Maybe my review could easily be countered with rapper Soulja Boy's video dismissal of Braid. To him, this game is only for people who smoke weed and get drunk, one that has "no point" and is "stupid as hell". But hey, going back in time every time you fall or die was apparently pretty badass, since his entourage enjoys it immensely in the video. Soulja Boy clearly doesn't give a damn about games as art, doesn't have the time to put in to complete the game, and probably wouldn't care even if someone explained all of its meaning to him. I don't blame him, nor do I blame anyone who jumps into Braid for 20 minutes, gets stuck trying to figure out a puzzle piece, and quits playing for good. Some people just don't have the time or dedication to put into a game that asks a little more than most would ask.
But the best part about Braid from the "games as art" perspective is that here, there's still a great game in there, and maybe the story and design will start making sense to those even when they're not looking for it. Where The Path fails to impress anyone who's looking for an actual game, Braid gives you goals, shows you some fantastic art, and makes a decent effort of enticing you into figuring out its secrets all the way until its incredible final stage that works just as well going forwards in time as it does going backwards. It's not going to reel in every gamer and subtly introduce to them its unique storytelling like it did for me, but it does a better job than I've seen most games achieve.
It's still a tough game, though, and one of my biggest complaints is that with sixty puzzle pieces in total to figure out how to collect, there's bound to be at least a few that most gamers will get stuck on. They won't be able to see the game's final level until they get them all, and that probably dooms at least half the people who buy Braid to never actually see the ending. The huge amount of effort that Blow put into telling this story will be wasted on them, as it doesn't really start making sense until the end, and that is probably the game's biggest downside overall. But even for those that finish the game and even find all the ridiculously tough extra pieces after it's over, the story is still masked in symbolism and metaphor. Apparently, that was the intent; I really do hope that Jonathan Blow's next effort can rein in the vagueness just enough to deliver a story that's a little more focused and accessible, but also one that isn't so weighted towards the end of the game.
Another potential issue is what seems to be a rather haphazard release. Braid has pretty much zilch in the way of detail options, and only supports a screen resolution of 1280x720. It's also a port of a game designed for the 360 at first, so this is not your usual casual/independent game that will run on just about anything - it's got a lot of special effects, many of which can't officially be turned down or off yet. While the creator is working on a patch to add screen resolution options and support older graphics cards and laptops, it's not quite here yet. For now, if you're unsure of how the game might run, make sure to check out the demo to see how it plays and check the Braid blog for updated builds.
Braid may lack accessibility for some of its audience, but it's still a landmark in design that should stand as an example for how games can create stories in a way that no other medium can. But it's not just that; this two-man-show has got some great action, wonderful plays on time and fiendish (but entirely doable) puzzles that blow away some of the best ideas many game developers have had in the last couple years. And hell, most major studios aren't even trying to include the kind of symbolism and meaning like Braid has accomplished. While the story here winds up being tough to uncover and even tougher to fully understand, I find it to be absolutely worth the attempt. If you just want to kill some aliens or blast some zombies after a long day at work, there are hundreds upon hundreds of great games out there to choose from. When you are ready to see how a game can challenge conventional storytelling while still delivering on fresh ideas and great action, give Braid a try. The demo's available here at AtomicGamer and the full game, DRM-free, is about $15 on Steam, Impulse, GamersGate, and Greenhouse.
