Bastion Review

Let me clear something up for you guys before I dive into the review: I said a Lone Survivor review was coming soon, and it still is. It's just that, I get lost in that game too easily and walkthroughs are cheating... So, I finished Bastion first.

Bastion is a top-down-action-rpg-hack-and-slash-adventure game featuring "dynamic narration", created by the fine folks down at Supergiant Games. It came out last year during the XBLA "Summer of Arcade" and has since been ported to PC, Mac, Linux, and the Chrome browser.

When you start playing Bastion for the first time, you're greeted by the warm voice of a mysterious narrator, as if he's telling you a story that happened long in the past. Your character slowly fades into view, laying on a bed in the middle of a floating nowhere. As you get up and walk around, land starts flying into place beneath your feet. Your adventure through a Calamity-stricken world has just begun.

The story in Bastion is presented very stylistically, delivered to you by the one and only mysterious, disembodied voice of... well... who really knows? What's especially cool is how the narrator seems to have something to say about everything you do. Fall of a ledge for the first time? Get ready to hear "And then, he falls to his death.", proceeded by "I'm just foolin'!" as your body smacks right back into the ground it used to occupy, allowing you to continue. It's an awesome way to keep the player interested about everything they do, especially when the acting is so good. I can't say that I ever once thought any line of dialogue was cheesy or ham-fisted, which is pretty high praise. But, it's not just the way in which the story is presented in Bastion that makes one want to keep playing. No, it's also the story itself. Be prepared to endure a few interesting plot twists and turns that I honestly didn't see coming. I often found myself replaying some of the game's optional side-sequences that I kept failing over and over just so I could learn more about the backstory of some of the characters, and the ending is so well done it nearly had me in tears.

Bastion looks incredible. All of the artwork is hand-drawn (with the one exception of most of the enemies and characters, who have been pre-rendered with a cel-shaded look. Don't worry, they still look good!), and when viewed in 1080p it's simply astounding. All the environments are lush and unique, somehow making a post-apocalyptic world seem oddly inviting. I love the art style in Bastion, and to anyone who can't appreciate it, the only thing I can say is that you probably hate fun and puppies. Or maybe you just play too much Call of Duty.

Bastion's sound effects are okay, but they're nothing special. There's nothing to really brag about, but there's also nothing bad. Sure, some of the weapons sound a bit underpowered, and a few sounds can get repetitive at times, but really, it doesn't matter. What's here is well done.

The music in Bastion is pretty awesome. While it's mostly just background stuff to the action happening on screen, it's still pretty catchy, and it complements things very nicely. The tracks that really stand out, though are the few that contain vocals. They're so catchy I find myself singing them all the time, even when I'm not playing the game and when I'm not thinking about it. They weasel they're way into your head, and not in a bad way either. All of these songs are overwhelmingly emotional, especially "Mother, I'm Here", put to absolutely tear-jerking use during the game's ending sequence.

Finally, let's talk about the most important part of the game: how it plays. To answer it simply, it plays well. It's nothing ground-breaking, but it's fun to run around beating up bad guys with your awesome hardware, gathering XP and leveling up all the while. The game also manages to introduce weapons at a steady and constant pace, forcing you to constantly switch up your attack style, all the while rewarding you for your efforts with new materials to upgrade your existing equipment. This effectively keeps the game fresh, giving you opportunities to experiment with and upgrade all kinds of weaponry.

In terms of content, Bastion is a bit more lacking than some other titles. I managed to beat the game in roughly 7-8 hours my first time through, and I had completed every single bonus course and acquired every possible upgrade. There is some replay value in the fact that there are multiple endings, and of course, the game offers you the ability to start a "New Game+", allowing you to keep all XP and weaponry from previous playthroughs on a new playthrough. Coupled with this is an interesting "Score Attack" mode, where the goal is to accrue as high a score as possible by replaying through past areas quickly and skilfully, complete with leaderboards. Still, it would have been nice to have a bit more for $15.

All in all, Bastion is an awesome game with a great story, and I highly recommend it to anyone who plays games. Yes, even if you're a diehard COD player.

88/100