Just when quality XBLA games are hard to come by; along comes Braid.
The Bad: A tad expensive; a bit short.
Whenever a princess is captured, there's always a fearless hero willing to lay his life on the line hundreds of times in order to save her. Mario's done it over and over again, and what does he get? A kiss on the cheek and a continued friendship...that's it. With games like Mario, the gameplay is so amazing (most of the time) that the story is sort of an afterthought. With Braid, however, the powerful feelings of the main character, Tim, are explored, and the gameplay is simply outstanding.
The princess has been captured, and Tim (a guy in a suit who apparently has control over rewinding time) goes to the rescue. However, before every world that you visit, you are given an insight into Tim's thoughts and subconscious. He explains how he and the princess had a deep relationship, how he felt that he and the princess had a strong connection and that he'd be willing to sacrifice everything for her. The story is no doubt deep, but some will overlook it until the very last level, where a...surprise awaits.
The gameplay rotates around puzzles. With each world, you get a new time power in addition to the current one you have; rewinding and fast forwarding time. Powers range from slowing down time in a particular area, to having time fast forward and rewind when you go right and left. Also, some enemies, doors, and objects aren't affected by time. These things that aren't affected by time have a green aura around them. All of these elements mix to create tough puzzles on each world.
Other than using his time powers, Tim can only jump and look up and down. The control is set up similarly to old style Mario games. Tim can also bounce off a number of different creatures and gain momentum to reach higher places. The smallest things can solve an otherwise impossible puzzle in some cases.
The main hub is, what appears to be, Tim's house. There is about 6 worlds to explore including the last one. Each world contains puzzle pieces. The goal in each world is to collect each puzzle piece, and put them together to form a picture. Once that picture is formed, you'll be one step closer to reaching the last level.
The graphics in Braid are nice. The colors look good, animation is smooth, and the time powers look awesome. The background will occasionally change or move around, but not in a distracting manner. All in all, Braid is simply a good looking game with few flaws.
The music in Braid is very moving and adventurous, and hearing the music backwards when using your rewind power is one of those small details that'll make you think "Hey...That's pretty cool." The sound effects are also nice, and again, hearing a creature whimper after you kill it in reverse can be pretty cool as well.
The overall game is pretty short. The puzzles will take you a good amount of time to figure out, but eventually, there'll be that one that demands a guide for some people. It's a tough game, but overall, it's kind of short.
Braid is one of those games that makes you think...in a good way. It's no doubt one of the best downloadable games exclusive to the 360, and one game that simply can't be missed.