I haven't finished Braid yet. But I've definitely formed some new opinions and reshaped some old ones in the process. First, I previously stated that I thought Braid got as close to the "games as art" grail that so many have been chasing. That was after the first and second level. Now well into the fifth level, I can truly say that I wish to stomp on Jonathan Blow's scrotum and force him to come clean with exactly what in bloody blazes he's trying to say. See, at the beginning, I thought that the "story" would make itself clear as I progressed, that there would be some natural exposure of the author's intent over my unraveling of the game's challenges.
Nope.
Strictly speaking, the narrative never reveals its purpose (at least of what I know of it so far). It's like reading high school poetry. The author is trying very hard to be symbolic and witty and creative by using imagery that is entirely personal in nature. According to Blow, some people have emailed him with their interpretation of his work and those few have it right apparently. Those of us unwashed who are too stupid or lazy (me) to spend time trying to decipher Blow's hieroglyphics are simply out of luck.
My only other complaint is something that a friend brought up. Sometimes, the puzzles are just too much sitting and staring at the level until you come up with the exact solution that the designer was thinking. I don't mind doing that to a point, but when I only have a half an hour to play, I don't feel like spending the whole time staring at and pondering the meaning of some little fuzzy glowing cannonball. Sometimes a man just wants to have some fun and not be all cerebral about it. Is that wrong?
2 comments:
Yay! Zombie blog rises again, about games no less.
[devilsadvocate]re: cerebral, I guess I shouldn't talk since I didn't like the Braid demo enough to play further, but aren't there enough non-cerebral stupid fun games out there (like 99% of the games market?). Are you really complaining about the few titles that try to do something different? [/devilsadvocate]
If you want something fun for 30 minute sessions I am still playing and highly enjoying Spelunky, though I have played C64 Spelunker and Nethack so I have a nostalgia bias.
www.spelunkyworld.com
c64 video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdMA9vXOzk8
-Evan
Good point, but I wasn't trying to say that the narrative shouldn't be intelligent or challenging, just penetrable. I want to get it. And I think I kind of get it. But so far there hasn't been any epiphany and from what I've been told by those who have finished it, there is none.
Couldn't we have a smart, serious game that communicates something in a clear, cohesive way? It's cool the way it is, but you know, someone could build a better mousetrap.
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