I went back to play Braid recently after having some fond memories of playing it 15-years ago (as hard as I find that to believe). I still loved the pastel art-style, and the soundtrack is amazing. I got a super cozy vibe when I was playing. However, in terms of the actual gameplay, the puzzle-solving was a lot more frustrating than I remember. I did still enjoy the time reversal system and the way you use it to solve puzzles.
When it's clicking, it can be a very rewarding experience. However, there were many puzzle pieces that I simply just gave up on out of sheer frustration, which ultimately ended up leading to me walking away from the game. I couldn't figure out if the issue was that I was just incompetent (very likely) or if I was supposed to come back with an ability-upgrade to finish them later, and I couldn't recall from my previous venture in 2009. I also feel like the game didn't do a good job of making that clear either.
Ultimately, I feel like with the strides that indie games have made over the last decade, the gameplay in Braid just didn't age as well as I had hoped. Still, from an artistic perspective, it still shines.
When it's clicking, it can be a very rewarding experience. However, there were many puzzle pieces that I simply just gave up on out of sheer frustration, which ultimately ended up leading to me walking away from the game. I couldn't figure out if the issue was that I was just incompetent (very likely) or if I was supposed to come back with an ability-upgrade to finish them later, and I couldn't recall from my previous venture in 2009. I also feel like the game didn't do a good job of making that clear either.
Ultimately, I feel like with the strides that indie games have made over the last decade, the gameplay in Braid just didn't age as well as I had hoped. Still, from an artistic perspective, it still shines.