Braid, Anniversary Edition

Genre: Puzzle-Platformer

Players: 1

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Review:

Braid is a Puzzle-Platformer originally released in 2008 on Xbox 360 via the platform’s Xbox Live Arcade service, with the game ported to PC and PlayStation 3 in 2009, with the game receiving an updated remastered version in 2024 on PC, mobile devices, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch, marking this game’s first release on a Nintendo platform. Braid nominally follows Tim, a young man trying to reunite with his girlfriend and aiming to correct the mistakes of his past, with this theme reflected in the game’s mechanics about rewinding and manipulating time.

At least, that’s what the game is about on the surface. Underneath is a layered meta-narrative about science, progress, and irreversible choices. Depending on who you ask, this game’s story is either incredibly deep or highly pretentious, with the game’s climactic final level being one of the most surprising endings in a videogame.

The original release of Braid was absolutely gorgeous, with beautiful, well-animated painterly 2D visuals bursting with color and personality, backed by a powerfully beautiful instrumental soundtrack. All of this has been retained here, brushed up and brought up to a higher resolution and with better-quality sound, though purists do have the option to play the game using its original visuals and sound if they prefer.

As with the original release, this game features some truly exquisite Puzzle-Platforming gameplay, with some truly head-scratching puzzle design. The game’s levels are frequently designed so you can pass through them without completing all of the puzzles, but you’ll want to return to finish them all to collect puzzle pieces needed to reach the game’s ending.

Different worlds within the game tend to center on a different way to manipulate time, starting with your basic ability to rewind time whenever you want. In one level, you find that some objects are immune to your time-rewinding. In another level, time moves forward when you move forward and back when you move back, making you really think through your movements properly. In all of the game’s levels, players must truly think about the task at hand and the way time in this particular level works, and this makes for some tremendously delightful puzzle-solving.

As it happens, this release of the game adds even more levels, with these new offerings including some levels that were concepts for the original game that never made it into that final product. It is certainly nice to have them added back into this game, and these add a great incentive to get this version even if you have the original.

However, perhaps just as major an addition is the new audio commentary, which includes over 12 hours of commentary discussing every facet of the game. Personally, I think the way this is integrated, using in-game levers, doors and so on, can be unnecessarily confusing. However, despite this the feature is an extremely welcome addition.

Overall, Braid, Anniversary Edition is a truly excellent remaster of an outstanding Puzzle-Platformer. There’s a wealth of new content here, as well as an outstanding upgrade to the original game’s already-wonderful presentation. If you enjoy Puzzle-Platformers, consider this an absolute must-buy, unless you’ve completed the original release and have no desire to return to it.

tl;dr – Braid is a Puzzle-Platformer about a man trying to undo the problems of his past and reunite with his girlfriend, with this taking the form of a game about manipulating time. As in its original release, this game features some truly incredible puzzle design and a gorgeous presentation that looks even better in this release, and it’s joined by new levels and over 12 hours of commentary. All of this adds up to what is truly the definitive version of an absolute must-play Puzzle-Platformer.

Grade: A

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