Unique, serene, enchanting, By God...Braid is video games.
There is many reviews praising the story, the gameplay and the style. Well, this is one more for the list. If you can manage to go spoiler free into Braid, you will be blown away. Not because it is the hugest twist in video game history (what a twist!), but because it is done so well, so casually, so perfectly.
You control Tim, a person who can rewind and slow time, and have this funky shadow in one world do his past actions. The controls are simple (jump, rewind, thats it!) but the puzzles are hard. There are a few where gamefaqs will seem to be calling to you. But oh my, does it feel good when you figure it out.
The concept is simple, you collect pieces of a puzzle on your way to find the princess. There is great throw backs to Mario with "the princess is in another castle". The pieces range from easy to very damn hard. So hard that you'll see an hour slip buy just to get that perfect jump, that perfect moment.
At first look, you can run through the game. It seems over intimadating, it seems strange. As you start to understand just how far the rewind features are, and how deep the gameplay is for such simple controls, your fears will be unfounded.
And yes, you have the superb story to go with it. You'll probably be confused but at least you will be something, not you know, pressing "A" to skip to your cut scenes. The story here is told through stories, so you have the option to run right by the books, but that is just throwing your money away. Braid will reward you for paying attention. And thinking. Lots and lots of thinking.
This game is by far the best original Live Arcade game to date, and could seriously be considered best Arcade game anyways. It is a little expensive (1600 MS points I believe?), but this is videogaming.
Unique, serene, enchanting and memorable. In a market where simple sells too easily, and mediocore is considedred a success, Braid is the fresh air in your virtual collection. It is a game you will want to tell friends about. It is a short expereince, but a expereince any video gamer should take.