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Braid Video Game Analysis

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Video games change the way people can interact with a narrative. Braid is a puzzle video game that communicates its narrative through snippets of text and game mechanics. Braid plays with perception and truth like other fiction novels but the medium also allows it to play with time and its affects on perception. This video game uses special game mechanics to deepen the player’s understanding of the given text in order to tell a story. The game is divided into six worlds. The first world brings the player into a room made of clouds and the words, “Time and Forgiveness” written across the top. The player walks across books on pedestals that reveal text. The text reveals that the protagonists name is Tim and he is searching for a Princess. It also says that forgiveness is not perfect in the world. People make mistakes and are forgiven, but the mistakes are never forgotten and will always act as some form of punishment. Then the text reads, “What if our…show more content…
It seems Tim finally finds his Princess. She is running away from a menacing fire and a knight trying to capture her. Tim attempts to rescue the Princess, but before he reaches her, time is stopped. The player can only advance by reversing time. The game shows the chase in reverse, revealing an entirely different story. Now, it seems like the Princess is running away from Tim and the knight rescues her instead of capturing her. The text before this world said that Tim lives oppositely from the rest of the world and all he wants is to know the Princess, but to the rest of the world it would seem as if all hope of safety would be destroyed. The reverse scene is surprising and illustrates the stark differences between Tim’s world and other’s. It shows how Tim’s pursuit is noble, but to the others that live in a different world; however, others see him as the antagonist. This revelation is only made possible by the game allowing the player to reverse
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