Braid Review

Braid - Player of Game Review
Innovation: 9.5/10
Mastery: 10/10
Greatness: 9.5/10

So, it has been awhile since I've posted a formal review. My roommate and I have spent a good deal of time playing this game which you have probably heard of called Braid. While Braid appears at first to be a run of the mill side-scroller, don't let first impressions fool you. Braid may just be one of the most fulfilling gaming experiences that I've had the pleasure of playing. From beginning to end, Braid is one of the most finely crafted, innovative, and polished games on the market today, if not the most, ever.

Simply put, Braid is a side-scrolling puzzle game that plays with the concept of time in fascinating, dynamic and non-intuitive ways. Braid presents a relatively simple story--that of a boy/man/prince trying to find his princess, who is always, as a friendly walrus will frequently remind you, in another castle. To find his love, the protagonist plays his way through a series of worlds, each of which forces you to play with the flow of time in a unique way. There is the introductory world, a shadow world, a world in which movement affects time, a world with an object that slows time, and more. Each world is made up of several stages, in which there are several puzzle pieces to find. By obtaining all of the puzzle pieces from each world, players finish a picture of that world, and by finishing pictures in all of the worlds, proceeds to the final world in which the plot is resolved(?).

Braid is so unique from a game design perspective that it is easy to stop there and forget some of the other things that its creator, Jonathan Blow, has done.

First, Braid has an elegantly crafted and ultimately mind-blowing story. While it might not be that gripping at first--trust me--just keep reading the books as you go along. At some point in your experience, there will be a complete 180 degree shift in your understanding of the story. When that moment occurs, it's hard not to sit back and gaze in awe at how well you are led through the game, then violently shaken and forced to accept a second reality. In addition, there is at least one entirely different and revolutionary interpretation to the story which was brought to my attention by my roomate. It is crazy, and the more that I hear about this "alternate" understanding, the more I believe that it may be intentional. The plot, while not initially promising, should not be dismissed as one of Braid's strongest aspects.

Visually, the game is artistically profound and, again, well designed. Kudos to David Hellman, the lead (only?) artist, for creating such an impressive work. While technically, the graphics will not astound you, the visuals are fantastically crafted, and fit in with the game's storybook setting perfectly.

The sounds and music in Braid are outstanding as well. The music in particular, really brings out the somber, lost, and confused element of the game, and draws you in to Braid's fantastical world and sets the tone for the game. The sound design is strong as well, though there are few sound effects that really stand out (the ones that will always do it for me are the bunny/cat sound effects).

Puzzles are mind-bending and complex, but rarely too difficult to figure out after a long period of time. Many of them have multiple solutions. Most importantly, however, none of them are rehashes of other puzzles. Though some of them put you in similar situations (the boss battles come to mind), each of them has a different execution strategy. Moreover, the solution that you find first to a puzzle is rarely the best, as my roommate proved to me during his speed run (although I'm sure some of you have done better, I was more than impressed with his 39 minute completion time). All of them are elegantly designed, and force you to really tinker with your understanding of the flow of time in relation to the game world you are currently progressing through.

All of this would make for an outstanding recommendation, but the final piece of the puzzle to me lies in the fact that Braid's designers and developers seem to be truly wonderful people. Jonathan has given several speeches at gaming conventions, David has released the game assets for public consumption, and the music is available online. Braid has now been ported to the PC and Mac, where players can even create their own masterpieces using Braid's new level editor.

While Braid isn't exactly the only game you'll find yourself playing this year, I highly encourage you to go download a copy yourself. Regarding the statement that video games can indeed be art, I would submit Braid as exhibit number one in its defense. Braid is so phenomenally designed and executed on so many levels that it is hard to label it anything but a masterpiece.