Challenges the linearity of gaming
I wanted to start again. It was possible this time, as it was every time before. Braid gave me no limits on "dying." I could die and die and die, but I could never actually lose. Tim would get up as soon as time rewound. One may dispute the innovation inherent in this mechanic, but this is not the only that Braid is set apart from other games.
There are no mistakes in this game. One may erase any and all actions taken. One may skip all the levels, too. The game will not let you lose. This creates and interesting dynamic. Many video games require the player to avoid losing in order to win. This is a central premise, and the two conditions seem hopelessly intertwined. One wins a game of StarCraft by not losing to the competitors, i.e. destroying their armies. One beats Super Mario World by not dying enough times to lose. For the most part, Braid does not care about this aspect of gaming.
Braid imparts the player with a sort of free will. Puzzles are completed because the player wants this. It is never actually demanded. The puzzles are fiendishly difficult. I reserve this description for very few games, and Braid will challenge seasoned veterans and humiliate them. Your thinking will need to span both time and space in order to beat many of the challenges set before you. To solve all of them, you will need to either be the smartest man in the room or have his help.
When I played the game through and finished, I felt a weird sense of accomplishment. The story is beautiful, like poetry. This game changed the way I imagined plot progression. This is a game about breakdown, about constancy, and about mistakes. Does change affect the constant man? Is learning worth it if mistakes can be erased?
I digress. Perhaps I write with pretentiousness. Back to the point, this game was a real winner for me. I found the multilayered meaning and gameplay to unnerve me. I found the game's content to be immensely rewarding, even if some of it was inscrutable to me. Seeing the winding, twisting path through time before me, I knew what I wanted to do.
