Introduction
Welcome to let's play Braid!
Whoever said that games are not a form of art has obviously never played this game. The presentation is absolutely stunning, both visual and audio. The story line is intriguing and references classic literature. For a 2D platformer it certainly is very interesting.
The game revolves around a young man named Tim. All that is known from the beginning of the game is that Tim is searching for the Princess, it was through a mistake that he lost the Princess.
In the game Tim is able to manipulate the passage of time to some extent, how he does this changes slightly in each World (Mario style level names).
Obligatory info from Wikipedia:
wikipedia posted:
Braid is a platform/puzzle video game developed by independent software developer Jonathan Blow. The game was released on August 6, 2008 for the Xbox 360's Xbox Live Arcade service. A Microsoft Windows version was released on April 10, 2009. Hothead Games ported the game to Mac OS X, releasing it on May 20, 2009[7].
The enigmatic story, at its most basic level, describes the attempt of a man named Tim to rescue a princess from a monster. Clues embedded in the plot have led to multiple metaphorical interpretations, such as a tale of a faltering relationship, or even the development of the atomic bomb. The game features traditional aspects of the platform genre; the player runs, jumps, and climbs through a linear set of stages, while solving puzzles and defeating enemies. The player may also control time, allowing actions to be "rewound", even after death. Using these abilities, the player progresses the story by finding and assembling jigsaw puzzle pieces.
Blow designed the game as a personal critique of contemporary trends in game development. He funded the project with his own money and spent three years creating it. Webcomic artist David Hellman drew the artwork, which underwent several iterations until it satisfied Blow's vision. A preliminary version of Braid without the final artwork won the "Innovation in Game Design" award at the 2006 Independent Games Festival; the final version received additional accolades. The game received positive reviews from critics, eventually becoming the highest-critically-rated title on Xbox Live. Some reviewers, however, criticized the game's price relative to its length.
The LP
I shall be playing the PC version of the game recorded at the full resolution and uploaded in this resolution so then you can get the full experience (it's like playing it yourself!). I've opted for subtitles as I feel the typical goon voice would kill the atmosphere of the game.
I shall be collecting all jigsaw pieces and all stars . It's not a speed run, but I'll try not to fanny around too much.
Read the Text before watching the corresponding video, I cut them out on the advice of the sandcastle World 2 - Time and Forgiveness
Tim is off on a search to rescue the Princess. She has been snatched by a horrible and evil monster. This happened because Tim made a mistake.
Not just one. He made many mistakes during the time they spent together, all those years ago. Memories of their relationship have become muddled, replaced wholesale, but one remains clear: the Princess turning sharply away, her braid lashing at him with contempt.
He knows she tried to be forgiving, but who can just shrug away a guilty lie, a stab in the back? Such a mistake will change a relationship irreversibly, even if we have learned from the mistake and would never repeat it. The Princess's eyes grew narrower. She became more distant.
Our world, with its rules of causality, has trained us to be miserly with forgiveness. By forgiving too readily, we can be badly hurt. But if we've learned from a mistake and become better for it, shouldn't we be rewarded for the learning, rather than punished for the mistake?
What if our world worked differently? Suppose we could tell her: "I didn't mean what I just said," and she would say: "It's okay, I understand," and she would not turn away, and life would really proceed as though we had never said that thing? We could remove the damage but still be wiser from the experience.
Tim and the Princess lounge in the castle garden, laughing together, giving names to the colorful birds. Their mistakes are hidden from each other, tucked away between the folds of time, safe.
Click here for the full 636x480 image.
World 3 - Time and Mystery
All those years ago, Tim had left the Princess behind. He had kissed her on the neck, picked up his travel bag, and walked out the door. He regrets this, to a degree. Now he's journeying to find her again, to show he knows how sad it was, but also to tell her how it was good.
For a long time, he though they had been cultivating the perfect relationship. He had been fiercely protective, reversing all his mistakes so they would not touch her. Likewise, keeping a tight rein on her own mistakes, she always pleased him.
But to be fully couched within the comfort of a friend is a mode of existence with severe implications. To please you perfectly, she must understand you perfectly. Thus you cannot defy her expectations or escape her reach. Her benevolence has circumscribed you, and your life's achievements will not reach beyond the map she has drawn.
Tim needed to be non-manipulable. He needed a hope of transcendence. He needed, sometimes, to be immune to the Princess's caring touch.
Off in the distance, Tim saw a castle where the flags flutter even when the wind has expired, and the bread in the kitchen is always warm. A little bit of magic.
Click here for the full 640x477 image.
World 4 - Time and Place
Visiting his parents' home for a holiday meal, Tim felt as though he had regressed to those long-ago years when he lived under their roof, oppressed by their insistence on upholding strange values which, to him, were meaningless. Back then, bickering would erupt over drops of gravy spilt onto the tablecloth.
Escaping, Tim walked in the cool air toward the university he'd attended after moving out of his parent's home. As he distanced himself from that troubling house, he felt the embarrassment of childhood fading into the past. But now he stepped into all the insecurities he'd felt at the university, all the panic of walking a social tightrope.
Tim only felt relieved after the whole visit was over, sitting back home in the present, steeped in contrast: he saw how he'd improved so much from those old days. This improvement, day by day, takes him ever-closer to finding the Princess. If she exists - she must! - she will transform him, and everyone.
He felt on his trip that every place stirs up an emotion, and every emotion invokes a memory: a time and a location. So couldn't he find the Princess now, tonight, just by wandering from place to place and noticing how he feels? A trail of feelings, of awe and inspiration, should lead him to that castle: in the future: her arms enclosing him, her scent fills him with excitement, creates a moment so strong he can remember it in the past.
Immediately Tim walked out his door, the next morning, toward whatever the new day held. He felt something like optimism.
Click here for the full 642x479 image.
World 5 - Time and Decision
She never understood the impulses that drove him, never quite felt the intensity that, over time, chiseled lines into his face. She was never quite close enough to him - but he held her as though she were, whispered into her ear words that only a soul mate should receive.
Over the remnants of dinner, they both knew the time had come. He would have said: "I have to go find the Princess," but he didn't need to. Giving a final kiss, hoisting a travel bag to his shoulder, he walked out the door. Through all the nights that followed she still loved him as though he had stayed, to comfort her and protect her, Princess be damned.
Click here for the full 641x482 image.
World 6 - Hesitance
Perhaps in a perfect world, the ring would be a symbol of happiness. It's a sign of ceaseless devotion: even if he will never find the Princess, he will always be trying. He still will wear the ring.
But the ring makes its presence known. It shines out to others like a beacon of warning. It makes people slow to approach. Suspicion, distrust. Interactions are torpedoed before Tim can open his mouth.
In time he learns to deal with others carefully. He matches their hesitant pace, tracing a soft path through their defenses. But this exhausts him, and it only works to a limited degree. It doesn't get him what he needs.
Tim begins to hide the ring in his pocket. But he can hardly bear it - too long tucked away, that part of him might suffocate.
Click here for the full 640x479 image.
World 1 - The end of the beginning
At a café on a bright plaza, most customers sit back, feeling the warmth of the sun, enjoying their cold drinks, But not Tim - he barely notices the sun, doesn't really taste his coffee. For him this corner affords a good view of the city, and in the teeterings of the passers-by, in the arc of a shop-girl's hand as she displays tea to an interested gentleman, Tim hopes to see clues.
That night at the cinema, fictitious adventurers lunge implausibly across the screen. The audience here is mixed. Some are patrons of the café, now sitting excitedly in the plush chairs, eager for another new flavor, for distraction from the boredom of their easy lives. Other seats hold fishermen and farm-workers, hoping to forget their toils and rest their hands.
Tim is here too, but he is scrutinizing the gloss on the lips on the screen, measuring the angle of the plume of a distant helicopter crash. He thinks he discerns a message; when the cinema closes and most of the audience strolls down the plaza to the South, Tim goes North.
People like Tim seem to live oppositely from the other residents of the city. Tide and riptide, flowing against each other.
Tim wants, like nothing else, to find the Princess, to know her at last. For Tim this would be momentous, sparking an intense light that embraces the world, a light that reveals the secrets long kept from us, that illuminates - or materializes! - a final palace where we can exist in peace.
But how would this be perceived by the other residents of the city, in the world that flows contrariwise? The light would be intense and warm at the beginning, but then flicker down to nothing, taking the castle with it; it would be like burning down the place we've always called home, where we played so innocently as children. Destroying all hope of safety, forever.
Viewing Options
I only update the thread once all 4 options are available. If you want to follow the progress of each update then you're free to follow my Twitter which will mention problems I may be having and provide links when they become available.
It looks the Bee's Knees! Watch in full screen for HD
these videos may bring your PC to it's knees World 2 - Time and Forgiveness
World 3 - Time and Mystery
World 4 - Time and Place
World 5 - Time and Decision
World 6 - Hesitance
World 1 - The End of The Begninning
The Finalé
For PCs that can't handle HD video
World 2 - Time and Forgiveness
World 3 - Time and Mystery
World 4 - Time and Place
World 5 - Time and Decision
World 6 - Hesitance
World 1 - The End of The Begninning
The Finalé
HD option available, and you get to subscribe and post retarded comments and turn me into an Internet Superstar!
World 2 - Time and Forgiveness
World 3 - Time and Mystery | Part 1 | Part 2
World 4 - Time and Place | Part 1 | Part 2
World 5 - Time and decision
World 6 - Hesitance | Part 1 | Part 2
World 1 - The End of The Begninning | Part 1 | Part 2
The Finalé - Part 1 | Part 2
Don't watch on here, I only put them on here so then you can download the raw video for your own personal viewing pleasure.
World 2 - Time and Forgiveness
World 3 - Time and Mystery
World 4 - Time and Place
World 5 - Time and Decision
World 6 - Hesitance
World 1 - The End of The Begninning
The Finalé
Where can I obtain this game?
Xbox 360 Available on Live for 1200 MSPoints.
PC The superior platform, available through Steam, Greenhouse, Gamersgate and Impluse for $14.99 or £9.99.
Mac Just released a few days ago, available from Greenhouse
Feel free to discuss the game and your interpretations of the story making sure to use spoiler tags on anything we haven't come across yet. I'll try to update once a week, but I cannot guarantee this unfortunately.