After seeing Gamespot's GotY awards, and repeatedly seeing Braid on nearly every game site, I decided to finally shell out a massive 1200 Microsoft points for this game. Sure it's a little pricey for an arcade game, but my goodness is it worth it. If you haven't played this game, and are at all interested in innovative gameplay and/or story telling, character development, art design, IF YOU LIKE GAMES, GO PLAY THIS GAME NOW. It'd be an understatement to call it modern-day Mario. It shares some similarities, but I hate Mario, I love Braid. For those wondering what the game is like, it's a 2D platformer, where you can control time. You never die, just rewind. As each world progresses, you gain a new ability in your time manipulation, and each ability is used to gather puzzle pieces through each world. This is a high thinking required game, I had to find a strategy guide after only obtaining like 2/3rds of the pieces and normally I'm an incredible puzzle solver. Anyways, after getting by the thinking, an incredible game comes into motion. It has an incredible story, however confusing it is. The game is a giant metaphor, a hell of a metaphor at that. I don't want to spoil anything, but go download this game right now. You may be dragging yourself through the gameplay at first, because I'll admit, it gets tiring, by the time you get to the last level, you won't regret it. (The last level is one of my best moments in gaming, had my heart racing.) After you finish (or if you don't feel like playing), read this http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/xbox360/file/943284/53842 and it puts the plot in order and shows all the elaborate metaphors the game uses. This is not the funnest game I've ever played, but it is easily the best designed. The music, the art, and the story are incredible. Everything fits perfect. He could have just told the story in order, and it would have been good, but the way he did it is great (you'll have have to see). Until you play this game, or at least read the plot overview link posted above, you can't even begin to understand what was put into this, so please at least read the link first before you make any judgements. (This thread may be just a giant heap of my opinion and me coming out of an incredible gaming experience I just had, but I'm not the only one blown away by this. This could have gone in Games Games Designers should play, but to me that wouldn't do it justice. This is a must-play for anyone involved in game-creating in my opinion)

i only got it a couple of days ago and I totally agree. Im going to avoid the guides as the lead designers urges everyone not to read them.

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This is not the funnest game I've ever played, but it is easily the best designed.

If it was the best designed game ever it would be the funnest game ever...

And it would cure my leprosy...

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Original post by Durakken If it was the best designed game ever it would be the funnest game ever...

You could say that, but its a 2D platformer, how fun can it actually be? Especially since I typically hate platformers, even 3D ones. It's the best designed in my opinion because it does everything perfect. There are more game types that are more fun, but they took a 2D platformer and did incredible things with it.

Loading up a story with vague language, filling it with intentional holes, and using loaded word choice does not make it good. Lord of the Flies is an example of a masterful use of metaphor; the language is precise, bright, colorful, and the metaphors explode off the pages with brilliant clarity. The writing in Braid, on the other hand, seems timid and self-conscious, the metaphors carefully hidden beneath a velvety blanket of devices that artificially complicate the story.

Because of the degree to which Braid tries to hide its own story from the player, I'm tempted to conclude that the majority of the story of Braid was constructed by players' attempts to fill in the holes with plausible pieces that seem to fit the infinitely many ways in which Braid's language could be interpreted.

I will say that the ending was clever, though. But that's about it as far as the story goes.

[For the record, I had a lot of fun playing Braid. It's one of my favorite XBLA games. But it was fun for me because of the clever puzzle elements and the use of time manipulation, not because of the story.]

It's "epitome." (^_^)

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Original post by ChandlerT Quote: Original post by Durakken If it was the best designed game ever it would be the funnest game ever... You could say that, but its a 2D platformer, how fun can it actually be? Especially since I typically hate platformers, even 3D ones. It's the best designed in my opinion because it does everything perfect. There are more game types that are more fun, but they took a 2D platformer and did incredible things with it.

So you don't like 2D performers? Fair enough, but to generalize and say it is never going to be really fun because its only a platformer is not really valid. I have had more fun with platforming games (both 2D and 3D) than most other games. I still play the original Marios on the VC.

I haven't played this game, but I really want to, and maybe when the Fable DLC comes out and I end up getting some MS points, I may get it.

Why do people like this game so much? I've heard the following things about this game:

1. It has an intentionally convoluted story that (correct me if I'm wrong) forces the player to fill in gaps that are left in the story.

2. It's a platformer with very difficult puzzle elements (so difficult that the op, who is an avid puzzle game player, had to use a strategy guide).

3. You have to force yourself to get through the monotony of the gameplay for a while.

Why do people love this game so much? I've read about it and watched some videos of the game in action, and I just don't understand how this game could be such a phenomenon.

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Original post by kiwasabi Why do people like this game so much? I've heard the following things about this game: 1. It has an intentionally convoluted story that (correct me if I'm wrong) forces the player to fill in gaps that are left in the story. 2. It's a platformer with very difficult puzzle elements (so difficult that the op, who is an avid puzzle game player, had to use a strategy guide). 3. You have to force yourself to get through the monotony of the gameplay for a while. Why do people love this game so much? I've read about it and watched some videos of the game in action, and I just don't understand how this game could be such a phenomenon.

I didn't see it until I played it either. I look at screenshots and it looks pretty basic and boring, but once I played it, it all changed around. You don't really have to fill in story gaps, you just have to make sense of it until the end where it gives you the big clue (and the best level ever). Tough puzzles yes, but each puzzle uses game mechanics beautifully. Monotony, kind of, but in the end it's completelyyyyyyyy worth it.