MirageDwarf
Member
Jasoco said:
Another small hidden thing. Braid keeps giving.
Finally, I got all stars. It was fun.
Illuminated constellation also adds one image around stars in the sky. Couldn't figure out who is it? Tim or Princess?
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Braid (XBLA/PC/PSN/Mac) |OT|
- Thread starter Shard
- Start date
Another small hidden thing. Braid keeps giving.
Finally, I got all stars. It was fun.
Just beat the game. It's 5 AM here. I stayed up till 5 AM to beat a game. That hasn't happened in a long, long time.
If you say that you would have bought this at 800 points but did not at 1200, I will find you. Somehow, I will track you down, and eliminate your stupidity from my gene pool.
If you say that you would have bought this at 800 points but did not at 1200, I will find you. Somehow, I will track you down, and eliminate your stupidity from my gene pool.
MirageDwarf
Member
I was reading this article - http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=19748
Found this in comment section by Jonathan Blow:
Also from same article:
Found this in comment section by Jonathan Blow:
Also from same article:
permutated
Banned
Just finished world three...
It's fun, not as good as I was expecting, hopefully it gets better.
It's fun, not as good as I was expecting, hopefully it gets better.
Always-honest
Banned
Won said:I'm actually quite shocked that gamers these days lack a certain amount of self-confidence.
well, some of the puzzles are hard to figure out. did you play it?
Jim Sterling
Member
For anybody interested, we got our review up on Destructoid last night. To sum up my thoughts, just got nothing but respect for Braid after completing it. It absolutely humiliates other XBLA games and should make the creators of Bliss Island want to self harm. I really didn't expect much, but after a certain puzzle in the first world, I was hooked and found myself engaged in a perpetual parade of revelations.
Most encouraging was the fact that you'd get stumped by a puzzle, go away, return with a fresh mind and see the pure logical sensibility that you'd been missing the first time. Everything you need is in front of you at any given time, it's all about your state of mind, your perception.
This is the best thing to happen to downloadable console games ever. Nothing looks, plays or feels like Braid on a console. Other developers need to stand up and take note.
Also, that final world? Utterly chilling, and I wasn't even paying all that much attention to the story.
Most encouraging was the fact that you'd get stumped by a puzzle, go away, return with a fresh mind and see the pure logical sensibility that you'd been missing the first time. Everything you need is in front of you at any given time, it's all about your state of mind, your perception.
This is the best thing to happen to downloadable console games ever. Nothing looks, plays or feels like Braid on a console. Other developers need to stand up and take note.
Also, that final world? Utterly chilling, and I wasn't even paying all that much attention to the story.
Reading through the rllmuk post, he mentions this:
ITS SPOILERED FOR A REASON.
My question is, for those of you have
is this guy being literal or something else?
in the pursuit of the eighth star, Tim finally manages to reach the upper half of the screen, and come into contact with the princess herself. What happens?
She fucking explodes.
She fucking explodes.
My question is, for those of you have
hunted the stars
Chinner said:
Don't read this shit if you don't want your shit spoiled.
There is a youtube video you can see. She fucking explodes. Quite literally. There's a cool effect where she flickers into existence in several spots at once and then - booooom. That, and the line about standing tall and radiating fury, the bunker, the sons of bitches line make me think this guy has the meaning of this story absolutely spot on.
I just figured out how to get all the pieces in "Elevator Action". This game is amazing.
I do see why some are concerned about the price though, I've played for maybe 4 and a half hours and I'm only missing a single piece now. If you compare purely by the numbers I got a lot more value from downloadable games like PQ or PJM. However, I don't think such a comparison is valid at all.
I do see why some are concerned about the price though, I've played for maybe 4 and a half hours and I'm only missing a single piece now. If you compare purely by the numbers I got a lot more value from downloadable games like PQ or PJM. However, I don't think such a comparison is valid at all.
story:
i really can't believe people are buying into this atom bomb theory. there's one book in the epilogue that refers explicitly and extensively to the atom bomb. there's an isolated line in another book about a bunker and frosted glass. this represents the sum-total of braid's bomb content, and the bomb theory makes an impressive but ridiculous attempt to fit the rest of the story to this one narrow aspect of it. you have to disregard 90% of the text and the entire game to believe it.
look, ask yourself this: why would a time-travel platform game tell a story about the atom bomb? where's the relationship between form and content? it's difficult to imagine anything more perverse and misshapen. if the references to scientific experimentation point to anything specific -- and i'm not sure they do -- i think they point to some time travel discovery that's analogous to the atom bomb in its apocalyptic potential.
as i was saying on another forum: braid isn't nearly as obscure as this specious atom bomb theory makes it seem. i think the key to its interpretation is not the epilogue's bomb references but the phrase 'the princess is in another castle.' what does it mean to be questing after a princess who's always somewhere else? what if there isn't any princess? what if the princess is trying to get away from you? what if the princess is actually something dark and dangerous? gamers are content-obsessed, but braid is more interested in form than content: in teasing the meaning out of old videogame tropes, in making the prefatory text for each world refer both to relationships and game mechanics, etc
look, ask yourself this: why would a time-travel platform game tell a story about the atom bomb? where's the relationship between form and content? it's difficult to imagine anything more perverse and misshapen. if the references to scientific experimentation point to anything specific -- and i'm not sure they do -- i think they point to some time travel discovery that's analogous to the atom bomb in its apocalyptic potential.
as i was saying on another forum: braid isn't nearly as obscure as this specious atom bomb theory makes it seem. i think the key to its interpretation is not the epilogue's bomb references but the phrase 'the princess is in another castle.' what does it mean to be questing after a princess who's always somewhere else? what if there isn't any princess? what if the princess is trying to get away from you? what if the princess is actually something dark and dangerous? gamers are content-obsessed, but braid is more interested in form than content: in teasing the meaning out of old videogame tropes, in making the prefatory text for each world refer both to relationships and game mechanics, etc
firehawk12
Subete no aware
I just did the star ending as well and WOW.
If you haven't already, definitely go for the stars.
It's so awesome. Basically the entire ending changes. The journey itself isn't futile - that, with enough effort and patience, the princess can ultimately be attainable. The fact that the last star REQUIRES you to break the last level's timing just shows how much power Tim has to change the ending. The fact that he did this all through gameplay is absolutely genius.
If you haven't already, definitely go for the stars.
drohne said:
I disagree. The atom bomb story fits too well to ignore. Let's see, the mention of Manhattan, the bunker in the desert, the observing through welder's glass, the DIRECT QUOTE of the 'now we are all sons of bitches' line.
Imagine you'd just spent years researching the nuclear bomb and saw it unleashed before you. When faced with such total devastation, wouldn't you wish you could undo what you'd just done - put the nuclear genie back in the bottle? Undo the mistake you'd just made but retain the knowledge of what you'd done? Learn from the mistake and avoid the "punishment" altogether?
He worked his ruler and his compass. He inferred. He deduced. He scrutinized the fall of an apple, the twisting of metal orbs hanging from a thread. He was searching for the Princess, and he would not stop until he found her, for he was hungry. He cut rats into pieces to examine their brains, implanted tungsten posts into the skulls of water-starved monkeys.
Ghostly, she stood in front of him and looked into his eyes. I am here, she said. I am here. I want to touch you. She pleaded: Look at me! But he would not see her; he only knew how to look at the outside of things.
Scientific experimentation. The search for the mysteries of the atom - the atoms that are right there, right in front of our eyes all the time, but we can't see them because we can only see the outside of objects, not their internals (ie, their atomic components).
On that moment hung eternity. Time stood still. Space contracted to a pinpoint. It was as though the earth had opened and the skies split. One felt as though he had been privileged to witness the Birth of the World
Someone near him said: It worked.
Someone else said: Now we are all sons of bitches.
More DIRECT QUOTES from people involved in a nuclear explosion.
She stood tall and majestic. She radiated fury. She shouted: Who has disturbed me? But then, anger expelled, she felt the sadness beneath; she let her breath fall softly, like a sigh, like ashes floating gently on the wind.
She couldnt understand why he chose to flirt so closely with the death of the world.
That first paragraph sure sounds like a nuclear explosion and the resulting mushroom cloud to me. How can it be any less subtle? I know, how about making the Princess an actual literal bomb that explodes if you actually do manage to touch her?
I could go on but the link from before says the same thing. It all fits so well, too well to be a coincidence.
Imagine you'd just spent years researching the nuclear bomb and saw it unleashed before you. When faced with such total devastation, wouldn't you wish you could undo what you'd just done - put the nuclear genie back in the bottle? Undo the mistake you'd just made but retain the knowledge of what you'd done? Learn from the mistake and avoid the "punishment" altogether?
He worked his ruler and his compass. He inferred. He deduced. He scrutinized the fall of an apple, the twisting of metal orbs hanging from a thread. He was searching for the Princess, and he would not stop until he found her, for he was hungry. He cut rats into pieces to examine their brains, implanted tungsten posts into the skulls of water-starved monkeys.
Ghostly, she stood in front of him and looked into his eyes. I am here, she said. I am here. I want to touch you. She pleaded: Look at me! But he would not see her; he only knew how to look at the outside of things.
Scientific experimentation. The search for the mysteries of the atom - the atoms that are right there, right in front of our eyes all the time, but we can't see them because we can only see the outside of objects, not their internals (ie, their atomic components).
On that moment hung eternity. Time stood still. Space contracted to a pinpoint. It was as though the earth had opened and the skies split. One felt as though he had been privileged to witness the Birth of the World
Someone near him said: It worked.
Someone else said: Now we are all sons of bitches.
More DIRECT QUOTES from people involved in a nuclear explosion.
She stood tall and majestic. She radiated fury. She shouted: Who has disturbed me? But then, anger expelled, she felt the sadness beneath; she let her breath fall softly, like a sigh, like ashes floating gently on the wind.
She couldnt understand why he chose to flirt so closely with the death of the world.
That first paragraph sure sounds like a nuclear explosion and the resulting mushroom cloud to me. How can it be any less subtle? I know, how about making the Princess an actual literal bomb that explodes if you actually do manage to touch her?
I could go on but the link from before says the same thing. It all fits so well, too well to be a coincidence.
Brakara said:
Yeah you're right - thought it was 40 seconds for Jumpman, was really 38.
I though Leap of Faith would be impossible (it was the first one I tried and gave up after finishing like 1:20). But I just tried it again and beat it on my first shot. One of the things I was doing wrong before was jumping off the ladder into each gap so the goomba doesn't kill me - but you can climb from the bottom to the third part (puzzle piece area).
Took me a few tries but I beat Crossing the Gap (47:10) too. If I can find my digital camera I'll record my run, it's honestly not that hard after you know what to do. Impassable Foliage though I can't see myself beating in 1:30, I always screw up on the guiding two goombas through the three piranha plants part.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
rhino4evr said:
You can get MOST of them at any time.
HOWEVER. If you are getting them, read this first:
Do NOT complete the World 3 puzzle. One of the stars requires you to do something to the puzzle that is not obvious at first and if you complete the puzzle, you cannot get this star.
I'll admit I ended up reading how to get them though. There's only three stars that I MAY have figured out by myself... the other ones? Wow.
itsinmyveins
Gets to pilot the crappy patrol labors
drohne said:
So you don't think there's a certain theme in the game?
I guess there could be a few different ones, though.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
rhino4evr said:
GameFAQs is the closest I've found:
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=943284&topic=44749717&page=1
Also, some dudes posted guides on YouTube:
7 Stars: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v42We6BaUh8&feature=related
One of the 7 stars in more detail:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yxKLEXcNqk
Final Star:
http://video.google.ca/videoplay?do...99&ei=XcGeSMeaNJDo-AGEo8AS&q=Braid+star&vt=lf
drohne said:
So you get that there are references to the atom bomb throughout the story but you just think that they're a coincidence or not that meaningful? Does Jonathon Blow just strike you as the sort of unpretentious fellow who wouldn't tell his story in anything but a straightforward manner? What do you think the game is about then? Do you think that it's a coincidence, or that there are a bunch of different themes being referred to or what? I had a hard time believing it at first, but given the number of quotes and references in there (two quotes, bunkers, frosted glass, science, Manhattan, deserts) that would otherwise be meaningless, I have a hard time thinking of these mentions as coincidence or merely some stray ideas.
Ken Masters
Banned
anyone have the links to World 2's music, I couldn't recognize any songs from W2 from Braid's blog site
firehawk12
Subete no aware
Ken Masters said:
I'm pretty sure it's Shira Kammen's "Downstream".
Ken Masters
Banned
firehawk12 said:
cheers
i don't think braid tells the kind of coherent, literal story that people are looking for, no. it's my feeling that the epilogue presents versions of the princess -- of the object of tim's obsessive questing -- that may not be reconcilable. the bomb theory is kind of persuasive when you're reading that forum post, but i don't think it survives contact with the game or the story as the game presents it
firehawk12
Subete no aware
rhino4evr said:
Oh fuck yes. :lol
I played FF4 DS waiting for that one.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
drohne said:
I think if someone wanted to make it more convincing, they'd have to tie that with the rest of the game. Not only the books that begin each chapter, but how the puzzles are solved as well.
That said, it's a great close reading of the ending(s) and the epilogue.
exfixate said:
The green books, the singing voice, and the red books are part of the "epilogue game" of sorts. When ever you open the red book, text is displayed on the screen, and when you hit the green books the text disappears. But, the red books also have alternate text that displays when ever Tim cannot be seen and is facing away from the red books (this is when the singing voice activates). In each section of the epilogue you can get alternative text from the red books by doing this, which reveals more of the story.
As for the eight stars, they have all been found and they do fill the constellation. When you get all 8, the stars causes a "symbolic picture" to appear in the constellation. But before that, if you get 7 stars and replay level 1 (the final level) again, the level sequence between you and the princess is altered so that it's actually possible to get up to the top level. I'll leave the rest unspoiled so you can see what happens if you want to attempt it. Just note that you'll probably have to start a new game in order to get one of the first 7 stars, as one star requires you to "play around with the puzzle pieces" and if you completed all your puzzles, you can't "play with the pieces".
The speed runs are just for the achievements/leader boards.
As for the eight stars, they have all been found and they do fill the constellation. When you get all 8, the stars causes a "symbolic picture" to appear in the constellation. But before that, if you get 7 stars and replay level 1 (the final level) again, the level sequence between you and the princess is altered so that it's actually possible to get up to the top level. I'll leave the rest unspoiled so you can see what happens if you want to attempt it. Just note that you'll probably have to start a new game in order to get one of the first 7 stars, as one star requires you to "play around with the puzzle pieces" and if you completed all your puzzles, you can't "play with the pieces".
The speed runs are just for the achievements/leader boards.
DenogginizerOS
BenjaminBirdie's Thomas Jefferson
I love the artwork and presentation of this game. I hope I can play it some day...
firehawk12
Subete no aware
rhino4evr said:
God, the stars took me about 6 hours to get, including that 2 hour wait. And that's knowing exactly what to do.
I think it's worth it though, especially if you're one of the people who think the ending is the best thing ever. Getting the stars will just blow your mind. I don't think watching it conveys the same meaning as actually playing it yourself and figuring out what's happening in the game.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
Kreed said:
I took that as a moment of transcendence. By reaching the princess, he can actually move beyond obsessing about her. That's why the final star is in her bedroom, the place you can't get to when you play the ending normally. He reaches her and then moves beyond her.
At least that's my interpretation based on some of the World introductory text.
Hmm I had a whole different take on it, I sort of got this weird boy with an overprotective mother has his mom pass away, then starts losing it, looking for some higher purpose. Eventually starts stalking women ( looking for the princess ) and this is him sorting it out afterwords in his head, replaying it over and over.
D
Deleted member 1235
Unconfirmed Member
andrewfee said:
:O
OK, consider me wowed. I Would never have found that using my own smarts.
Similar threads
- Locked