Are We Ready for Braid?
August 8, 2008
Microsoft’s Summer of Xbox Live continued this week with Braid, the highly anticipated game from indie developer Jonathan Blow. Microsoft’s PR firm was kind enough to provide me with a download of the game, and while I’m far from finished with it, I did get a chance to play through the opening stages. It’s a game that brings up many questions, like “how do I get that puzzle piece?” or “how does this story end?” While I’m certainly interested in finding those answers, there’s a much larger question about the game in my mind: How will the first art game on the platform that Halo built be received by the audience?
If you read one of the countless Braid threads on the video game message boards out there, you will find one near-universal reaction to the game: glowing praise. The game is currently sitting at a whopping 92% on Metacritic, with reviewers declaring it an innovative piece of art that shouldn’t be missed. And yet, I suspect there may be a Braid backlash on the way. While playing the game, I asked myself if this is the type of game that Xbox 360 players want. It would be reductive and lazy to claim that the people who made Halo 3, Call of Duty 4, Gears of War and Grand Theft Auto IV the top-selling games on the platform can’t or won’t have any interest in an introspective and thoughtful puzzle/action game, but it is hard to deny that the Xbox 360 is a platform largely built on action games. Even amongst the titles in the Summer of Xbox Live Arcade promotion, Braid is the oddity, sandwiched between the blistering shooter Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 and the nostalgia-fueled action of Bionic Commando Rearmed. It is the only title of the five high-profile arcade games that doesn’t involve some kind of shooting. Microsoft knows what type of games fuels purchasing decisions on its console, and it is action.
Time will answer my question for me about whether or not Braid is a hit on Xbox Live Arcade (although what defines a “hit” is different for the audience, the developer, and Microsoft), but I have a feeling about how it will go. Critical acclaim for artistic games has yet to translate into huge sales numbers (if anyone has data to contradict me, I’d love to hear those examples). Despite the glowing reviews, I don’t think Braid has what it takes to be the first indie game to become a crossover success. Yes, it’s beautiful and clever. It’s also slow, frustrating, and hard to summarize into an easy to digest selling point. I’ve yet to see anything suggesting that the core Xbox 360 gamer is looking for such a title, and the $15 price point is a check against it, despite the excellent point made by the Penny Arcade comic above.
I applaud Jonathan Blow and his team for what they’ve accomplished with this game. Any release that stimulates the discussion about the validity of artistic games in the market is a something to be proud of. Perhaps the audience isn’t yet ready for Braid. But perhaps it inspire some up-and-coming game designer to create his or her own art game, one that will go on to be the first true smash hit in the genre. Braid may or may not be a sales success, but either way it will be an important stepping stone in the maturation of gaming.
Ok so I bit, the demo was interesting enough. What I find kinda weird about the game is how OBVIOUS the stuff you are missing is. Being able to move through the levels as a separate issue from the puzzles is a strange game dynamic. You move forward, but see those missing pieces drives one mad. I like that allows the gamer to choose their difficulty though, and makes it so the harder puzzles aren’t dealbreakers (like the hunting boards, what a pain…).
I played a bit more this morning and solved the first world. I was pretty frustrated by those same situations where you can see something but can’t quite reach it. When I figured it out, my reaction was “oh, that’s obvious, I guess.” Accomplishment tinged with a bit of disappointment.
So I finished the game, the main story anyway, I haven’t gone to get the stars yet, or whatever the hell they are. I’ve decided that this game is the movie “Brazil”; It really doesn’t make any sense, but is just compelling enough to be enjoyable. That said, like Brazil, I feel it would have made a good rental. I really enjoyed my time playing the game, but wonder if the $15 was really worth it. Honestly, if I could, I would sell this at (insert favorite second-hand game store). It is kinda like Bioshock, once you are done with that game are you really gonna do it again and again?
On a bigger level, this is the problem I see with the live arcade. It isn’t a true market, as no price deductions take place as interest in the property wanes. For example Geometry wars 2 was just released, any change in the cost of the first? Nope. This is fine for classic arcade like games, where the point is a high score. For story based games though, which have limited replay value, I am dissapointed that they are treated the same way.
With regard to Braid, the topic of value in story based games have been discussed before. With this game, it was fantastic, but i don’t think was a good value.