Bastion Reviews

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Written by WorstUsernameEver on July 30th, 2011

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Following Rucks' tale toward its conclusion, Bastion will undoubtedly be remembered for its personality. Caelondia is a beautiful, vibrant locale to behold, punctuated by a fitting soundtrack that will surprise as often as it delights. But, it's the characters and creatures of this world that make the experience so special and memorable; each is believable, making their motives palpable. Caelondia is a city worth saving, making it that much harder to let die. Don't let that happen, restore the Bastion.

This is a beautiful, engaging action-RPG, and an absolute triumph for its independent developers. Four hours might not sound like long, but they might be four of the best hours you'll have in some time.

Some tiny and infrequent aiming and walking glitches aside, it's ten hours of well-balanced, irresistibly charming gameplay, great visuals and evocative sound design that deserves to be savoured and repeated by the widest possible audience. With this release, Supergiant Games has set a new high-water mark for not only for budget-price RPGs, but XBLA games as a whole. Highly recommended.

Bastion is a post-apocalyptic work, yet it's almost never grim. Its premise is that even when the future seems to have been consumed by past calamity, the only way to go is forward. But does moving ahead after a disaster mean rebuilding what was there, or creating a new world? When all the earthly things have been destroyed, how much does the soul of the past persist? Bastion leaves those questions open; its philosophy is that only the survivors can decide. Thus near the end of the quest, you must make choices that determine, in essence, what your journey has been about. It's a powerful conclusion to an extraordinary game.

Bastion is a fantastic game. It's fun, replayable, visually stunning, and the music is fantastic. There's also multiple endings depending on certain decisions you make at the end of the game, so there's another reason to play through it twice. If you're a fantasy RPG fan then there's really no reason not to check this out, but it's also a great game for any type of gamer. It's not too complicated or difficult for casual gamers but it's deep enough to satiate even the most hardcore of RPG nerds.

Bastion is without a doubt the crowning achievement of the XBLA. It is a game, with no faults. It is a game that treats the player with a level of intelligence. If you have ever felt lonely, ever felt happy, ever felt at all, Bastion will speak to you. It will speak to you even when it has nothing to say.

Bastion will go down in history as one of the greatest games of all time. It was an absolute pleasure playing through and reviewing this game. I will wait with bated breathe for Supergiant's next release, as they have created more than just a game with Bastion, they have created a masterpiece of modern entertainment.

"Bastion" is deeply customizable, with all sorts of weapons, special abilities you can choose among as you level up, and options for an increased challenge. But it kind of feels like half a game. Last summer's excellent "Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light" had exciting overhead action too, but punctuated it with puzzles and platforming. Perhaps the Bastion -- a place you return to between levels to heal up -- will serve as the basis for tower-defense levels in the sequel.

And there will surely be a sequel. The seven folks at Supergiant Games want to "make games that spark your imagination like the games you played as a kid." They list among their influences "Super Mario Bros. 3" and "The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past." If this maiden voyage is any indication, such classics are within their grasp.

There's certainly no shortage of loot and experience point-stashing RPGs to play -- Diablo, Torchlight, Dungeon Siege. Bastion's a great example of what happens when a developer approaches an established genre in a deep and thoughtful way: Engaging gameplay, narrated brilliantly.

Hopefully, the rest of the Summer of Arcade can hit as high a note as Bastion has in the first week.

Bastion is not going to be mentioned along with top-notch XBLA games like Trials HD and Shadow Complex. Yes, it is an awesome game that should be played; but I cannot honestly say it's a must-play experience. More comparable to great titles like Outland and Zeno Clash in terms of quality I highly recommend it. If the fifteen dollar price-tag is too much, you can always wait for it to go on sale.

With an excellent story with two possible endings to back everything up, you are left with a game that is well deserving of your time. It's been a long while where an original game has caused me to sit in front of my television for hours and leave my hands hurting at the end of the day. Start your summer off right by playing Bastion.

Are videogames art? This question has been bounced around a lot in recent years. In the case of Bastion, the answer is a resounding (yes.) The simplistic yet dynamic combat, the ever-changing world of fantastic imagination and the amazing voice-over narration add to the fact that there is no denying the quality of Bastion. It is flashy and it is confident to the brink of arrogance, but it rides that reputation proudly and delights everyone who plays it along the way.

Bastion has achieved big budget quality and value in a small, downloadable package. This isn't an innovative prophet here to spread the new word, since much of what's here has been done before. Every little step the Kid takes, even if it's on a previously traveled path, is taken with confidence and finesse. Each piece of the puzzle, from the art to the narrative, has been masterfully crafted. Hard work deserves attention, and even if this was a retail product with a retail price tag, it'd still receive every bit of praise I'm throwing its way. I can't wait to see where Supergiant Games goes next, as it's going to be difficult to top what's one of the highest quality games I've played all year.

This isn't a game you can just burn through either with a '˜New Game +' option (letting you start the story again with all your weapons and stats intact) and a variety of challenges to complete, there's plenty to keep you catching the Skyway back to Bastion. 'Games as art' is a tiresome and unfortunately oft-debated subject, but Supergiant certainly make a strong statement to the affirmative with Bastion. So much so, in fact, that it's now an early contender for my own coveted Game of The Year award.

Bastion is a multi-faceted experience that on first glance looks simple enough. It'll definitely catch your eye with it's visuals, serenade you with it's melodic soundtrack, and usher you forward with an untested and unrivaled new way of story telling. Though the truly special thing about Bastion is how these things all form together with the action-rpg elements of the game to give you something familiar but unique. There's a level of polish in Bastion and a focus on the small things that puts many big budget titles to shame, delivering more gameplay at a higher quality for a fraction of the price. If all games were like this, we'd all be happy gamers with very little to complain about.

Don't play Bastion like an action RPG. Don't concern yourself with searching every nook and cranny for treasure or with leveling up or even with optimizing equipment load-outs. Just give in to the gorgeous visuals and lush music. Let Rucks's chiseled narration sweep you along, building a beautiful, tragic world that only ever exists in your imagination.

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