The two-dimensional platformer is a solid starting point for independent video game developers. It's a safe idea, as it's a genre that has been around since, effectively, the dawn of video gaming, and has been shown to work in a variety of situations.
When technology advanced enough to add a third dimension, platformers adapted well and spread out into yet more environments, challenging players to use what they've known for perhaps years already but in another axis of direction.
What if the third dimension that platformers found wasn't a dimension of space, but of time? It's not a question often asked, because the answer is Braid. Braid is what happens when 2D skips 3D and enters 4D.
Do you think you're ready for it?
Fun Times
Like old school 2D platformers, there's basically nothing stopping you from playing the game within seconds, as you nudge the left analogue stick to move a silhouetted character across a painted city backdrop.
I'm playing the PC port of Braid and it looks all kinds of incredible, let's state the obvious. Games just don't do graphics like this, probably for a really good reason, but for a magical game like Braid where things are not as they seem, the brushstrokes on display sure help sell a game that isn't going to be anything like what you're used to.
For starters, it begins with World 2. Where's World 1? Did I miss it? I'm sure it'll turn up at some point. Games don't have to start at the beginning. They don't have to make a lot of sense, either, as the rambling language of Braid's story proves.
You play as Tim, a big-headed, suit-wearing young lad in search of a Princess. So far, so 2D platformer. As you run across the screen you read more of the story, one of awkward love and some kind of philosophy on life.
So where does the fourth dimension come into this 2D platformer? Right about here. That's a big pit, isn't it? Usually, you don't want to fall down big pits in 2D platformers. This particular pit we do, but not until we've grabbed that puzzle piece.
A cannon is blasting enemies out at a steady pace, and jumping on enemies gives you a nice boost into the painted sky. All we've got to do is time it right, right? As you can see, I very much haven't done that on this jump.
Frustrations
I didn't get the hang of this at all. You'd think it would be simple. You do a bad thing, you rewind, correct the mistake, carry on. I didn't bother going for these puzzle pieces, even with infinite time-rewinding mechanics because I didn't understand what was going on.
You're not told this is an ability that can happen whenever you want, for however long you want. You discover this through gameplay. Okay, fair enough, trial and error would lead to discovering that pretty early, I'd be able to get these puzzle pieces with a little bit of thinking, some repeated attempts, problem solved.
Later on, it introduced the idea of keys that ignored the time-rewinding rules. If you grabbed a key and rewound time, you wouldn't put it down again, it'd come with you, all the way back through the level to when and where you needed it.
What a neat idea. What a shame it made my brain start to smoke.
I got to a section where cannons shot out cloud platforms for you to hop across. Some of them obey the rewinding of time. Some of them don't. Can you see the puzzle? I sure can, and I pressed my own X button to rewind time so that I got up out of my chair and sat in front of the TV, because fuck me is Braid too much for my brain, even at this early stage.
Final Word
I've seen gameplay of Braid and I've not been able to follow what's going on. I've watched puzzles I've passed being solved in seconds and not seen the trick to repeating it myself. Braid isn't just an artsy-fartsy indy title, it's is a video game that I know is beyond me, like I know Dark Souls is beyond me.
The story of Braid is one that can be cast aside as pretentious or something, but I don't know the details of it to know for sure. I do know that I didn't like the flowery text that I was able to read before my brain melted if that helps.
What I do know is that the fourth dimension does make for an interesting mechanic in a 2D platformer. A successful one that everyone can grasp? Debatable. An interesting one? Definitely.
When Braid was released, I didn't care for it. Wasn't interested in it, probably because of it's looks. When I learned more about the gameplay, I still wasn't interested in it a whole lot, because puzzle platformers aren't my cup of tea. When I finally got around to playing it because of this 1001 list, I confirmed what I already knew: I have mental limits, and even in 2020, I ain't got time for this shit.
That's not to say Braid is shit. I'm simply saying that Braid is not my jam, man. Its eye-catching art style isn't my favourite, its story is a tad too indy for my tastes, and its gameplay is far beyond what I can get a grip of, but there's something worth experiencing here, even if it's frustration.
I've uninstalled it, I want no part of it, but if I end up hitting my head in a way that makes puzzle platformers more appealing to me, Braid rightly sits near the top in terms of unique challenges - I can see that much based on what little I have managed to see.
Where else are you going to get this artwork? Where else this gameplay? Where else that smart narrative twist that, yes, I have spoiled, but that's fine by me - we all know I wasn't going to get there myself...
It's got to be worth a try, and I'm glad I did, even with a strong negative reaction to it. At least it's nice to look at, I suppose.
Fun Facts
The puzzles can be navigated through without being solved, allowing players to continue the story, even without success. This is not a good enough reason for me to reinstall it.
Braid, developed by Number None, first released in 2008.
Version played: PC, 2009.