- A puzzle game about jumping and controlling time
- Beautiful and dreamlike artwork
- A fascinating narrative is left for you to interpret through gameplay.
Many of us still don’t understand how time works, but that won’t stop us from turning it into the narrative device of a historical superpower. When the devs first realized that time could be manipulated in many ways, it became a rock star in the gameplay with one of the main actors being Jonathan Blow.
The creator famously developed Brad over the years using his own resources and working with artist David Hellman. It exploded in popularity as a creative 2D puzzle platformer with a non-linear narrative that helped solidify the argument for video games as an art form. Now 16 years later, it arrives via Netflix as the Braid Anniversary Edition.
What is peak?
To this day, many debate the true meaning behind Brad’s story. It starts out seemingly straightforward but gets more complicated through new details and gameplay. It begins with a young handsome man named Tim who arrives in an area of ​​interconnected worlds. Various texts prove that Tim once had a romantic and romantic relationship with an unnamed princess. At some point during their time together, the two had a falling out and Vayak lost touch with her. Aiming to make things right and hopefully regain what he had, Tim sets out on a journey to save the princess from an unknown monster. As Tim gains different powers over time, it’s time for him to use them.
Braiding
Time manipulation mechanics hit the mainstream in the mid-to-late 2000s, and Braid was perfectly positioned to make the most of them. Time can be a complex concept but it has many aspects that we can interpret very easily. That’s what Brad does because it takes you into each of her worlds. The initial level of each world allows you to see what kind of timing mechanics are at work and the time it takes to ease into environmental elements that may or may not be affected by them. Tim never loses the power to rewind a seemingly infinite amount of time so you always have a very strong “Undo” button if things get too bad.
The entire challenge is based on puzzles with each world revolving around a specific mechanic. It’s presented as a sort of “learn as you go” experience where you won’t have all the information you need until you explore the level. This feeds Tim’s trademark rewinding mechanic that will reveal new information when used and is a completely different type of backtracking. The more you play, the more you see how all the pieces of the puzzle fit together which is quite literally represented by the fact that you are putting together pieces of a puzzle to complete a picture. Which reveals more of the story.
Also, as it was before and so it returns, the visual art style is beautiful. The whole look has the feel and look of living paint that is most present in Tim and the environment. The overall softness and blur throughout the game gives the idea that you’re playing through a dream or perhaps Tim’s fantasy of becoming a hero. It makes you question what’s real and if what you’re doing is really going to fix things.
A tangled ridge
As an anniversary addition, we can expect a nice coat of polish on the visuals and perhaps some tightening up of the controls. However, there is one major problem that has remained with the game since its first appearance: the unfixable key. There are moments when you will be given a key that is unaffected by the forces of time and can be used to open a door. If you use it on the wrong door, the key breaks and cannot be fixed so you need to reset the entire world. Here’s a free tip: The right door is never the one that seems “easiest” to get to.
Then there’s the translation of the game’s mechanics into touchscreen controls. All things considered, Peak is a simple game in terms of gameplay. The problem is that the attached touchscreen controls are too precise to use in a game where hectic moments are common. You can press the jump button, but if you’re not pressing it dead center, Tim won’t move. Holding down the rewind button to speed things up or down can also cause you to move the buttons to another location on the screen until you forget where they started. Practice pressing the same part of the screen repeatedly until you’re confident you can do it consistently.
Peak the timeline.
Braid Anniversary Edition is a modern update of the 2D puzzle platforming and time manipulation adventure. All the beauty, mystery, creativity and challenge of the game is still there to make you think and wonder. An old problem with physical keys returns and the touchscreen can be a little finicky about finger placement, but these can be overcome with enough time. And that’s the point: about time.