Braide Story Collected

Braid 剧情整理 1 介绍 v0.0.1

Braid 是一款横版解密/动作/冒险游戏。主角 Tim 通过各种操纵时间的能力来 解决关卡中遇到的困难，包括通过踩踏怪物到达高处，操纵时间使用一把钥匙开两 把锁等等。从游戏中的部分画面和文字中我们可以知道剧情发生的时间是现代，但 剧情中涉及到传统的怪物和公主等元素，使我们感觉这些元素的背后都有深层次 的隐喻。游戏的具体情节并不清晰，游戏一开始提到公主被怪物抓走，我们基本可 以确认游戏的主要梗概是 Tim 犯下了一个错误，使得公主离开了他，于是 Tim 出 发去寻找公主。 游戏中 Tim 穿越了六个世界。除了一直存在的时间倒流能力以外，除世界 2 以外的每个世界都有额外的时间控制元素。世界 2 是游戏中的第一个世界，接着 是世界 3, 4, 5, 6，最后是世界 1。按照这个顺序看到的剧情是 Tim 最后找到了公 主，并把她从“怪物”手中救下。但是如果剧情的顺序是世界 1 -- 6，剧情就会变成 Tim 是追逐公主的“怪物”，公主被一骑士救下。世界 2 -- 6 的每一个中都有一个 拼图，Tim 需要在世界中寻找拼图的碎片，并把拼图组合完整。但拼图内容和剧 情的关系未知。

2 游戏的详细流程 游戏一开始，主角的身后有一个门，但是进不去。随后主角穿过一条背景是着 火的城市的街道，进入一栋房子。这里可以进入游戏中的各个世界。

2.1 世界 2 世界 2 的主题是 Time and Forgiveness。这个世界提到公主被一个可怕而邪恶 的怪兽抓走，而其原因是 Tim 犯了一个错误。并且公主曾经尝试原谅他，但是没有 人能轻易地摆脱一个罪恶的谎言，一次背后中伤。Tim 希望在这个世界里，当他 改正错误以后，他会因为学到新东西而获得奖励，而不是因为错误而被惩罚。Tim 希望在他说“我不是那个意思”以后，她会说“没关系，我明白”，这样她就不会 离开。最后游戏描述了 Tim 和公主一起躺在宫殿的花园里赏花赏鸟的情景。 在这个世界里，Tim 唯一的能力就是无限的时间倒流。游戏者可以在任何情 况下把时间倒流到之前的任意位置。这个世界中的拼图显示 Tim 和一女子在花园 里饮酒。

1

2.2 世界 3 世 界 3 的 主 题 是 Time and Mystery。 这 个 世 界 提 到 多 年 前 Tim 离 开 了 公 主，但后来后悔了。他正在重新寻找公主的旅程中。他们曾经培养出了完美的感 情，他曾经修正了他所有的错误，使他们不能碰到她。但同时游戏也提到她的善意 限制了 Tim，使他一生的成就不能超出她所画的地图。Tim 需要一个超越的希 望，需要对她的关怀免疫。 在这个世界里，一些物品是不受时间倒流的影响的（对时间倒流免疫）。这一 特点可以用来解决一把钥匙开两个门等谜题。这个世界的拼图显示 Tim 在餐桌前 举杯。

2.3 世界 4 世界 4 的主题是 Time and Place。其中提到 Tim 来到父母家中，并感觉自己 回到了还住在这里的时候。并说 Tim 那是被他们对鼓励无意义的奇怪的价值的坚 持所压迫，并且那时 Tim 经常和他们爆发针对小事的争吵。后来 Tim 逃到了大学 中。但他现在感到了大学时的不安全感。在访问父母后，Tim 感到如释重负。他看 到了自己相对以前的进步，这种进步使他离找到公主的目标越来越近。如果她存 在——她一定存在——她将改变他，和所有人。这个世界还提到每一个地点都让 Tim 产生一种情感，每一种情感都产生一个回忆。那么 Tim 能否通过从一个地方 走到另一个地方并知晓自己的感受来找到公主呢？并说敬畏和灵感的痕迹应该会 将他带到那座城堡，并且在将来产生一个强烈的时刻以至于他在过去都记得。 这个世界具有“时空耦合”的特性。当 Tim 向右行走时，时间正向流动，当 Tim 向左行走时，时间逆向流动。这个世界的拼图显示一个男人站在黑着灯的儿 童房间的门口。

2.4 世界 5 世界 5 的主题是 Time and Decision。这个世界中提到她从来都不理解是什么 驱使着他，但是他执意认为她理解。最后到某个特定的时刻，他们都知道时间到 了，他必须去寻找公主。最后他走了，但是她仍然认为他还在那里保护她。在这个 世界和世界 3 中，Tim 离开的方式都是打好旅行背包，然后走出门。剧情文字的最 后一句是公主被诅咒了。 这个世界具有某种“平行宇宙”的概念。Tim 可以先做事情 A，然后让时间倒 流到 A 之前，然后做事情 B，与此同时会有另一个 Tim 做事情 A。这个世界的拼 图显示 Tim 坐在机场里喝水。

2.5 世界 6 世界 6 的主题是 Hesitance。这个世界提到戒指象征着永远的忠诚：即使他找 不到公主，他也会一直尝试。他还会继续戴那个戒指。戒指就像一个警告的灯

2

由于对剧情的考 虑，并不能确定这个 男人是否 Tim。

塔，使人们靠近的时候变慢。后来 Tim 学会了谨慎待人。他寻找别人防备中的弱 点，但这没有给他他想要的东西。 这个世界中，Tim 可以扔下一个戒指，使周围的时间减慢。这个世界的拼图 显示夜晚，Tim 在一个繁华的城市里，站在一堆着火的废墟前面。

2.6 世界 1 世界 1 的主题是 The Attic，其中提到 Tim 坐在一个饭店的角落里，他想得到 线索。晚上在电影院中，Tim 在观察电影中直升机坠落的角度。当电影结束后，其 他观众都向南面的饭店走去，Tim 向北走。又写到 Tim 想找到并了解公主，那对 他将是一道强烈的光，拥抱世界，揭示秘密，是我们可以和平存在的最后宫殿。但 是在这个流动与他相反的城市里，这道光将会消逝，比把城堡一起带走。这就像是 烧毁我们最后的家，并永远的毁灭所有安全的希望。 这个世界的时间都是反演的（除了 Tim 本身，也就是说当 Tim 使用时间倒流 能力时，时间对于其他事物来说是正向流动的。），在最后一关中，Tim 要从一个 人形“怪兽”手中救出公主。一开始公主从“怪兽”手中逃脱，Tim 在一个地道里 躲避怪物和各种障碍，并为公主打开机关。最后公主进入一个房中，Tim 来到房 外。这时画面一闪，显示公主正在睡觉，Tim 站在房外。这时使用时间倒流能力可 以看到实际发生的过程是公主跑出房子，Tim 钻入地道，开始追公主，并使用机 关给公主设下种种障碍，最后公主被一骑士救走。

别忘了刚才的时间实 际上是反演的

2.7 尾声 尾声中有数段剧情文字和隐藏文字，显示男孩拉着女孩的手，向城堡走去，准 备和烟雾与怀疑组成的怪物大干一场。但是他们拐了一个弯，向地铁站中的人群走 去。男孩用手臂搂着女孩的脖子，然后女孩说他走错了，并说他手臂的重量很难 受。文字中又说 Tim 使用尺子和罗盘工作，并且他的工作包含推导，观察苹果落 地，以及扭曲穿在线上的金属球，暗示 Tim的工作是科学研究。他在寻找公主，并 且在找到之前不会停止，因为他很饥饿。文字还说公主其实就在她眼前，并且很想 触摸他，但是他看不到，因为他只能看见事物的外面。苹果落地和穿在线上的金属 球会把他引向公主。在沙漠里，一个非常炎热的夜晚，他戴着焊接用的眼镜等 待。然后时间停止了，就好像地球被打开，天空被撕裂，他见证了世界的诞生。接 着一个人在旁边说“成功了”，另一个人说“Now we are all son of bitches.” 。最 后公主出现了，说他们打扰了她，并且她不明白为什么他选择与世界末日调情。 接着游戏话锋一转，提到在糖果店里，Tim 想要橱窗里的东西，但不知道为 什么她用力拉着他。他想到了暴力。接着说他还太小，不能懂得更多，她抱住 他，说也许等你在大一点的时候，然后带他回家了。 最后文字显示他不知道他是否明白所有这些事，他比以前更加迷惑了。但他一 直在预期某些事的发生。这一时刻让他觉得很关键，就像石头。他跪下，找到最近 的一个，抚摸它，觉得光滑并且有点凉。然后他发现他能搬起那些石头，他能用它 们建一座城堡。要建一座合适大小的城堡，他需要很多石头，他现在有的这些是一 个还可以的开始。这时在 Tim 的右边有一座方块垒成的城堡，每一个方块都是游 3

传说这是一句名人名 言

戏中一个关卡。游戏者控制 Tim 进入城堡旁边的一个门，发现 Tim 进入游戏最开 始的画面，那个门就是一开始进不去的那个。

3 分析 To be continued . . .

4 附录 4.1 4.1.1

Story text collected World 2 Tim is off on a search to rescue the Princess. She has been snatched by a horrible and evil monster. This happened because Tim made a mistake. Not just one. He made many mistakes during the time they spent together, all those years ago. Memories of their relationship have become muddled, replaced wholesale, but one remains clear: the Princess turning sharply away, her braid lashing at him with contempt. He knows she tried to be forgiving, but who can just shrug away a guilty lie, a stab in the back? Such a mistake will change a relationship irreversibly, even if we have learned from the mistake and would never repeat it. The Princess’s eyes grew narrower. She became more distant. Our world, with its rules of causality, has trained us to be miserly with forgiveness. By forgiving too readily, we can be badly hurt. But if we’ve learned from a mistake and become better for it, shouldn’t we be rewarded for the learning, rather than punished for the mistake? What if our world worked differently? Suppose we could tell her:“I didn’t mean what I just said,” and she would say:“It’s okay, I understand,” and she would not turn away, and life would really proceed as though we had never said that thing? We could remove the damage but still be wiser from the experience. Tim and the Princess lounge in the castle garden, laughing together, giving names to the colorful birds. Their mistakes are hidden from each other, tucked away between the folds of time, safe.

4.1.2

World 3 All those years ago, Tim had left the Princess behind. He had kissed her on the neck, picked up his travel bag, and walked out the door. He regrets this, to a degree. Now he’s journeying to find her again, to show he knows how sad it was, but also to tell her how it was good. But to be fully couched within the comfort of a friend is a mode of existence with severe implications. To please you perfectly, she must understand you perfectly. Thus you cannot defy her expectations or escape her reach. Her benevolence has circumscribed you, and your life’s achievements will not reach beyond the map she has drawn.

4

Tim needed to be non-manipulable. He needed a hope of transcendence. He needed, sometimes, to be immune to the Princess’s caring touch. Off in the distance, Tim saw a castle where the flags flutter even when the wind has expired, and the bread in the kitchen is always warm. A little bit of magic. 4.1.3

World 4 Visiting his parents’ home for a holiday meal, Tim felt as though he had regressed to those long-ago years when he lived under their roof, oppressed by their insistence on upholding strange values which, to him, were meaningless. Back then, bickering would erupt over drops of gravy spilt onto the tablecloth. Escaping, Tim walked in the cool air toward the university he’d attended after moving out of his parent’s home. As he distanced himself from that troubling house, he felt the embarrassment of childhood fading into the past. But now he stepped into all the insecurities he’d felt at the university, all the panic of walking a social tightrope. Tim only felt relieved after the whole visit was over, sitting back home in the present, steeped in contrast: he saw how he’d improved so much from those old days. This improvement, day by day, takes him ever-closer to finding the Princess. If she exists — she must!— she will transform him, and everyone. He felt on his trip that every place stirs up an emotion, and every emotion invokes a memory: a time and a location. So couldn’t he find the Princess now, tonight, just by wandering from place to place and noticing how he feels? A trail of feelings, of awe and inspiration, should lead him to that castle: in the future: her arms enclosing him, her scent fills him with excitement, creates a moment so strong he can remember it in the past. Immediately Tim walked out his door, the next morning, toward whatever the new day held. He felt something like optimism.

4.1.4

World 5 She never understood the impulses that drove him, never quite felt the intensity that, over time, chiseled lines into his face. She was never quite close enough to him — but he held her as though she were, whispered into her ear words that only a soul mate should receive. Over the remnants of dinner, they both knew the time had come. He would have said: “I have to go find the Princess, ” but he didn’t need to. Giving a final kiss, hoisting a travel bag to his shoulder, he walked out the door. Through all the nights that followed she still loved him as though he had stayed, to comfort her and protect her, Princess be damned.

4.1.5

World 6 Perhaps in a perfect world, the ring would be a symbol of happiness. It’s a sign of ceaseless devotion: even if he will never find the Princess, he will always be trying. He still will wear the ring. But the ring makes its presence known. It shines out to others like a beacon of warning. It makes people slow to approach. Suspicion, distrust. Interactions are torpedoed before Tim can open his mouth.

5

In time he learns to deal with others carefully. He matches their hesitant pace, tracing a soft path through their defenses. But this exhausts him, and it only works to a limited degree. It doesn’t get him what he needs. Tim begins to hide the ring in his pocket. But he can hardly bear it — too long tucked away, that part of him might suffocate. 4.1.6

World 1 At a café on a bright plaza, most customers sit back, feeling the warmth of the sun, enjoying their cold drinks, But not Tim — he barely notices the sun, doesn’t really taste his coffee. For him this corner affords a good view of the city, and in the teeterings of the passers-by, in the arc of a shop-girl’s hand as she displays tea to an interested gentleman, Tim hopes to see clues. That night at the cinema, fictitious adventurers lunge implausibly across the screen. The audience here is mixed. Some are patrons of the café, now sitting excitedly in the plush chairs, eager for another new flavor, for distraction from the boredom of their easy lives. Other seats hold fishermen and farm-workers, hoping to forget their toils and rest their hands. Tim is here too, but he is scrutinizing the gloss on the lips on the screen, measuring the angle of the plume of a distant helicopter crash. He thinks he discerns a message; when the cinema closes and most of the audience strolls down the plaza to the South, Tim goes North. People like Tim seem to live oppositely from the other residents of the city. Tide and riptide, flowing against each other. Tim wants, like nothing else, to find the Princess, to know her at last. For Tim this would be momentous, sparking an intense light that embraces the world, a light that reveals the secrets long kept from us, that illuminates — or materializes!— a final palace where we can exist in peace. But how would this be perceived by the other residents of the city, in the world that flows contrariwise? The light would be intense and warm at the beginning, but then flicker down to nothing, taking the castle with it; it would be like burning down the place we’ve always called home, where we played so innocently as children. Destroying all hope of safety, forever.

4.1.7

Epilogue The boy called for the girl to follow him, and he took her hand. He would protect her; they would make their way through this oppressive castle, fighting off the creatures made of smoke and doubt, escaping to a life of freedom. The boy wanted to protect the girl. He held her hand, or put his arm around her shoulders in a walking embrace, to help her feel supported and close to him amid the impersonal throngs of Manhattan. They turned and made their way toward the Canal St. subway station, and he picked a path through the jostling croud. His arm weighed upon her shoulders, felt constrictive around her neck.“You’re burdening me with your ridiculous need,” she said. Or, she said:“You’re going the wrong way and you’re pulling me with you.” In another time, another place, she said:“Stop yanking on my arm; you’re hurting me!” He worked his ruler and his compass. He inferred. He deduced. He scrutinized the fall of an apple, the twisting of metal orbs hanging from a thread. He was searching for the Princess, and he would not stop until he found her, for he was

6

hungry. He cut rats into pieces to examine their brains, implanted tungsten posts into the skulls of water-starved monkeys. Ghostly, she stood in front of him and looked into his eyes. “I am here, ” she said.“I am here. I want to touch you.” She pleaded:“ Look at me!” But he would not see her; he only knew how to look at the outsides of things. He scrutinized the fall of an apple, the twisting of metal orbs hanging from a thread. Through these clues he would find the Princess, see her face. After an especially fervent night of tinkering, he kneeled behind a bunker in the desert; he held a piece of welder’s glass up to his eyes and waited. On that moment hung eternity. Time stood still. Space contracted to a pinpoint. It was as though the earth had opened and the skies split. One felt as though he had been privileged to witness the Birth of the World…1 Someone near him said: “It worked. ” Someone else said:“Now we are all sons of bitches.” She stood tall and majestic. She radiated fury. She shouted: “Who has disturbed me?” But then, anger expelled, she felt the sadness beneath; she let her breath fall softly, like a sigh, like ashes floating gently on the wind. She couldn’t understand why he chose to flirt so closely with the death of the world. The candy store. Everything he wanted was on the opposite side of that pane of glass. The store was decorated in bright colors, and the cents wafting out drove him crazy. He tried to rush for the door, or just get closer to the glass, but he couldn’t. She held him back with great strength. Why would she hold him back? How might he break free of her grasp? He considered violence. They had been here before on their daily walks. She didn’t mind his screams and his shrieks, or the way he yanked painfully on her braid to make her stop. He was too little to know better. She picked him up and hugged him:“No, baby,” she said. He was shaking. She followed his gaze toward the treats sitting on pillows behind the glass: the chocolate bar and the magnetic monopole, the It-From-Bit and the Ethical Calculus; and so many other things, deeper inside. “Maybe when you’re older, baby, ” she whispered, setting him back on his feet and leading him home, “Maybe when you’re older.” Every day thereafter, as before, she always walked him on a route that passed in front of the candy store. He cannot say he has understood all of this. Possibly he’s more confused now than ever. But all these moments he’s contemplated — something has occurred. The moments feel substantial in his mind, like stones. Kneeling, reaching down toward the closest one, running his hand across it, he finds it smooth, and slightly cold. He tests the stone’s weight; he finds he can lift it, and the others too. He can fit them together to create a foundation, an embankment, a castle. To build a castle of appropriate size, he will need a great many stones. But what he’s got, now, feels like an acceptable start.

7