Braid is one of the best games I have ever played. Plain and simple.
I think I was most surprised by the moving story of the game. The story is told in a perfect way. At the beginning of each of the six worlds, there are books, and each book has a little paragraph telling you a little bit of the story. Each of these paragraphs is wonderfully written, and the whole story comes together amazingly at the end. You play as a guy named Tim who is in search of the princess. Now, a lot of games have had this plot, but Braid adds a whole new dimension to the standard plot in a way that is actually powerful. You learn about why Tim is searching for the princess, and what he feels. It's surprisingly personal, and easy to relate to. I found a couple of moments where I was getting teary-eyed because it hit so close to home. No video game has ever done that to me before.
The gameplay is what truly makes Braid though. It's a puzzle game where you must collect puzzle pieces in each level. There are anywhere from 1-4 puzzle pieces in each level, and in order to get these puzzle pieces, you'll have to use time manipualtion. In the first world, it's just the ability to rewind time. In the second world, you'll come across objects that aren't affected by time manipulation. Then after that it gets... interesting. World's 3-6 each has their own time manipulation tool that is only used in that world. As such, the game is perfectly paced so that right when you get used to the concepts in one world, you're moving on to the next one. It keeps your brain working, and I found myself thinking in ways I have never thought before while playing this game. It's an incredible feeling.
Another thing that is great about the game's pacing is that you don't have to collect puzzle pieces to proceed. You need to collect all 60 in order to see the game's unbelievably artistic conclusion, but you can go through the game not collecting a single one, then go back and collect them once you reach the end. This is where Braid could have been frustrating as hell, but because you can just keep on going, you never feel stuck. And you can always go back to that puzzle piece later. This is something that is simple, yet very important to ensure that the game is always fun, because this game is hard. Every single puzzle in this game is geniously and meticuoulsy crafted, which means that there will be some puzzles that will have you thinking, "This is impossible." As such, you may be tempted to use an online guide. DO NOT USE A GUIDE! Because when you do solve these tough puzzles (and you will, trust me) you will feel like a genious.
The art direction in the game is beautiful. The game looks like is was made out of crayons, and stencils, which makes for a really cool effect. You simply need to see the worlds of this game because they are borderline breath taking. The music is what truly makes the game complete though. The game's score in the overworld is incredible for lack of a better term, and the music in the levels is also incredible for lack of a better term. This game's presentation really is amazing.
In the end, everything about this game is amazing. From the moving story, to the beautiful presentation, to some of the most well designed puzzles I have seen in a game. I would recommend it even if it were a full 60 dollar game because there are very few games that can rival this. What a magical game.