Braid

[Purkake]

I like stuff that makes sense in the end.

 

It all makes sense, I was just disappointed. That's why I compared it to Donnie Darko. You watch the film and you have your own interpretation and all's right with the world, it was a great experience. Then you watch the directors cut which apparently attempts to give an official explanation but the creators interpretation is kind of a let down and you're left with a sour taste. "Really, that's what it's supposed to be about? Whatever dude."

 

That thread you linked to had a message from the creator stating he doesn't comment on what the game is "about", because it's not his role, but there really isn't much room for interpretation when the epilogue pretty much spells it out for you. Imagine reading and enjoying a novel, and then in the last few pages the writer talks directly to the reader and explains how the events of the story were actually a metaphor for blah blah blah.... Which is why I recommend not bothering with the epilogue.

 

Of course loads of people play the epilogue, declare the creator a genius and then go back and analysis every bit of the game to see how it fits in with the "official" interpretation, so maybe that's more your thing. Alternatively ignore the story stuff and play it just for the puzzles.

 

I pretty much agree. At the end of the last level you think you understand what it's about and feel pretty good for figuring it out, but then in the epilogue the "real" meaning rears it's ugly head and I feel like the developer one-upped me. It's like he wanted to make two stories, but only had money for one so he stuck them together.

 

EDIT: I just linked the analysis so that everyone could consider the "real" story, it's not all that obvious. After suffering through all those puzzles you deserve to know the ultimate truth.

Edited April 14, 2009 by Purkake

[Wrath of Dagon]

The analysis was interesting, thanks, I didn't even realize

there was alternate text, or stars for that matter

. I have to say the story makes more sense to me now, whereas before it didn't at all.

Edited April 14, 2009 by Wrath of Dagon

[Kaftan Barlast]

You read the story crap? Yeah, the princess is really his girlfriend whatever that went all emo and went off somewhere. Dont care.

[Purkake]

You read the story crap? Yeah, the princess is really his girlfriend whatever that went all emo and went off somewhere. Dont care.

 

And if you read it really hard, you'll find out that

the Princess is actually the atomic bomb

. Weird, eh?

 

I can't say that the puzzle part was particularly great. It required pinpoint jumps and timing resulting in major frustration. Also, having to use the actual puzzle to get the remaining pieces in the first world(that is world 2) is just pretentious.

Edited April 14, 2009 by Purkake

[Enoch]

If Portal made you go "which way is up", then Alien vs Predator 2 with alien will make your head asplode.

Not a game I would ever be likely to try, but I'll keep that in mind. Other first-person game have bothered me, too, but this can usually resolved by turning off the option that makes your view bob up and down as your character walks.

[Purkake]

If Portal made you go "which way is up", then Alien vs Predator 2 with alien will make your head asplode.

Not a game I would ever be likely to try, but I'll keep that in mind. Other first-person game have bothered me, too, but this can usually resolved by turning off the option that makes your view bob up and down as your character walks.

 

Yeah, a lot of people get motion sickness with games. I sometimes get it with movies when the view zooms in or out really fast or the camera gets yanked around a lot(Blair Witch Project etc.)

[Moatilliatta]

I've played Braid and liked it.

 

The puzzles are hard but quite inventive since they rely on a game mechanic that we aren't familiar with. You'll be able to solve the problems if you're willing to understand the mechanics and actually look at the problems.

 

The story is neither well written or particularly interesting but it gets points for actually trying to be something different than mutant invasion XVII.

 

You won't like it if you're an ignoramus.

 

@Portal is EZ LoLz

I think this is missing the point by miles. Part of why Portal was really good is that it managed to teach you the mechanics of its puzzles in such a way so you wouldn't have to work to solve the problems.

 

I don't think Portal tried to be hard.

 

I also don't see why you must hate GLaDOS if you liked Shodan.

[Hurlshort]

I get motion sickness from some games, but surprisingly Portal was not one of them. Of course, It was relatively short, so it could just be the lack of exposure.

[Hell Kitty]

^What other games cause motion sickness for you? I sometimes get it from old 3D FPS. Especially bad on old 2.5D stuff like DN3D and Doom.

[Tigranes]

I'm mildly interested. I played World of Goo when it came out and really enjoyed it.

 

I have to say that I can see Kaftan's side of things though. In fact I'd lean towards it just for balance. WoG was way too overhyped because of its level of polish and its indie circumstances. Goo is cute and is very tightly put together, but it's not "wildly innovative", it's just one of thsoe good puzzle/adventure games that keep it fresh and smart; it's not "stunningly beautiful/charming", it's just whimsical and lackadaisacal without being fantastic. That itself is a difficult balance to strike (and Goo's completely meaningless filler story threatened to break down that illusion at times), so it's commendable, but it's not "OMGOMGOMG".

 

Never tried Portal for various reasons, and obviously yet to try Braid, but they seem similar to me. Great stuff and even better they're indie, but hyped too much by people who try to invest in them more meaning and value than the works can handle.

[Hurlshort]

^What other games cause motion sickness for you? I sometimes get it from old 3D FPS. Especially bad on old 2.5D stuff like DN3D and Doom.

 

It's limited to FPS games. Mostly the ones that move really fast, Call of Duty 4 was pretty bad for me. I can stomach them for about an hour and that's it.

[Kaftan Barlast]

The only game Ive ever got that from was Deadspace because the camera bobs and jiggles around all the time. But it could have been something I ate.

 

 

COD4s camera is rock-solid, no one should have problem with that. Unless, you move the mouse around all the time.

[Wrath of Dagon]

PC Braid has a level editor! http://www.joystiq.com/2009/04/15/braid-pc...a-level-editor/

[Hurlshort]

COD4s camera is rock-solid, no one should have problem with that. Unless, you move the mouse around all the time.

 

wut?

 

 

Pretty much every FPS will eventually give me a headache and nausea. Some just take longer than others. I suppose if I suffered from Parkinsons disease, it could be from my mouse control, but it more likely has to do with my brain and vision.

[rainwarrior]

COD4s camera is rock-solid, no one should have problem with that. Unless, you move the mouse around all the time.

 

wut?

 

 

Pretty much every FPS will eventually give me a headache and nausea. Some just take longer than others. I suppose if I suffered from Parkinsons disease, it could be from my mouse control, but it more likely has to do with my brain and vision.

 

 

Every first person game deals with the problem that your monitor takes up a very narrow part of your actual field of view. If they rendered a field of view that matched that, it would be very hard to see the world around you effectively. Like, if you make a tube with your hand, and put it in front of your eye, you can probably see all of your monitor through it, but try to imagine going through your whole day only seeing this. So the field of view that is rendered is artificially expanded to help your awareness of the game world, but you end up with this disparity between the 3D field of view that is being simulated by your monitor and the actual field of view that your monitor takes up. This is problem inherent in the genre; it is not really something that better camera code can fix. It might be something that a bigger monitor can fix, though. The move to widescreen has helped this problem a lot, I think.

 

It doesn't bother everyone, but it certainly does bother a lot of people.