Tim is off on a search to rescue the Princess. She has been snatched by a horrible and evil monster.
This happened because Tim made a mistake.
Take Super Mario Bros., add a few unlimited time powers, put it in front of an animated impressionistic canvas, throw in some seriously mind bending puzzles and add a truckload of symbolism, and you have Braid. You control Tim as he searches for a Distressed Damsel, while stomping various odd creatures to progress through levels and collect puzzle pieces. Tim can rewind, create Doppelgängers, slow time, and manipulate special objects and enemies that are either exempt or particularly vulnerable to his control of time, depending on the theme of the level.Warning: The following tropes contain multiple spoilers that will essentially ruin the game for you. Do not read them if you intend to experience the game the way it was meant to be experienced.
This game provides examples of:
Abnormal Ammo: Some cannons shoot out clouds. Others shoot manheadsmooks.
In the epilogue, there are several books, some green and some red, and several locations where you can hear a woman's voice. Make sure a RED book on a given screen is open, then go to the place on the screen where you hear the woman's voice.
The text changes to the same stories, but in the perspective of unspecified females. A man rescuing a woman in Manhattan? The woman is being abducted. The atomic bomb being invented? A woman is expressing disappointment in humanity. A child jilted for not being able to go into a candy store? His mother is waiting until he's older.
Affectionate Parody: We have flags, castles, goombas, princesses, piranha plants, and the original level of Donkey Kong where our parodied hero originated. Someone really likes Super Mario Bros..
And undeniably the best example of all- "I'm sorry but your princess is in another castle."
Anachronic Order: The first world is World 2, and World 1 is only unlocked after you collect every puzzle piece.
Not to mention that you start World 1 at 1-4, and PLAY BACKWARDS to 1-1!
Big Bad: Inverted, as the supposed villain in the final level, when you turn time back to its regular state, was in fact rescuing the Distressed Damsel from you. See also Fridge Horror.
Oh, you mean in the same room? Ah — you see, when you rewind time, you retraced your steps to before you picked up that key or puzzle piece, so you also un-picked it up. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Usually.
Damage Discrimination: Mostly avoids the "no infighting" rule — environmental hazards do not discriminate between Tim and his enemies which is a bad thing in situations where you are using enemies as, say, springboards to puzzle pieces, and enemies can Goomba Stomp each other. They don't go out of their way to fight each other, though.
Game Over: Averted, as there is no way to get a Game Over. Dying does nothing except freeze time in the game, waiting for you to rewind.
Gameplay and Story Segregation: Back-and-forth example: If you believe some of the theories out there, a large portion of the gameplay and story is tightly interwoven. If you believe other theories out there, then chances are they will tell you that 90% of the text before each world does not relate to the plot, nor the actual puzzles. Quite a paradox, eh?
Goomba Stomp: The only method of attack. Well, that and the occasional chandelier. There are also a few puzzles that involve letting a not-Goomba stomp you. That popping sound you hear is your freaking mind being blown.
Goomba Springboard: Crucial for completing some of the puzzles. You gain additional height by stomping multiple goombas, as well.
Inverted for one of the hardest puzzles, by keeping that one not-goomba bouncing.
The Law of Conservation of Detail: If you can interact with it, it's probably vital to figuring out a puzzle. In fact, the designer and art director specifically stated that they structured the graphics in such a way that only the important stuff stands out.
Confusingly averted in the last screen of the Epilogue. That cloud literally does nothing, yet it's so prominent. This probably spawned the most Epileptic Trees, as it's the only thing in the game that serves no purpose that's brought to your attention.
It doesn't help that for completionists, the cloud and its puffs will probably make them think of the cloud in the second level of the game that DOES move, much as it seems otherwise, and DOES lead to somewhere very useful, albeit at a very slow pace.
Jonathan Blow in an early PC Gamer interview stated one of the games' main influences is Infocom's Trinity. Ya don't say...
Among the many alleged Trinity Test references, the first stage of the game is "Three Easy Pieces".
The quotes in the epilogue were made by physicists J. Robert Oppenheimer and Kenneth Bainbridge upon witnessing the Trinity Test, respectively "It worked" and "Now we are all sons of bitches."
The Ending Changes Everything: For both endings. In the first, Tim is a stalker chasing the Princess. The secret ending implies that (it might be best to not click this if you haven't found the secret ending yet)
the game is an allegory for nuclear weapons development: the Princess is the split atom, and Tim is a scientist.
Time Master: Tim, at least within the realm of his imagination.
Title Drop: Twice, but with no clear indication to its significance.
Uncommon Time: "Long Past Gone", 7 measures of 3/4 then one of 2/4. Or maybe one of 12/4 than one of 11/4, or 6 measures of 3/4 and one of 5/4. Depends on how you split it up.
Violation of Common Sense: Some of the puzzles, such as the ones that requires you to jump into Spikes of Doom to retrieve a key and then rewind to pull Tim out.
Wham Level: World 1-1. Tim isn't actually a Knight in Shining Armor, he's a crazy stalker who the princess is trying to run away from, and the "horrible monster" is a real Knight In Shining Armor that is rescuing her from Tim. Yes, it's a Mind Screw.
1 reviews