"Are Video Games Art?" The ever-lasting hot topic for the gaming press. With the definition of art being as slippery as it is even before applying to an infant and mostly commercial medium, the argument is not likely to be settled anytime soon. Thankfully, the "for" side is getting more and more ammunition every day.
The latest salvo comes in the shape of Braid, an odd and diminutive game from Jonathan Blow and David Hellman. Players take the role of cheery and conservatively dressed Tim as he bounds through a lush 2D landscape, altering time as he sees necessary in his pursuit of a mysterious princess. With a platformer gaming trope as basic as the bland maiden in distress, can this game really be that unconventional? Indeed, it can. Much like how Alan Moore's graphic novel Watchmen was a comic about comics, Braid is, on one layer, a video game about video games. Not as blatantly as the end of the first (actually the second) world's "princess is in another castle", but rather in the way classic gaming conventions and themes are skewed by the bending of time.
The first (yeah, the second) world's ability of rewinding time is placed in a standard 2D platformer level, rendering all of genre's threats and annoyances moot. Nor is the princess as cookie cutter as the Peaches and Zeldas before her, if she exists at all. Rather than existing as a concrete goal, books sprinkled throughout the game provide a fragmented narrative, distorting what this princess might be. The bits of story share no common names or plot, they're only connected by the theme of selfish regret of loss.
The gameplay itself is nothing truly amazing or innovative, the time control gimmick has been done competently before. What's here is built solidly enough, focused more on puzzles than platformer action. Those stuck on certain stages would do well to remember this; try as you might, you're just not gonna clear that jump. What largely carries this game and its lofty ideas is the artwork of David Hellman, last seen at the wonderful comic A Lesson Is Learned But The Damage Is Irreversible. His hand-drawn details ensure that every tiny patch of landscape burst with uniqueness. Similar to the last huge new idea, Portal, Braid is a rather short trip with little reason for replay, but that first trip through is worth the price. Especially that incredible ending that no kind human soul would dare spoil.