Steam, I should add, is a great platform for independent game developers. It eliminates a lot of the overhead associated with game sales and has a large user-base in which to advertise and sell to. Steam does an excellent job of advertising games on its service through special "weekend sales" in particular. I have frequently been suckered into buying games I otherwise wouldn't because games are on sale anywhere from 5% to 90% off. I bought Bioshock, the most critically acclaimed game of the year, for 5 dollars!
Unfortunately, whenever I wait so long and so excitedly for something, I'm ultimately dissapointed (e.g. Watchman). Braid is not perfect. The breathless praise and admiration for this game is unwarranted. However, it is still a great game, and I appreciate what it brings to the gaming scene. Maybe this is pretentious, but I've noticed that independent developers are bringing a thoughtfulness and artistry to the medium that for some reason the big gaming development houses lack and ignore. Whereas big gaming developers tend to churn out similar aesthetics and gameplay mechanics (generally dark WWII first-person shooters), the smaller developers, who are constrained by a lack of staff and finances, are able to succeed because they are innovative and offer people an experience that is genuinely fun or exciting.
Braid's art is truly beautiful. I'll just let the artist himself describe it: David Hellman's Art of Braid Blog. Suffice it to say, the graphics are stunning. The music, also beautiful. Very moving pieces. The presentation of the game is flawless. The gameplay mechanics are familiar - up, left, down, right, jump - similar to games like Super Mario Bros. we've all been playing for years. The time shifting mechanic is where things get really interesting. Each of the 6 worlds presents a new time mechanic in which to solve puzzles - rewinding time, slowing down time, etc. Solving these puzzles and figuring out how to properly manipulate time is very rewarding.
Now, the point that was stressed to me through my reading of reviews and stories about Braid, was that this time distortion was a reflection of the story's narrative. I did not get a strong sense of that. I was dissapointed with the story. There are several elements in the game that help tell the story - the puzzle pieces you find throughout the game, the prose found in journals between worlds, and through the actions in the game itself. First, the act of putting together puzzle pieces is an interesting concept - the main character, Tim, is seemingly trying to solve what went wrong in his life. But who is Tim? What are the pieces really saying? What's the significance of the journal passages beyond some kind of regret of a ruined relationship? It was all so maddeningly vague and... I suppose its my fault for being so used to conventional storytelling, but it just seemed incoherent. I felt no connection to Tim, which seems like a weird problem, because often shouldn't the first thing you do as a storyteller is have your protagonist be relatable or sympathetic in some way?
The funny thing is, in the process of writing this post I found myself going back to Braid despite myself. There really is something interesting there that needs at least a second run-through to really appreciate. I was first skeptical when hearing the game's developer, Jonathan Blow, say the game's story "avoids direct analysis" (unfortunately cannot find the quote) or something of that nature, but I grudgingly accept this now.
With all that being said, I highly recommend Braid. It is a step in the right direction for the future of gaming. We need more thoughful work that tries to instill emotion and thought into people because I do feel that games can be as relevant as books, movies and other storytelling mediums, and even moreso, because games can be engaging in ways no other medium can.
For those interested in independent games, I also recommend Nifflas' Games, an independent developer who makes great (free!) games, or simply check out Indie Games. I find the evolution of games as a storytelling medium absolutely fascinating and will continue to comment on it in the future.
