On a whim, I fired up Braid today for the first time in many months. I had never been able to beat the game, and I am trying by bestest to never have to resort to YouTube to find solutions to the puzzles. Unfortuately, there was no save file left on my Xbox (weak) so I got to experience the whole game for the first time all over again.
Braid is beautiful.
It is a masterpiece of aesthetics, and music, and interesting, simple, clever gameplay. The story is told in snippets of books between levels, and the wording is such that it evokes an incredible emotional response in just a few lines of text. You connect with the hero, Tim, even though he doesn't say a single word. The game is only a few hours long, but there are so many "A-ha!" moments when you solve a puzzle all by yourself after 30 minutes of struggling. You actually feel proud of yourself for outsmarting this simple, sophisticated game - no - this experience.
On my first playthrough, there were always a few puzzle pieces I could never seem to reach. This second time, I felt much more self-assured. I already understood the mechanics of the game; I just needed to master it, to complete it. This time, I got closer. I completed level 4 and earned a nice, shiny, new achievement. But there are still a few puzzle pieces left... I am still stumped. I can't earn the beautiful Ico-esque ending I've read about in so many magazines, and heard about all over the Internet. I want so badly to know what happens myself, without reading spoilers, and without having to resort to finding solutions to the game on the Internet. Will this be another of life's great mysteries? Or will my searching mind stumble upon a solution in my sleep? I hope the latter. Maybe I just need to take a break from it for a few months again... but I can't. I'm hooked in its beautiful claws, and I don't want to be free again until I learn the truth.
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Beat it! The ending is poignant and startling; do not delay it for a few minutes, let alone a few months! Squint at the puzzles until they make sense, I think it helps. If you want help, I can give it, but accepting help on Braid is a monumentally bad idea.
ReplyDeleteAlso: Whatever you think the game's story is about, you're (probably) wrong. It took me by surprise, and even after you complete the game there's plenty of piecing together that you have to do yourself. I figured out what the game was about on my own, which I'm proud of. (I had to double checked with Google to make sure afterwords.)
The way the story is told reminds me of Slaughter House 5. Definitely the "series of unrelated images that form a bigger picture" approach, which I appreciate quite a bit.
Gah jeez just go and beat it. I want your spin on it.
I'm trying, but there are still three puzzle pieces I can't get! From the few spoiler-free ending summaries I found, it sounds like Tim is just a stalker. I hope not. Braid is so beautiful...
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