Braid: play with your (past) self

[Shadax]

[cortbassist89]

Okay so the full game is much more engaging than the demo

It's still not the oh holy messiah of puzzle games everyone claims it to be.

[Merus]

Originally Posted by cortbassist89

Okay so the full game is much more engaging than the demo

It's still not the oh holy messiah of puzzle games everyone claims it to be.

Neither was Portal, dude. I think it's a sweet game with some interesting ideas and a pretty snazzy ending, but it's hasn't, you know, changed my life or anything.

[AJR]

Originally Posted by cortbassist89

Okay so the full game is much more engaging than the demo

It's still not the oh holy messiah of puzzle games everyone claims it to be.

Well, give some examples then. I love puzzle games in general, so if you know of a few better puzzle games, I'd love to give them a shot.

[nadia]

I'm still on the fence with this one. I love the graphics and music, but I'm really not into puzzle games and what the demo has doesn't grab me. I have the intelligence of a tumour.

[le geek]

Originally Posted by AJR

Well, give some examples then. I love puzzle games in general, so if you know of a few better puzzle games, I'd love to give them a shot.

I finally took the plunge and am really enjoying Braid, but have you played the Fool's Errand?

[chuckx]

Has a PC release date been announced? I'd like to dive into this game, but I'm not a 360 owner.

[pence]

Originally Posted by le geek

I finally took the plunge and am really enjoying Braid, but have you played the Fool's Errand?

I played the Fool's Errand two years ago in DOSBox, I remember piecing together a whole bunch of pieces to make one final puzzle to rule them all, which would then tell some kind of allegorical story. Well, in theory. I never finished it.

[djSyndrome]

Braid story on the front page of MSNBC.

[le geek]

Originally Posted by pence

I played the Fool's Errand two years ago in DOSBox, I remember piecing together a whole bunch of pieces to make one final puzzle to rule them all, which would then tell some kind of allegorical story. Well, in theory. I never finished it.

Yeah, that's the gist of it. The DOS version is chunky BTW, but you can play the Pre-Power Mac version for free.

[pence]

Originally Posted by djSyndrome

Braid story on the front page of MSNBC.

I started reading it, but I got distracted by the feature where they dissect a Famicom.

[AJR]

Originally Posted by le geek

I finally took the plunge and am really enjoying Braid, but have you played the Fool's Errand?

Nope. I'll probably give it a shot this weekend, assuming my laptop can play it.

[cortbassist89]

Originally Posted by AJR

Well, give some examples then. I love puzzle games in general, so if you know of a few better puzzle games, I'd love to give them a shot.

I don't play enough puzzle games myself to give you examples. I don't know if I'd call them puzzles really. They're more akin to riddles in that typically the solution is so obvious once you find it that you feel stupid for taking so long to get there.

For those for whom Braid is too complex or vague to enjoy, Chronotron is a pretty neat time manipulation puzzle game that is far more accessible.

OH AND THE DEMO SUCKS. Seriously, the full game is way better. Whoever's marketing job it was to cut the demo should be fired because wow they just really didn't use anything fun from the game.

[mr_bungle700]

Originally Posted by AJR

Well, give some examples then. I love puzzle games in general, so if you know of a few better puzzle games, I'd love to give them a shot.

The Lost Vikings is an exceptional puzzle platformer.

[spineshark]

Finally bought this tonight (i.e. this morning). Cleared World 2 (having learned most of it during the demo), got all but one piece from World 3 (nevermind, just figured that one out, haha), and took a quick jaunt through World 4.

The game itself is really clever and I'm impressed by a lot of what I've seen. It's pretty damned beautiful even on my horrid TV and the music is wonderful except occasionally when it sounds really messed up switching between forward and backward. I'm going to reserve judgement on the story but honestly even if I'm ultimately not impressed (or perhaps don't like it at all) it's not like I'm going to hold it against the game.

[cortbassist89]

I'm stuck on 3 final puzzle pieces; two of which I know exactly what to do but they involve timing and so far it's been my Achille's heel in this game.

The third one I can't get is that damn hunting puzzle in the Time and Place world.

Edit: That faq was no help. Seems the solution is exactly what I thought it was. I'm just not doing it well enough.

[MCBanjoMike]

Be careful, there were a few puzzles where I was convinced that I was doing the right thing, only my timing was off. Turns out I was actually wrong! The solutions were actually somewhat different from what I was attempting.

[cortbassist89]

Originally Posted by MCBanjoMike

Be careful, there were a few puzzles where I was convinced that I was doing the right thing, only my timing was off. Turns out I was actually wrong! The solutions were actually somewhat different from what I was attempting.

SPOILERS I GUESS

Well the other puzzle is that Time and Place puzzle with the key out of reach and those four piranha plants that are magicked so that they aren't affected by your movements. I assumed you have to get the goomba thingy to the key, and that to do that you have to go all the way to the right, then go left back towards the plants, then reverse at 8x speed so that way the goomba goes that fast past the plants who will go their normal speed bc they are magicked.

I am now going to check my hypothesis online bc that level annoys the shit out of me.

[Merus]

You don't need to rewind for any of the outside-time piranha plants unless you kill the goomba. It's probably better that you don't, too, easier to keep track of.

[MCBanjoMike]

You know, everyone calls them goombas because they move like them and there are a few Mario references in the game, but if you look at them closely don't they resemble hedgehogs? I mean, they're all pointy and shit. Could this be a subtle jab at Sonic? Or is the [nuclear weaponry] stuff that's hinted at in the Epilogue simply be drawing a parallel between [the arms race] and the console wars of the mid 90s?

Makes you think.

[Merus]

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. I think it's safe to call them goombas because of all the other, intentional Mario references.

(And it looks like spiky hair to me, anyways.)

[SilentSnake]

I can see the hedgehog thing, but it also looks like a pine cone. This could indicate that Tim is "stomping out" nature by trying to find the princess.

No that was not really serious I pulled that out of my ass because I'm tapped out. Merus is probably right.

[bloodyinkpen]

Originally Posted by nadia

I'm still on the fence with this one. I love the graphics and music, but I'm really not into puzzle games and what the demo has doesn't grab me. I have the intelligence of a tumour.

The graphics, music, and atmosphere alone are what sold the game to me. The puzzle stuff was just a secondary perk.

[Levi VsRobot]

Finally started playing this one. Completed World 2. I can now say with some authority that the people who are calling this the best platformer of all time, better than all the Super Mario games, are pot-high.

Not to say that it isn't fantastic. (Because I really like it so far). But the folks out there over-hyping it are doing this game a big disservice.

[MCBanjoMike]

Originally Posted by Merus

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

I was mostly kidding, although I do wonder if the spikeyness of the goombas is supposed to be a nod to the blue 'hog, despite the overall Mario-ness of everything else about them.

[le geek]

Must...
fight...
urge...
to look up...
hints!

SPOCK!

[Levi VsRobot]

Something I don't like about Braid: I have to concentrate so hard that I can't listen to podcasts while I play. :/ Downloadable games are for playing when I listen to podcasts!

Plus it makes me feel dumb.

[bloodyinkpen]

Originally Posted by Levi VsRobot

Finally started playing this one. Completed World 2. I can now say with some authority that the people who are calling this the best platformer of all time, better than all the Super Mario games, are pot-high.

Not to say that it isn't fantastic. (Because I really like it so far). But the folks out there over-hyping it are doing this game a big disservice.

Who on earth is saying that? It's just a really beautiful, surreal, engaging experience. If anybody's going to tout it's qualities within a genre it should be puzzle game, not platformer.

[liquid]

Does anybody else find the inclusion of the stars insulting as hell?

They kind of make me regret buying the game.

[bobservo]

Originally Posted by liquid

Does anybody else find the inclusion of the stars insulting as hell?

They kind of make me regret buying the game.

Maybe I'm just underestimating the obsessiveness of people, but I'm surprised all of the stars were actually found. It takes hours to get the first one! Hours.