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Braid is a puzzle platformer that takes what is essentially an homage to Super Mario Bros. and turns it on its head.  It introduces a time element, and rather than just jumping from point to point collecting things, like in Mario, you're manipulating time in various ways in order to collect these pieces.

This game, for what it is, is absolutely phenomenal.  However, it is completely uncompromising in being what it is.

It's kind of hard to explain, actually, since games like this are so incredibly rare.  It's SUPER artsy, and it takes itself SUPER seriously.  It's the gaming equivalent of that weird independent film that's in another language, black and white, and you don't really know what the movie is about.

Rather than a list of good and bad things, Braid does things its way, and you either like it or don't.  For example:

The game is short -- However, this, to me, is a good thing.  It doesn't waste your time.  There are about 6 levels, and every second of the game is absolutely unique.  There isn't one iota of filler.  You never do anything twice.  You don't even keep the same basic game mechanics.  While every level in the game deals with manipulating time, each level handles it differently and forces you to break your conventional thinking OVER and OVER.  I beat the game in about 5-6 hours, but a great majority of that time was sitting there, browsing around on the screen, hoping to see something differently than I already had.  Once you "know what to do", the game can be breezed through in about 2 hours comfortably.  Ask yourself -- what's more valuable -- a game stretched that you'll play for a lot of hours, or your precious time?

The game "gives' you nothing -- There are no instructions.  There are no hints.  You are required to think creatively and experiment in order to do anything, from the moment the game loads up.  This can be frustrating, but there is, indeed, a fair and logical solution to every puzzle.  I stared at some of them for an hour, but forced myself not to look at hints online.  When you finally stumble across the solution, it's extremely rewarding.  Because the game never lets you get comfortable with anything (once you learn something, they never make you use it again), any of the puzzles can trip you up.  Also, the puzzles aren't very complex.  Occasionally there are a few things you need to do in tandem to make things happen, but it's not large, spanning puzzles.  Everything is tightly contained and the solution is right there in front of you.

The story is pretentious -- Some people will like this, some will hate it.  The basic story is about a guy who made mistakes and lost a woman.  This is told through your basic "hero searching for a lost princess" game cliche, with time thrown in as a way to "undo" those mistakes.  However, it's told through super artsy writing and vague metaphors about the characters' emotions and memories.  Along the way, you're putting together jigsaw puzzles which are tonally related to the game.  Themes include estrangement, alcoholism, regret, overwork, etc, but these are completely up to interpretation, as is pretty much all of the story.

[ENDING SPOILER]
The last level that you play of this game is actually the first, chronologically.  The time mechanic on this particular level is that the level itself is moving backwards...so, enemies walk backwards, cannons suck in fireballs, etc.  It involves the princess escaping the clutches of another guy, while you run through a maze of obstacles to catch up with her.  She's pulling levers along the way to help you move along -- open gates, etc.  When you get to the end of the level, she gets in her house and goes to bed.

But it turns out that it was all in reverse.  Then, it plays the ending you just played -- backwards.  So, in reality, she was just waking up and running from you, and what you originally perceived as gates that she was opening for you, was actually her trying to impede your progress.  All along, you were the monster, and she was running off with another guy...but from your initial perspective, he was the villain.

For me, I found much of the writings to be too heavy handed and weird-for-the-sake-of-weird, but the ending twist was really, really great, and made it worth it.
[/ENDING SPOILER]


The art style will also separate people.  The backgrounds look like a Vincent Van Gogh painting.  They are very impressionist-esque, in pastels, with visible brush strokes.  The foreground is HD sprites, and a completely different visual style.  I personally didn't care for some of the foreground art design and characters, but they are mirroring the kinds of creatures you see in Mario games.

This game is important, for lack of a better word.  It shows what games on XBOX Live Arcade can be, and it shows what games, in general, can be.  For a downloadable game for $15, it's worth a try for people who like thinking.  If you even played Portal and enjoyed it, you'll most likely enjoy this as well.  And it has one of the more memorable video game endings in recent memory.

Good review, Dave.  I'm intrigued by this game.  I will probably give it a look at some point.

I talked with Fau yesterday and it turns out that he bought this game.  He said that he was on world 3 and that he got all but 2 puzzle pieces on the level.  He thought that he had to get some stuff and come back for them later.

And so did I.

You're used to having to skip stuff in games, then gain new powers and come back later for them.  But not in Braid.

The beauty of this game is in how simple it is.  You don't have a large tool-set.  ...just your basic jump and a rewind button for the most part.  It seems impossible that you could solve these puzzles with what you are given.  But it's all there on screen from the start.  And they're not convoluted.  There isn't a bunch of filler, like switches and stuff that you have to hit in the right order.

I thought this game was pretty fun. It was something that I would actually play. (I'm kind of picky.) I like that it seems like everything is laid out for you if you just think it all through.

I played the trial version of this game.  It is fun as hell.  I will probably spring for the full version as long as I know I can get more than 15 minutes worth of play out of it.  I burned through the trial version in like 45 minutes, except for one area where I couldn't figure out to save my life how to get the two puzzle pieces down from the end of "Cloud Bridge."

Overall, good game, thanks for the recommendation, Dave.

Fo shizzle.  I know the puzzle pieces you're talking about.  I think that you can get them at the point you are now, but maybe not in the trial version.  The trial version gives you some of levels 2 and 3 (where time moves backwards when you move left), but they cut out several levels of each.

The game will last you about an hour per level, and there are 6 of them.