by Worm » Sun Aug 17, 2008 5:42 am
So you can only find fault in my very last edit at 11 PM last night? Nice job Pinner! I concede ELMA.
Metal Gear Solid VR missions is still a better puzzle game, CRUSH is still a better puzzle game(boulderdash too now that I think about it), and Immortal Defense still displays a better conveying of a message and story.
Why can I so easily pick out a few puzzles games that are better than Braid? Well, I play more puzzle games(which is only like five, not counting online games) than most people. Everyone esteeming this game probably has just played Portal, and this game is pretty similar to it.
The genre of the game was cherry picked to offer the least possible resistance, making a platformer like Mario (which he never achieves even when he wants it to be a platformer) would require much more effort, which is something this game is pretty obviously devoid of.
The story really does just fall flat, even if you compare it to retro/arcade stories. Even SMB personalized your enemy, even Donkey Kong(and Ghosts and Goblins) showed you losing your princess. Braid gives you some books, and barely approaches the level of narrative featured in most games for a minute at the end of the game, and then it goes right back to the books.
It's designed to be important, it was was designed to be analyzed. That's why the books are so important, an abstract story makes the game seem to have more weight. This is why it's getting a pass, it's entirely a social agreement. Important blogger breaks off to make a game, rubs the right elbows, throws the right parties, and pow a mediocre game is on the lips of self-styled "gamers".
Regardless of what Kotaku thinks, what the books really do is make the game seem empty and dead. This might be part of the message, but it hurts the game.
Either people following it went into "daddy stop" levels of denial, or they really don't care that the story, puzzling, length, and over all effort are mediocre as long as they have a well presented prolific game that they can talk about. So, just wait until Braid comes out on a form you can put on your coffee table.
So you can only find fault in my very last edit at 11 PM last night? Nice job Pinner! I concede ELMA.
Metal Gear Solid VR missions is still a better puzzle game, CRUSH is still a better puzzle game(boulderdash too now that I think about it), and Immortal Defense still displays a better conveying of a message and story.
Why can I so easily pick out a few puzzles games that are better than Braid? Well, I play more puzzle games(which is only like five, not counting online games) than most people. Everyone esteeming this game probably has just played Portal, and this game is pretty similar to it.
The genre of the game was cherry picked to offer the least possible resistance, making a platformer like Mario (which he never achieves even when he wants it to be a platformer) would require much more effort, which is something this game is pretty obviously devoid of.
The story really does just fall flat, even if you compare it to retro/arcade stories. Even SMB personalized your enemy, even Donkey Kong(and Ghosts and Goblins) showed you losing your princess. Braid gives you some books, and barely approaches the level of narrative featured in most games for a minute at the end of the game, and then it goes right back to the books.
It's designed to be important, it was was designed to be analyzed. That's why the books are so important, an abstract story makes the game seem to have more weight. This is why it's getting a pass, it's entirely a social agreement. Important blogger breaks off to make a game, rubs the right elbows, throws the right parties, and pow a mediocre game is on the lips of self-styled "gamers".
Regardless of what Kotaku thinks, what the books really do is make the game seem empty and dead. This might be part of the message, but it hurts the game.
Either people following it went into "daddy stop" levels of denial, or they really don't care that the story, puzzling, length, and over all effort are mediocre as long as they have a well presented prolific game that they can talk about. So, just wait until Braid comes out on a form you can put on your coffee table.