Braid

August 13,2008 - It’s always nice to see downloadable games that aim to push for unique gameplay, visuals, and overall try to go beyond what you see out of most of the crop of downloadable games recently. With Braid, you’ve got a game that looks like your ordinary run-of-the-mill platformer, but once you actually play the game, you see that there’s a lot more to it than just a pretty picture. We all know the clichéd line that a picture’s worth a thousand words, so does Braid deserve more words or can it be described more succinctly?

Like Braid’s visuals, the story has more depth to it than you make think at first. The story itself is presented through books that are laid out before you head out the levels of each world, so they’re completely voluntary to read, but they provide an interesting story to those that take a chance. The gist of the story stars Tim, the hero of Braid, who is at the end of a very bad breakup of a relationship he was very emotional invested into. He ends up in this dream world, chasing a princess, and as the start of this huge love letter to the Mario games, she’s not in the first castle he reaches in the game. As much as Braid may look and play like a lousy platformer, it’s because that’s only a small part of the whole game.

Though you could just jump and stomp your way through the game like Mario did many years ago, Braid really is a puzzle platformer that focuses much more on the puzzles. There are many puzzle pieces laid around the five worlds you have at your disposal, which you’re required to collect them all to progress to the last level to complete the story. At your disposal, you have your jump mechanic and this unique new time mechanic, which lets you rewind time with the press of the X button. This isn’t to make it overly easy, it’s the opposite in fact, but it’s definitely done that way so that it lets you learn from your mistakes instead of punishing you for making them. You definitely do get more moves added to your arsenal in subsequent worlds, but they’re usable only in that specific world that they’re introduced in.

Getting to the puzzle pieces themselves is very much the meat of Braid, as you must use the simple tools at your disposal to collect the 12 puzzle pieces in each world to piece together a puzzle and complete the world. That’s very much easier said than done, as some of these puzzles can be so simple that you may just stumble upon them in a fit of rage over the complexity you think it requires, but then slap your forehead when you realize the simple answer that makes you feel like an idiot. Though that may be the general case, the difficult to reach puzzle pieces occur more often as you progress through the game, so some may push you to the brink of a brain hemorrhage that you’re tempted to consult an FAQ. Though that’s not encouraged, the fact that you need to collect all of these pieces just to get to the last level and experience the ending, it may be necessary to not make you feel like you’ve wasted your money. Once you do complete the game, you can give the speed run mode a shot to see how quickly and efficiently you can blow through the game to try to move up the speed run leaderboards.

Braid’s visuals are probably the most noticeable part of the game, partly because of the gorgeous water color-style visuals that the game boasts. The levels are very well-designed, with plenty of nods to Miyamoto’s past work with similar enemies, flags at the ends of worlds, and even specific levels that pay homage to his work. The time altering abilities have their own cool effects on the visuals, muting colors when rewinding and saturating colors when fast forwarding. Matching its visuals is the game’s music, which consist of mostly a pleasant and somewhat catchy soundtrack that fits the visual style quite well. Rewinding and fast forwarding time also has a similar effect on the music, which another of the neat effects that those abilities give you, though general sound effects of enemies and such are not as appealing as the music itself.

When it comes down to it, Braid’s very much one of those artsy games with an impactful story that can be something for people to talk about for a long time, which certainly lasts more than the game requires to beat it. The game can take maybe four hours or so for people that are slow to the draw and an hour or two for the smarter people out there. There’s not much replay value to the game outside of maybe the speed run mode, which just emphasizes how quickly the game can be beaten. For $15, it’s extremely hard to put up a solid recommendation for a definite purchase, but luckily the demo gives you a few of the worlds to see if you like the action yourself. As a discussion piece and an indie game showcase, Braid’s very much worth the price, but as just a game, there are certainly better places to put your money if you prefer more traditional experiences over something new and unique. There’s one thing that’s for sure, you need to download the demo just to see what all the fuss is about.

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