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Braid (XBLA/PC/PSN/Mac) |OT|

B

Brakara

Member
Majora said:
Personally I loved the lack of tutorials and handholding.
Click to expand...

And that were no intro screens. I'm even sure the "Use left stick to move" was only inserted to get through the certification, as it would be much better without (can you imagine "Use left stick to move" appearing in Bioshock after the first cut scene?).

CitizenCope said:
Same here.
Click to expand...

I just answered it above you, dammit. :lol
 
R

rollingstart

Banned
GDJustin said:
ENDING DISCUSSION SPOILERS
Well, Right. I mean, that part I got :p (That Tim is basically making unwanted advances towards this woman, thinking he is "rescuing" her in his own head. He thinks he is rescuing a princess from her castle, but really it's just a woman in Manhattan.

Although I don't agree that the tory from worlds 2-6 are made up or in his head. Basically we spend the entire game reading bits about a failed relationship, and about people's sense of personal identity, and it seems like it's building to something, but then... the ending seems unrelated.

The puzzles you put together also seem to be showing little windows into the rise (and fall) of a relationship. I don't believe that all that was just in Tim's head.

Plus, towards the beginning, one of the storybooks talks about how Tim leaves the relationship he's in to begin the pursuit of the princess... I don't claim to have all (or any) of the answers, but at this point, I don't accept that the story in 2-6 is something all in his head.

Maybe I'm just not smart enough to "get it," because I still basically have no clue.

Unrelated Qs -

- What's up with the bathroom in the house? Any significance?
- Ditto the constellation outside his house? Any purpose?
Click to expand...

The main reason I think
it is all in his head is because when he thought he was saving the princess, there were monsters and a challenge there for him, but when the truth was shown that she was running from him, nothing was there at all.
 
B

Ben Sones

Member
Sectus said:
Well, after completing the game I feel a bit disappointed.
So if I get the story right... Tim is this weirdo who's never gotten along with people and he's got a big interested in science. He dates this girl from Manhatten but the relationship doesn't go well, and incidentally through his science he figures out how to manipulate time. He does random experimentations and goes mad and pretends that completing different types of experimentations will lead him to the Princess (who is an ideal fantasy of the girl he's dating). And those bizarre experimentations happens to act out like a Mario Bros game in his head, apparently Tim is a big Nintendo fan.

Did I get all the right? If so, complete nonsense. There were a few scenes which were clever like the one where he tries to save the princess from the evil monster, but then you learn it's actually the other way around. But the actual story you get through those books was completely uninteresting and mostly nonsensical to me.
Click to expand...

No,
the game worlds and their various mechanics and solutions are metaphorical, not literal. They illustrate elements of the story that is being told in the books, which is about a real-world character named Tim and his difficulty relating to other people and society, and his obsessive relationship that may or may not even be real, at least in the manner that he believes it to be. The final level with the princess, for instance, is meant to demonstrate how two people can look at the same events (like a relationship) from different perspectives and reach totally different conclusions about what those events mean.

Pelloki said:
GDJustin said:
- Ditto the constellation outside his house? Any purpose?
Click to expand...
Yes - there are hidden stars in the game. I have found four so far, but I'm not sure if anybody else has found them.
Click to expand...

The constellation is also
shaped like a compass, which is used to draw a perfect circle, which foreshadows the path that the story follows. A compass is also mentioned in one of the books in the Epilogue--I didn't make the connection until after reading that and returning to the beginning. At that point, it immediately jumped out at me.

(edit: left out a quote tag)
 
R

rhino4evr

Member
Costanza said:
ugh I can't figure out a single puzzle in world 4 :(
Click to expand...

it just takes time to figure out how the levels work. You don't even need to use your rewind button that much. I'm missing 1 puzzle piece. I will say that the "hunt" puzzle piece seemed completely impossible at first, but in time I figured it out.
 
sweetfish

sweetfish

Gold Member
Just finished it, and I LOVED it! The story, style, gameplay, ending.. well everything! :D

Now, if I can only figure out where all the stars are...

Also, did I miss something crucial, should the green books in the Epilogue do something?
 
I

itsinmyveins

Gets to pilot the crappy patrol labors
MMaRsu said:
thanks for the tips, I made it to world 3 :). ( where's world 1 btw?? )

Also any tips for the last level of the 3d world? I can't seem to get the puzzle piece before the door closes...
Click to expand...

What's the puzzle? The one where you need to open a door with a key to reach a switch and then get back and past a platform?
 
C

Costanza

Banned
rhino4evr said:
it just takes time to figure out how the levels work. You don't even need to use your rewind button that much. I'm missing 1 puzzle piece. I will say that the "hunt" puzzle piece seemed completely impossible at first, but in time I figured it out.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I've gotten like 5 or 6 of them now, but I'm REALLY stuck on Hunt. Any hints?
 
C

Crisis

Banned
Costanza said:
I've gotten like 5 or 6 of them now, but I'm REALLY stuck on Hunt. Any hints?
Click to expand...

I hope I'm thinking of the right one here...

If it's the one in World 4 where everything is controlled by your movement then Hunt is solved through a little bit of trial and error. Start at the very top of the level and work your way down. There's a specific order that you need to take out the goombas in. I'll go a little bit further and tell you that the goomba by the ladder before you go up it is the last one you should get.
 
S

Shake Appeal

Member
ItsInMyVeins said:
Might not have been necessary, but it sure did at least one of the puzzels a lot easier.
Click to expand...
I was gonna say, I used freezing time quite a bit. I think the most useful application is in
World 6, where you have to steer two goombas (who are outside of time) past a row of plants (which are in time)
.
 
I

itsinmyveins

Gets to pilot the crappy patrol labors
Shake Appeal said:
I was gonna say, I used freezing time quite a bit. I think the most useful application is in
World 6, where you have to steer two goombas (who are outside of time) past a row of plants (which are in time)
.
Click to expand...

That's the only time I used it, so yeah :)
 
R

rhino4evr

Member
ItsInMyVeins said:
What's the puzzle? The one where you need to open a door with a key to reach a switch and then get back and past a platform?
Click to expand...

it's the one where the key moves on it's own. i think there are two puzzle pieces one in the middle of the stage, and one toward the bottom right. I figured out bottom right, and I was just about to figure out the middle one but had to go to bed. I was actually thinking about it when I went to sleep, and Im pretty sure I know how to solve it now. We shall see.
 
P

Psychotext

Member
sweetfish said:
What the.. How do you even get up there? That part is "hidden" for me.
Click to expand...
There are a number of ladders on the level...

So... who wants to discuss the constellation of Andromeda (The chained princess)? :D
 
R

Railer

Member
So, i just finished the game and i have to say the ending was brilliant.
I would have finished it yesterday if i hadn't lost my save. Brought the HDD to my friend to play some Braid, had 52 / 60 puzzles. When i got there i think because he signed in first or something it fucked up, so i had to start from the beginning. Finished 3 worlds there, and when i brought the HDD back home i atleast didnt have to start from the beginning again, but this time those 3 worlds at least was completed.

But yeah, awesome game with a brilliant ending. So worth the 1200 MSP imo.
 
B

Ben Sones

Member
Linkzg said:
Where are they? I don't remember seeing them when playing.
Click to expand...

You wouldn't, since they are hidden. I haven't found any of them, personally--that comment was actually from Pelloki (I missed a quote tag in my post).

Psychotext said:
There are a number of ladders on the level...

So... who wants to discuss the constellation of Andromeda (The chained princess)? :D
Click to expand...

Oh, very good call!
For reference.

It actually
changes when you finish the game, though. When you return to the start after finishing the Epilogue, the stars are the same, but the lines connecting them have changed, and it really looks a lot like a compass. More along the lines of the whole "different interpretations" theme.

Crisis said:
If it's the one in World 4 where everything is controlled by your movement then Hunt is solved through a little bit of trial and error. Start at the very top of the level and work your way down. There's a specific order that you need to take out the goombas in. I'll go a little bit further and tell you that the goomba by the ladder before you go up it is the last one you should get.
Click to expand...

There is actually
not any trial and error needed, if you sit down and examine the level and its rules. Basically, everything in that level exists in one finite span of time. You can see that span in time in its entirety by standing in the lower left corner and walking all the way over to the right corner. Wherever you are in the level (high or low), that rule remains consistent--walking all the way left takes time back to the beginning, and walking all the way right takes time to the end.

So next, consider your goal. You need to kill all the monsters, and they have to stay dead, from your perspective, because the door is outside of time. So when you kill a monster, imagine a vertical line dividing the screen at the exact point at which you kill the monster. You can no longer go anywhere to the left of that line (no matter which level you are on, vertically) without resurrecting the monster and resetting the door. Now you just need to work out an order in which you can kill all the monsters that doesn't leave any of them "out of bounds," in the ever-advancing region on the left side of the level that you cannot enter. That's actually not too hard to do once you understand exactly what you are trying to accomplish--the level is, after all, very easy to observe at your leisure. The only other thing that you might get stuck on is another rule that you may not have noticed (I hadn't, and got stuck here for a while)...

Hint: It has to do with jumping.

This is really what I love about the game. Every puzzle in it is very logical, and solving them is generally a process of observing the rules for how things work, identifying what you need to do, and then reasoning out how you can manipulate the rules to do it.
 
I

Infinitemadness

Member
So I want to ask again, should the game just auto load my save? Is there a room I'm not seeing to load a save? It appears all my progress is gone, I had completed all the puzzles in the rooms on the main floor.
 
B

Ben Sones

Member
Infinitemadness said:
So I want to ask again, should the game just auto load my save? Is there a room I'm not seeing to load a save? It appears all my progress is gone, I had completed all the puzzles in the rooms on the main floor.
Click to expand...

The game autosaves everything that you do--there is no manual saving or loading. Levels reset when you leave them (enemies reappear, and they return to their "start" state), but you keep all of the rewards (i.e. puzzle pieces, level unlocks) that you collected from that level.
 
P

Psychotext

Member
Post ending:
So does no-one have the location of any other stars? I've been going through the levels very carefully but I'm struggling.
 
I

INTERNET

SERIOUS BUSINESS
I guess it's not a coincidence that
the books make as much or more sense if you read them backwards (and right to left) starting from world 6?
 
C

CitizenCope

Member
As much as I've bitched about not having patience for this game it is quite something.
I woke up early this morning and couldn't fall asleep. I sat there thinking how to get two puzzle pieces. Within 10 minutes I figured it out in my head without the aid of the actual game.
Got up, powered up the 360 and within 3-5 minutes I had obtained these two puzzle pieces that were so elusive the night before.:lol
That is some cool shit right there.:D
 
G

GDJustin

stuck my tongue deep inside Atlus' cookies
Crisis said:
Getting the new stuff for each world was fun. Not knowing how to use it because it's never explained is frustrating. I didn't even know you could freeze time (X + RB) until I read it here. Something is wrong there.
Click to expand...

I've completed the game by collecting every puzzle piece, and I never once froze time with X + RB. I didn't even know you could do that until after I'd collected them all.

Edit: For the one puzzle people are saying you need to know how to freeze (with the three plants),
I just used the ring to get them all to go down at more or less the same time, and then would lightly tap rewind in a rhythm to get them to stay down until 2 goombas crossed.
 
I

Infinitemadness

Member
Ben Sones said:
The game autosaves everything that you do--there is no manual saving or loading. Levels reset when you leave them (enemies reappear, and they return to their "start" state), but you keep all of the rewards (i.e. puzzle pieces, level unlocks) that you collected from that level.
Click to expand...


Thanks Ben Sones...I think the problem is deeper than just Braid's saving...its probably not the game's fault at all. I downloaded the game with my HD attached to a friends 360....I noticed everytime I paused, the option to unlock the full game is there and just now when I quit, it asked me to purchase the full game. So its forever thinking I'm in a trial version, despite having access to the full game.

I dunno what to do, I guess I'll play through in one sitting this weekend or something since save is borked for me.
 
G

Grecco

Member
Infinitemadness said:
Thanks Ben Sones...I think the problem is deeper than just Braid's saving...its probably not the game's fault at all. I downloaded the game with my HD attached to a friends 360....I noticed everytime I paused, the option to unlock the full game is there and just now when I quit, it asked me to purchase the full game. So its forever thinking I'm in a trial version, despite having access to the full game.

I dunno what to do, I guess I'll play through in one sitting this weekend or something since save is borked for me.
Click to expand...

Use the DRM tool to assign it to your console. (Your Xbox probably isnt currently online is it)
 
I

Infinitemadness

Member
Grecco said:
Use the DRM tool to assign it to your console. (Your Xbox probably isnt currently online is it)
Click to expand...


It is, when I lost my first progression my net had died out on me. I re-downloaded the game and it behaved the same. I checked my HD and my saves are there, they just don't load.

I'll try the DRM tool
 
F

FightyF

Banned
Shig said:
Read his post concerning how he didn't want it to be another Space Giraffe. A popular misconception is that lower prices will multiply an audience by factors of doubles and triples. This has very, very rarely proven to be the case.
Click to expand...

I think it's fairly apparent though, that many are asking about things like the game's longevity, whether it is worth the price, etc. All due to the fact that it's priced at 1200 pts. For better or worse, there is a stigma that this game is "expensive" and thus should offer a bit more.

I'm wondering how sales will be like this Fall, when new 360 owners look at arcade games, note the price of this one as being more expensive than most, and then skipping on it. A lot of people here have seen the hype and how we're enjoying it, but this Fall, the buzz will be gone. I really wonder how it will be viewed at that time.
 
R

Railer

Member
GDJustin said:
I've completed the game by collecting every puzzle piece, and I never once froze time with X + RB. I didn't even know you could do that until after I'd collected them all.

Edit: For the one puzzle people are saying you need to know how to freeze (with the three plants),
I just used the ring to get them all to go down at more or less the same time, and then would lightly tap rewind in a rhythm to get them to stay down until 2 goombas crossed.
Click to expand...

woa.. you can freeze time?
awesome.. on that level
i finished it by using the ring to make the plants get into a pattern where the goombas could pass.. took quite some time, but it's doable
 
L

Lé Blade Runner

Member
CitizenCope said:
As much as I've bitched about not having patience for this game it is quite something.
I woke up early this morning and couldn't fall asleep. I sat there thinking how to get two puzzle pieces. Within 10 minutes I figured it out in my head without the aid of the actual game.
Got up, powered up the 360 and within 3-5 minutes I had obtained these two puzzle pieces that were so elusive the night before.:lol
That is some cool shit right there.:D
Click to expand...

Yeah - I also couldn't figure out a couple of puzzle-pieces last night before I went to sleep, but today I managed to find a solution immediately! :D Quess the ol' brain really works hard while we sleep, eh?
 
O

Opus Angelorum

Member
FightyF said:
For better or worse, there is a stigma that this game is "expensive" and thus should offer a bit more.
Click to expand...

At the same time though, those who have bought it despite having qualms (myself included) have universally praised the game.
 
B

BenjaminBirdie

Banned
FightyF said:
I think it's fairly apparent though, that many are asking about things like the game's longevity, whether it is worth the price, etc. All due to the fact that it's priced at 1200 pts. For better or worse, there is a stigma that this game is "expensive" and thus should offer a bit more.

I'm wondering how sales will be like this Fall, when new 360 owners look at arcade games, note the price of this one as being more expensive than most, and then skipping on it. A lot of people here have seen the hype and how we're enjoying it, but this Fall, the buzz will be gone. I really wonder how it will be viewed at that time.
Click to expand...

Evergreen games like that for XBLA are pretty rare anyway. I think WOM will work well for the game but realistically it's not the kind of game that will be eternally burning up friends lists for ever and ever.
 
B

Ben Sones

Member
INTERNET said:
I guess it's not a coincidence that the books make as much or more sense if you read them backwards (and right to left) starting from world 6?
Click to expand...

I'll spoiler tag that for you, since it is a bit spoilerish.
The ones in worlds 6 through 2 definitely make more sense--or at least tell a somewhat different story that makes as much sense and fits into the whole theme of looking at things from different perspectives--when you read them backwards. I'm still trying to untangle the narrative in world 1, though. That part of the story gets pretty complex, with different readings for each of the books (several of which you have to solve puzzles in order to even see) that seem to describe the princess, conflictingly, as Tim's mother (in front of the candy store window), death (in the Trinity atomic bomb test), life (or consciousness, perhaps, in the text about examining the brains of rats), and Tim's girlfriend on the streets of Manhattan. It is possible that the story as told in the rest of the books works, interchangeably, with any of these premises. I'll have to go back and re-read it to be sure.
 
L

Label

The Amiga Brotherhood
This game is so so good.

I figured out everything on the first world pretty easily apart from the first piece in leap of faith.. I couldn't time the damn ledge correctly then I left went on to world 4 and though.. oh yeah I can press the switch again to make it come back.. damn I felt retarded :lol
 
D

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
FightyF said:
I think it's fairly apparent though, that many are asking about things like the game's longevity, whether it is worth the price, etc. All due to the fact that it's priced at 1200 pts. For better or worse, there is a stigma that this game is "expensive" and thus should offer a bit more.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I think 1200 pts was a huge mistake. I have no problem paying it, but people are completely flipping out over the price. I think this stigma may have a negative impact on its sales.

Of course, it's a pretty unique game that may attract a different customer (perhaps). For instance, I myself have only ever purchased one other XBLA game prior to Braid (Rez HD). This one really impressed me a lot and I'm glad that I purchased it. $15 is nothing.
 
G

Gowans

Member
With the reviews & reception of the title I think 1200 point has been fine with the games launch.

Whats the leaderboard at 10,000???? so x $15 * .7 (70% share max) than thats around $100,000 right there a day later.

I know Blow mentioned he had to take loans to make this game and owes a lot of money also so I can total see why this happened. But I do think it will effect the long tail and casual pick-ups out side of word of mouth(it would be interesting to see if the same has happened with Penny Arcade).

But with games like Bionic Commando at 800 pffering a tonne we shall see just how the "value" aspects hold up.

I for one don't see this being a substantial trend tho I think it may have an impact on 400points becoming less rare and the home of XNA title costs.


Mario has been following this really closely I would love to see his thoughts with Braids price point.
 
W

Wurm

Banned
I have 3 of the 8 stars.

Ones I've done are:

STAR SPOILER LOCATIONS:
4-5 (Movement by Degrees), 6-5 (Impassable Foliage) and 6-6 (Elevator Action).
These are truly some of the most intricate platformer puzzles ever created to get the stars. If anyones feeling the game is too short, you havent tried getting the Stars.

I'm assuming there is a star on 2-2 with the solitary Cloud platform in the top right but:
I have no idea how to get the goomba across the gap of the painting to the top right, assuming that is what I have to do.

Also, I propose that we call the goombas "Noombas" B)
 
G

Gowans

Member
Braid gamerpics up on XBM

http://braid-game.com/news/?p=268

pack1_marketplace_image.png

pack2_marketplace_image.png



Jonathan Blow said:
Unfortunately, Microsoft has a policy that everything on Live must cost something (except for sponsored advergames like Yaris). But the gamer pics are pretty inexpensive… I don’t remember how much?
Click to expand...
 
P

PjotrStroganov

Member
Damn, I still can't get the elevator action star. I guess, the
locked ladder or the bunny is the key but I have no idea how to get up that ladder or jump high enough with the bunny.
 
L

Label

The Amiga Brotherhood
Holy crap world 4 Hunt was a mind fuck :lol

I went through that whole damn level like 9~ ways till I came across the solution by what seemed like fluke as I tried bouncing off that single guy on platform 2 4 times soo many times before it worked.
 
I

itsinmyveins

Gets to pilot the crappy patrol labors
Alright, some story questions again:

I read through the books outside the different worlds. Now, the first three make it sound like your ordinary kind of tale -- princess, he's looking for her and etc, just set in a strange fantastical world (that's what I assumed at first and never thought if things as "only in his head"). Nothing really that strange.
Then, in the fourth (or fifth, I guess) it's getting a little more diffuse, same with the world after. Did anybody suspect what was gonna happen then? With the twist and all, him being some sort of stalker? Judging from the books I read I just thought it was some kind of sad tale about him looking for his princess and relationship difficulties and etc.
And then when you get to read the texts after the ending I don't really know what to make of it all. Some of it doesn't even seem to make sense.

Oh, by the way, started to play some of the speed runs. I'm in the top 100 of the first one, at least. 229 on the overall (for 60 pieces, that is).
 
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