Board 8 > Braid Anniversary Edition releases tomorrow.

(+) Yeah! (+)

Enjoyed it for what it was, but it's a game I don't see myself ever playing again.

Didn't even age badly, so I don't see the point of a remaster even

Nanis23 posted...

Didn't even age badly, so I don't see the point of a remaster even

I do agree here -- played it a few months ago, still good. Also though, it's been fifteen years since this was his first big success, so I'm partly investing to see why he as an artist wants to deconstruct and reconstruct Braid despite this timelessness the original still has.

Blow sucks too much as a person for me to feel good supporting this, and it also seems generally pointless as a remaster.

So close now.

WazzupGenius00 posted...

Blow sucks too much as a person for me to feel good supporting this, and it also seems generally pointless as a remaster.

Is this about his comments regarding players playing Braid when it first came out? Or something else?

Hes a transphobe, misogynist, COVID conspiracy-spreader, and general asshole

I liked Braid, but Ive never felt compelled to play it again

like nothing against the game, it just doesnt rank

WazzupGenius00 posted...

Hes a transphobe, misogynist, COVID conspiracy-spreader, and general asshole

I'll need to research more of this. Quickly looking, the misogyny-tweet I saw about men VS women in biological programming interests shouldn't have said the difference was biological but can make sense if you're talking about modern demographics (like a decade ago, dunno if it's still true today and it wasn't true a few decades before that). I couldn't tell if that got any further clarification or doubling down or what there but like biology ain't the word there. The COVID-tweet I saw about oopsies looked pretty antagonistic in comparison though, yeah, didn't like that.

Will have to look more up later, happy to look at examples if you got 'em in the meanwhile.

What is this 40 new levels mean
Because I didn't see it before
And I don't really see it advertised anywhere else
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/d/d97bcb13.jpg

I'll barely have time to play it over the next few days but I'm not sure either. I kinda remember that being said but didn't think that was in recent marketing regarding the levels/puzzles.

Can't wait for the commentary. Graphics are indeed updated -- animations are nice, even Tim's looking-up frames looked great. Maybe the sound effects updated? I have only turned on the game but no real gameplay -- opening song is still the same.

People should be warned that of the 40 new levels, 14 are commentary indexes, 12 are alternate design with commentary and finally 13 are actually brand new with 16 puzzle pieces for a new frame.

from a reddit post.

i'm surprised though, because my first instinct was that all 40 must be just alternate versions (like beta designs or rejected levels or etc), so the fact that there's still actually new levels is impressive.

Just guessing here, but like...I hope the bathroom finally gets a use.

https://x.com/BisexualiCordy/status/1790800504974401641

Ha...got 'em. Pretty funny.

I'm three worlds into the Anniversary Edition -- it's very much the same game mechanically. Even still has the little quirks like hill-jumping momentum and ladder-jump glitches. The ladder-jump glitch was my litmus test going into this to see how much the game was being rebuilt mechanically, and so far it all seems exactly the same there.

Graphically it is once again beautiful. I played OG Braid a few months ago and it still felt timeless then, so playing this new version doesn't feel that different from how I remembered it...but last night I decided to rush through the first three worlds of OG Braid, and I can finally tell a noticable difference in graphics now. Little lighting effects and additional animations are working well here. At least one song is a slight variation of the original soundtrack, maybe two...but most of it sounds exactly the same. The sound effect for passing the flag sucks now in comparison to how it was, and I liked the simplicity of the timeless-green particles better in the original too, but overall these are positive changes.

I'm still going through it all, right, with none of the other advertised new content touched on yet like the levels or commentary...but so far, I suspect this remaster is the story of a perfectionist simmering on really little details for fifteen years and finally having new money and technology to better pursue them. Nothing so far feels necessary, but the little details are nice when compared side-by-side and I do not know yet how the new content for levels or commentary compares. While I have that perfectionist-theory, I do also have the theory that this remaster is also a story of a game designer wanting to teach more people how to make games like this -- or even if not like this, how to be more creatively open. That has yet to be seen. I do not predict this remaster came because of a burning desire for new puzzles or story details to release.

HaRRicH posted...

I suspect this remaster is the story of a perfectionist simmering on really little details for fifteen years and finally having new money and technology to better pursue them.

So, now that I've 100%'d the base game and gotten some hours into the commentary, there was a commentary quote that I'll paraphrase here:

~"This Anniversary Edition is about getting the last 10% done."

To me, this checks out. So many little details mattered much more to them than I previously did, and they mostly nailed those little differences but they are little. Cannons that fire out clouds now sound more like thunder, rabbits have better animation, they remixed a song that was previously just reusing an earlier world's song, a wall was a little clunky with reused assets until now, camera zoom that allows certain stages to be framed better for modern TVs...all those small things.

HaRRicH posted...

I do also have the theory that this remaster is also a story of a game designer wanting to teach more people how to make games like this -- or even if not like this, how to be more creatively open.

Als gonna bring this back: if you look in the credits, you'll see this game is available for free when used for educational purposes. I understood Minecraft does this. Is this common for other games? Regardless, this remaster is clearly instructional about its successes, struggles, and philosophies.

So, I'm not done yet, but I'm ready to jump to conclusions: this is absolutely the same game as before except better graphics and lots of well-done commentary.with some new puzzles interspersed along the way. The new puzzles so far are nice, but also they don't seem to be the point as much as it is about learning from the commentary...and the graphics are nicer, but not like an exceptional amount nicer unless you just love parallax.

The commentary is the reason to purchase this. It's a classic game that now comes with a teacher. Blow's trying to change the landscape and I fully expect The Witness to do a similar remaster within the decade in hopes of people making better puzzle games.

Some of the new puzzles are cool, and they spark up new curiosities to me like the original Braid did.

At least one of these was just half-baked though. I need to double-check this later, but upon reflection from quickly beating this I believe Double Barrel can be done two different ways and they're both simple ways. I also don't think you can exit the level with the puzzle piece unless you just exit the world.

Maybe I'm missing some depth there. I have some notes about a few others, but this one's stood out as the weakest so far. I wish there was commentary on these new puzzles to hear more about what they were and weren't thinking while these puzzles were fresher to them.

it's such a bummer that Blow has turned out to be so unlikable because I really liked Braid. I can't imagine wanting to listen to his commentary in 2024 but I would have been all about this in 2009.

transience posted...

it's such a bummer that Blow has turned out to be so unlikable because I really liked Braid. I can't imagine wanting to listen to his commentary in 2024 but I would have been all about this in 2009.

It bums me out super hard, The Witness is like, absolutely one of my favorite games of all time, I think it's an absolutely genius game and a truly seminal work of puzzle gaming (I've played a number of games that bear its obvious influence), and it's so bizarre to me that such a well-considered and thoughtful work could be created by someone who otherwise exhibits so little thought or consideration in the rest of his life. It's weird how humans are like that sometimes I guess

So, this is different from the intention of the topic, but I see the trend of the posts here and think this is probably more interesting anyway.

That struggle of balancing the art and the artist is fair as a consumer, I get it. I'm never going back to watch an old Chris Benoit match despite him winning at WrestleMania once being my favorite wrestling moment. I've given up on Kanye West's old music despite seeing him live and thinking his first decade of music was a legendary run (used to have his new music on a one-month delay but don't know what his latest stuff even is anymore). I haven't bothered with Dave Chappelle's latest special from earlier this year despite it being well over my one-month time-out I keep in mind for him too -- dude used to be on my bucket list of people to see live but his last two specials minimum before The Dreamer have him being a lot less thoughtful both in general and for communities I care about.

All of these performers have very different problems -- nothing equal here, right, Chappelle didn't murder his family like Benoit for example, just recognizing decisions I have made in the past about people I was once a huge fan of and some of my own behavioral changes as they drifted down paths I didn't respect.

It's a weird mix of colliding philosophies at this point then: is it "there are pros and cons to everyone," or is it "the world is big enough not to support people with different values?" Both are true and I believe in both, but also like how are you going to live your life and when do you care about the exceptions you make? I feel that battle as a consumer and also as an artist sometimes.

To bring it back on-topic: I think some of this has been ignorance on my part of how problematic Blow has been for some people, I'll own that part from before I purchased the game and I could stand to better learn his other problems. The other side of the coin here is I don't know how many other people are doing what Blow is doing -- it's harder when they feel less replaceable. There are PLENTY of other game developers, sure, but in my mind he's 2/2 for masterpieces -- not just for fun in games but for uniquely adding to the industry in ways I feel like I have grown from his games...and now he's teaching about how he made Braid in a way that up to this point has not added anything off-topic from Braid or what have you, and it's encouraging others to make these kinds of games besides him in the future.

It's weird, is all. I wanna be careful about both sides'ing this...just recognizing a new dilemma in art VS artist since it comes up sometimes.

The whole art vs. artist stuff always takes me back to my philosophy studies where Martin Heidegger was a literal Nazi but also a profound thinker who had an enormous impact on phenomenology. I don't think you can get a clearer divide than "this guy was an actual Nazi" and I feel like going through that has generally better equipped me to separate artists from their craft. It feels especially easy with Blow because really nobody has any reason to care about what he thinks about anything other than game design, which he's pretty indisputably brilliant about.

I'd probably play a new Blow game. I'm not that black and white -- but when a big appeal of the rerelease is Blow narrating the game, I'm out.

transience posted...

I'd probably play a new Blow game. I'm not that black and white -- but when a big appeal of the rerelease is Blow narrating the game, I'm out.

Yeah same

Okay, think I did everything I can do with Braid Anniversary Edition.

If you liked Braid: this is exactly the same mechanically/narratively and its visual/audio upgrades are just enough to help it appear in 2024 like you remember it appearing in 2008.

If you're looking for the new content: the new puzzles are generally fun, but think of them more as extensions of the commentary than their own world(s). The commentary is overall excellent, though sometimes you can hear Blow be a little high on his horse. It's funniest when interviewers are trying to discuss other games and he keeps trying to bring the discussion back to Braid. He was able to dodge most attempts made here...but he let his guard down twice with disappointment in how Portal 2 has influenced puzzle games (mainly with that one-puzzle-at-a-time the-puzzle-is-finding-the-missing-piece format). It makes me think he does not like Portal beyond its humor, but it also makes me want to listen to their in-game commentary too. I really liked his rant against splash screen, though I don't wholly agree on his reasoning for why. There was a moment or two where he not only shared his successes but also helped you feel included in the successes like as a learning moment (main example is getting the new overworld song when he's talking about songs that inspired him but originally being too scared to ask for the rights to a song back then as opposed to now, letting you the designer know to pursue what you want because you might get it).

This is not necessary at all if you just want to replay Braid -- it's nice, it's better, the new puzzles are fine with some that stand out more, but it's just not necessary in these ways. This is much more fascinating to replay if you're looking at it like an educational resource.

The original couldn't hook me long enough to finish it so why would I buy it again

Not gon' lie, you probably wouldn't.

So this is a bit off topic, but I think we're past the point where we should have stoped demonizing Chris Benoit. I watched that man do flying headbutts and taking a steel chair to the head enough times that I'm 100% confident he had CTE. He didn't do what he did because he was a monster, he did it because he had irreversible brain damage.

Paratroopa1 posted...

transience posted...
I'd probably play a new Blow game. I'm not that black and white -- but when a big appeal of the rerelease is Blow narrating the game, I'm out.
Yeah same

Similar for me. I think Braid was also just not as impactful to me as The Witness was, so I'm far less interested in revisiting it. And Blow's narration is not exactly adding any appeal.

But yeah, I'd probably play a new game from him.