I played the demo, and loved it, but I can't knowingly support someone as conceited as Jonathan Blow. What a fitting name.
Braid: A good game, but not without some rather big flaws.
- Thread starter scotth266
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$15 bucks? I got Fracture for $10.83 and am still playing it ;D But seriously, I enjoyed the review. I feel compelled to say that I wanted to hear just a little bit more about the gameplay other then it being a puzzler with time elements thrown in. I personally have never played the demo, and have no interest in the game, but I'd just like to hear how well it controls and what not. I've heard all the praise for this game, and its good to see someone not get taken in by the hype. Collectibles in games that are like the ones you've explained are god awful. Fracture has this as well, 100 "data cells" to be precise. Thankfully, they aren't vital to the story. They only open up more "weapons" in the weapon testing area. I'll be sure to explain this all in my review though.
Once again, good review. Keep 'em comin.
Once again, good review. Keep 'em comin.
Awesome review. I'm a fan of puzzle games and the simplicity of Braid allowed me to concentrate on the actual puzzling, after all less is more. However at the time I was inundated with about 3 other games for my birthday so am now playing it at intermittent bursts.
The music was epic and really atmospheric, as you said the fairytale feeling is really emphasised by the design and the storytelling method.
I did find the story somewhat unnecessary if quirky, for me it sort of felt like it didn't really make sense. But I'll give it this, it was intriguing and compelling, if it had been reformatted as a book I would be totally enthralled. It did seem to link to the gameplay, but I could have done without it. But as I said I haven't finished the game so my pronouncements doesn't really hold much gravitas, but it's the impression I got.
The puzzles themselves were deceptively simple in appearance, but require a lot of thought, or maybe I just need to do more puzzles.
Personally I didn't really connect with the character, but maybe I'm not supposed to and my expectations of depth in a game of this sort are overly demanding.
But hey I thought the review was awesome, really enjoyed it and I plan to read more of your reviews. Well balanced and in depth so keep typing(sorry if I sound a bit pompous but it's the only way I know).
The music was epic and really atmospheric, as you said the fairytale feeling is really emphasised by the design and the storytelling method.
I did find the story somewhat unnecessary if quirky, for me it sort of felt like it didn't really make sense. But I'll give it this, it was intriguing and compelling, if it had been reformatted as a book I would be totally enthralled. It did seem to link to the gameplay, but I could have done without it. But as I said I haven't finished the game so my pronouncements doesn't really hold much gravitas, but it's the impression I got.
The puzzles themselves were deceptively simple in appearance, but require a lot of thought, or maybe I just need to do more puzzles.
Personally I didn't really connect with the character, but maybe I'm not supposed to and my expectations of depth in a game of this sort are overly demanding.
But hey I thought the review was awesome, really enjoyed it and I plan to read more of your reviews. Well balanced and in depth so keep typing(sorry if I sound a bit pompous but it's the only way I know).
That much is true: Braid doesn't overstay it's welcome. But to me it felt like it left the party early. As for the price, I only said to wait till it's $10, as it's definetly worth that much. Some people however will find $15 to be a little too high for what this game delivers. And the stars RUIN the ending? Well then, considering I didn't like what I got for the ending as is, I'm definetely not picking those up...Woe Is You said:
Like I said, I'd give this thing a "buy it now" if the ending weren't such a wet blanket and were reached so quickly. It really does have the Portal feel to it: it challenges your mind very well.Smurfy 0151 said:
I disagree: every set of levels is unique: and all the puzzles have a different objective or a old objective used in a new way. But you're entitled to your opinionLeorex said:
I have to admit the man's got a ego, but like all critics he does bring up the ocassional valid point. But yeah, he's a bit of a snobmeatloaf231 said:
Ah, as far as the controls go: they're spot on. It's very tight, and the fact that you can rewind your screwups makes it more a challenge of the puzzle at hand than a challenge of fighting your keyboard. And yes, these types of collectibles can go die in a fire, especially when there are achievements attached (Crackdown's agility orbs... WORST THING EVAH). Glad you enjoyed the review!Mr.Pandah said:
Great review. I loved Braid. Were you playing on a console or PC? I actually didn't have a problem with the limited enemies (but I've played some triple A titles with about the same amount of variety), or lack of ending, for this game I was fine with that. I would have liked it to be longer, but I felt I got my money's worth.
PLEASE review Frontlines next. I loved that game and I think I may be the only one. I wouldn't mind seeing a Far Cry review (if its of the original or Instincts).
PLEASE review Frontlines next. I loved that game and I think I may be the only one. I wouldn't mind seeing a Far Cry review (if its of the original or Instincts).
Well, I meant that there are only really two of them: the rabbits and the brain dudes. I don't count the plants: they're more of a hazard than a enemy. Even just mixing up the colors on the enemies now and then would've been nice...CountFenring said:
Ok then: Frontlines and Far Cry have been bumped up in the queue. See? Pester me and I reward you, people! Splinter Cell and Hitman were also requested, so they stay up there too. The rest are available to swap though based on forum request! So please say which one you would like done next if you want me to review it sooner
Splinter Cell and Hitman are too samey... Both Stealth games, both not that great.scotth266 said:Well, I meant that there are only really two of them: the rabbits and the brain dudes. I don't count the plants: they're more of a hazard than a enemy. Even just mixing up the colors on the enemies now and then would've been nice...CountFenring said:
Ok then: Frontlines and Far Cry have been bumped up in the queue. See? Pester me and I reward you, people! Splinter Cell and Hitman were also requested, so they stay up there too. The rest are available to swap though based on forum request! So please say which one you would like done next if you want me to review it sooner
You can probably copy paste the both reviews and change just "Professional payed Assassin" with "Goverment Agent."
Do Jade Empire first!
So in order to get one of the stars you have to restart the whole game?
That's a whole new level of poor game design.
That's a whole new level of poor game design.
I'm no pro critic, but this games controls possibly the easiest of any game I've ever played. The gameplay is...decently paced...you will find yourself feeling in over your head alot, and then feel like a champion when you reach the top of that obstacle, just to be knocked on your ass again as you look at the next one.
Yup, if you didn't know it was there the first time through, or stuck any of a certain number of pieces together, you basically have to restart the game. Not cool beans chief.Internet Kraken said:
Once again, a nice summary of how the game makes you feelSmurfy 0151 said:
By the way, what is with that random quote box up above? You just quoted somebody and then said nothing...
That one I've been meaning to do for awhile. I probably will do it next in fact, assuming that it wants to be written. Then I'll do a Manga Mashup most likely, to give people a taste of what they'll be like, and then it'll be back to the queue.oliveira8 said:
Damn. My net musta farted. I had like 2 paragraphs talking about the control scheme of the game, and how it worked so well...then THAT happened...
Yeah, I need to start doing that. Thanx for the heads up.scotth266 said:I've gotten the 404 on some lengthy posts as well, so now I always copy before posting more than a few sentencesSmurfy 0151 said:
You do realize that the books before the start of each world have no actual bearing on the real plot explained in the epilogue, they were just there as an off-handed way of telling you how that particular world handled the time puzzles, and the puzzle pictures were the same way, just in one screen shot they subtly shows you what the level was supposed to be about.
Plus in the Epilogue there are secret messages that further explain things, and shows what the plot really was about.
If you got it for PC The creator left a level editor in the game so people should be able to create their own puzzle worlds, so for $15 you get Braid and later on user made content.
Plus in the Epilogue there are secret messages that further explain things, and shows what the plot really was about.
If you got it for PC The creator left a level editor in the game so people should be able to create their own puzzle worlds, so for $15 you get Braid and later on user made content.
Nice review. The game definatly has some flaws and can be frustatingly difficult at times but the twist in the last level compensated for it (the music in that level is great as well).
To the 'Secret messages':
If you mean the additional few sentences you can find in the epilogue by accessing hidden areas: They were definately interesting, but opened more questions than they solved and lead to stuff like the theory
I mean come on Mr Blow, the story is interesting, you don't have to hide 90% of it(...only if you have something to hide..like it's just a pretentious shell made up to beautify time mechanics what I don't hope it is)
And if a developer feels the need to make the story of a 5-hour game only fully available to people who wait 2 hours for clouds to jump on, he should rethink that decision.
To the 'Secret messages':
If you mean the additional few sentences you can find in the epilogue by accessing hidden areas: They were definately interesting, but opened more questions than they solved and lead to stuff like the theory
that the princess is the atomic bomb and Tim is Oppenheimer...lolwhut?
And if a developer feels the need to make the story of a 5-hour game only fully available to people who wait 2 hours for clouds to jump on, he should rethink that decision.
STAAAAAAAAAAARSSSSSSSSS.....NoMoreSanity said:
Yeah, I know about the secret messages, and agree that they aren't very clear on anything. The whole ending feels opaque, unclear, murky. It's ok to have symbolism, but some direction would have been nice...The Medic Who Ubered The World said:
Wait, those books about the plot had nothing to do with the actual plot? Seems suspicious...darkstone said:
I know about the secret messages, I found them and was left even MORE confused than before. For my thoughts, read my response to the Medic included above.
And the level editor... Well, I guess that's just something I completely forgot about to be honest. Then again, since I knew it wasn't available for the 360 version I didn't feel like including it in the review. Granted, it probably adds something nice to the game: but it wasn't something I was interested in including on this review. I wanted to create a review that felt like it could be applied to both versions of the game, since that was the only difference that I knew about.
Here's a story breakdown of the game which explains everything, I caution others if you haven't played the game this will spoil it. I REPEAT don't read if you don't want to know the full story, or want to figure it out for yourself.scotth266 said:
http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/xbox360/file/943284/53842