This review contains spoilers
The idea of the unreliable narrator has been used a lot in fiction, and it's one of the more interesting tools in an artist's toolkit. It's visited less often in video games than it is in novels or film, mainly due to it being a burgeoning medium still: the most notable example in this space I can think of is Final Fantasy VII.
In Final Fantasy VII, the protagonist Cloud is someone who believes to have been an elite member of a corporation's military police at one point. Throughout most of the game you simply believe his testimony, and it's only at the turning point that you realize that he was never that - it was through systems of capital and their atrocities that his identity was twisted and warped, changing his very memories in order to suit the propaganda narrative of said corporation better, even if they didn't intend it to. Final Fantasy VII makes a bold declaration with this: our perceptions of ourselves and the world around us are tainted by systems of abuse and violence that we are thrust into.
Bastion attempts something similar, and it succeeds in some aspects. The propaganda narrative of the imperialist narrator, Rucks, is a pretty spot-on satire at points - a particularly clever usage of it is how whenever you try to talk to characters from the oppressed class of people, he will speak over them in vague non-answers to your questions. The systems of empire do not want their victims to have a voice. He's an effective antagonist, one that makes you commit terrible acts of genocide in the name of his warped ideology. The issue lies in that the game doesn't seem to want to commit to him being an antagonist.
This is the second Supergiant Game I've played, and it's two for two on terrible endings that back out of committing to the game's ideas at the last second. In Pyre, the ending is a changing of the guard as opposed to anything revolutionary. It's framed as a massive upheaval, but is just neoliberalism. It's not great, and it leaves a bad taste in my mouth every time I think about it.
The ending of Bastion, similarly, leaves a lot to be desired. In a lot of ways, it's much worse. The aforementioned narrator and his awful views are swept under the rug. After the protagonist decides to evacuate the Bastion and break free from the cycles of violence, Rucks... shows no indication that he's even learned anything from the experience. This is an imperialist warmonger who tricked you into perpetuating racialized violence, but the game decides that everyone has to be friends by the end of it. There is no resolution to this. It's a vapid, feel good ending that doesn't address major issues with this character because to do so would be difficult. What we end up with is a disappointingly centrist "why can't we all just get along" story.
It seems that behind the illustrative beauty and innovative gameplay mechanics of Supergiant lies a deep disinterest in making any bold statements with their games, which is a true shame.
In Final Fantasy VII, the protagonist Cloud is someone who believes to have been an elite member of a corporation's military police at one point. Throughout most of the game you simply believe his testimony, and it's only at the turning point that you realize that he was never that - it was through systems of capital and their atrocities that his identity was twisted and warped, changing his very memories in order to suit the propaganda narrative of said corporation better, even if they didn't intend it to. Final Fantasy VII makes a bold declaration with this: our perceptions of ourselves and the world around us are tainted by systems of abuse and violence that we are thrust into.
Bastion attempts something similar, and it succeeds in some aspects. The propaganda narrative of the imperialist narrator, Rucks, is a pretty spot-on satire at points - a particularly clever usage of it is how whenever you try to talk to characters from the oppressed class of people, he will speak over them in vague non-answers to your questions. The systems of empire do not want their victims to have a voice. He's an effective antagonist, one that makes you commit terrible acts of genocide in the name of his warped ideology. The issue lies in that the game doesn't seem to want to commit to him being an antagonist.
This is the second Supergiant Game I've played, and it's two for two on terrible endings that back out of committing to the game's ideas at the last second. In Pyre, the ending is a changing of the guard as opposed to anything revolutionary. It's framed as a massive upheaval, but is just neoliberalism. It's not great, and it leaves a bad taste in my mouth every time I think about it.
The ending of Bastion, similarly, leaves a lot to be desired. In a lot of ways, it's much worse. The aforementioned narrator and his awful views are swept under the rug. After the protagonist decides to evacuate the Bastion and break free from the cycles of violence, Rucks... shows no indication that he's even learned anything from the experience. This is an imperialist warmonger who tricked you into perpetuating racialized violence, but the game decides that everyone has to be friends by the end of it. There is no resolution to this. It's a vapid, feel good ending that doesn't address major issues with this character because to do so would be difficult. What we end up with is a disappointingly centrist "why can't we all just get along" story.
It seems that behind the illustrative beauty and innovative gameplay mechanics of Supergiant lies a deep disinterest in making any bold statements with their games, which is a true shame.
Me taking the Supergiant pill
https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/745325188455071775/1101387264170401822/Z.png
https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/745325188455071775/1101387264170401822/Z.png
Probably the best fucking game ive played and that one sequence for choosing a different option is SO good 10/10
Bastion is one of the most powerful gods on the indie-gaming pantheon, next to the likes of Braid and Fez. It was part of the first wave of indie titles which brought the concept to the public eye, thanks to its wholly original visual presentation and simple but rewarding third person action gameplay. The problem is that you’re reading a review written in 2019 and not 2011. It’s still a fun and good looking game, but indie development has gotten more ambitious since then, and Bastion’s ideas have been refined in subsequent games. If you haven’t played it yet, I would caution against thinking of it as one of the all-time-great indie titles, but I would still say it’s definitely worth a playthrough.
Bastion sat in my backlog for way too long. I got it in a Humble Bundle in 2012 and just barely beat it. The worst part is that it took less than 10 hours to complete.
Great vibe, narration that doesn't actually get old, enjoyable combat, good weapon customization, loads of extra challenge modifiers, an interesting story that isn't overbearing, and a fantastic soundtrack all work together to make a truly enjoyable indie. Recommended if you like the idea of something between Diablo and Gauntlet that focuses more on combat, but doesn't have co-op.
Great vibe, narration that doesn't actually get old, enjoyable combat, good weapon customization, loads of extra challenge modifiers, an interesting story that isn't overbearing, and a fantastic soundtrack all work together to make a truly enjoyable indie. Recommended if you like the idea of something between Diablo and Gauntlet that focuses more on combat, but doesn't have co-op.
is it possible for supergiant to make a bad game? i've yet to see any evidence otherwise
I would pay serious money to have the narrator of Bastion narrate my life. "He's skipping breakfast again... Guess he forgot it's the most important meal of the day"
I decided that I want to play through all of Supergiant Games' catalog this year. Hades is one of my favorite games ever and I wanted to see how this studio evolved their craft, starting from their first game onwards, which will hopefully lead up to the release of Hades II.
Bastion released in 2011 and I think when analyzing this game it's important to remember that. It came out during a time when there just weren't as many indie games for a multidate of reasons. In 2011, indie games were risk-heavier from a business standpoint, weren't as accessible as they are now, and were, quite frankly, really hard to make. Considering all of those challenges, I think Bastion is quite an achievement. I can absolutely see why this game is as well regarded as it is. I feel like if I had played in 2011 it would've been an all-time classic for me...
...but unfortunately, I think I played this game too late. It's 2024, and as much as I so desperately want to enjoy this game like 16-year-old me would have, I just couldn't. The primary contributor to my displeasure was the gameplay, which I don't think aged very well. It was just a less evolved, more boring version of Hades. There were too many unlocks and it the progression system was too convoluted for how short the game was. The visuals were also just OK. There wasn't too many visual concepts I haven't seen before and it was even a little fuzzy, like I was playing on an old TV but not in a charming way.
However, there were some things in this game that I do think aged well. For starters, the soundtrack is absolutely incredible from the scores to the lyrical pieces. Some of these tracks are going in my all-timers playlist. I also found myself getting invested in the characters, the world, and the story, which were all carried by the narrator. His voice was just so mesmerizing; listening to him talk and deliver sick one-liners is the main reason why I was able to keep going through the dull gameplay.
Overall, I am very happy I played this! It's so cool seeing how Supergiant started, and I can definitely feel the influence this game has had on the indie industry as a whole. I do wish I played it a dozen years ago, but I can't help that now. Next up: Transistor!
61/100
Bastion released in 2011 and I think when analyzing this game it's important to remember that. It came out during a time when there just weren't as many indie games for a multidate of reasons. In 2011, indie games were risk-heavier from a business standpoint, weren't as accessible as they are now, and were, quite frankly, really hard to make. Considering all of those challenges, I think Bastion is quite an achievement. I can absolutely see why this game is as well regarded as it is. I feel like if I had played in 2011 it would've been an all-time classic for me...
...but unfortunately, I think I played this game too late. It's 2024, and as much as I so desperately want to enjoy this game like 16-year-old me would have, I just couldn't. The primary contributor to my displeasure was the gameplay, which I don't think aged very well. It was just a less evolved, more boring version of Hades. There were too many unlocks and it the progression system was too convoluted for how short the game was. The visuals were also just OK. There wasn't too many visual concepts I haven't seen before and it was even a little fuzzy, like I was playing on an old TV but not in a charming way.
However, there were some things in this game that I do think aged well. For starters, the soundtrack is absolutely incredible from the scores to the lyrical pieces. Some of these tracks are going in my all-timers playlist. I also found myself getting invested in the characters, the world, and the story, which were all carried by the narrator. His voice was just so mesmerizing; listening to him talk and deliver sick one-liners is the main reason why I was able to keep going through the dull gameplay.
Overall, I am very happy I played this! It's so cool seeing how Supergiant started, and I can definitely feel the influence this game has had on the indie industry as a whole. I do wish I played it a dozen years ago, but I can't help that now. Next up: Transistor!
61/100
Supergiant Games might have pulled off one of the most impressive tricks in video game history. By implementing just a few unique ideas the developer managed to make Bastion feel like something entirely new despite it never actually breaking away from top-down dungeon crawling conventions. Your paths through the levels often form right before your eyes and combined with the creative approach taken for the narration-driven story it sometimes feels like you yourself are creating the adventure as you're playing it.
The combat is more than just simple hack 'n slash. Certain enemy types require specific strategies to defeat, which forces you to do some quick thinking on your feet as encounters grow more complex and greater environmental hazards get thrown into the mix. As you progress you'll gain access to new weapons. You can only carry two at a time along with one special ability that requires elixirs to use. Experimenting with all the different combinations to find the one best suited to your playstyle is a blast and further amplifies the game's lite RPG elements.
Now, there are only a handful of relatively brief levels in Bastion. However, things like collectibles, two endings, a new game + mode, weapon upgrades, and a plethora of challenges to overcome in order to reach 100% completion give it a lot of depth and replayability. Allowing it to feel like a complete package despite the fact that a single playthrough will only take a few hours.
I haven't even mentioned the game's story or distinctive style yet. The tale starts off interesting enough with a colorful, mysterious take on the classic post-apocalyptic setting that's brought to life by the art-like graphics, but quickly grows into something powerful and even a little emotional at points. Make no mistake, the narrative and how it's told plays a big role in what makes Bastion so special. Which makes the one issue I could with it so frustrating...
There's a recurring bug where audio won't play sometimes during cutscenes or when talking to another character. Subtitles won't pop up either so all you can do is close out the game and open it back up before reaching another autosave. Not a huge flaw I suppose and easily fixed, but irritating nonetheless and directly affects one of the best aspects of the experience.
What makes Bastion so impressive and worthwhile is how it presents its world, plot, and gameplay mechanics in original ways. It's never actually doing anything new, but you almost can't tell. The developer's vision is so distinguishing that you don't feel the familiar qualities of the genre while playing it. Showing that you don't alway need revolutionary in order to be outstanding. You just need to be to know how to make those conventions appear uncommon.
9/10
The combat is more than just simple hack 'n slash. Certain enemy types require specific strategies to defeat, which forces you to do some quick thinking on your feet as encounters grow more complex and greater environmental hazards get thrown into the mix. As you progress you'll gain access to new weapons. You can only carry two at a time along with one special ability that requires elixirs to use. Experimenting with all the different combinations to find the one best suited to your playstyle is a blast and further amplifies the game's lite RPG elements.
Now, there are only a handful of relatively brief levels in Bastion. However, things like collectibles, two endings, a new game + mode, weapon upgrades, and a plethora of challenges to overcome in order to reach 100% completion give it a lot of depth and replayability. Allowing it to feel like a complete package despite the fact that a single playthrough will only take a few hours.
I haven't even mentioned the game's story or distinctive style yet. The tale starts off interesting enough with a colorful, mysterious take on the classic post-apocalyptic setting that's brought to life by the art-like graphics, but quickly grows into something powerful and even a little emotional at points. Make no mistake, the narrative and how it's told plays a big role in what makes Bastion so special. Which makes the one issue I could with it so frustrating...
There's a recurring bug where audio won't play sometimes during cutscenes or when talking to another character. Subtitles won't pop up either so all you can do is close out the game and open it back up before reaching another autosave. Not a huge flaw I suppose and easily fixed, but irritating nonetheless and directly affects one of the best aspects of the experience.
What makes Bastion so impressive and worthwhile is how it presents its world, plot, and gameplay mechanics in original ways. It's never actually doing anything new, but you almost can't tell. The developer's vision is so distinguishing that you don't feel the familiar qualities of the genre while playing it. Showing that you don't alway need revolutionary in order to be outstanding. You just need to be to know how to make those conventions appear uncommon.
9/10
Bastion me foi um grande ganho durante uma fase em que eu lidava com uma grande perda
Um período muito especial para qualquer estudante é sem dúvidas as férias de fim de ano. Em 2018, ano de minha despedida do ensino fundamental 2, eu pensava em pouquíssimas coisas além do como eu iria aproveitar aquele período o qual não teria muito com o que se preocupar além de jogar video games. Lembro vividamente de ajudar as minhas professoras e colegas de classe a deixar tudo em ordem após o nosso último evento cultural, poucos dias antes da formatura. Foi necessário ficar até mais tarde arrumando as salas, o que não foi ruim, pois eu aproveitei bastante aquela atmosfera de bom humor, conversando e zoando com aqueles que faziam parte de minha rotina, era o meu último dia afinal.
Ao chegar em casa, apenas dormi.
Dormi até ser subitamente acordado pelo meu celular que tocava e vibrava embaixo do meu travesseiro. Atendendo, ouvi minha tia com uma voz de quem segurava o choro me avisando que meu pai havia falecido. Não tive reações, quase como se a informação ainda não tivesse sido processada, eu apenas recusei ir ao enterro, desliguei e voltei a dormir.
O meu processo de luto foi estranho, era insuportável sobretudo por não sair da minha cabeça o fato de que nunca mais veria o meu pai, mas, ainda assim, eu não demonstrava tristeza com quem estava à minha volta. Não chorava e nem conversava sobre a perda com a família por parte de pai, eu apenas procurava uma forma de se distrair, mas não conseguia me entreter com nada, absolutamente nada.
Foi quando resolvi começar Bastion, o primeiro jogo da Supergiant, crente de que eu o largaria em poucos minutos…
~
Bastion nos convida a acompanhar a história do protagonista chamado pelo narrador de “Kid” que tenta entender a razão pela qual o mundo se encontra em um estado tão lamentável de calamidade enquanto resgata cristais que recuperam e fortificam o bastião, o forte onde habita o próprio Kid e outros poucos sobreviventes que encontramos no caminho. Uma história que expõe em primeiro lugar as consequências de antigos conflitos e todo o processo de reestruturação e recuperação de perdas.
Tudo isso se sustenta por si, mas só é tão bom de acompanhar graças à imersão e dinamismo que a narração em tempo real nos entrega. A principal característica de Bastion é ser um jogo inteiro narrado em terceira pessoa quase que em tempo real, uma escolha de design que está presente no projeto desde seu princípio e por consequência é muito bem aplicada em game. A voz grave de Logan Cunningham te acompanha tecendo desde comentários dramáticos sobre a história do jogo até o que está acontecendo em tela (com direito a piadinhas zoando o jogador por ter cometido um deslize, por exemplo). O que poderia se tornar com o tempo cansativo, na verdade brilha mais e mais sobretudo devido ao cuidado nas escolhas das palavras, que são curtas, com frases breves, evocativas e com uma linguagem que aproxima o jogador do narrador. Um cuidado exemplar.
A escolha de entregar detalhes da história enquanto o jogo acontece confere à obra um ritmo agradável que dá espaço para o combate se fazer mais presente, o que não é ruim, visto que o mesmo é variado e muito bem polido. Bastion faz algo que valorizo muito: Te entrega um vasto arsenal que se diferencia significativamente entre si e que é balanceado ao ponto de todos serem bons à sua maneira. Você vai sim ter sua combinação de equipamentos favoritos, mas em qualquer momento você pode experimentar, se adaptar e tirar um bom proveito dos outros.
No fim do dia, cedo ou tarde Bastion te encanta, se não pela já citada história, narração e combate, com certeza pelo caprichado visual desenhado a mão e a excelente trilha sonora produzida pelo hoje bem conhecido Darren Korb, que se fez presente na desenvolvedora desde o começo do projeto, que buscou aqui nos envolver numa trilha descrita pelo mesmo como um “acoustic frontier trip hop”, um trip hop acustico de fronteira que trás aquela sensação de velho oeste em sinergia com a viagem que o trip hop proporciona, com direito a bateria eletrônica pesada dando um contraste único. Sem contar com as músicas cantadas, o próprio Darren Korb e a Ashley Barrett chegaram a me emocionar nestas faixas específicas.
~
Quando eu menos esperava, Bastion tomou minha atenção durante sua curta e perfeita duração. Me arrancou da realidade (que vinha sendo desagradável) e me imergiu a uma experiência que, como poucas, me fez recomeçar a jornada através do new game plus instantaneamente.
É um jogo que guardo com carinho, que me abraçou em um momento específico, e serviu para mergulhar em outra coisa além dos desconfortáveis pensamentos que as fases do luto nos proporciona.
Um período muito especial para qualquer estudante é sem dúvidas as férias de fim de ano. Em 2018, ano de minha despedida do ensino fundamental 2, eu pensava em pouquíssimas coisas além do como eu iria aproveitar aquele período o qual não teria muito com o que se preocupar além de jogar video games. Lembro vividamente de ajudar as minhas professoras e colegas de classe a deixar tudo em ordem após o nosso último evento cultural, poucos dias antes da formatura. Foi necessário ficar até mais tarde arrumando as salas, o que não foi ruim, pois eu aproveitei bastante aquela atmosfera de bom humor, conversando e zoando com aqueles que faziam parte de minha rotina, era o meu último dia afinal.
Ao chegar em casa, apenas dormi.
Dormi até ser subitamente acordado pelo meu celular que tocava e vibrava embaixo do meu travesseiro. Atendendo, ouvi minha tia com uma voz de quem segurava o choro me avisando que meu pai havia falecido. Não tive reações, quase como se a informação ainda não tivesse sido processada, eu apenas recusei ir ao enterro, desliguei e voltei a dormir.
O meu processo de luto foi estranho, era insuportável sobretudo por não sair da minha cabeça o fato de que nunca mais veria o meu pai, mas, ainda assim, eu não demonstrava tristeza com quem estava à minha volta. Não chorava e nem conversava sobre a perda com a família por parte de pai, eu apenas procurava uma forma de se distrair, mas não conseguia me entreter com nada, absolutamente nada.
Foi quando resolvi começar Bastion, o primeiro jogo da Supergiant, crente de que eu o largaria em poucos minutos…
~
Bastion nos convida a acompanhar a história do protagonista chamado pelo narrador de “Kid” que tenta entender a razão pela qual o mundo se encontra em um estado tão lamentável de calamidade enquanto resgata cristais que recuperam e fortificam o bastião, o forte onde habita o próprio Kid e outros poucos sobreviventes que encontramos no caminho. Uma história que expõe em primeiro lugar as consequências de antigos conflitos e todo o processo de reestruturação e recuperação de perdas.
Tudo isso se sustenta por si, mas só é tão bom de acompanhar graças à imersão e dinamismo que a narração em tempo real nos entrega. A principal característica de Bastion é ser um jogo inteiro narrado em terceira pessoa quase que em tempo real, uma escolha de design que está presente no projeto desde seu princípio e por consequência é muito bem aplicada em game. A voz grave de Logan Cunningham te acompanha tecendo desde comentários dramáticos sobre a história do jogo até o que está acontecendo em tela (com direito a piadinhas zoando o jogador por ter cometido um deslize, por exemplo). O que poderia se tornar com o tempo cansativo, na verdade brilha mais e mais sobretudo devido ao cuidado nas escolhas das palavras, que são curtas, com frases breves, evocativas e com uma linguagem que aproxima o jogador do narrador. Um cuidado exemplar.
A escolha de entregar detalhes da história enquanto o jogo acontece confere à obra um ritmo agradável que dá espaço para o combate se fazer mais presente, o que não é ruim, visto que o mesmo é variado e muito bem polido. Bastion faz algo que valorizo muito: Te entrega um vasto arsenal que se diferencia significativamente entre si e que é balanceado ao ponto de todos serem bons à sua maneira. Você vai sim ter sua combinação de equipamentos favoritos, mas em qualquer momento você pode experimentar, se adaptar e tirar um bom proveito dos outros.
No fim do dia, cedo ou tarde Bastion te encanta, se não pela já citada história, narração e combate, com certeza pelo caprichado visual desenhado a mão e a excelente trilha sonora produzida pelo hoje bem conhecido Darren Korb, que se fez presente na desenvolvedora desde o começo do projeto, que buscou aqui nos envolver numa trilha descrita pelo mesmo como um “acoustic frontier trip hop”, um trip hop acustico de fronteira que trás aquela sensação de velho oeste em sinergia com a viagem que o trip hop proporciona, com direito a bateria eletrônica pesada dando um contraste único. Sem contar com as músicas cantadas, o próprio Darren Korb e a Ashley Barrett chegaram a me emocionar nestas faixas específicas.
~
Quando eu menos esperava, Bastion tomou minha atenção durante sua curta e perfeita duração. Me arrancou da realidade (que vinha sendo desagradável) e me imergiu a uma experiência que, como poucas, me fez recomeçar a jornada através do new game plus instantaneamente.
É um jogo que guardo com carinho, que me abraçou em um momento específico, e serviu para mergulhar em outra coisa além dos desconfortáveis pensamentos que as fases do luto nos proporciona.
Where do I even begin with Bastion. Bastion is my favorite game of all time. It's a game I played through countless times while growing up. It's a game I don't want to talk too much about because I honestly have so much to say. But to give the cliff notes: The music in this game is amazing. The vocal tracks from Darren Korb and Ashley Barrett are unparalleled. 'Mother, I'm here' means so much to me. It's a song that is so deeply nostalgic to me, and the scene in which is plays still makes me tear up. This game narratively is phenomenal and I think the best of the 3 SG games I've played (all but Pyre). The reactive narrator adds so much to the game where we have a silent protagonist, and Logan Cunningham does a phenomenal job with the voice acting. The gameplay is a tad dated but I honestly still enjoyed it on a recent playthrough. This game is one of the games that really got me into PC gaming and it will forever hold a spot in my heart for it. It may not be the best gameplay wise or most technical or complicated, but it means a lot to me. I truly recommend this game for anyone. Please play it. :)
Man, the idea of a game having a narrator blew our tiny minds back in 2011.
The first project from Supergiant game and the last of their classic titles I personally played.
And I gotta be honest: maybe it's because I didn't play it at the time it came out, or maybe because of the quality of the other projects made by these developers, but... Bastion didn't hooked me as much as many other that tried it.
Don't get me wrong, I totally get the hype around it: especially for the time, Bastion has a timeless charm that it's hard to find even in other similar titles. It features an incredible soundtrack, a fantastic artstyle that literally lets you see the worlds being built around you, and a writing that is able to be melancholic, hopeful, sad, but also quirky and spicy, thanks to a sarcastic narrator that follows the adventure of the Kid.
The combats and puzzles I feel aged quite well, and while simple, can lead to a lot of customization and replayablity thanks to te ability to pick different weapons, buffs, entire styles of gameplay, and things that remind of the Pact of Punishment from Hades (which is a more than good thing). The attention oto details and overall cure for this projects are felt to this day.
I gotta be honest though and say that I didn't really grew attached to the overall story and characters. Not to mention that I felt the overall experience may feel a bit too short, especially considering the SUpergiant gems that came out in later years.
Despite my criticism, which can be considered harsh for one of the first big indie games, I cannot deny that Bastion is a timeless experience, and the people that consider it a cult classic and one of the pillars of the world of indie games are more than justified to think that.
Give it a try if you can. It's a great time!
And I gotta be honest: maybe it's because I didn't play it at the time it came out, or maybe because of the quality of the other projects made by these developers, but... Bastion didn't hooked me as much as many other that tried it.
Don't get me wrong, I totally get the hype around it: especially for the time, Bastion has a timeless charm that it's hard to find even in other similar titles. It features an incredible soundtrack, a fantastic artstyle that literally lets you see the worlds being built around you, and a writing that is able to be melancholic, hopeful, sad, but also quirky and spicy, thanks to a sarcastic narrator that follows the adventure of the Kid.
The combats and puzzles I feel aged quite well, and while simple, can lead to a lot of customization and replayablity thanks to te ability to pick different weapons, buffs, entire styles of gameplay, and things that remind of the Pact of Punishment from Hades (which is a more than good thing). The attention oto details and overall cure for this projects are felt to this day.
I gotta be honest though and say that I didn't really grew attached to the overall story and characters. Not to mention that I felt the overall experience may feel a bit too short, especially considering the SUpergiant gems that came out in later years.
Despite my criticism, which can be considered harsh for one of the first big indie games, I cannot deny that Bastion is a timeless experience, and the people that consider it a cult classic and one of the pillars of the world of indie games are more than justified to think that.
Give it a try if you can. It's a great time!
This is not a bad game, but I do feel it gets vastly overrated. Perhaps when it came out it was more impressive, but today, it's rather mediocre, especially compared to other titles from the same company.
Intrinsic motivation is a hard trait to judge in gaming because it’s one of the most subjective things out there: what one person finds inherently fun may differ from their compatriot, and vice-versa. Thus, in constructing a reward system, it should come as no surprise that developers often opt for extrinsically-prescient tangibles to supplement their product’s activities, whether it be gold, power-ups, or any myriad of collectibles.
And yet, in creating Bastion, Supergiant made the interesting decision to go with the former: that is, to back the majority of their utilities under the incentive of personal enjoyment over physicality, a choice that, in turn, makes this a very hard title to review. While we, as gamers, will always have differing opinions on how the story and lore should’ve gone, giving justifiable reasons for conducting an activity tends to coalesce around a central axiom- you know, do this quest to get that item, finish B excursion to unlock C skill, partake in the latest chain to earn more money, etc….
Bastion operates slightly differently -- you’re charged with rebuilding this citadel in a post-apocalyptic world via gathering magic crystals from various provinces, each locale boasting its own unique weapon in addition to the aforementioned crystal. As you can imagine, these tools require their own upgrades, but what’s interesting is how unnecessary the lion’s share of them are. While a diversity of armaments have been crafted to fit many playstyles, it soon becomes clear which ones hold the least amount of drawback, meaning the vast majority of upgrades are ultimately rendered pointless and not worth pursuing.
With a story about 6 hours long, Bastion of course throws in side content to encourage extended participation, but again, none of it has any purpose. First you’ve got proving grounds wherein you have to complete miscellaneous trials using a specific weapon- sounds fine till you discover the awards are literally useless trinkets; next up is the Memorial, boasting its own challenges in exchange for cash….something you’ll never need in light of the aforestated point about upgrade prioritization (and, you know, cash being easily generated from smashing everything around you). And finally there are god effigies, perhaps the dumbest things ever conceived in gaming, wherein you can make the combat harder for…..reasons?. All cards on the table, I didn’t buy most of the totems, so it’s very well possible some had benefits like spawning more money or experience, in which case they’d either way fall prey to the usual suspects: money can be acquired through simpler means and you’ll get sufficient exp from the story missions. In fact, I easily beat Bastion at only level 5, and while there is a NG+ mode, I sincerely doubt it offers a significant struggle that can’t be overcome through old tactics.
Of all the gameplay components, potions are left as the sole objects with merit given their numerous special effects (increased speed, auto-retaliation, spontaneous resuscitation, etc…), but because they’re unfortunately tied to your level, you’re unable to experiment much unless you waste time grinding away to increase slots (which, as I made clear, is unnecessary due to the game being a cakewalk).
What all this fundamentally means is that, if you want to enjoy Bastion, you need to come into it with a congenital mindset: you should be capable of concocting inner fantasies that instantly justify your actions and pathways. Cause without that, you’ll find Bastion a relatively-forgettable affair, a facet not helped by its lackluster plot. I noted before how it’s a dystopian tale set after a great calamity; however, despite this interesting premise, you’re never really left invested in the world at hand. Part of that has to do with 90% storytelling being relegated to a single narrator, and though Logan Cunningham gives a fantastic performance, you can only go so far with a solitary director: there’s no optional material to read, no cutscenes to speak of, very basic environmental storytelling. Cunningham’s words are often intersected with the goings-ons of your unnamed protagonist, their movements and encounters perfectly elocuted by the gruff drawl, and it’s unfortunate that such tight narrative direction couldn’t be complemented with extra support. While the idea of rebuilding a broken world remains a great concept, Bastion fails to do well by it.
Credit where credit is due, the writers do do a solid job divulging the extensive backstory of their city, and I feel a strong part of that success derives from Cunningham’s acting. Depending on how Hades goes, this man may very well end up in my Top 10 most talented VAs list as his range is extraordinary, with Bastion serving him an opportunity to indulge in that classic Clint Eastwood-type hoarseness that made The Man With No Name so iconic. From his enunciation to controlled speed of speech, he more-than-manages to envelope you in the history of Caelondia.
To be clear, his voice isn’t a pure imitation; in fact, I detected a note of Latin America in his accent, a trait that extends to the score by Darren Korb. Flamingo guitars, electric frets, thinned violas; stringed instruments galore dominate his compositions, transporting you into a society dominated by half-spaghetti western/half-Americana beats. As you get into the later sections of the game, you even get a few beautifully-sung tracks exhibiting some underrated talent in the music industry. That said, the OST was unfortunately brought down by a few recurring tracks heavy on high-strung notes that, for me, were more grating than pleasant -- if they were one-offs, it’d be one thing, but I’m confident one of them was a recurring habitual battle theme.
On that note, let’s flesh out the gameplay as Bastion is an experience based solely around battles. Your goal is to enter each area, clear out any enemies in your way, and retrieve the gemstone at the end. Honestly, there’s not much more I can say other than this is a solid framework- you got two weapons with unlimited ammo, a dodge button, and even an unbreakable shield, meaning no cheap deaths. The biggest issue, rather, comes from the lack of enemy variety: everyone is either CQC or a ranged annoyance, and the limited number of unique designs prevents any from standing out. Heck, some feel outright rehashed from popular games of the past, such as the urchins from Super Mario World, Mets from Mega Man, and the Lemon Drops of Yoshi’s Island.
That diminished visual flare sadly applies to the graphics as well. Bastion has been praised by countless publications for its storybook aesthetic, and while I do agree it’s a gorgeous game, there was something structurally unmemorable about the whole scheme that I just couldn’t pinpoint. The stages you travel to are composed of erratically-forming blocks that bring to mind the round tiles of HeroScape (anyone remember that baby?); however, not only does this gimmick get old fast (it’s haphazardly used in most video games for a reason), but the slabs themselves are incapable of sprouting a distinctive visage to the point where, even when fully-assembled, I rarely felt like I was being transported to an unfamiliar plane. It’s not that no work was done to change-up the environmental composition, but more-so the developers were unable to get much mileage out of the geometric slates they opted to use as building elements. Combine this with an isometric camera and minimal lighting work and you have a world that’s technically beautiful, yet artistically inadequate ... .the exception being the dream dimensions. These are optional zones the Kid can venture into, and they were absolutely stunning to fight in, their success largely deriving from the flamboyant colors flashing amidst the ground.
In the end, though, it’s not the graphics that have to keep you hooked onto Bastion, but your own personal spirit. If you’re someone (like myself) who prefers to be driven by the prospect of a payoff, you’re going to be disappointed here as this isn’t that kind of game. Bastion wants you to progress in the world because you’re inspired by the handcrafted mythology on-display: make your purchasing decision purely on that basis.
NOTES
-Didn’t speak about SFX in the review because it’s a pretty basic set-up with a singular tone/per weapon. I don’t even think enemies had programmed cries.
-I can’t be the only person who thinks the text at the bottom of the loading screens resembles the Elven runes from Artemis Fowl?
-Two female actresses, Ashley Barrett and Kristin Wilson, are credited with doing all the female vocals in the game, and they’re definitely good no matter their small screen time.
-Noticed some aspects that were carried over into Supergiant’s follow-up game Transistor: the proving grounds (the training dimensions), the effigies (the Limiters), the reliance on intrinsic fillips to try out the different combat options. While all are marginally-improved there, it's a shame the overall storytelling fell down the drain.
And yet, in creating Bastion, Supergiant made the interesting decision to go with the former: that is, to back the majority of their utilities under the incentive of personal enjoyment over physicality, a choice that, in turn, makes this a very hard title to review. While we, as gamers, will always have differing opinions on how the story and lore should’ve gone, giving justifiable reasons for conducting an activity tends to coalesce around a central axiom- you know, do this quest to get that item, finish B excursion to unlock C skill, partake in the latest chain to earn more money, etc….
Bastion operates slightly differently -- you’re charged with rebuilding this citadel in a post-apocalyptic world via gathering magic crystals from various provinces, each locale boasting its own unique weapon in addition to the aforementioned crystal. As you can imagine, these tools require their own upgrades, but what’s interesting is how unnecessary the lion’s share of them are. While a diversity of armaments have been crafted to fit many playstyles, it soon becomes clear which ones hold the least amount of drawback, meaning the vast majority of upgrades are ultimately rendered pointless and not worth pursuing.
With a story about 6 hours long, Bastion of course throws in side content to encourage extended participation, but again, none of it has any purpose. First you’ve got proving grounds wherein you have to complete miscellaneous trials using a specific weapon- sounds fine till you discover the awards are literally useless trinkets; next up is the Memorial, boasting its own challenges in exchange for cash….something you’ll never need in light of the aforestated point about upgrade prioritization (and, you know, cash being easily generated from smashing everything around you). And finally there are god effigies, perhaps the dumbest things ever conceived in gaming, wherein you can make the combat harder for…..reasons?. All cards on the table, I didn’t buy most of the totems, so it’s very well possible some had benefits like spawning more money or experience, in which case they’d either way fall prey to the usual suspects: money can be acquired through simpler means and you’ll get sufficient exp from the story missions. In fact, I easily beat Bastion at only level 5, and while there is a NG+ mode, I sincerely doubt it offers a significant struggle that can’t be overcome through old tactics.
Of all the gameplay components, potions are left as the sole objects with merit given their numerous special effects (increased speed, auto-retaliation, spontaneous resuscitation, etc…), but because they’re unfortunately tied to your level, you’re unable to experiment much unless you waste time grinding away to increase slots (which, as I made clear, is unnecessary due to the game being a cakewalk).
What all this fundamentally means is that, if you want to enjoy Bastion, you need to come into it with a congenital mindset: you should be capable of concocting inner fantasies that instantly justify your actions and pathways. Cause without that, you’ll find Bastion a relatively-forgettable affair, a facet not helped by its lackluster plot. I noted before how it’s a dystopian tale set after a great calamity; however, despite this interesting premise, you’re never really left invested in the world at hand. Part of that has to do with 90% storytelling being relegated to a single narrator, and though Logan Cunningham gives a fantastic performance, you can only go so far with a solitary director: there’s no optional material to read, no cutscenes to speak of, very basic environmental storytelling. Cunningham’s words are often intersected with the goings-ons of your unnamed protagonist, their movements and encounters perfectly elocuted by the gruff drawl, and it’s unfortunate that such tight narrative direction couldn’t be complemented with extra support. While the idea of rebuilding a broken world remains a great concept, Bastion fails to do well by it.
Credit where credit is due, the writers do do a solid job divulging the extensive backstory of their city, and I feel a strong part of that success derives from Cunningham’s acting. Depending on how Hades goes, this man may very well end up in my Top 10 most talented VAs list as his range is extraordinary, with Bastion serving him an opportunity to indulge in that classic Clint Eastwood-type hoarseness that made The Man With No Name so iconic. From his enunciation to controlled speed of speech, he more-than-manages to envelope you in the history of Caelondia.
To be clear, his voice isn’t a pure imitation; in fact, I detected a note of Latin America in his accent, a trait that extends to the score by Darren Korb. Flamingo guitars, electric frets, thinned violas; stringed instruments galore dominate his compositions, transporting you into a society dominated by half-spaghetti western/half-Americana beats. As you get into the later sections of the game, you even get a few beautifully-sung tracks exhibiting some underrated talent in the music industry. That said, the OST was unfortunately brought down by a few recurring tracks heavy on high-strung notes that, for me, were more grating than pleasant -- if they were one-offs, it’d be one thing, but I’m confident one of them was a recurring habitual battle theme.
On that note, let’s flesh out the gameplay as Bastion is an experience based solely around battles. Your goal is to enter each area, clear out any enemies in your way, and retrieve the gemstone at the end. Honestly, there’s not much more I can say other than this is a solid framework- you got two weapons with unlimited ammo, a dodge button, and even an unbreakable shield, meaning no cheap deaths. The biggest issue, rather, comes from the lack of enemy variety: everyone is either CQC or a ranged annoyance, and the limited number of unique designs prevents any from standing out. Heck, some feel outright rehashed from popular games of the past, such as the urchins from Super Mario World, Mets from Mega Man, and the Lemon Drops of Yoshi’s Island.
That diminished visual flare sadly applies to the graphics as well. Bastion has been praised by countless publications for its storybook aesthetic, and while I do agree it’s a gorgeous game, there was something structurally unmemorable about the whole scheme that I just couldn’t pinpoint. The stages you travel to are composed of erratically-forming blocks that bring to mind the round tiles of HeroScape (anyone remember that baby?); however, not only does this gimmick get old fast (it’s haphazardly used in most video games for a reason), but the slabs themselves are incapable of sprouting a distinctive visage to the point where, even when fully-assembled, I rarely felt like I was being transported to an unfamiliar plane. It’s not that no work was done to change-up the environmental composition, but more-so the developers were unable to get much mileage out of the geometric slates they opted to use as building elements. Combine this with an isometric camera and minimal lighting work and you have a world that’s technically beautiful, yet artistically inadequate ... .the exception being the dream dimensions. These are optional zones the Kid can venture into, and they were absolutely stunning to fight in, their success largely deriving from the flamboyant colors flashing amidst the ground.
In the end, though, it’s not the graphics that have to keep you hooked onto Bastion, but your own personal spirit. If you’re someone (like myself) who prefers to be driven by the prospect of a payoff, you’re going to be disappointed here as this isn’t that kind of game. Bastion wants you to progress in the world because you’re inspired by the handcrafted mythology on-display: make your purchasing decision purely on that basis.
NOTES
-Didn’t speak about SFX in the review because it’s a pretty basic set-up with a singular tone/per weapon. I don’t even think enemies had programmed cries.
-I can’t be the only person who thinks the text at the bottom of the loading screens resembles the Elven runes from Artemis Fowl?
-Two female actresses, Ashley Barrett and Kristin Wilson, are credited with doing all the female vocals in the game, and they’re definitely good no matter their small screen time.
-Noticed some aspects that were carried over into Supergiant’s follow-up game Transistor: the proving grounds (the training dimensions), the effigies (the Limiters), the reliance on intrinsic fillips to try out the different combat options. While all are marginally-improved there, it's a shame the overall storytelling fell down the drain.
The plot of Bastion, on a zoomed-out level, is hard to read as anything other than fiercely anti-imperialist and even revolutionary. Caelondia treated the Ura people insidiously, stealing what was theirs, trampling over their land, keeping their people captive, and finally resorting to attempted genocide in order to cement supremacy eternally.
This is not immediately obvious as Rucks' narration tries to position the Ura in a negative light, tries to convince you that all these horrible actions were necessary and justified. Gradually it dawns on you that Rucks is not a reliable narrator though, and even just a couple hours into playing the game I found myself seeing the city of Caelondia as wholly and unambiguously morally repugnant.
Portraying imperialism in such a critical light is obviously just inherently a really good thing, and so many of the things Rucks is made to say feel like they border on biting satire once you realise what is actually going on, the sort of truth-bending you'll hear on the news everyday. A particularly effective detail is that for much of the game whenever you try to talk to Zia the narration strips her of her voice, often not even answering the questions you were asking; imperialism needs to silence people in order to ensure its continued existence.
There were problems for me though, one major one in particular which is that about halfway through the game I genuinely just wanted to turn the game off and stop playing never to return; as Kid you perform horrendous actions, breaking into territory to slaughter wildlife, and later on murdering people who are just trying to defend their homes, with your increasingly destructive weapons, all in an attempt to reconstruct some husk of the past.
You're not really given any option other than to proceed, and by the point I'd realised what was going on there were more than a couple hours of this left still; if I hadn't been streaming the game I simply wouldn't have finished the game. Whilst I think the game is clearly trying to be critical of the horrific acts Caelondia committed, I have to imagine it really doesn't want you to just stop playing halfway through like I would have so, for me at least, this feels like a big failing on its part.
You can justify the fact the game never explicitly gives you the option to stop your rampage because it's Kid's story and you're just playing it out, he's a military boy who is just following the orders he's given from Rucks so of course he wouldn't question what he's doing, killing is all he knows. I'm not sure how much I can really agree with that as this reading makes the options given to you at the end of the game feel weirdly dissonant to me by contrast; that said discovering that the only real option at the end is to evacuate the Bastion, that restoring things to how they were simply continues the cycle of violence, was a very powerful moment for me.
This is not immediately obvious as Rucks' narration tries to position the Ura in a negative light, tries to convince you that all these horrible actions were necessary and justified. Gradually it dawns on you that Rucks is not a reliable narrator though, and even just a couple hours into playing the game I found myself seeing the city of Caelondia as wholly and unambiguously morally repugnant.
Portraying imperialism in such a critical light is obviously just inherently a really good thing, and so many of the things Rucks is made to say feel like they border on biting satire once you realise what is actually going on, the sort of truth-bending you'll hear on the news everyday. A particularly effective detail is that for much of the game whenever you try to talk to Zia the narration strips her of her voice, often not even answering the questions you were asking; imperialism needs to silence people in order to ensure its continued existence.
There were problems for me though, one major one in particular which is that about halfway through the game I genuinely just wanted to turn the game off and stop playing never to return; as Kid you perform horrendous actions, breaking into territory to slaughter wildlife, and later on murdering people who are just trying to defend their homes, with your increasingly destructive weapons, all in an attempt to reconstruct some husk of the past.
You're not really given any option other than to proceed, and by the point I'd realised what was going on there were more than a couple hours of this left still; if I hadn't been streaming the game I simply wouldn't have finished the game. Whilst I think the game is clearly trying to be critical of the horrific acts Caelondia committed, I have to imagine it really doesn't want you to just stop playing halfway through like I would have so, for me at least, this feels like a big failing on its part.
You can justify the fact the game never explicitly gives you the option to stop your rampage because it's Kid's story and you're just playing it out, he's a military boy who is just following the orders he's given from Rucks so of course he wouldn't question what he's doing, killing is all he knows. I'm not sure how much I can really agree with that as this reading makes the options given to you at the end of the game feel weirdly dissonant to me by contrast; that said discovering that the only real option at the end is to evacuate the Bastion, that restoring things to how they were simply continues the cycle of violence, was a very powerful moment for me.
Bastion oozes personality. Whether it be with its witty narrator, its eye-catching art style or its sublime soundtrack. All these elements have aged gracefully. Though the plot didn’t pull me in like I was hoping it would, the puzzle solving was very simple and the combat a bit stiff. However, the constant introduction of new gameplay features along with the games meaningful upgrade trees and layered combat systems kept me engaged throughout its duration to the point where I stuck around after completing the campaign to try high score challenges and upgrade my weapons. This game’s attention to detail has helped it stand the test of time surprisingly well, and while it has its flaws, its easy to see why it is considered amongst the crowning jewels of the first wave of indies which came out in the early 2010s.
2011 Ranked
Indie Recommendations
2011 Ranked
Indie Recommendations
Took me over 10 years to beat this game but I finally got around to it. Good indie game with charming visuals and an intriguing story. There are some issues with the level design being hard to tell where you can and can't go, and the balancing of the weapons is pretty poor, but it's a game worth picking up for how cheap it always is, and the important options near the end of the game.
The story is intriguing, if not engrossing. The presentation is interesting, if not stunning. The combat is fine, if not airtight. Bastion really needed just one more unique angle to make it stand out from other games like it.
Unfortunately, what the developers thought that angle should be was some of the most wildly inappropriate voiceover narration I’ve ever heard in my life. Guys, did we play the same game? The narrator is easily the worst part about it for me. It baffles me that someone thought it would be a good idea to create a lush fantasy world with a plucky young knight and pair it with someone who sounds like Marv from Sin City fucked a Ford commercial.
Not a bad game per se, but absolutely one I regret buying.
Unfortunately, what the developers thought that angle should be was some of the most wildly inappropriate voiceover narration I’ve ever heard in my life. Guys, did we play the same game? The narrator is easily the worst part about it for me. It baffles me that someone thought it would be a good idea to create a lush fantasy world with a plucky young knight and pair it with someone who sounds like Marv from Sin City fucked a Ford commercial.
Not a bad game per se, but absolutely one I regret buying.
Supergiant is unique among the earlyish indie revolution studios for arriving on day 1 with technically proficient visuals and sound design, standing out as the most presentable of the bunch. Their contemporaries tended to be focused on a then-radical return to the mechanical purity of the NES era or pushing procedural generation out of the realm of terminal games into the light of accessibility, while Supergiant instead focused first and foremost on making something polished to standards that at the time only really existed in the realm of AAA.
And that's what makes going back to the start of Supergiant so weird: they had all the ability in the world to make a masterpiece and polish it to perfection, yet seemingly had no ideas they wanted to flesh out. Bastion just kind of piddles around, never really having anything to say or do. Its barebones mechanics, flashy hand-painted visuals, and ever-present solemn folksy narration prepare the player for some kind of emotional ride, experimental revelation, or strong thematic core which never really comes. It's disappointing, since god knows you're not having fun with each new weapon being slightly more annoying and less satisfying to use than the last.
Granted, this came out at a time where attempting to be "serious" in any remotely popular games was still very much in its infancy. Outside of the world of text-based interactive fiction, this was still the era of Heavy Rain silliness and its backlash. As the preconditions for gamergate fell into place, tension mounted over games trying to be anything besides simply fun tests of mechanical mastery. To be perfectly blunt, the fledgling indie gaming audience was not really willing to accept games which were primarily focused on trying to say things. To many of them, political messaging and narrative complexity were exactly what the indie movement existed as a reaction to. They missed the games where running and jumping were all you really needed.
Bastion did, in its own way, fly in the face of that. There's next to nothing to dig into in terms of mechanics, with the game instead pushing you to listen to the narration and let your primary takeaways be from the narrative and aesthetics This was not in any way new to gaming, of course, but for indie gamers of the time, it certainly stood out. While not particularly thematically potent in the grand scheme of things, Bastion would sure seem that way if you had been grinding your teeth while trying Super Meat Boy levels over and over for the past few months. I have to give this game at least some credit for that, even if it's banal and tame to more modern sensibilities. That is, MY more modern sensibilities.
Also, I say "technically proficient" when I refer to the art instead of "good" because to be completely honest, I ignored Bastion back then because I found it extremely muddy and busy, which I still think it is. If this game counts the number of times you fall off the map anywhere, that alone would be a testament to how awful the visual style is for actually making sense of spaces. They've improved much on this front nowadays, but I'd be lying if I said they've completely gotten past it even in Hades.
Side Note: I've always confused this game with Braid, which I still haven't played to this day due to its own ugly-ass art style.
And that's what makes going back to the start of Supergiant so weird: they had all the ability in the world to make a masterpiece and polish it to perfection, yet seemingly had no ideas they wanted to flesh out. Bastion just kind of piddles around, never really having anything to say or do. Its barebones mechanics, flashy hand-painted visuals, and ever-present solemn folksy narration prepare the player for some kind of emotional ride, experimental revelation, or strong thematic core which never really comes. It's disappointing, since god knows you're not having fun with each new weapon being slightly more annoying and less satisfying to use than the last.
Granted, this came out at a time where attempting to be "serious" in any remotely popular games was still very much in its infancy. Outside of the world of text-based interactive fiction, this was still the era of Heavy Rain silliness and its backlash. As the preconditions for gamergate fell into place, tension mounted over games trying to be anything besides simply fun tests of mechanical mastery. To be perfectly blunt, the fledgling indie gaming audience was not really willing to accept games which were primarily focused on trying to say things. To many of them, political messaging and narrative complexity were exactly what the indie movement existed as a reaction to. They missed the games where running and jumping were all you really needed.
Bastion did, in its own way, fly in the face of that. There's next to nothing to dig into in terms of mechanics, with the game instead pushing you to listen to the narration and let your primary takeaways be from the narrative and aesthetics This was not in any way new to gaming, of course, but for indie gamers of the time, it certainly stood out. While not particularly thematically potent in the grand scheme of things, Bastion would sure seem that way if you had been grinding your teeth while trying Super Meat Boy levels over and over for the past few months. I have to give this game at least some credit for that, even if it's banal and tame to more modern sensibilities. That is, MY more modern sensibilities.
Also, I say "technically proficient" when I refer to the art instead of "good" because to be completely honest, I ignored Bastion back then because I found it extremely muddy and busy, which I still think it is. If this game counts the number of times you fall off the map anywhere, that alone would be a testament to how awful the visual style is for actually making sense of spaces. They've improved much on this front nowadays, but I'd be lying if I said they've completely gotten past it even in Hades.
Side Note: I've always confused this game with Braid, which I still haven't played to this day due to its own ugly-ass art style.
Bastion (2011) is cool. i like it! it's got tight controls, it looks gorgeous, and the SOUNDTRACK goes sooo hard. seriously. there are some bangers. we need more sounds of hammers hitting anvils in songs, because that is the soundbite of my dreaaams.
by far the best part of the game is the soundscape: Darren Korb's sweet sweet bangers and Logan Cunningham's sweet sweet narration. the world of this game feels so full of life and yet so utterly ruined thanks to these two facets. the narration feels so natural and is so adaptive that it is almost as though it is completely tailored to your specific experience playing the game. if you fall off a ledge, the narrator will make a little joke about your journey ending there. there's unique voice lines for every combination of weapons you leave the arsenal with. in one area, the narrator even reminded me diegetically that i could use my specific special ability if the swarms of enemies were too much. it felt insanely organic, and as though it had to be planned that i would have that specific equipment in my loadout, but no! i could've had literally anything in that slot. the narration is so frequent that you may think it'd blend into the background, but i found it to be engaging the whole playthrough and it made me feel like the lore of this world was being transmitted into my brain via osmosis.
there's a pretty great sense of progression as you both build the bastion and build up your arsenal. there's always something to check up on, upgrade, or swap out every time you finish a level, which feels nice. there's a good number of weapons, and i'm partial to a good number of them. they're not all great, but i imagine there's some i don't care for that others swear by, so your mileage may vary. however, the final portion of the game where it forces you to use a different weapon was dreadfully boring and anticlimactic. it spits on all of that building up that i just gushed over and instead gives you the most clunky, unfun piece of equipment in the entire game.
the story and gameplay aren't all that crazy, but the narration and vibes are fantastic, and i would recommend this game based on those two factors alone.
by far the best part of the game is the soundscape: Darren Korb's sweet sweet bangers and Logan Cunningham's sweet sweet narration. the world of this game feels so full of life and yet so utterly ruined thanks to these two facets. the narration feels so natural and is so adaptive that it is almost as though it is completely tailored to your specific experience playing the game. if you fall off a ledge, the narrator will make a little joke about your journey ending there. there's unique voice lines for every combination of weapons you leave the arsenal with. in one area, the narrator even reminded me diegetically that i could use my specific special ability if the swarms of enemies were too much. it felt insanely organic, and as though it had to be planned that i would have that specific equipment in my loadout, but no! i could've had literally anything in that slot. the narration is so frequent that you may think it'd blend into the background, but i found it to be engaging the whole playthrough and it made me feel like the lore of this world was being transmitted into my brain via osmosis.
there's a pretty great sense of progression as you both build the bastion and build up your arsenal. there's always something to check up on, upgrade, or swap out every time you finish a level, which feels nice. there's a good number of weapons, and i'm partial to a good number of them. they're not all great, but i imagine there's some i don't care for that others swear by, so your mileage may vary. however, the final portion of the game where it forces you to use a different weapon was dreadfully boring and anticlimactic. it spits on all of that building up that i just gushed over and instead gives you the most clunky, unfun piece of equipment in the entire game.
the story and gameplay aren't all that crazy, but the narration and vibes are fantastic, and i would recommend this game based on those two factors alone.
I don't think playing this game years after its release, after playing Transistor and a lot of modern action games, have done this any favors. It's fine. It's not a bad game but I don't think it comes close to measuring up to SuperGiant's following 3 games.
Existe uma estranha sensação de conforto nesse jogo.
Apesar de seu mundo ser um caos apocalíptico repleto de morte, melancolia e desespero, esse jogo cria uma camada de conforto pela sua estética em game design, escrita e arte que é formidável.
Afinal, um combate e progressão competente, com um level design bem amarradinho são suficientes por si só para te fazer jogar de forma confortável, ter uma variação boa e divertidas de armas e uma jogabilidade meio beat'em up isométrico deixa o loop principal bem temperado. Mas o que me fisgou mesmo foi tudo que adorna esse design.
Esse jogo parece uma fantasia açucarada, cheira e tem sabor de um doce de coco, mas é recheado de um chocolate muito amargo. Superficialmente o sabor te tranquiliza, te traz frescor e calmaria, mas dentro vem um punch. Acontece que quando se chega ao núcleo, o jogo te obriga a tomar uma decisão: aceitar ou refazer.
Só que o jogo nos deixa preparados para tomar essa decisão.
Afinal, aos poucos o sabor se torna morno. Não necessariamente a melhor experiência que já vivemos, mas significativa o suficiente para não esquecermos e, portanto, para não apagarmos.
Encontrar o conforto no desespero é o que Bastion nos faz conquistar sem percebermos, e na tomada de decisão, ter herdado sua coragem de permanecer no caos foi o que me fez não esquecer desse jogo.
Apesar de seu mundo ser um caos apocalíptico repleto de morte, melancolia e desespero, esse jogo cria uma camada de conforto pela sua estética em game design, escrita e arte que é formidável.
Afinal, um combate e progressão competente, com um level design bem amarradinho são suficientes por si só para te fazer jogar de forma confortável, ter uma variação boa e divertidas de armas e uma jogabilidade meio beat'em up isométrico deixa o loop principal bem temperado. Mas o que me fisgou mesmo foi tudo que adorna esse design.
Esse jogo parece uma fantasia açucarada, cheira e tem sabor de um doce de coco, mas é recheado de um chocolate muito amargo. Superficialmente o sabor te tranquiliza, te traz frescor e calmaria, mas dentro vem um punch. Acontece que quando se chega ao núcleo, o jogo te obriga a tomar uma decisão: aceitar ou refazer.
Só que o jogo nos deixa preparados para tomar essa decisão.
Afinal, aos poucos o sabor se torna morno. Não necessariamente a melhor experiência que já vivemos, mas significativa o suficiente para não esquecermos e, portanto, para não apagarmos.
Encontrar o conforto no desespero é o que Bastion nos faz conquistar sem percebermos, e na tomada de decisão, ter herdado sua coragem de permanecer no caos foi o que me fez não esquecer desse jogo.
Looks beautiful, amazingly narrated and good conceptually, but the gameplay just couldn’t mesh with me much. It isn’t bad, I don’t want to propagate that, but I feel you’re handed so much with too little time to mesh with it, and the shrine bonuses really don’t have the draw to them I’d like. It’s just, fine. The story is interesting, and I like the dichotomy of the ending and what it represents, but I don’t necessarily vibe with a “our people did bad, don’t hate us though we’re the ones fixing it” type narrative. That may just be me though. Nevertheless, a lot of what became hallmarks of Supergiant, from game to visual to sound design is here. I think for a first game, it’s admirable and a good framework. I personally just didn’t mesh with everything as I’d have liked to.
The extremely complicated moral dilemma of sacrificing an entire ancient civilization (wherein its implied they are just defending themselves) or being a dick to someone you met 20 minutes ago.
Bastion is a combination of good art, music, atmosphere, amazing narration and a decent story. The gameplay is good enough for the length of the game, with a little bit of variety and some room for mastery, but it doesn't really have much of replay value. The game has more than enough to offer for its price, and even if you do not love it I would say it is more than worth the money for the experience it provides.
Really short and unique (especially at the time) game that doesnt overstay its welcome. Gameplay is very much like a less refined, snappy Hades, which still makes it really enjoyable, with the iconic constant narration by Logan Cunningham still being one of the best executions of the concept imo. Soundtrack is still off the freaking rails
Maybe the game that influenced me as a person the most, for multiple reasons... holds an absolutely special place in my heart and Ive been a Supergiant Games fan ever since
Maybe the game that influenced me as a person the most, for multiple reasons... holds an absolutely special place in my heart and Ive been a Supergiant Games fan ever since
the combat is a bit lackluster but the story is pretty good. just an overall good game. this game has a new game plus but i dont know if i really want to revisit this game. eitherway, if you're a fan of any of the other supergiant games, check this one out, its pretty darn good.
El primer juego de Supergiant Games es un RPG con toques de acción impresionante, que no le tiene miedo a intentar cosas nuevas con una gran narrativa. El combate es un poco torpe pero divertido(Algo que mejorarian con el paso de los juegos); Su musica, como es de esperar por parte de Darren Korb, es perfecta para el juego(Tal como se podia esperarse de el), junto a esto Bastion cierra su calidad con el diseño del mundo que es lo suficientemente interesante y diferente como para distinguirse de otros juegos anteriores a la oleada indie post-2011.
thanks for inventing indie games bastion