough or easy that will be. I tried the first world and did it in ~6 minutes. But that's the easy one.
spoiler abuse feedback :
great game.
OMG you bought a 360! welcome to the next-gen era!
Ok it's mario formula, and by formula, I mean it's a Mario game with puzzels and Pop time stuff; that's fine, it's pretty fun.
But then it has this story with some pretty ugly(yes, just because it's different doesn't mean it's good looking) visuals that seem to have this air of pretense to it all...
So all I am left to wonder is, what's it trying to do? Ok fun game, but a rip of mario with this prentescious coating all over it, kind of comes off as the developer making a mario game for grown ups, but I don't think it's geling.
I dunno, I don't get it, I'd probably enjoy it more if they kept the gameplay, took out the mario references and lost the art direction and story.
The unrepentant Mario tropes are there to get the player into the game quickly. You already know the Goombas and Piranha Plants and castle exits that don't have the princess in them, so theres no need for introuduction. You immediately understand how everything works so you can concentrate on the new stuff.
The time mechanic differs in each world. One has the time linked to the players movement as I mentioned in my previous post. Another has a shadow that appears and repeats your actions when you rewind time. Another gives the player an item to drop on the ground that has an area of time slowing effect. I suspect the demo might have been better received if the second set of puzzles were offered instead of the first, so that the player could better see the innovation in the puzzles that makes the game more than Mario with a reverse time mechanic.
I'm probably not going to convince you, but do know that theres more to the game than your initial impressions might suggest.
Honestly, I had the same initial reaction as you, however I decided to go for the full thing anyways. (Except about the art, I'm pretty sure you have to be blind to think the art is ugly. Maybe it's not a style that appeals to you, but it is quite beautifully done)
It's worth it. The mario themes turn into a metaphor that is used in the story, the gameplay and design turns into things that are FAR beyond traditional mario play and are based far more in in-depth logical problem solving and although it does seem a bit pretentious at first (I'm still not sure what to think of John Blow) it actually works itself out very well.
I dunno, maybe it's not for everyone, but this is a fantastic little game, and one that a lot of other games could learn from.
There is a reason it's been getting such critical praise.
Thanks man, Hadn't realized the singing bit actually gave a different viewpoint and missed the first one, going to go back and check that out as soon as my girlfriends stops playing the damned game. :P If you do find anything out be sure to let us know, I'm gonna do a bit more searching around when i get a chance.
Totally didn't know about the stars, going ot have to search through the game again.
I plan on picking up the full version once I can afford to. right now cash is tight getting ready to return to school.
Next time you're thinking about going out for lunch, think about going out to your Xbox for some Braid!
BISH!
He licensed all the music off of Magnatune
Fun game. I'm starting to have issues with the ones where time follows your movement.