10 Video Games That Totally Nailed Their Final Levels

3. Braid

Back in 2008, Braid was pretty revolutionary. Created as a critique of game development, Braid takes many traditional gameplay elements (like jumping on enemies and saving princesses) and turns them on their head, challenging the player and the entire industry to rethink their expectations. Each level of the game features a specific time-related mechanic; the first level, for example, simply allows the player to rewind time and undo their actions, making seemingly impossible feats possible. The final level of the game is where the true genius lies though. Here, time flows in reverse as the princess escapes from a knight, working together with the player character Tim to evade and overcome obstacles. At the end of the level, Tim reaches a house and saves the princess. Or not. In fact, to finish the level, the player must then progress time forward one last time, revealing the real story. The princess is actually escaping Tim, desperately dropping obstacles in his path to stop him, before being saved by a knight; the story completely flips on it's head through one simple mechanic. The shocking, thought-provoking aspect of this final level has led to much debate about Braid with countless people creating theories about exactly what the ending means. Braid's greatest achievement is the way it shook the gaming industry up - the final level gets the message across perfectly.