Braid's Jonathan Blow working on a 2D RPG
If you enjoyed the older Final Fantasy games but always wished they included more navel-gazing reflections on love, loss and (possibly) the atomic bomb, brace yourself for stellar news: Jonathan Blow, the mind behind last year's surreptitious hit chronoplatformer Braid, recently mentioned in a Gamasutra interview that he's currently working on a new 2D role-playing game. He revealed few details, but did mention that dialogue is "very closely related to the core mechanic" of the game. Consider us intrigued.
However, don't get your hopes up quite yet -- by Blow's own concession, the guy's got the attention span of a fruit fly. He explained that he's worked on several projects since wrapping up Braid, teasing, "you never know. Next month, it could be a Pac-Man clone or something." Ah, yes -- a Pac-Man clone, in which the circular, titular hero takes copious amounts of drugs and is chased by the ghosts of his past in a futile attempt to reclaim the affections of his female, bow-headed counterpart. Hey, we're down with that too.
[Via X3F]
However, don't get your hopes up quite yet -- by Blow's own concession, the guy's got the attention span of a fruit fly. He explained that he's worked on several projects since wrapping up Braid, teasing, "you never know. Next month, it could be a Pac-Man clone or something." Ah, yes -- a Pac-Man clone, in which the circular, titular hero takes copious amounts of drugs and is chased by the ghosts of his past in a futile attempt to reclaim the affections of his female, bow-headed counterpart. Hey, we're down with that too.
[Via X3F]






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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
EgoCheck616 @ Jan 25th 2009 12:09PM
Heh, clever picture is clever.
Turd Ferguson @ Jan 25th 2009 12:12PM
I'm most definitely looking forward to seeing what he comes up with
Obie @ Jan 25th 2009 1:33PM
Agreed. However I am not looking forward to his bitching and gloating afterwards.
WRE @ Jan 25th 2009 4:00PM
That's what she said!
Turd Ferguson @ Jan 25th 2009 6:11PM
no it isn't
WRE @ Jan 26th 2009 1:41AM
Yes, it is!
Turd Ferguson @ Jan 26th 2009 10:52PM
okay fine i guess she may have said it once or twice
ice~ @ Jan 25th 2009 12:12PM
He's back........blow is back!!!!!!!!!!!
NNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
knor @ Jan 25th 2009 12:13PM
hopefully he won't be a douche about it
Haggard @ Jan 25th 2009 12:13PM
So who's porting Braid to PC/PS3?
Hunter @ Jan 27th 2009 7:30AM
That's what I'd like to know
Bowser Rogozhin @ Jan 25th 2009 12:19PM
This is related to Golden Axe? When did Sega release Golden Axe? Why does it supposedly suck?
Haggard @ Jan 25th 2009 1:17PM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Axe:_Beast_Rider
Hashbrown Hunter @ Jan 27th 2009 3:04PM
Supposedly? It's common knowledge that it sucked. Hard.
ronald.raygun @ Jan 25th 2009 12:44PM
soldier boy, TELL'EM!: "aww man izz like you lil' mario in business suit, and you tell him attack 'dis or defend that. Use yo' limit breaker lil' business mario bloop bloop!"
playwhutyalike @ Jan 25th 2009 1:09PM
It's bidness, not business.
Turd Ferguson @ Jan 25th 2009 3:09PM
YOU!!!!!!!!!
Courtney @ Jan 25th 2009 1:06PM
Color me intrigued, but I won't get too excited. If anything comes to pass, seems like it will be awhile.
Sheppy (of the Fidlious Clan of Wong) @ Jan 25th 2009 1:09PM
YAY! Pretentious attempts at art without suffering through bad translations!
Blank-Mage @ Jan 25th 2009 11:40PM
WHAT YOU SAY?!
WiNG LifeinaGame.com @ Jan 25th 2009 1:49PM
I will buy anything he sells, even for $80.
I'm somewhat serious.
flameofdoom666 @ Jan 25th 2009 1:59PM
Braid was fantastic, I would easily buy another 15$ arcade game made by him. Assuming it gets good reviews and the like.
t3kni9e @ Jan 25th 2009 2:19PM
If he is I hope it's not a stupid turn based RPG like the picture is assuming.
ronald.raygun @ Jan 25th 2009 2:33PM
an awesome side-scroller rpg in the same vein as castlevania SOTN or super metroid(more rpgish though)? that would be great.
aj @ Jan 25th 2009 6:12PM
*cough*Odin Sphere*cough*
Blank-Mage @ Jan 25th 2009 11:40PM
Odin Sphere was awesome, and it did not in any way make me cry. At all.
WRE @ Jan 25th 2009 3:58PM
This is a minute one purchase for me. Braid blew me away and was, in my opinion, last year's strongest advocate for a video game that was also art.
Rayonic @ Jan 25th 2009 4:32PM
SPOILER: Near the end of the game, you find you have to rewind time all the way back to level 1 and kill your baby brother in his sleep.
Well okay, that wasn't a spoiler as much as a complete fabrication, but it'd be cool.
Blank-Mage @ Jan 25th 2009 11:41PM
Spoilers are difficult when time completely fails to matter. Like Momento!
ZippyDSMlee @ Jan 25th 2009 4:33PM
So a side scrolling mario RPG clone?
It could be epic... in the good way....
Moptimus Slime (Leader of the Ryan Scott Defense Force, Brushed With FAME) @ Jan 25th 2009 5:27PM
So...would it be PAPER Mario for people who smoke and people who drink?
aj @ Jan 25th 2009 6:11PM
"Navel gazing."
With those two words you've summed up so much that I feel there are no needs for comments, really.
The Fatass of Afro Luffyness @ Jan 25th 2009 7:27PM
Well that Blows.
I'm looking forward to it. Call it 'pretentious' or whatever, but Braid was fun and pretty damn challenging at times - I want to see more of this guy's ideas realized.
lasersanchez @ Jan 25th 2009 7:54PM
I'm assuming he'll abandon the whole "leveling up" thing he doesn't seem to care much for.
Otis @ Jan 25th 2009 9:33PM
I liked Braid. I dislike Johnathon Blow.
He comes off as a hipster douchebag.
I also hate this trend that said hipster douchebags (which, most of the time, is what "Indie" gaming is) have with making "Quirky" versions of oldschool games (Which is, basically, what Braid is, as awesome as it is.)
t_m @ Jan 25th 2009 9:42PM
If it has random battles then i'm not gonna touch it, no matter how many levels they work on.
Blank-Mage @ Jan 25th 2009 11:45PM
Maybe YOU'RE the random battle for the REAL hero, whom you must fight as the final boss, before realizing the inherent duality of your own incredibly vague objective.
WRE @ Jan 26th 2009 1:46AM
WRE read Blank Mage's comment, thoughtfully. As he thought about it his eyes lit up but the moment was short-lived. As soon as the connection was made WRE's mind blew out of the back of his head as if punctured by a hollow-point bullet and smashed soggily against the wall which was a full 10 feet distant.
Blank-Mage @ Jan 26th 2009 1:57AM
But the wall was your preconceptions. And you were the Princess.
Dan CiTi @ Jan 26th 2009 1:11AM
I hope it's like a 2D Tales game as far as combat with Braid graphics/art style. That would be heavenly. I'd buy it for any platform. 360, PS3, PC, you name it.
Also if the combat was like a Paper Mario game that would be nice. Either way, I welcome it with open arms!
Dan CiTi @ Jan 26th 2009 1:18AM
Maybe he could look to something like Riviera(WonderSwan Color, GBA, PSP). It has a painty graphic style, and your characters don't level up like in most RPGs.
It would be cool if it had multiple endings like Chrono Trigger or SMT3: Nocturne. Multiple endings always add so much to an RPG imo.
Tuxy79 @ Jan 26th 2009 9:30AM
I would love to see JB release a 2D RPG for XBL.
Alzheimers @ Jan 26th 2009 1:01PM
"Zelda II: The Adventure of Link" was also a 2D sidescrolling RPG.
Just saying.
Sometimes even the best garlic in the world and the best chocolate in the world won't mix into anything good.
colinmarc @ Jan 28th 2009 2:28PM
Who says it has to be a sidescroller? He seems to be well-versed in gaming of all types.
ZeroCorpse @ Apr 11th 2009 10:51AM
Yeah. This article pretty much captures my feelings about Braid.
Sucky, sucky game. But the kids like it, because they didn't play Super Mario Bros when it was new.