Braid

Developer: Number None
Publisher: Microsoft
Release Date: Aug. 6, 2008
Systems: Xbox 360 (reviewed), PC
ESRB Rating: E10+
Official Web site

In a nutshell: Not the hair-braiding simulator I was expecting.

0:00 Designer Jonathan Blow himself gave me a personal demo of this game back a few E3s ago. Been looking forward to it ever since, and now that it's here, it seems everyone is sharing in that excitement.

0:01 The title appears rendered in fire over a red and black oil-painting cityscape. A silhouette of a small man is on the left. "Use the left analog stick to move," is my only instruction. Let's-a go.

0:02 As I walk from the dark city into a bright interior room, my character turns from silhouette to a little tow-headed little boy with red hair, a red tie and a blue blazer. Elegiac strings fill the background as we enter "World 2." (I guess this is World 1?)

0:03 "Time and forgiveness" is the name of the world. Tim (our protagonist) made a mistake and now has to find a princess taken by a monster. "Our world, with its rules of causality, has trained us to be miserly with forgiveness." Heady stuff.

Read the full review at Crispy Gamer