What is Bastion?
Bastion is a fun action role playing game created by Supergiant Games. You're first goal in the game is to get to the Bastion where everyone was supposed to go if anything bad were to ever happen to the city of Caelondia. Unfortunately, when you arrive there's only one other person and of course yourself, "The Kid." Caelondia is inhabited by the Caelondians and the Ura who live underground. Although as of recently it has been attacked by the plague; Calamity that has torn apart the world and frozen most of it's inhabitants making them statues. The Calamity was created by Caelondia to destroy the Ura once and for all, but didn't quite work as they planned. Being one of the few left of the civilization, you have to restore the Bastion to it's full potential to either evacuate the world or restore it.
With the world falling all around you, you must make use of the sky bridges to travel from place to place gathering cores and shards. In order to restore the Bastion completely you must bring them all back to the Bastion to save your civilization, in other words, you're it's only hope.
Tough or Easy?
It's definitely debatable the difficulty of Bastion. Bastion requires instinct and reflexes like many other games do as well, but how well yours are depends on how well you do in this world. Being there are a variety of weapons and skills, you can use each one to suit your own skills. If you're a melee person that likes to hack and slash through everything, you're definitely going to need to be quick on your feet. Bastion features a nice dodging system allowing you to roll away from enemies or anything that may be harmful. Then there's defending with a shield which can allow you to sustain large amounts of damage or counter enemies. If you can learn how to use these to your advantage and use them skillfully, you'll rarely get hurt and definitely be a pro. Although you may want to play it safe and hang in the back a bit with range. Ranged weapons don't require as much dodging, although that's not to say you may have a turret trying to hit you or monsters appearing all around you. Some players may find Bastion tough or easy.
Fortunately for those looking to make things tougher and more of a challenge, there's the Shrine structure which allows you to use idols that you've found or bought. Each idol is affiliated with a god in the world of Bastion and allows for giving enemies the advantage. You'll earn more experience for each idol you activate, although things certainly will get much tougher. Using several idols in a reflection was one of my worst decisions, died on the last one.
For those of you that may just want to play the game for the story or aren't too good at games, but really want to play Bastion, No Sweat Mode is for you. This allows you to play the game with unlimited lives. You may still die occasionally, but you'll have an unlimited amount of tries and be able to jump right back into the action regardless of what just happened. This allows for all gamers to be able to play.
Rucks the Narrator
One of the greatest features of Bastion is the Narrator. Rucks, otherwise known as Logan Cunningham takes us through an adventure full of wonder. Every action you make, whether defeating a huge monster or falling off the world, will be narrated, by a very epic voice. Before even playing Bastion I had friends tell me how great the narrator really was and I never expected him to be as cool as he was. I know there were a few moments back at the Bastion where I'd play with my Squirt and then Rucks would make a comment. Wasn't anything important or mind blowing that would change the story, just a little something funny while I was passing time.
The World of Bastion
The creativity that went into creating the world of Bastion is amazing. The world is falling apart and being destroyed by the Calamity, meanwhile left and right titles are being thrown at you creating the world. It makes you wonder whether the world is just beginning or truly being destroyed. The way the world is created as you go can make you check every edge of the floor because you never know what spot is just waiting to be explored that's off to the side. Maybe for a change you should go backwards when you see a little path behind you at the start. There's consistently little mementos you or specials that you may miss if you don't decide to venture off the path every once and a while. The world itself is beautiful as well, it's been described to many as if a water color painting. There's barely any way to describe how incredible some of the sights are. That's definitely the advantages of hand painting the entire environment of a game.
Bastion has a load of lore waiting to be heard as you gather each memento. Every memento you gather or earn has a little something behind it that characters back at the Bastion can explain. And if you really look into them and connect it with the story you can learn a lot about the game as a whole. You'll actually learn what life may of been like before the Calamity. Then there are reflections from the three different mementos that if you're able to destroy all the monsters, you can learn a lot behind each character. For example, did you know The Kid had a crush on a girl named Nacie.
There are several weapons throughout the game that you can choose from the Arsenal. In Bastion you can hold two weapons and a special power ranging from tons. You'll first come across the Cael Hammer and Fang Repeater, meanwhile later in the game weapons like a Galleon Mortar or the Calamity Cannon. In which case Rucks will say, "Now that's just plain overkill, come on." Whether you want to focus melee fighting or range, it's all up to you. Maybe in between, that's how I played the first half of the game. There are more range weapons to mess around with than melee though. Another great feature is the Forge structure which allows you to upgrade each weapon with salvage. Either making a weapon stronger, more accurate, quicker, etc. With all the weapons and specials you may feel overwhelmed at times, but in a good way.
Music
The soundtrack is very extensive and you can tell there was a ton of work put into it. Each song can set the mood very well based on what may be going on in the setting. Especially upon your first time seeing Zia, I know my I got chills as I slowly moved toward Zia. Each track definitely knows how to grab you and prepare you for either an intense battle about to happen or a transfer a quiet ambience. They go very well with everything throughout the game.
Replay Value
Will I play it again, maybe. Bastion definitely seeks to pull it's fans back in before beating the game and after. During the game you may find yourself trying to grab every memento whether it's to hear Rucks talk about it with his epic voice or to learn a thing or two about the story. I'd say or to hear Zulf or Zia, but he narrates them as well, plus you know you just wanted to hear his voice. Then there are a ton of vigils for you to hunt for at the Memorial. Each vigil basically gives you bragging rights when you get it. It allows you to set goals and in the end get rewarded, who doesn't like being rewarded.
So now you've beaten the game, game over, right? That's where you're wrong. Now that you've beaten the game two more modes have been unlocked, New Game Plus and Score Attack Mode. New Game Plus is a function you may of heard of in other games, only few, but some. It allows you to play through Bastion again with all your weapons, hard earned salvage, experience, and basically everything. Except your progress through all the levels. You'll have to get each building back though. If you've been grinding to get to that max level or gain all the vigils, then try this out. Then there's Score Attack Mode. Score Attack Mode allows you to play through the game again with all your structures, spirits, and idols. Oh yeah, you can now play each level to get the best score you can and repeat it again after beating it to aim for even higher. There are leaderboards for those who aim to be the best at each level.
Overall 5/5
Personally I loved the game and struggled to find anything wrong with it. A few sittings I found myself glued to the game bashing through everything, especially crates that resembled something a monster would come out of. I enjoyed using the ranged weapons and setting a few idols up to match my skills. The music was definitely fitting and sometimes I found myself just wanting to wait around and listen. Occasionally I had no idea what was going on in the story, but other than that, it was a great game. There's definitely room for me to go back and play to gain more vigils or attain grand scores.
Would I recommend it? Definitely. Currently it can be bought on Steam for $15 or on Xbox Live for 1200 Microsoft Points. If you're not sure, both services feature a demo.
Bastion has a load of lore waiting to be heard as you gather each memento. Every memento you gather or earn has a little something behind it that characters back at the Bastion can explain. And if you really look into them and connect it with the story you can learn a lot about the game as a whole. You'll actually learn what life may of been like before the Calamity. Then there are reflections from the three different mementos that if you're able to destroy all the monsters, you can learn a lot behind each character. For example, did you know The Kid had a crush on a girl named Nacie.
There are several weapons throughout the game that you can choose from the Arsenal. In Bastion you can hold two weapons and a special power ranging from tons. You'll first come across the Cael Hammer and Fang Repeater, meanwhile later in the game weapons like a Galleon Mortar or the Calamity Cannon. In which case Rucks will say, "Now that's just plain overkill, come on." Whether you want to focus melee fighting or range, it's all up to you. Maybe in between, that's how I played the first half of the game. There are more range weapons to mess around with than melee though. Another great feature is the Forge structure which allows you to upgrade each weapon with salvage. Either making a weapon stronger, more accurate, quicker, etc. With all the weapons and specials you may feel overwhelmed at times, but in a good way.
Music
The soundtrack is very extensive and you can tell there was a ton of work put into it. Each song can set the mood very well based on what may be going on in the setting. Especially upon your first time seeing Zia, I know my I got chills as I slowly moved toward Zia. Each track definitely knows how to grab you and prepare you for either an intense battle about to happen or a transfer a quiet ambience. They go very well with everything throughout the game.
Replay Value
Will I play it again, maybe. Bastion definitely seeks to pull it's fans back in before beating the game and after. During the game you may find yourself trying to grab every memento whether it's to hear Rucks talk about it with his epic voice or to learn a thing or two about the story. I'd say or to hear Zulf or Zia, but he narrates them as well, plus you know you just wanted to hear his voice. Then there are a ton of vigils for you to hunt for at the Memorial. Each vigil basically gives you bragging rights when you get it. It allows you to set goals and in the end get rewarded, who doesn't like being rewarded.
So now you've beaten the game, game over, right? That's where you're wrong. Now that you've beaten the game two more modes have been unlocked, New Game Plus and Score Attack Mode. New Game Plus is a function you may of heard of in other games, only few, but some. It allows you to play through Bastion again with all your weapons, hard earned salvage, experience, and basically everything. Except your progress through all the levels. You'll have to get each building back though. If you've been grinding to get to that max level or gain all the vigils, then try this out. Then there's Score Attack Mode. Score Attack Mode allows you to play through the game again with all your structures, spirits, and idols. Oh yeah, you can now play each level to get the best score you can and repeat it again after beating it to aim for even higher. There are leaderboards for those who aim to be the best at each level.
Overall 5/5
Personally I loved the game and struggled to find anything wrong with it. A few sittings I found myself glued to the game bashing through everything, especially crates that resembled something a monster would come out of. I enjoyed using the ranged weapons and setting a few idols up to match my skills. The music was definitely fitting and sometimes I found myself just wanting to wait around and listen. Occasionally I had no idea what was going on in the story, but other than that, it was a great game. There's definitely room for me to go back and play to gain more vigils or attain grand scores.
Would I recommend it? Definitely. Currently it can be bought on Steam for $15 or on Xbox Live for 1200 Microsoft Points. If you're not sure, both services feature a demo.
Amazing rating. I am junkies for games, but i have heard about this game and till not get any update of this game. It looks like action and war game. I wish that i will get it on my console as soon as possible.
ReplyDeleteIt's definitely pretty fun and will hold you until you beat it.
ReplyDelete