Braid: Anniversary Edition

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• Recommended Posted June 18, 2025 on Steam It’s been almost 20 years since soljaboy convinced me to buy this! What a gem. Every collected puzzle makes me a smarter man in my children's eyes. It’s like Super Mario with a suit. My wife’s boyfriend says it’s like if Mario was a paper pusher not a plumber. I played the opening theme of this game, Downstream at my wedding, both when my bride was entering the room and when signing. Everyone praised how fitting the track felt, and to this day it remains my little private joke that l managed to play a videogame song in such occasion. Thankfully the Bride didn't run away from me or exploded, but she did get a boyfriend later down the line. Nowadays though I’ve really learned to appreciate my wife’s boyfriend. He’s a great guy. One of the most important games of all time, folks. I remember when Braid came out and helped kick off the indie revolution that we are still gloriously benefiting from. I remember it's initial release like it was yesterday. It was such a sea change for indie games. This came out just a couple of weeks after I got my 360 and I still remember all of the conversations surrounding whether indie games could be worth $15. Almost 20 years later and no one is questioning their value anymore, and it really started with Braid. It was the game that got me interesting in indie games. It was a revelation for its time. I couldn’t wait to replay this edition. It really is a work of art and the new content is a lovely bonus. I've seen some unfair criticism floating around that I just completely disagree with. Braid is emblematic in how to marry your narrative themes into your gameplay mechanics. It’s a Puzzle-platformer where you collect puzzle pieces. It's definitely a meta-experience that gets very complex as you go on. Elements of time and movement are being played upon and expanded in the narrative and in the actual gameplay. This is also a sad game. There's a beautiful, poignant aspect to the art, the music and the overall design. It's a story of regret and the attempt to redo the past. It's one of the best games I ever played. What an incredible nostalgia trip. Seriously, the remixed music was enough to make me play it again. I thought this was an amazing game back in the day and it’s still great today. I even managed to do the speed run, although I don't think I have it in me to do it again. The mechanics and problem solving often distracted me from the narrative, although the quiet spaces with just the books did allow a bit of time to ponder them. Remember, this is not a "Mario" game. It is a puzzle game and the goal isn't to get to the end of the level, but to collect the puzzle pieces and stars. My first impression back in the day of Braid was 'yet another Mario clone'-albeit with stunning visuals-but then I died... or so l thought. As it turned out, in Braid you can reverse the time, hence cannot die. That was when I realised the puzzles were much more interesting than I had originally assumed. Furthermore, the introductory text at the beginning of each section makes sense suggesting there was some story behind it all. And once I finished the last level, I wasn't disappointed. I was filled with honest admiration as the genius and simplicity of the level and story behind the game had been revealed. This game truly has it all: engaging puzzles, magnificent graphics and-something I never would have suspected platformer of having-a truly intriguing story. Each world is built around a time mechanic, such as use of a ring that slows anything thats get close to it, or a level which makes time go forwards as you move right and backwards when you move left. It requires a great deal of brilliance to not only think of these uses, but to integrate them properly into clever puzzles, and the creator deserves a great deal of respect for this. The main game itself is not so difficult, but rather it's collecting the puzzle pieces where the challenge lies. They're tucked away in hard-to-reach places which require timing and ingenuity to access. Not all puzzle pieces have to be collected in order to progress through the game though. For those who want even MORE of a challenge, there are hidden stars to look for after the game has been beaten, as well as an alternate ending which can be achieved after finding all of these stars. The more I played the more I liked what I did though. Puzzles really became interesting and challenging. Solving them made me feel good, progress in this game really made me feel good. And not too long into the game, the game was sadly already over. But the feeling I had when I finished the game was a bit mindblowing. I really had to sit back and rethink what just happened. This feeling in the end is the true reason why I can't give this game anything else than a 10 even after all these years. But one piece of advice I can give to you if you decide to play this game is: You really need to solve the game on your own. Don't look up solutions or look up how someone else finishes the game, it won't work, you have to play this game on your own. And even then I can't guarantee you that the game will have the same effect on you, than it had on me, but I can guarantee you that there is something truly unique in this game. Some people have chosen to dislike the game because of the pretentious personality of Jonathan Blow, who's gone so far as to overemphasize the artistic value of his game which has a rather indecipherable and, arguably, purposefully vague plot. However, I'm of the personal opinion that the game should be judged independently of its creator. If you're a person who values what the man behind it is like, you might want to look up more about him before buying. Overall, this is a "staple" indie game which I highly recommend. The art style is beautiful, the soundtrack is utterly fantastic, and the gameplay is only as much work as the amount of effort you choose to put into it. 10/10
• Recommended Posted July 23, 2025 on Steam A game for people who smoke, or people who drink - if you drink beer and you get drunk, or if you smoke weed and you get high. It's about this little guy in a suit, walking around. You just walk around jumping on stuff. It looks like Mario in the future.
• Recommended Posted December 23, 2025 on Steam You know, when you open the game you last played more than 10 years ago, you usually expect that game to be way worse then you remember. This game is the exact opposite. No game came even close to this level of greatness, and there is no games like these anymore. This game never left from my heart, and it will be there forever.
• Recommended Posted September 4, 2025 on Steam Braid is historically an important game because it was one of the first impactful indies to be published, and for that reason alone, it should be played. Unfortunately, I also have to say that it hasn't aged very well. The puzzles are interesting, but they're never that intriguing; they are often trivial or not very intuitive. The art style and the soundtrack, however, are still excellent. I didn't like it much, but it's a must-play for personal culture due to its historical value—but only on sale and only if you don't have other games to prioritize.
• Recommended Posted November 9, 2025 on Steam I recommend this game even though it has some serious flaws. The good part is It is a fun puzzle platformer and this version contains improved graphics which makes it look even nicer even though the original version looks fine still. The bad part is that this version adds some great puzzles but they are kinda hidden in the slog of the commentary. Why was not these puzzles just another linear world? I think many people even miss they exist. The ugly part is the commentary. Nobody asked for this and it breaks the immersion of the game, especially when it is intermixed in the new puzzles. The commentary would be a great podcast/video/article or whatever format except for doors in a video game. The audio is also really bad. I was listening to a podcast while playing the game and noticed how muffled the recordings were compared to a run of the mill podcast production. That is not good enough. So to summarize. The game is still good with mostly fun puzzles and the added ones are a great addition too but the commentary is just the wrong medium.
• Recommended Posted January 31, 2026 on Steam Braid is kind of like a dystopian Super Mario Bros. It is challenging. It is trippy. It is a classic and worth playing. If you have never played Braid, then get this anniversary edition. For anyone who has played through Braid in the past and owns the original, you should only buy this if you are a fanboy and starved for extras. I received it as a gift. I enjoyed it very much, but I would not buy it, because I already own the original. What you get with the Anniv. Ed: I played through Braid on the X-box and later on the PC. A friend gave me the Anniv. Ed. as a gift, so I played through this one also, expecting some additions. At first, I was disappointed, because nothing seemed different. After beating the game, I checked the guides and found that I could open up commentary. This unlocked all the additions - commentary for playthrough, gobs of interviews and background art/notes, and hidden levels. I wish that I had played it through this time with everything toggled on, because I then had to go back immediately after and replay it all again to explore much of the commentary. It would have been more enjoyable doing it fresh with commentary. I also learned that they had updated the graphics and sound, which upon toggling, I realized that "No, it was not my imagination that the graphics and sound had aged incredibly well - they did in fact upscale them." Hope this is helpful!