XBOX Marketplace [Braid]: Best platformer this decade?

[Nuriko]

Got frustrated last night at those 2-3 pieces in the first world so had given up. Tried again today with a more sober mindset and figured them out in a few minutes, and yeah, was a facepalm moment. Good stuff.

[Cydewinder]

Pic related: http://www.penny-arcade.com/images/2008/20080808.jpg

[Sqwunk]

I played through the Demo again and on those 2 pieces that are hard to get.

Spoiler: show

Turns out some of the first few puzzle pieces you get give you half of the platform in the puzzle, and if you're patient enough, you can use the half platform to jump across and bring the little dude down to jump on him.

[Lockecole7]

Pretty sure it's multiplat, not just forthe xbox marketplace. Maybe a title change?

It'll be out on the PC, but not yet...so atm it's only XBOX exclusive.

[Lockecole7]

WTF @ 8 stars hidden in the game, all of which are somewhere outside of the originally viewable screen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yxKL...eature=related

Still theory behind it, if it effects the game at all.

[Zosi]

Finished this tonight. Going to talk in spoiler tags because it's about the ending.

Spoiler: show

Does anyone else feel like the "extra layers" of storytelling that were revealed in the Epilogue detracted from the rest of the game? It was by far one of the best platformers I've played in my gaming career, and I enjoyed the basic level "Princess" story, but I really just feel like the deeper stuff was completely unnecessary and pointless. It wasn't really much of a story-driven game at all until the Epilogue, and then they throw all this heavy shit at you that had nothing to do with why the game was good in the first place. Why can't a princess just be a princess? The deeper stuff may have made the game more of a "work of art", but I actually like it less as a game now that I understand more of the subtext.

For non-spoiler stuff, it really is a fantastic game. The difficulty was (imo) just right, the art was all amazing, and the puzzles were unique and fun even when they were literal copies of a previous puzzle with a different world's mechanics. For as short as it was, I think it was worth every penny, and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a good platformer.

[Deejay]

Just finished the trial and had a good laugh at the mario shout out. I'm about to go download the full game. This looks like it'll probably be my favorite download on XBL.... \

I really respect how well the developer borrowed all the characteristics that people love about Mario. (And this is coming from a person who hates it when people compare every 2-D platformer to Mario.) The game feels strikingly similar but it still maintains it's own special look/feel. If you have an Xbox and you haven't downloaded the trial, I'm 100% positive that you will not be disappointed.

[Norellicus]

Bumpish-

I feel like I'm being whooshed by some inside joke about "stars", I haven't seen a single star, nor have there been any parts of the levels that seemed inaccessible but appeared to want you to be landing on them...is it all a ruse or am I missing some colossal part of this game? Only achievement I have left is for speed runs (and quite frankly fuck that, I despise cerebral games that encourage speed like that), so I can't help but wonder if it's some inside joke to make people go batty trying to find some otherwise undiscovered part of the game.

I see the youtube link up there but I can't view youtube, is it for real?

[Gafgarionn]

no they're real, they're just really hard to find. they don't do anything for you either.

[Noobta]

Yes, the game has stars. One takes like 2 hours to get

[Norellicus]

Well I don't even know where to start looking, so if they really exist then Yahtzee has it bang on, that's a dick thing to do. >8|

[MisterBob]

The stars are pretty much cool little secrets hidden in the game. They serve no real purpose, and don't have much to do with the story or anything. You can't be serious about complaining about a cool little addition that harms nothing, can you? They're just there to reward people who like to explore every inch of the games they buy.

[Norellicus]

I'm not really complaining about the addition of them so much as the execution; we're not just talking about a random easter egg hidden in some far-off corner of the game that rewards people for exploring, we're dealing with a whole facet to the puzzles that I'd love to have explored while I played that they give no indication that it even exists. Now rather than explore it, I'm just annoyed that it's even there, because I felt satisfied that I had completed the tasks that the game's creator had set before me, only to discover an apparent whole set of challenges that were completely overlooked.

[MisterBob]

we're not just talking about a random easter egg hidden in some far-off corner of the game that rewards people for exploring

That's exactly what the stars are.

[Norellicus]

Yes or no: do they make you apply the time elements to reach them?

If no, then I agree. If yes, my point stands.

[Maxxthepenguin]

The stars are there as a tool to make obsessive collectors more self-aware that they have fucking problems

(I wouldn't be surprised if that was true tbh)

[Teppo]

How do I get these said stars?

[Lockecole7]

Yes all of the stars involve using the games time modes, and yes they're a lot of fun and very unique and challenging. Probably had more fun getting and figuring out the 8 than the 60 stars. (None of which I looked up or cheated on in anyway.)

Spoiler: show

The stars do actually play somewhat of a part in the game, they create the constellation in the beginning of the game and let you view it by pressing up. The constellation is of a princess and relates to the princess in the game.

Also there's an ACTUAL story to the game which doesnt involve actual princesses and refers to past historical events. Honestly it's all pretty impressive how they incorporate it all. Check this Topic out for the hidden storyline behind it all. (Yes it's all legit.)

http://www.rllmukforum.com/index.php?showtopic=190136

Above is probably a spoiler also, so read with discretion.

[Teppo]

How do you actually figure that all out ingame again? o.o

[Lockecole7]

How do you actually figure that all out ingame again? o.o

Well some of the quotes are direct quotes from things that happened when people viewed the

Spoiler: show

atomic bomb explosion for the first time.

It's mainly realizing that there's gaps in the story and a hint of vagueness (ok a lot of vagueness) that if you realize is meant to mean more, can open up your interpretation of what exactly all of the metaphors are pointing to.

But yeah honestly... the only thing that made me realize there was more to the story was that a lot of the quotes didnt make sense, and I knew everything in this game was put in for a reason. Honestly though I had no clue that it was about what it ended up being until I read that thread.