Braid Impressions
August 14th, 2008
Braid is a stunningly beautiful game to behold. A fact evident from the moment it starts when you realise the first screen you see - a gorgeous backdrop with vibrant reds and oranges casting other objects into shadow - is actually not a menu screen at all but part of the game itself.
Best described as a a puzzle-platformer this adventure revolves around a character called Tim. Slowly the story unfolds via little snippets of text displayed as our hero passes past books placed upon pedestals at the beginning of each game world and it gives us the impression he’s looking for redemption. You see our hero is on a quest to make up for past misdemeanors as he tries to locate a princess with whom, as the story alludes to, he once shared a relationship but has now been snatched away by an evil monster.
The game starts out straightforward enough as the main character jumps and wanders around the levels collecting jigsaw pieces in order to complete a picture puzzle depicting an event that occurred at some point during Tim’s life. It soon becomes clear however that some lateral thinking needs to be employed to retrieve some of the missing pieces of the puzzle, which appear just out of reach, and this requires the player to start manipulating the creatures and the environment around them.
One of the major mechanics of the game is the ability to manipulate time. In the first world you enter (world 2) time is used in its most basic form, fast-forwarding or reversing the flow as required, but it is primarily used to rewind time when Tim dies or misses a critical jump. In latter worlds time seems to play a far more significant role and the control of which becomes wholly more intricate. For example some objects appear to be unaffected by time, or time itself is directly linked to the players movement. Unfortunately the trial only lets you explore a few of these elements but it’s certainly a taster of things to come from the full version.
As I was playing through the trial version there were some genuine moments of exaltation, not only just because of the gorgeous 2D backdrops - which are some of the best I’ve ever seen - but also because of the excellent level and puzzle design. I read on
Kotaku that Braid is selling quite well, but as of the time of writing hasn’t yet made a profit. This could have something to do with its relatively high price tag at 1200 Microsoft Points, but if one game deserves to succeed on Xbox Live Arcade then I believe Braid should be at the top of the list.
