Braid 10th anniversary critical compilation
critical-distance.com
critical-distance.com
First, the soundtrack, songs by Jami Sieber and Shira Kamman, were phenomenal. The gorgeous cello and violin are so atmospheric, and they also sound good backwards and sped up -- necessary for a game like Braid, and chosen for that reason.
Secondly, the artwork - that naive 2D platformer style but combined with gorgeous and subtle shading and depth that really showed it was something special. We're used to games doing this now, maybe.
Thirdly, the structure of the game itself as a critique of the traditional Mario-style platformer with its jumps, princesses and castles. It was like playing a postmodern game.
Then there's the relationship between the level's gameplay theme and the lesson it's trying to teach. This was something I saw Elizabeth Sandifer point out. The first level is all about being able to undo the mistakes of the past. But then we learn some mistakes are too big to undo. We learn about how a ring can change things in a relationship...
And then there's the two levels of twist ending and how they relate to games and gaming, especially a decade ago when it was much more a male pursuit.
Honestly I could talk about Braid for hours.
Please do. I wouldn't mind more elaboration on any of your points!
Few games trigger that “wow” reaction. For me it was like the bullet time moment in the Matrix; an almost hallucinatory experience that changes your perception of what a medium can be.
This was something new — something different — something great.
If you loved Braid and are looking for a similar feeling from more recent games, I highly recommend Inside and Limbo from Playdead:
For good puzzles, look to Stephen's Sausage Roll, English Country Garden, HexCells. Also, many recommend The Witness, made by the creator of Braid.
“On-the-rails” could describe any non-open-world game. But Limbo, in particular, is not just a linear “forward forevermore” puzzler — it requires backtracking to solve some of the puzzles, which gives it a Braid-like quality.
To me they both capture the feeling I got playing Braid. Those reading shouldn't discount them for being less hard.
I haven't played your other recommendations — thank you for those!
What made Braid so special was that it introduced an entirely new mechanic, explored the entire possible space of puzzles for that mechanic, and explored a bunch of complimentary orthogonal mechanics at the same time.
To me, the feeling OP is describing when it comes to the first rewind in Braid is similar to the first few bizarre deaths in Limbo: Surprising, and it leads me to re-evaluate the way I approach the game.
other than that, yes.
I think a good recommendation might be FEZ for a game with physical puzzles that get incredibly difficult.
Although, even machinarium (which was in humble bundle2 with braid) has some pretty fun puzzles in the form of a point and click adventure.
Fuck that shit. There are many ways to make a game challenging, but forcing you to replay long segments over and over again is the laziest way of making a game challenging.
There is a great interview with Blow on the technicalities of the warping effects in Braid: https://youtu.be/8dinUbg2h70
In addition to Limbo and Inside, may I also recommend:
Portal 1&2 Antichamber VVVVVV increpare.com
In particular Stephen Lavelle (@increpare) makes games with much darker and more interesting social implications. Although, Braid accurately predicted the "nice guys" trope.
Just take your time and figure the puzzle out — the game doesn't get in your way.
https://radiatoryang.itch.i/radiator1
Also excellent, Thirty Flights of Loving: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty_Flights_of_Loving
https://radiatoryang.itch.io/radiator1
There we go. Also found his writeup:
https://www.blog.radiator.debacle.us/2015/10/radiator-1-note...
It was pleasant, but failed to engage me, personally, as a player.
The way it plays with the time dynamics and weaves it into it's story is brilliant.
I love the way it fed you story via the books and the way the levels play style were linked to the story.
It also has a brilliant soundtrack, e.g.:
This deserves expanding upon. Where most games interweave interactive game sections with non-interactive storytelling sections that mostly use the tools of movies to tell stories, Braid and the first Bioshock are my two go-to examples for games that effectively use the game as a narrative medium distinct from film, where the story is told in a way that actively benefits from being built as a game.
My go to example when I want to convince people games are art, and furthermore that games are a medium that offers unique possibilities. It's a reimagining of Apocalypse Now, but the interactivity adds a whole new layer of meaning and opportunity for reflection. You're not on the outside, watching characters do horrible things, you are the character, and you did those horrible things. It absolutely shows, in a way understandable even to someone who hasn't ever played a game, that the medium affords completely new possibilities.
Then the absolutely sublime way in which this this title -- from its marketing to its presentation to its first hours -- creates an expectation of being yet another utterly generic "modern military buddy-soldier shooter" to then shatter those expectations and deliver a deep and thought provoking story to tell... Well I could write pages about it. It just adds layers to your interpretation of the story, and more to reflect on.
[0] http://2darray.net/portfolio/the-company-of-myself/ [1] http://2darray.net/portfolio/fixation/
It was the way people engaged with it seriously, in terms of gameplay and narrative and how the two interacted that made it important.
I think Amnesia and Portal were two other games that came out around the same time that were also similarly important.
There have to be earlier contenders than this, surely? Yes it's the ancestor of the modern wave of artistically-aspiring games but game development dates back to the 1970s.
I'm a huge Atari fan and this is the first I've heard of this. Pretty profound if true. Thanks for the insight!