Bastion Previews

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Written by WorstUsernameEver on June 13th, 2011

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The E3 Bastion demo took place in something of a semiarid desert, with sandy portions but also strange plants all about. I started with a gun that fired a wide blast as one primary weapon and a spear as the other. Plants began to fire spikes at me from afar, so I had to dodge and fire my gun with proper timing. Another even more vicious plant peppered me with a steady stream that I had to wait and block before getting a shot in. Other enemies in this environment included some nasty birds, and all the while I was stalking a big bad (and it was stalking me) that was something like a landshark. The landshark moved through the level as a horn exposed through the sand, only emerging when it had something to bite (like me).

As I would move through the environment the shark would pop up and the narrator would explain what it was and how to avoid it, but indirectly. Stepping in high tufts of grass would leave me open to attack from the landshark that could only emerge there. The narrator would say something along the lines of: "Walking through the sandy grass isn't the best of ideas." This hinted that it'd be best to roll through the grass as quickly as possible when necessary. It's a simple example of how Bastion's narration and gameplay merge.

A narrator comments on your progress as you go along. Hilarity ensues. Different weapons like a maul, a sword. You have access to power-ups, health, and weapons. Monsters pop up out of the ground and attack you.

You can build shops around the world that provide services including: weapon crafting, drink brewing, and skill-and-weapon swapping. Speaking of weapons, there are a lot in the game. There are arrows, swords, mauls,

The really unique aspect of this game (one of many) is that the narrator is dynamic. He talks to you, he talks about you and the things that you're doing in the game, and he's a very funny guy.

The game's story puts players in the shoes of a young kid who wakes up after a catastrophic event has ravaged the land. The boy isn't quite sure of what exactly happened, but he does know that if s**t goes down, everyone is supposed to meet at this place known as the Bastion. Upon reaching the Bastion, the boy finds only a mysterious old man, who also happens to be the narrator of this tale.

The old man tells the boy that he's able to fix everything, but he'll need help. With that, the journey begins to rebuild the world by using remnants from the past.

If all of this sounds very much like a storybook kind of plot, then that's good, because the atmosphere of Bastion feels very much like a storybook.

Much of that is thanks to the brilliant reactive narrator that comments on nearly everything you do and everything that happens around you. This serves two purposes. One, it's entertaining and often times quite funny to hear the narrator comment on your successes and failures as you play the game.

Ryan Scott: Yeah, that narrative style is really what makes it special. It's actually hard to say much about what the game is actually about, as developer SuperGiant Games has played this game pretty close to the vest (I'm pretty sure you played the same chunk I played at PAX!). What did you think of Bastion's combat mechanics?

David Wolinsky Oh, I thought they were fantastic. Very barebones, but with just enough complexity to allow you to carve out your own strategy. Even though at one point I accidentally swapped out my mighty hammer for a second bow, it made me appreciate how two different weapons in the same class control differently. Mind you, each weapon is mapped to a single button -- but having to button-mash for my hammer and then hold and charge for my bow is a nice move. It's not like in Gauntlet: You can't just blast the buttons, assuming you'll sink anything around you. As you saw, I died a few times. So it looks very whimsical, but it's also unexpectedly challenging. How can you not fall in love with that?

With every step, a block of earth rises beneath Kid's feet, although the patterns these blocks create are quite limited. Sometimes, they run on a linear track creating a small path, or they expand to large plots of land. Breakable crates can appear on the larger plots as well as enemies. Don't expect the land structure to hold your hand at all, as if you walk off a track, you won't be held in by an invisible wall. Thankfully dying doesn't create too much of an issue as the checkpoints are very generous, so the odd bit of misguided exploration doesn't have any cruel repercussions. As the game goes forward, Kid will also have access to "Bastion" which acts as a central hub where he can build various buildings. Access to these buildings is granted after finding them during the player's exploration and can provide many services including crafting, drink brewing, and skill/weapon swapping.

There are a few weapons to choose from such as a giant hammer, a shield, and a bow all of which are upgradeable and are able to be customized. Combat is pretty simple; however, if you let yourself get surrounded by enemies it can get pretty dicey. Choosing which enemies to focus, and at what time, will be the key to success. There is also a nice progression system, so Kid's power incrementally improves as you unlock more of Bastion.

Bastion is a game from Supergiant Games, a small team of seven people who have worked hard on this little labor of love. Bastion is extremely easy to pick up and play, and features two incredible things; breathtaking hand-painted graphics and superb narration. The little RPG has you playing a young man who awakens to find that his world has been shattered by a mysterious event known as the Calamity. Your mission then is to reach the Bastion, a place that your people were to go to if anything was ever wrong. Once you actually reach the Bastion, your job is to unlock its true potential through further exploration and missions, and save your world.

While traditional RPG elements are present in Bastion, the game takes a different spin on how your character upgrades through the game. Usually your character's strength or weapons determines how far you will go, but in Bastion it is your actual skill in battle that will help you move further. The more you improve upon your battle skills, the better you're going to get. In this way for example, every weapon is somewhat equal to the other it is only in the hands of a skilled warrior for example can the true value of the weapon be seen.

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