Braid is one of the finest games I have played all year. Much like portal last year, braid is a game that can be completed by the average gamer in about 6 hours. The story in braid is intentionally vague to leave people talking about the games impressive climax for a long time. The puzzles in braid are a real challenge, and require some serious thought on the part of the player. To describe any of the puzzles would be spoiling most of the fun of the game which is solving the devilishly clever puzzles. The presentation for the game is amazing as well. Beautifully rendered artwork, amazing sound design, and an extremely simple to navigate overworld. Even after you have collected all the puzzle pieces there is still more to complete. 8 stars are hidden throughout the games 6 worlds, and finding these stars without the aide of a guide would probably take forever. Finding all 8 stars nets you an alternate ending and a slightly tweaked opening screen. Also after you complete the game the first time a speedrun mode unlocks. Overall braid is easily one of the best games I have played all year, and much like portal last year, seemed to almost come out of nowhere for me. I can easily recommend this tittle to any one interested in videogames.… Expand

A beautiful and entertaining game that is well worth the 1200 points it asks for. The depth and subtleties of the storyline will keep me intrigued for years.

Some of the puzzles seem down right impossible at first but have such clever and elegant solutions. They will leave you with a great sense of accomplishment when you finally do solve them. Also the ending level is a treat.

Amazing... imaginative. Starts out real slow, but once you learn the mechanics of the world it is so satisfying to play. Lining up levels, moving things, changing time just to have an enemy fall so you can get a puzzle piece... brilliant.

*9.4* Music and visuals create an atmosphere that is spot on. Puzzles that push your mind out of its comfort zone. A story that is left to interpretation and an ending that is presented better than any game before it.

Braid is a very fun and innovative game that is only hampered by its extreme difficulty.

Decent game that is worth supporting but gets frustrating later on. If you don't enjoy staring at puzzles for an hour and feeling stupid because you can't figure it out, only to figure it out and then start feeling stupid all over again on the next puzzle, you might want to stay away. Otherwise you will enjoy this game.

Braid certainly is fun, however certain puzzles will just aggravate you (*cough World 4 *cough). My real problem with the game is that you don't need to do any puzzles to get to the next world (other than the 2 boss fights). Braid's biggest strengh is the intensity of the puzzles (Some are extremly hard but leads to those "Eueka" moments) but for them to be an optional part of Braid is like saying "Halo 3, shooting enemies optional". The only other problem with Braid is the price. 1200 microsoft points is a little too much for such a short game (800 is a more resonable price). If you're looking for the god of all brain teasers, Braid is right up you're ally.… Expand

Challenging and ultimately very rewarding when you figure out the tougher puzzles. Can be frustrating in places as some puzzles require perfect timing etc but when you finish and figure out the tougher challenges you really feel a sense of accomplishment.

Positive - Time-Splitting mechanics were unexplored at the time.
The game is brilliant adn bueatiful.
The characters are relatable.

Gripes - Too expensive. (On XBLA, on STEAM it's only $6)
Sometimes you play the same levels except with a different Time-Split mechanic.

A 2D platformer that makes clever use of time control mechanics, such as rewinding and speeding up time, to create some well thought out puzzles. The subtle hints as to what is actually going on in terms of plot will also intrigue most players enough to have them looking on forums for other peoples thoughts.

Braid is a clever, lovingly-crafted platform-puzzler that is by turns frustrating and transcendent. It suffers from an awkwardly over-intellectualized story and total lack of replay value after figuring out the "gotcha" mechanics and gimmicks of the puzzles, but is an enjoyable and refreshingly intelligent experience the first time through.

While the actual gameplay held my interest for perhaps two hours, most of the gameplay is derivative and tedious. The narrative, on the other hand, is not particularly compelling despite obvious effort to make it unique and different. I don't buy into the "art" of the experience, since it was like reading teen angst poetry. You may enjoy it more than I did if you like puzzle platformers, which I don't care for.… Expand

The term over-rated is what Braid falls into comfortably. Don't get me wrong, there is a deep and sensual feeling about it, but Mario Galaxy is more instantly playable and gratifying. And as for the in-game music, drowning cats spring to mind. The premise is smart, and I did like the rewind time aspect ala Prince of Persia, but it becomes too repetitive and frustrating very quickly. The last insult is 1200 points to buy it off marketplace, RIP OFF! 800 would just about been acceptable, but whoever set that price hopefully has been slapped repeatedly with a wet fish!… Expand

Pretty good but ultimately kind of unfulfilling. I got to the end and will never look at it again.

Sadly this game just hasn't shown me whatever is getting it 10s and 100s. I've only played the demo because that should really be showing me what I can come to expect from the game so there may be some secret I'm missing out on, however, what I played was something that felt like a Freeware game of the 90s. The graphics and sound didn't leap out at me, feeling very generic and used in 100 platformers before it. The gameplay, although refreshingly simple, was again, generic gameplay that had been done 100 times before and the time mechanics, perhaps they are used in a more creative way later on, was just another 'Rewind time to avoid death' mechanic used in 100 games before it. Obviously this is another niche game that you either get or don't get and sadly, although I was curious about it since it was hyped up as something special, it fell way short of my expectations and felt like another Mario Brothers clone with rewind time.… Expand

Evil, ambiguous (not in a good way) and depressing story. Early to mid 1980s gameplay and graphics. The music was good though, unless you are Chinese or German (no oompa loompa, caterwauling here, thank God). Levels are not lateral thinking masterpieces but, 'tweaky' repetitive grunt work. The reason it has got 10/10s across the board is unfoundered, just like gorje bush's inception. Don't believe the hype and don't spend your hard earned money on it. BRAID IS COMPLETELY OVERRATED CRAP THAT YOU CAN HONESTLY DO WITHOUT.… Expand

What starts out as "New" or "innovative" quickly becomes stale and mundane. Toss in a too high price tag and a little too much hype and this one just doesn't pan out.

I really do not think Braid deserves much review wise, while it is a very pretty game visually, the game itself holds no replay value what so ever. If you have beaten Braid once, you have beaten it 1000 times. While you can go through the speed runs afterward, it really is not far off the beaten path of just playing the game normally, just more aggravating. I do not think braid deserves anything more than I gave it, and most certainly I do not think Braid should cost so much on the XBL arcade. There are very few games I would pay $15 Dollars to play through once.… Expand

Only played the demo. Did not hold my interest enough to spend $15.

While Braid plays with interesting concepts, making time an unreliable force, it ultimately suffers from some rather nasty design flaws that shock me for having gone unmentioned in the major reviews. Braid does something no game should do. The game will introduce gameplay elements that are without precedent in the entire game up to that point and will not inform (or even hint to you) that a new element is there. For example, there is a part where a certain object appears unreachable. It turns out the way to solve it is to use another object in the game as a platform to jump on. The problem is, you have never used this sort of object as a platform in the game thus far, you never do it again, and the game never tells you that you can, it doesn't even subtly hint. I had to go to FAQ to find out. Had I spent hours messing with the game I never would have figured it out. A game should never introduce a 1-off exception to a game's rule-set like this. It is not something the vast majority of people would ever figure out because it contradict their entire experience up to that point. I would liken it to Mario needing to jump on a spiked enemy in only 1 place in only 1 level in the entire game. The game designers breaking their own rules is not innovative, it is bad design. The game also introduces a new game mechanic every world, but never explains these mechanics. The player is often left unsure of how the rules work or are applied from world to world. All-in-all Braid is interesting but deeply flawed. The reviewers would have done well to look past the game's indie glow and look at it critically. Braid is often frustrating, not enjoyable, and disappointing.… Expand

I don't get it. I could only play this game for 15 minutes before I determined it was a total boring waste of time. I wouldn't call it innovative.

I would have given it a 2 if it wasn't so over hyped... the music is great, but it is a really slow and boring game that recycles the Mario formula (I actually got mad when I got to the part where a dinosaur apeared from out of a castle and said "I'm sorry but the princess is in another castle"... I laughed, but as well I felt insulted) to the point it feels .

Despite the reviews, this game is a piece of trash. I'm sorry but there's nothing to do. It's utter bullshit...and overpriced.