The post-modern Mario

Coming at the intersection of the early Indie boom and retro revival Braid took the concept of retro and made it new. While many games were simply willing to appropriate retro imagery and mechanics to cash in on cheap nostalgia, Braid sought something unique. The initial "mario, but future" façade gives way to a genuinely engaging and emotional story which forgoes traditional linear for something more hazy and multi faceted.

The gameplay, a simple platformer at first glance, uses time powers in a novel way that takes each mechanic to its logical conclusion. Many puzzles feature an obvious route to the end, which is undoable do to each puzzle's unique rule set. This may frustrate players who are unwilling to truly think about the mechanics, but the game never breaks its own rules and most solutions are logical consequences of the mechanics.

The story has been dismissed by many as simply "pretensions", or reduced to simple generalities like: Tim is stalker, the atomic bomb, or Tim is looking for a princess. Braid is not about any one of those things it is about all of them and far more. Braid does not have a simple linear structure but is rather a trek through a man's past, his mistakes, his love, possible alternate reality versions of Tim, or even entirely different characters. It is a collection of different stories, scenarios and emotions that play to one theme a "braid" of varied but interconnected ideas. Even discounting the themes each story bit before a world provides an emotional context to the unique mechanics, which helps give them a weight beyond simple puzzle solving.

Braid also seeks to provide meta commentary on games. The basic plot deconstructs classic hero driven story tropes. While the tedious to collect stars provide both an extra mental challenge and a commentary on the futility of difficult video game rewards (Is it really worth 2 hours of your time for a measly star?). These stars are thankfully optional so the game doesn't descend to "bad on purpose" territory. The puzzle structure often takes standard platforming tropes and twists them in ways that force the player to think differently rather then just regurgitating comforting iterations.

While much of the retro revival was dedicated to a welcome but unimaginative look back to gaming's past, Braid instead asks gamers to look to gaming's future. A world where game concepts where genuinely innovated on. Blow's next game, The Witness, would further expand on the puzzle elements seen here. The simple platforming is reduced to an even simpler line drawing mechanic. Braid and its successor confront us with an idea that games could genuinely expand on their forbearers rather just adding more levels, mechanics, making the game more accessible, or forcing in current design trends. A future where games are as one online critic puts it "more good" rather then "less bad".