...Basically, after almost 7 years without a pc, but still a teenager, Bastion (together with Cave Story, was my very first game I had that... welp, makes me still play to this very day.
Now, I won't go in detail as to why this game made me love indie games... or gaming, in general.
All I can say, It's not just about gameplay, which is extremely solid and with some minor innovation (at least, for the time), it was... everything.
SuperGiant games, of which I became I fan of every single game they published, managed to create something that employs every single senses (story, music, way to tell a story, etc...) to give not a game, but a tale to live in.
Even if you are not an indie, or an isometric action, or gdr, or whatever genre you like.. if you are a videogame's fan, Bastion is the experience to have.
One truly memorable.
one of my favorite games. unique at the time 'reveal the world as you go along' mechanic, excellent graphics and voiceovers, including the iconic reactive narration, and a fantastic soundtrack I bought on cd (not paying for mp3, shipping cost just as much, great stuff). I don't replay games, nor do I see the appeal of new game+ (just play the game again, no need for a separate unlock, same as the iron man nonsense some people without self-control are obsessed with), but I did another playthrough years later, was just as fun.
PROS: Bastion has beautiful graphics, music and controls. The graphics look hand-painted and very colorful, maybe some of the best 2D graphics I've seen. The characters, enemies and background designs are great. The music is very natural sounding and goes well with the game. The control of the character and weapons are very good. You can find upgrades for many weapons and use spirits/liqueur customize your stats and receive them by doing a variety of trials. The narration is a nice change from reading dialog and is very good. So everything on top is just fine except...
CONS: The weakest part of Bastion is its gameplay depth and variety. Once you have played one level, you practically have played them all. There is no real variety in level design. There is nothing that will really impress you and each level really doesn't have any real theme. The exploration is very, very linear and I got really bored sometimes. The levels take place on floating plains so there is no real feeling of non-linear exploration which you would get from a game like Zelda. There are no real challenging puzzles to make it interesting. The variety of enemies are limited and you'll often see the same ones again and again. The variety of weapons make little difference in the gameplay. You can practically go through the whole game with two weapons. Changing weapons won't make a real difference when fighting enemies or bosses.
Overall, Bastion is like dating a super-model with little personality. You'll be thrilled at first, but after awhile you'll get bored because of its one-dimensional gameplay. It's a good game for amateur or casual gamers, but advance and hardcore gamers who are looking for a real challenge should look away. I was warned by Karkoff and now I warn you.
Bastion is a mix of a lot of genres that somehow weren't put together this well yet. It's got the isometric perspective of Diablo, bullet-hell moments from your favorite Shoot 'Em Up, intense but not brainless action like in a Beat 'Em Up, a self-referential narrator out of Stanley Parable, Megaman-like gear setup, RPG levels and even base building! If someone told me anyone would be able to turn this crazy soup into a decent game, I"d be skeptical. And I was, for my first half hour of playing - and then I was hooked!
Bastion isn't better than dedicated or established games in any of those areas but it's a very solid on its own - maybe not truly innovative since it only draws inspiration from all those other genres but since you've never seen anything quite like it, it sure feels fresh - and quite addictive in its own right since it nails the power and rewards curves, making it so you're always looking forward to doing the next level!
Bastion isn't a long game. I beat it this afternoon, doing all levels and arenas but skipping the "proving grounds" content. However, the game has great replayability value - you'll find a New Game+ mode after you win, and also a ton of different styles to try on new playthroughs but, more importantly 10 different in-game "challenges" that you can select to make the game itself harder at your own pace. The base game felt easy to me - I only failed a mission once but that is not to say that the challenge level wasn't very satisfying! A completionist will be at home here and the full asking price will be worth itself many times over. I, myself, am happy with my first and only playthrough at a 70% off sale. I still recommend the full price if you are happy to pay for it as a "one superb great gaming afternoon package".
There are very few things I can fault this game for. I couldn't roll when moving in the northwest direction, while all other directions work fine (obviously a very annoying bug) and I felt that using the mouse to direct attacks worked fine for the ranged weapons but not so much for close-combat ones: you can be standing right in front of an opponent, facing him and not hit it. Close attacks should act in accordance to your last movement and disregard the mouse instead. Speaking of the mouse, it's crazy that you can't hold the left mouse button to keep attacking and instead you'll have to click for each attack. In this game, that's a ton of attacks and a ton of clicks! If you have RSI (and most of us do), this is very inconsiderate and really unjustifiable since some of the ranged attacks can be held continuously. As with this, the lack of user settings is apparent, with barely more than video options and key bindings.
These small but very noticeable flaws are why this game doesn't get a 5 star rating from me, though it's close (especially for a 70% off purchase). It also didn't really amaze me at any point in time: the story is passable (and I mostly skipped it), the narration is cool but forgettable, the visuals are very pretty but repetitive and sometimes confusing. It's OK though - Bastion isn't really trying to impress you in any of these areas. They're only background for the core gameplay experience, which is where the game shines - and damn good backgrounds at that too! Except the music... The music is really amazing!
A lot of people say that this plays like a Zelda, but it's a lot closer to a map-based Devil May Cry with lead boots. You can carry 2 weapons with you out of a total 11, and you and select any 2 you like. Most of them were a total blast to use, and there was a lot of variety; no swords! Better yet: you can upgrade them; each has 5 sets of upgrades, and with each set, you have 2 from which to choose. Make a choice you regret? No problem; you can choose something else whenever you want. There's a lot of potential for customization and fine-tuning your equipment, both for your own preferences, and for new situations. Combat is fun and engaging, and even though the challenges can really try your patience, doing poorly at them will at least bring you the possibility for a weapon upgrade, which makes them much easier; you should be able to blow through most of them with enough upgrades. I didn't love them, but they really did teach you how to master most of the weapons, so they weren't something stupid, like herding goats. There are in-game achievements that give your more money, but they're all extremely reasonable to complete. I found the game to be pretty easy overall. If I have a main gripe, it's that you can't return to any area you've completed, but there is a New Game +.
As for everything else, the visuals are interesting; it's cool how the stages build themselves as you progress, and the world has a fairly unique visual style to it. You won't just trudge through the same grass world, forest world, desert world, you know the rest. The music ranges from decent to pretty great, though most of the vocal tracks are lacking. The whole game has a vaguely Wild Western style to it, further propounded by the narrator, who seems like he's going to be annoying at first, but really grew on me; it's all very stylish. The story isn't anything mind-blowing, but it's not bad, either, and with the gameplay as fun as it is, it's much greater than the sum of its parts.
