16 years after the release of the original Braid, four years after the announcement of the remake, five months after the reveal of the remake’s launch date, and just 12 days before it was finally set to happen, Braid: Anniversary Edition has been delayed. The good news is that it’s just a brief postponement: Instead of arriving on April 30 as planned, it’s now set to come out on May 14.
As updates go, Braid: Anniversary Edition is a big undertaking, with new soundtrack mixes and variants, “hand-repainted graphics,” smoother animations, and—this is the kicker—more than 15 hours of commentary from Braid creator Jonathan Blow and other members of the game industry.
In a classic “but that’s not all!” move, along with the slightly-more-distant launch date, Blow also revealed that the anniversary edition will feature “a combination of 40 brand-new and/or alternate redesigns of original levels,” including:
- 14 Commentary Index Levels used to navigate the game’s 15+ hours (I was not kidding about that) of commentary, plus one more that will be exclusive to Netflix users
- 13 New Full Puzzle Levels featuring 16 new puzzle pieces used to complete a new frame
- 12 Alternate Designs coupled with design commentary offering a glimpse of Braid had different development decisions been made
I liked Braid a lot when it was new, although some of the puzzle mechanics got a little overly obtuse for my liking in the second half, and I imagine it will hold up well today: One of the great things about puzzle games is that they tend to stay playable regardless of their age, because a good puzzle is always good.
That said, the original Braid remains available on Steam, it runs quite well, and supports 4K resolution so there’s no weird distortion or wonkiness on modern displays. It’s also pretty regularly been available for well under a fiver. A price on the Anniversary Edition hasn’t been announced yet.
Braid: Anniversary Edition will be available on PC (storefronts haven’t been announced yet but Steam is a reasonable bet and possibly GOG, since the original Braid is already there) as well as PlayStation 4, P5, Nintendo Switch, and mobile devices via Netflix. Xbox One and Xbox Series X (and presumably Series S, although the announcement specifies only the X) a day later, on May 15.
www.pcgamer.com
