Braid, Anniversary Edition

Please research Jonathan Blow and his politics before buying. The game itself is a classic for a reason, but it's not worth supporting him IMO.

The worst thing about this game is that it is relatively heavy as puzzle games go. Not that it's difficult, it's a completely fair challenge, but exploring ideas and executing the solution requires time and work on your part. It's not one of these games where as soon as you see the solution, all the work is done, you just click it in. You actually have to walk the guy around to pick up the thing, get on the platform, reverse, hit the switch, jump on the guy, reverse, do the other thing, etc. It takes doing. That said, if you go in with that in mind, you have an absolute gem ahead of you. It's just so texturally rich, has lovely music that somehow never gets annoying despite being very melodic and upfront, and works very well playing both forwards and in reverse, and every puzzle is always interesting in a new way. I quite like the poetry and prose interspersed between the puzzle sections, too. It's a far deeper experience than all those puzzle games that just put you in an void with an IQ test. If you want to compare it to The Witness, I think it's clear that Jonathan improved as a designer over time, and The Witness is, I would say, better, but this is a completely different game, and also extremely good. Delights abound.

[h1]Living Within Time: The Ethics of Rewinding[/h1] I cannot tell whether this is a beginning, an ending, or a return. Yet one certainty remains: if I am asked about time, I do not know; but if no one asks me, I do. Or rather, let me amend that: only by living life in all its consequences—the braiding of mistakes and triumphs, of sorrow and joy—can I give voice to the way I understand the time I have lived. There must be no obsession with mastering, explaining, conquering, or dissecting time, least of all when desire itself has become blind. When we have committed a mistake and time refuses to heal it, the city clothes itself in chaos. What could it mean for a city to be ablaze? Perhaps it is this: my own cloud of fire, my private apocalypse, the moment when my mistake takes flesh within me until it leaves me no choice but to burst apart. I had arrived at the city. It was burning, the flames reaching towards its highest point. There, where a bridge stood, everything lay swallowed by shadow, wrapped in utter unknowing. I ran across the bridge, perhaps arriving, perhaps returning; yet within that solitude, darkness revealed itself only afterwards. Above, the stars traced their own silent pattern, asking nothing of interpretation. Perhaps they were illuminating the sky at the end of all things. And with every step I take, time is already there. I came upon a house. Perhaps it was my old home, where everything rests in silence, perfectly still, persuaded it will always remain the same—as though I had feared change, and spent my life fleeing from it. The sitting room welcomed me with its light still burning. Everything else was steeped in a spectral night. Fragments of my childhood lay tucked away in boxes; my teddy bears waited for an embrace whose tenderness could never be what it once was. I feel so distant—not only from others, but from myself. I cannot help but wonder: what have I been? Who am I in this present moment? The door opens. Books are waiting for me, quietly tracing the course of a life. Does life exist within time, or does time carry life within its depths, concealing both its meaning and its truth? Books that speak of time and of the ways it is lived; of forgiveness, and of choice. Is everything, for as long as we live, bound to time? To understand life and its meaning—to embrace everything it demands, to its furthest consequence—is to have travelled through it; to have stumbled upon your own princess, your own Dulcinea, through whom the manner in which I have lived is given form and meaning, whether that meaning proves to be truth or illusion. And yet, within time, a revelation was born. It blossomed like the flowers in a painting as I found myself remembering those bright, carefree days: drinking wine, laughing, dancing with wholehearted abandon. Just like that first world beyond the painting into which I had wandered—I could breathe the fragrance of the flowers, feel the grass beneath my feet across the open meadows, gaze upon the emerald forest: an Eden beneath an unbroken sun. A longing that belonged to a time before consciousness itself. Then I awoke, and it seemed as though it had all been nothing more than a beautiful dream. An idyllic tableau that had filled me to overflowing with joy. Yet the moment my actions touched the lives of others—those small creatures, so like porcupines—I discovered that, without ever intending to, I could wound them. How did I feel in that moment? Why do people drift away? Even if my intentions were kind, how could I be certain I would not repeat the very same mistake, treating them as obstacles to be swept aside? To rewind is a solution. But, like the Ring of Gyges, would I not merely be teaching myself to erase every fault? And if time always granted me another attempt, would I not, little by little, forget how to learn from the unforeseen—and from pain itself? This flow of time—this power to rewind, and the many ways in which time could unfold—posed an unspoken question: was I seeking perfection, seeking to make amends, or merely trying to flee? How many times would I erase my own actions in order to obtain what I desired most, until the world finally bent to my will? It would be nothing less than an attempt to manipulate all that lies beyond my understanding, rather than accept my mistakes, and my sins. I stood still. Breathing. Feeling the gentle breeze of that first world, of a childhood untouched by worry, of that emerald valley where my feet knew only laughter and the joy of running free. How effortless life seems there, even if such a state is often dismissed as mere comfort. Comfort, they say, is only a narrowing of consciousness. Yet this Eden belongs to what came before consciousness ever cast its shadow. I live within time. I continue on my way. Sometimes I lift my eyes to watch the clouds drift across the sky; at other moments, I bear a ring that crystallises a season of comfort, preserving a happiness untouched by pain. And then there are the moments when I glimpse the shadow of all my what ifs, sorrowful as it stands upon the brink of vanishing altogether. Through each of these moments, I realise that I have already fixed my gaze upon a single north and given it a name. But if I fail to reach it, will I still be capable of repentance? Or will I discover that what I truly regret is not my failure, but everything I became in trying to escape it? At what moment do we truly live? If everything can be taken back—if I remain condemned to a loop of time I believe I can overcome—I may also reach the end having learnt nothing from my own actions. Perhaps, if I were to reconsider what truly matters, the Princess could finally leave. I would let her go. With every world I set foot in, time whispers something different: how it lingers over certain moments, and how, through others, it moves inexorably on. It is true: I have made mistakes I deeply regret. Yet regret must not become a force that holds me still, nor a means of fleeing what is painful or difficult. It must become the place from which I learn to continue, to make a home of what once felt uninhabitable, and to emerge from the heart of chaos. I leave. I rest. I leave the lights burning. I am grateful to my sister for this gift, for the most precious time I possess—the closest thing I know to eternity—is the time I spend beside her. How has life treated you, through all these years? What do you feel when you make a mistake, or when one of your actions becomes a measure of another person's dignity? We all weave our own braids: threads with others through time.

Outstanding game, never played the original, so the ability to change between old and new graphics at any time is a nice touch and gives a lot of value to the craft of everything (especially after listening to the dev commentary on the art), the game itself has a great concept with great execution, no notes there, it's great overall, it's one of those, this game is so good, why hasn't anyone copied it during all this time?, maybe this is the best version of the game and to top that would be pretty hard The story, or the value that I got out of what I saw and experienced, since the it's not a linear straight forward story like in most games, will be on my mind and make me look at the world in a different way, that being said, it's open to interpretation, so your millage may vary Definitely recommend the game to everyone that enjoys puzzles or is looking for a more unique game experience On the developer commentary, listened to everything and enjoyed the new levels that where added for the puzzle pieces, the alternate levels where also very interesting but the highlight in the dev commentary was in the sound department since it's where I have the least knowledge in, the art and programming where also great, with the order that I went, when I arrived at the interviews there where parts that I already knew about in other segments, so it got a bit repetitive, but I just skipped ahead on those, a x2 speed on the sound would have been nice Played on linux bazzite with Dualshock 4 controller via bluetooth, all worked great

Ремастер пазл-платформера, вышедшего в 2008 году. В техническом плане игру отлично проапгрейдили — полностью перерисовали графику, добавили анимации, обновили музыку. Тот случай, когда в предыдущую версию играть нет смысла. Что же касается нового контента — тут всё не так однозначно. Дополнительные уровни мне не сильно понравились. Они никак не дополняют основную игру — нет ни новых механик, ни какой-то единой темы. Просто набор не особо сложных головоломок, доступ к которым довольно запутан (причём их всего 13 штук). Также добавили раздел с комментариями о создании игры. Разработчик записал 15 (!) часов аудио о дизайне, программировании, музыке, боссах, каждом отдельном уровне… Интересно, конечно, но очевидно, что кроме [strike]его друзей[/strike] людей, профессионально интересующихся геймдевом, это никто не слушал) Забавно, что в игре, которая проходится где-то за 5-7 часов, появилось 200 000 слов текста. Это очень много. Для сравнения, в каком-нибудь Ведьмаке 3 примерно 450 000 тысяч слов. Я искал информацию, почему в ремастере нет русского языка (в оригинале был), и оказалось, что на локализацию просто не хватило денег) Что касается базовой игры, которую я проходил лет 15 назад… Теперь смотрю на неё немного иначе. Уровни всё так же хороши, хотя и кажутся довольно простенькими. Есть в них что-то ламповое, уютное. Конечно, в 2026 году манипуляции со временем уже мало кого удивят, но на момент релиза это было просто «вау». А вот всё остальное… Стиль сюжетных текстов очень… претенциозный? Автор так погнался за формой, что немного позабыл про содержание. В итоге простые вещи рассказываются максимально сложным языком. Опциональный контент (звёзды) — это ужасно. Мне в целом мало нравятся секретки, которые невозможно (буквально) найти без гайдов. Но здесь они ещё и приправлены сверху дурацкими геймплейными механиками. Ждать два часа реального времени (без возможности альт-таба), чтобы попасть в нужное место, серьёзно? Это должно быть весело? А пиксель-хантинг для одной из звёзд (которую можно пропустить, из-за чего придётся перепроходить игру) правда обязателен? Да и даже с гайдами сбор звёзд превращается в платформенное дрочево с бесконечными попытками поймать идеальные тайминги для каждого элемента на экране. В общем, игра про время прошла проверку временем лишь частично. Откатываясь в прошлое я вижу, что когда-то ставил оценку 9/10, но возвращаюсь в настоящее и понимаю, что это всего лишь крепкие 7,5/10

I never played the original release, but I really enjoyed this. I don't agree with the idea that any of the puzzles are unfair. You genuinely just need to be patient, try different things, and pay attention. Usually, if you leave and come back, you will figure it out upon a second viewing. And I can understand why people would call the game "pretentious", but I reject that as well. I don't think Blow is trying to show off, I think he was just trying to tell a story in a more unconventional or interesting manner and the fact that the game is 10% artsy-fartsy and makes you read a scant bit of text annoys people. Blow is a bit of an eccentric and is very opinionated, which is a good thing. With respect to the story, I appreciate the attempt to add multiple layers of interpretation as well as the fact that it reflects the gameplay and vice versa. You observe, come to a conclusion, meet a reality where that conclusion doesn't hold, and then reinterpret what you previously saw. That does make this a rather "literary" feeling game. Dare I say, Wolfe-ian? I've dabbled slightly with The Witness in the past, but I'm looking forward to properly playing it through after making my way through the commentary levels here. Considering how cheap this frequently goes on sale, I think its worth picking up both for its own merits as a solid puzzle game trying to modestly push the boundaries of game storytelling AND for its historical relevance as one of the influential set of "original" indie games that helped give us the thriving ecosystem we have today.

While some of the puzzles are fine, others are needlessly frustrating and the game is honestly really pretentious for being just kind of mediocre. Braid is worth neither your time nor your money. 5/10

What's here is great. It sounds great, it looks great, and the puzzles are great. Unfortunately, there's not much here. Just a handful of puzzles with credits rolling after what felt like should have been 1/3rd of the way through the game. So I highly recommend giving it a go if you get it on sale, but if you pay full price you'll likely be disappointed with how small it is. I spent about 4 hours with the puzzles, then another little while going through some of the commentary.

不愧是独立游戏的开山之作。无法想象作者如何设计出过去的自己的影子把钥匙递给现在的自己这种操作。很多关卡都是靠教程通过的，甚至教程要拉十几次进度条＋慢放看操作，即使这样在游戏里依然要尝试十几分钟才能拿到拼图，已经放弃拿星星了。从世界2开始几乎红温全程，对操作饥和手速的要求非常高。 虽然游戏难度很高但依然强烈推荐，把时间运用到极致的一款游戏，在遇到时空幻境之前我从来没有想过一款游戏可以像一本书一样隽永深刻。为了了解什么样的人才能做出这种游戏，特意去看了一些吹哥的视频，确实只有天才和疯子莫辨的人才能做出如此“惊世骇俗”的作品。感谢这个世界还有这样人和这样的游戏。