It seems like over the years Braid has gone through alternating periods of being praised as an absolute masterpiece and being derided as pretentious self-gratification by an arrogant and particularly insufferable developer.

In any case, anyone who like Braid should play Baba is You. Both games present the same sort of enjoyable mindscrew.

Braid is a very good game that stands the test of time; Jon Blow is a kind of acerbic guy with some anti-progressive political opinions which makes him a figure a lot of people like to hate, and I think this drives (unprincipled) sentiment against Braid.

I think Braid is brilliant as a puzzle game. As a narrative, it's pretentious as all hell. I think smrq is right: it can be both.

It can be both. Said developer can be arrogant and insufferable and also brilliant and insightful, with some deplorable opinions and some admirable ones. The world would be a better place if people as a whole were more able to embrace dialectical thinking.

+1 to Baba is You, fwiw. In my own humble opinion it's the best puzzle game ever made, full stop.