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Fun Stuff => CLIKC => Topic started by: Johnny C on 09 Aug 2008, 08:52

Title: Braid
Post by: Johnny C on 09 Aug 2008, 08:52
Jonathan Blow's Braid (http://braid-game.com/) is now out on XBLA (http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/b/braidxboxlivearcade/) and the fact that there isn't a topic on it yet is absolutely stunning.

Bryan and I both bought it basically the second we finished the demo. I had a teeth-gritting time with some of the puzzles but the second I completed them I dropped my jaw and gave in to the notion that I would wind up loving this game.

Blow might be a pretentious bastard but frankly I love pretentious bastards and he's made an awesome experience. Go get this game right now.

Seriously. I have all day. I can wait.
Title: Re: Braid
Post by: Dimmukane on 09 Aug 2008, 09:29
I can't figure out how to get the two pieces all the way at the end of the 2-2 (the one with the puzzle).  I have every other piece from that world, which made a small platform, but that doesn't help me get a bad guy over there to jump on.

I've been too busy getting stumped to all hell.
Title: Re: Braid
Post by: Chesire Cat on 09 Aug 2008, 10:06
So whats this, like The Incredible Machine meets Lemmings?  Im unconsoled (see what I did there) ever since my move and cant play the demo.
Title: Re: Braid
Post by: Storm Rider on 09 Aug 2008, 10:43
Dimmukane, the trick is that the puzzle is movable within the frame. Move the puzzle within the frame so that the platform lines up with the one on the left so that the enemy walks onto it, then move it over after it walks onto it so that it falls onto the lower level and walks over to the key so you can grab it. Then move it over to the right so you can make the jump between the two higher platforms and get the 4th piece.

That puzzle, as soon as I figured it out, was what sold me on the game. Beyond the beautiful art, there's just a supreme creativity and attention to detail to the way these levels are designed. The problem is that the game gets fucking hard after a little while. It took me a second to figure out the trick to 2-2, but I spend 15-20 minutes trying to figure out the last piece to World 3 before I just moved on even though the one missing piece really chafed the completionist within me. But I only managed to get about half the pieces in World 4, it's really tough. I turned it off at that point yesterday because I was sure that World 5 would make me feel like an idiot.

Don't get me wrong, I love the game. Yes, it's somewhat pretentious, but it's got a great aesthetic design and the care given to the unconventional gameplay is beyond almost anything I've seen before. It's more expensive than most XBLA games, sure, but a lot of people on this forum bought the Penny Arcade game for even more money and while that was great and all, it wasn't nearly as thought-provoking or unique as Braid is.
Title: Re: Braid
Post by: Dimmukane on 09 Aug 2008, 10:48
World six has a time-distortion device.  That made for some interesting puzzles, for sure...5 is the one with the 'phantom' stuff.  If you do something and rewind, it will create a phantom Tim that does what you just did.

Other puzzles that have me peeved: the first piece in Irreversible (World 3, it's the only one left.  I can't figure out how to move the green platform back down...would I fast-forward or something?), and the one in World 4 in which the key has a mind of its own.
Title: Re: Braid
Post by: Storm Rider on 09 Aug 2008, 10:54
Yes, that one in World 4 is driving me insane. The one in World 3 that I can't get is the one that has the gate close down around it. I can't figure out how to get the key, flip the green platform over to where I can jump on it, and get to the piece all before the door closes in the way.
Title: Re: Braid
Post by: Dimmukane on 09 Aug 2008, 11:10
If it's the level I'm thinking of (the one with the green platform you stand on and all those cannons), I can't remember what I did, only that it took about 15 minutes of trial and error rewinding to get it.  It involved rewinding in a way that the platform prevented me from going exactly back through my footsteps, though.  I might go back to it later to see if I can do it again.
Title: Re: Braid
Post by: Storm Rider on 09 Aug 2008, 12:32
I figured it out, finally, and got all but 2 pieces in World 4 (stupid fucking Hunt level). I am still missing a bunch in 5 and 6 though, they get really fucking hard.
Title: Re: Braid
Post by: simplename9 on 09 Aug 2008, 20:40
I managed to find every last piece and beat the game, but surprise, you can't get the real ending until collecting more very well hidden items.
Title: Re: Braid
Post by: Dimmukane on 09 Aug 2008, 21:44
I figured it out, finally, and got all but 2 pieces in World 4 (stupid fucking Hunt level). I am still missing a bunch in 5 and 6 though, they get really fucking hard.

I did that one the other day...you have to kill them in a certain order for it to work, so you can get up to the top and still keep all of them dead for at least a split second.  Buggered if I can remember the order.  I think the top one was first, and it might have gone in a counterclockwise circle.
Title: Re: Braid
Post by: Storm Rider on 09 Aug 2008, 21:47
Yeah, I've only got 3 pieces left to go. 1 in World 5, 2 in World 6. Damned if I can figure them out though.
Title: Re: Braid
Post by: Uber Ritter on 10 Aug 2008, 10:41
Man I can't wait for the PC version.
I love Dave Hellman's art so much.
Title: Re: Braid
Post by: Johnny C on 11 Aug 2008, 16:35
I managed to find every last piece and beat the game, but surprise, you can't get the real ending until collecting more very well hidden items.

whut
Title: Re: Braid
Post by: Storm Rider on 11 Aug 2008, 18:52
It's not so much a real ending as a very blatant statement of one of the implied metaphors within the story.

The last level is absolutely goddamn amazing, though. Such a head trip when you hit the X button at the end.
Title: Re: Braid
Post by: Scandanavian War Machine on 12 Aug 2008, 17:18
goddamnit, i only have one piece left and i cannot fucking figure it out.
Title: Re: Braid
Post by: est on 12 Aug 2008, 17:54
I bought this last night and played it for about an hour.  Got through the first two levels (2 and 3?  Where is world 1?) but I have a couple of pieces missing on 3 at the moment. This is a really goddamn good game.  I can't remember smiling so much (at the ingenuity of the puzzles, not in-game comedy) while playing a game since maybe Portal, and then probably a loooong time before that.
Title: Re: Braid
Post by: maxusy3k on 25 Aug 2008, 13:45
Bought this a couple hours ago... worlds 5 and 6 (5 less so) are kicking my ass right now. Didn't pick up any pieces at all in my run through world 6.
Title: Re: Braid
Post by: dennis on 25 Aug 2008, 21:42
I managed to get through all the puzzles with a little determination, but I have yet to find any of the secret pieces.
Title: Re: Braid
Post by: KvP on 27 Aug 2008, 21:05
Jonathan Blow interview over at AV Club blah blah blah blah blah (http://www.avclub.com/content/blog/game_designer_jonathan_blow_what)
Title: Re: Braid
Post by: Johnny C on 27 Aug 2008, 22:10
oh my god (http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/4158/emotwordsnk5.gif) (http://imageshack.us)
Title: Re: Braid
Post by: Ozymandias on 27 Aug 2008, 22:43
ARGH WORLD 5 ARGH GIVE ME THE LAST TWO PIECES ARGH
Title: Re: Braid
Post by: KvP on 27 Aug 2008, 23:33
oh my god (http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/4158/emotwordsnk5.gif) (http://imageshack.us)

Blow actually showed up in the Comments section:
Quote
Hi guys, interviewee here. I just want to put forth that I disagree with the way this article characterizes the interview, especially the following part:

"All of this really frustrates Jonathan Blow. There is a point to the game, and a message he’s trying to communicate. And so far, nobody’s gotten it."

That is not how I feel about Braid, at all. As I say in the actual interview, a lot of people understand a lot of Braid. I did not put the game out there as some kind of secret message and then wait to judge people based on whether they "understood it" or not.

So if you are going to call me a pretentious jerk or something like that, I just ask that you base it on what I actually said, rather than what someone else says my opinion is. Thanks!

-Jonathan.
PS blah blah blah jungian archetypes blah blah derridia blah blah princess mononoke blah blah quantum physics
Title: Re: Braid
Post by: KvP on 17 Sep 2008, 10:18
SOULJA BOI TELL EM (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nebKYFxXrLY&eurl=http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/17/soulja-boy-tells-em-about-braid/)
Title: Re: Braid
Post by: Will on 05 Aug 2009, 06:59
Guys, I'm so sorry for necromancing a year-old thread, but I just bought this game on XBLA last night, and HOLY SHIT IS IT AWESOME! I think my writer brain nerdgasmed over the way the storyline is presented; it may be one of the more poetic narratives in any game I've ever played.

Why the hell did I wait so long to play this?
Title: Re: Braid
Post by: Ikrik on 05 Aug 2009, 07:20
necro can be forgiven because also it was recently announced that it's coming to the PSN.  Finally Playstation owners get some Braid.  which is totally awesome. 
Title: Re: Braid
Post by: Durb Durb Durb on 05 Aug 2009, 21:40
This game was fun as hell, and the ending blew my brain out. There's still some bits of it on the ceiling.
Title: Re: Braid
Post by: jhocking on 08 Aug 2009, 10:28
I recently realized it had been ported to Mac. sweet