"they got this game, right? for people who smoke... or people who drink. like if you drink beers and you get drunk, or if smoke weed and you get high." - Soulja Boy, 2009
in hindsight??? a tad annoying
Listen... the guy is clever okay! I'm not a hardcore Blow apologist but you can't see he's ever made a game that didn't rack your brain at some point or another. I like the Witness a lot more than this game, this is undoubtedly 100x more influential, unleashing a tidal wave of Indie puzzle platformers on the world.
braid ruined a whole generation of gamers
This review contains spoilers
omg turns out she was running from u the entire time!!!!!! so deep and thoughtful omg man im 14 and this is deep111
pretty mediocre puzzle platformer with a holier than thou message
pretty mediocre puzzle platformer with a holier than thou message
"...you can make a wonderful film about nothing. Look at Fellini. The most important thing in a movie is the actor, and everything which is in front of the camera. And the decadence of the cinema, and we have a certain decadence, comes from the glorification of the director as...being not the servant of the actors, but his master...the job of the director is to discover in the actor something more than he knew he had. The job of the director is to choose what he sees. And to an extent, to create. But a great deal of what is applauded as creation is simply there. It was there, when you put the camera...that actor, that bit of scenery, that veil that hung over the river - it was there! And you're intelligent enough to shoot it...the director should be very intelligent, preferably not intellectual. Because the intellectual is the enemy of all the performing arts." - Orson Welles, 1982
Apesar de seguir o padrão de Mario tanto no quesito objetivo (buscar a princesa), quanto no que tange o gameplay, com plataformas e coletáveis, Braid é criativo por usar mecânicas diversas, como voltar no tempo e sombra. Nesse sentido, ainda que o jogo seja curto, é uma experiência bem interessante e inteligente de se ter. O background da história é bom e bem triste, ouso dizer.
When I think about braid I inevitably find myself thinking about Gilligan’s Island.
You know that popular anecdote that Gilligan’s Island is actually a parable about hell, and each character is punished for embodying one of the seven deadly sins? The Professor is Pride, Ginger is Lust, Mr Howell is Greed, etc etc?
You can watch Gilligan’s Island through this lens and it all fits and there might be some behind the scenes evidence to suggest that it was intentional on the part of the creators, that Gilligan’s Island, this goofy little trash comedy from the 60s has these intentional layers to it that reward close examination.
But does that make it worthy of close examination? Does that make it High Art? Does that make it a good show? No, dude, it makes it Gilligan’s Island.
You know that popular anecdote that Gilligan’s Island is actually a parable about hell, and each character is punished for embodying one of the seven deadly sins? The Professor is Pride, Ginger is Lust, Mr Howell is Greed, etc etc?
You can watch Gilligan’s Island through this lens and it all fits and there might be some behind the scenes evidence to suggest that it was intentional on the part of the creators, that Gilligan’s Island, this goofy little trash comedy from the 60s has these intentional layers to it that reward close examination.
But does that make it worthy of close examination? Does that make it High Art? Does that make it a good show? No, dude, it makes it Gilligan’s Island.
This review contains spoilers
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".
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".
incel game
One of my favorite puzzle games of all time by a mile. Very clever.
Jogo de puzzle extremamente competente. n muito alem disso.
Puzzles are just easy enough for me to push through the pain of feeling dumb, art style still feels unique, significantly revitalized the 2D platform puzzler.
I mean, it's a masterpiece. 100%ing this thing when it was brand new was such an achievement for me. I've tried to replay it and the magic isn't there anymore, but for a moment this was the best thing I'd ever played.
Jonathan Blow can Jonathan Blow Me but he makes pretty good puzzle games
Loved concept of a weird super serious riff on Mario, although the first text makes it sound like a little like the writer is whining about a girl being mad that he cheated on her, which sort of colored my reading of all the rest of the text. The fact that I could progress through the game without solving most of the puzzles encouraged me not to solve them, and although the design is just gorgeous something about it puts me off.
pretentious garbage
Nothing special.
Last time someone talked to me about this game I said I completed it, but don't remember anything about it. They said "yeah, that's the Braid experience".
There's no point to the game, man. It's Mario with a suit and his hair dyed orange. You never run out of the go-back-in-time potion.
Fuck Jonathan Blow.
Fuck Jonathan Blow.
A must-play.
Too clever for me too often, but all the puzzles I DID figure out were a nice pat on the back.
It has been a while, but I remember that the puzzles were really clever and every time they were designed in a way that the solution is easily in reach. You don't have to stumble on the answers, you just need to learn the rules. It's good. It has some bullshit secret stuff and lore that I really don't care about though. I think the game would be better without them.
What if we could fix our mistakes while still learning from the experience? Braid is a game created around this idea, experimenting with gameplay mechanics and narrative concepts that give the game a whole new meaning. Its mind-bending puzzles, moving soundtrack, amazing visuals and thought provoking story make Braid a game worth noting.
A very enjoyable puzzle platformer that I found a wee bit ugly. Using the time rewind mechanic for a story twist at the end was a strong touch.
Game for incels and people on PUA subreddits
pretty blah for all the hype. it's no the witness
You look at how firmly, competitively rooted Jonathan Blow is in his beliefs, and then you look at Tim, and all you can do is wonder who hurt Jonathan this bad.
weird to think about this, 13 years later. the period between Braid's release and Gamergate makes me think about the wave speech from Fear & Loathing, as corny and stupid as that is. a main era, in cultural terms, and that feeling when the wave finally broke and rolled back....
anyway braid is cool and its genuinely very good.
anyway braid is cool and its genuinely very good.