Braid-Coming for PC-What's it Like?

Has anyone played this game? I guess it's an indie that came out for XBox Live(?) but is supposedly coming out on PC. What I'm reading is that it's gotten a lot of praise for being a retro"puzzle/platformer." Is it similar to Puzzle Quest, or is it more like those grueling older games like Myst with puzzles that require intense manual dexterity and patience to solve? I don't mind mental anguish as long as the solution doesn't require ESP, but I absolutely hated Rune for making me drown repeatedly trying to find obscure underwater clues…

Here's what some people at Eurogamer say about it:

Kristan Reed: When people of a certain vintage go all misty-eyed about games from the 80s and early 90s, it's because they really don't make them like they used to. Except now they do, thanks to the marvels of cheap digital distribution and studios willing to take a chance on wistful 2D games with an ethereal atmosphere and cunning level design. Games like Braid, LBP, echochrome, N+ and LostWinds sate that retro desire that always burns away without having to be disappointed once the rose-tinted specs come off.

Kieron Gillen: Before Braid came out, I found myself talking to a developer friend late at night. We'd both got hold of the pre-release version of Braid, and we'd both had the same experience. We sat down and had a quick play and thought… actually, yes, this is clearly very good, but I'm going to have to come back when I can give it my full attention. Compared to most games - and most action games, especially - it's not one you can just have a little fiddle. Braid demands your full brain. And if you give yourself over to Braid, it will reward you. It's the game which provoked the most pretentious purple prose of the year. And the strangest thing about all those references which were thrown up - they were all true. Braid contained all those elements….

So anyone know anything about this one?

Looks like fun. A game of the sort that isn't being produced for the PC platform anymore …


And no, I don't know it …

I thought so, too, Alrik, but I'm not tremendously good at puzzles, so was curious how hardcore it was…

Ah, well, maybe some of our XBox players will have heard of it.

I'll check it out later if nobody else mentions it.

I played the demo today.

I have to say that I'm very impressed. The graphics are nice; quite artsy. I'm not very knowledgeable when it comes to artists but it did remind me of Monet. Along with the music it seems like a very relaxing, beautiful and at the same time eerie game.

When I get some time this weekend I'll be buying the full version.

EDIT: To answer your questions a little better - It was about as hard as mario bros. The only real mental problems (that I saw in the demo) were jig-saw puzzle mini games.

Ok, I take back what I said earlier. The demo didn't really show just how hard this game is. For example… there is a level with 6 ehh… things(?) that you have to kill. They are all on their own platform and they walk back and forth. When you walk to the right time flows forward and when you walk to the left it flows backward. I might not be explaining it very well but basically you can kill something and then move onto the next one but due to the flow of time what you just killed is no longer dead. It can be quite frustrating although rewarding to figure out the puzzles.

Sounds very very cool. Hopefully they'll work up a PC demo soon. Thanks for taking the time to check it out, Korplem…I can't believe you're playing videogames when you could be out in the sun and surf having a brew or two, but maybe that gets old after all the years you've been there.

Actually, I'm glad you asked about it. If you hadn't, I wouldn't have even tried the game.

And, I do still go to the beach every now and then, if only to please the girlfriend…
But, yes, paradise does lose it's luster after a while. All I see these days is endless traffic on a small island. When it takes 40 minutes to go one mile, I die a little inside.

It's a great game I have completed the first 4 worlds' jigsaws. It is nothing like Puzzle Quest and can be quite taxing and is a little surreal. It's really fiddly in parts but you can just rewind and try again until you achieve what you are attempting.

Each world allows you to manipulate time in a different manner and there is plenty of spite in its little metaphoric story. Can't think of anything else like it - an arty platformer.

My favourite of last year.

Latest on this one--it should be out next month for PC.

From everyone's descriptions, it may be too hard for me, but I'm hoping there'll be a demo I can experiment on as it sounds like a game that's worth a try.