I personally feel the creator was getting way to pretentious with his little game. I've said in other venues that stories don't mean that much to me, and the little superficial 'twist' of Braid at the end was all I really needed to be satisfied by it. I have played other games that were far simpler in their storytelling (often with no text at all) that have still had profound messages.

I don't like Braid for its story. I like it for its unique twist on the platforming gameplay formula. The story would actually be a minus to me if I paid much attention to it.

(I also don't like reading fanfiction and most people's poetry, so I guess much of it stems from that. When I get the impression that someone is 'trying too hard' it just turns me off.)