Overview:
- Estimated achievement difficulty: 5/10 [highly dependent on whether you played and completed the original release, and skill] [Achievement Difficulty Rating]
- Offline: 13 [1000
]
- Online: 0
- Approximate amount of time to 1000: 6-10+ hours [highly dependent on whether you played and completed the original release, and skill] [Estimated Time to 100%]
- Minimum number of playthroughs needed: 2 + Commentary Mode
- Missable achievements: None [free roam]
- Does difficulty affect achievements: No difficulty option
- Unobtainable/glitched achievements: None
Introduction:
Welcome to Braid, Anniversary Edition, the 15-year anniversary edition of the classic XBLA puzzle game that revolutionized the indie landscape back in 2008. If you're unfamiliar, this game is all about solving puzzles by manipulating time, and new mechanics get introduced with each World. While the story seems simple and straightforward enough, the twist ending was notorious back when the original released. This edition has updated visuals, music, and most importantly, a massive addition of commentary - to the tune of 15 hours - to give you tons of insight into level design. You'll learn things you never would've considered about designing puzzles. Of course, none of that is required if you're just in this for the completion. You'll need to complete all normal Worlds, collecting all puzzle pieces just like in the original release, and then there is the speedrun achievement that has made its return, which is definitely not easy. There is only one new addition on the achievement front, and it's for puzzles in the Commentary mode, which are some extra devious challenges. Strap in, and let's get started.
Abbreviated Walkthrough:
There isn't really much to say to get started, since the game is linear and the only thing to focus on while you progress is to collect all puzzle pieces in each area. You'll quickly realize that this puzzle game is half about solving a puzzle and half about executing that solution. Thankfully, the time-rewinding mechanic doubles as both a way to solve puzzles but also as a way to give yourself a second chance if you mess up on the execution side of things, which will assuredly happen often throughout your playthrough. If you get stuck at all on reaching puzzle pieces in any World, refer to the guide for each World's achievement for solving it, not for traversing it (e.g. Solved World 2 (75G) for World 2, and so on). There is a video guide in each one showing how to get all puzzle pieces in that world. After completing each world and getting the "Traversed" achievement for that World, you'll be back in the hub and can put together the simple jigsaw puzzle to unlock the "Solved" achievement for that World. The final World is up in the attic and there are no puzzle pieces, just a new type of challenge/puzzle, along with a surprise ending. I highly encourage reading the books as you go, to really enjoy the story and "lore" more. Upon completing the game, you'll unlock the ability to choose "Full Game" in the Speedrun Mode.
At this point, you can either do the speedrun or Commentary Mode. I recommend doing the former immediately, while the main game is still fresh in your mind, because the speedrun achievement isn't easy. You'll need to attempt this achievement by pausing and choosing Speedrun, then the last option, Full Game, which is only available after beating the game for the first time. Note that this achievement requires you to collect all puzzle pieces and beat the game in under 45 minutes. As noted above, only half the battle is knowing the solutions to puzzles; the hard part is going to be executing them all perfectly in a single run. Refer to Speed Run (100G) for more tips and information, but strap in because this will almost assuredly take multiple attempts.
The last thing is Solved World 7 (150G) for completing the puzzle in the Commentary World. This is the toughest group of puzzles. The puzzles themselves are hidden in Commentary Worlds. Reaching them is typically its own little puzzle or challenge, and then they're typically quite hard to solve/execute. Even with solutions, this will take some time, but it's a nice way to wrap up this completion after the tough speed run, and I highly encourage listening to and enjoying the commentary as you go. Once you finish up this new puzzle, you'll unlock your last achievement and finish up this completion.
Conclusion:
This new edition proves that Braid is, appropriately, timeless, and has aged incredibly well. The puzzles are expertly designed, the mechanics are always really enjoyable to be introduced to and to learn/master, and the game is as beautiful as ever. The speedrun will likely still cause problems for the majority of people, but it's such a strong and well-designed game that it's never unfair, it just requires good execution. This game will always hold a special place for me, and this new edition reinforced every bit of nostalgia I had for this game. Hopefully you enjoyed it too, and hopefully you also managed the speedrun. If so, congrats on a well-earned completion!
- Estimated achievement difficulty: 5/10 [highly dependent on whether you played and completed the original release, and skill] [Achievement Difficulty Rating]
- Offline: 13 [1000
]- Online: 0
- Approximate amount of time to 1000
: 6-10+ hours [highly dependent on whether you played and completed the original release, and skill] [Estimated Time to 100%]- Minimum number of playthroughs needed: 2 + Commentary Mode
- Missable achievements: None [free roam]
- Does difficulty affect achievements: No difficulty option
- Unobtainable/glitched achievements: None
Introduction:
Welcome to Braid, Anniversary Edition, the 15-year anniversary edition of the classic XBLA puzzle game that revolutionized the indie landscape back in 2008. If you're unfamiliar, this game is all about solving puzzles by manipulating time, and new mechanics get introduced with each World. While the story seems simple and straightforward enough, the twist ending was notorious back when the original released. This edition has updated visuals, music, and most importantly, a massive addition of commentary - to the tune of 15 hours - to give you tons of insight into level design. You'll learn things you never would've considered about designing puzzles. Of course, none of that is required if you're just in this for the completion. You'll need to complete all normal Worlds, collecting all puzzle pieces just like in the original release, and then there is the speedrun achievement that has made its return, which is definitely not easy. There is only one new addition on the achievement front, and it's for puzzles in the Commentary mode, which are some extra devious challenges. Strap in, and let's get started.
Abbreviated Walkthrough:
There isn't really much to say to get started, since the game is linear and the only thing to focus on while you progress is to collect all puzzle pieces in each area. You'll quickly realize that this puzzle game is half about solving a puzzle and half about executing that solution. Thankfully, the time-rewinding mechanic doubles as both a way to solve puzzles but also as a way to give yourself a second chance if you mess up on the execution side of things, which will assuredly happen often throughout your playthrough. If you get stuck at all on reaching puzzle pieces in any World, refer to the guide for each World's achievement for solving it, not for traversing it (e.g. Solved World 2 (75G) for World 2, and so on). There is a video guide in each one showing how to get all puzzle pieces in that world. After completing each world and getting the "Traversed" achievement for that World, you'll be back in the hub and can put together the simple jigsaw puzzle to unlock the "Solved" achievement for that World. The final World is up in the attic and there are no puzzle pieces, just a new type of challenge/puzzle, along with a surprise ending. I highly encourage reading the books as you go, to really enjoy the story and "lore" more. Upon completing the game, you'll unlock the ability to choose "Full Game" in the Speedrun Mode.
At this point, you can either do the speedrun or Commentary Mode. I recommend doing the former immediately, while the main game is still fresh in your mind, because the speedrun achievement isn't easy. You'll need to attempt this achievement by pausing and choosing Speedrun, then the last option, Full Game, which is only available after beating the game for the first time. Note that this achievement requires you to collect all puzzle pieces and beat the game in under 45 minutes. As noted above, only half the battle is knowing the solutions to puzzles; the hard part is going to be executing them all perfectly in a single run. Refer to Speed Run (100G) for more tips and information, but strap in because this will almost assuredly take multiple attempts.
The last thing is Solved World 7 (150G) for completing the puzzle in the Commentary World. This is the toughest group of puzzles. The puzzles themselves are hidden in Commentary Worlds. Reaching them is typically its own little puzzle or challenge, and then they're typically quite hard to solve/execute. Even with solutions, this will take some time, but it's a nice way to wrap up this completion after the tough speed run, and I highly encourage listening to and enjoying the commentary as you go. Once you finish up this new puzzle, you'll unlock your last achievement and finish up this completion.
Conclusion:
This new edition proves that Braid is, appropriately, timeless, and has aged incredibly well. The puzzles are expertly designed, the mechanics are always really enjoyable to be introduced to and to learn/master, and the game is as beautiful as ever. The speedrun will likely still cause problems for the majority of people, but it's such a strong and well-designed game that it's never unfair, it just requires good execution. This game will always hold a special place for me, and this new edition reinforced every bit of nostalgia I had for this game. Hopefully you enjoyed it too, and hopefully you also managed the speedrun. If so, congrats on a well-earned completion!
[XBA would like to thank Necrophage33 for this Roadmap]
