"Braid" is the game of the year. (Xbox Live, PC soon)

The Game Room
1

Has anyone played it? I just completed it last night. I’m still in complete awe over how amazing it is!

It’s instantly the game of the year for me, and is this year’s Portal. It essentially does for time what Portal did for space. It’s absolutely brilliant in all respects - the design, the music, the actual control and interface, the use of time, the references to the canon of 2D video games, the use of 2D video game as metacommentary on the human condition - everything about it a home run and then some. What really gets to me the most is how incredibly emotional the game is, for what is (essentially and superficially) a side-scrolling 2D mario pastiche - it really hits you right in the middle of the chest. “Our princess is always in another castle” in every sense of the term.

And the game is just absolutely beautiful, like playing a painting.

2

I’ve only played the demo. I agree that it’s a very good looking game, and I did really love the music. Gameplay was interesting. But…1200 points ($15) for a downloadable side-scroller? As I posted on another board, to me $10 is a whim, but fifteen is an investment. Nothing I saw about the game justified a 50% bump in price over the usual Xbox Live Arcade stuff, and nothing made me just absolutely have to have it today. I’ll wait for it to go on sale, and if it never does, I’m fine with never owning it.

3

I have to admit I’m pretty baffled over the griping over the price; in a world where people will pay 60 for the latest Madden franchise game that just happens to be sold on a .02 optical disc rather than downloaded, $15 for a true work of art like Braid is an absolute pittance. It’s so ridiculously innovative in how it uses the time mechanic - different on each stage - that it’s truly “4D gaming” for the first time, rather than a gimmick like it was in that Prince of Persia game. To play the game, you are playing with and interacting with time, and that leads to a lot of the amazing puzzles and genius moves.

I also don’t think that the game is overpriced at $15, but that most of the $10 games are overpriced at $10. That garbagey golf game, the awful pinball, the other lazy flash-quality games…barely worth a few bucks.

With a game industry that’s getting progressively more shallow and formulaic and is rapidly starting to reflect the worst aspects of hollywood and other commercial enterprises based on art, buying the game is a vote for true creativity from an independent publisher. That’s worth my $15.

4

I saw the gameplay video; while the time reverse mode and the niffy thing you can do with the time distortion wave are cool, the premise is not something gripping to me…not much of a puzzle platform guy; more of a kill-them platform guy. One thing that I do not like is that each level seems to have its own arbitrary rule and you have to do trial and error.

1,200 points is a bit steep. That’s SGD30 for me over here, and it’s half the price of most commerical title. Even Jewel Quest and SoTN costs 600-800…

5

[QUOTE=CrazyChop]
I saw the gameplay video; while the time reverse mode and the niffy thing you can do with the time distortion wave are cool, the premise is not something gripping to me…not much of a puzzle platform guy; more of a kill-them platform guy. One thing that I do not like is that each level seems to have its own arbitrary rule and you have to do trial and error.

1,200 points is a bit steep. That’s SGD30 for me over here, and it’s half the price of most commerical title. Even Jewel Quest and SoTN costs 600-800…
[/QUOTE]
I hate to be so contrary in a friendly forum, but-- Really?

Symphony of the Night is a straight port and has already been milked multiple times since its first full-price incarnation over ten years ago, and Jewel Quest is the same game as seen on cellphones worldwide under a barely different name. Meanwhile, Braid has completely new art, music chosen for its beauty and fit whether played backwards or forwards, a haunting story that fits the conceit of the game perfectly, and the most brilliant and unique puzzles since, again, Portal.

That is to say: none of the challenges in this game (of which there are many, all of them optional but compelling) repeat themselves. Most of the goals you’re trying to achieve seem initially impossible - it’s only when something slides into place and you see the same environment usable in a different way that the true beauty of this game’s mechanics shine through. Nearly every solved puzzle merits a smile at the cleverness and a sense of triumph at the challenge of it.

The game only uses platforming as a means to an end, a way of telling the story. It’s as much a platformer as Portal is a shooter. There is no trial and error; it is not simply Mario meets Sands of Time; it’s not even close to the worst value on the market at the moment.

Measuring it by the impressiveness of short shots against the monetary value of adjacent games, none of which push any envelopes as hard as does Braid, is doing the experience and its creator a pretty large disservice.

If it helps, one of the most clever of all the puzzles I’ve seen so far actually appears in the first World, in the demo. I severely doubt that anyone who’s actually solved that World, rather than breezing through the level Mario-style, can hold that it’s simply another side-scroller that needs more to prove itself.

6

Not talking about innovation per se, but what attracts me as a gamer. (For the same reason, I stay away from Portal). No doubt Braid is innovative for its usage of time control - it’s just not my cup of tea…yet.

Aside:

If I remember correctly, SoTN was the first RPG/Platformer in the Castlevania series, though I believe Metriod takes the prize for the first platformer to have exploring and puzzle elements.

7

I definitely won’t say that SoTN doesn’t innovate. After all, I was one of those suckers who paid for it in every incarnation - it’s that good. :o And since pretty much every game in the series so far has followed the ‘Metroidvania’ setup of exploring demon-filled castles, I’d say it was a huge leap forward, especially when it was released.

But the fact that it’s on its fourth release now sort of devalues its position as a measure for gameplay vs. cost, IMHO.