Bastion

Simply an amazing little game!

The plot is unusual, the story is very well done, the voice over is interesting and kinda mystical, the game play is simply addicting and the music is superb.

What else do you need?

Really fun indie game. I liked the art style and the way the platform forms as you move around. The upgrading system and collecting items was a blast. The combat is fun, especially trying out all the different weapons.

The narration style is great. I think more games should have narration - telling you a story - as you play. But, the narration was also quite boring and repetitive. He doesn't really say too much but does manage to say a lot of words. I think better writing could elevate the game immensely.

Throughout the journey you collect "shards" at the end of each mission helping you rebuild your home base where you can select specials, upgrade weapons, select weapons, and complete challenges to get more currency.

it does feel like it was made for a younger audience. Blocking is OP - you can just sit and block all day long. The weapons become quickly OP if you upgrade them. Which encouraged me to use the end game (un-upgraded) weapons.

Overall pretty fun, but the story was a let down for me.

I had no idea this was from 2011! Seems crazy how much time has passed and it could honestly come out today with no one batting an eye.

While not Supergiants best game (that will probably always be Transistor) I think this is easily the most accessible. No weird genre niches/mashups here, just a straight forward mostly linear """hack n slash""" with great writing and presentation.

Hades was my first Supergiant game, and this often just feels like a first attempt at that. Which is to say, I liked this, because I like Hades, and it was a nice change of pace when I got a little tired of doing the same runs in Hades but still wanted a taste of that gameplay. But it's obviously not as good.

The one thing that really sets this apart is, of course, the narrator, who doles out information about the backstory and the characters as you play through levels. I suspect this is a budget thing - this was Supergiant's first game, so they didn't have the resources they would later have and therefore couldn't afford to make a game with vastly diverse worlds and multiple different characters. The narrator is a nice compromise, then, because it allows for them to effectively tell instead of show and still have it work because of the way the narrator is added into the game. The narrator doles out new lines as you progress through each level, which serves as a microreward for progressing through levels that would otherwise feel a little sparse and repetitive. Liam Cunningham's performance as the narrator (which takes on a grizzled old cowboy kind of voice that is alarmingly similar to his regular voice) is good but not incredible - certainly not at the same level as what he would later give as Hades or Achilles - but importantly hits an important sweetspot between goofy and serious, letting you know that the creators aren't taking their world more seriously than it deserves but that it's also not a completely tossed-off effort.

That sweetspot - where the game doesn't overstep its bounds but is confident in what it's presenting - is also key the game's other key aspects, Darren Korb's score and its combat. Korb's score is very unconventional (especially for 2011), matching Cunningham's cowboy shtick with folktronica stylings that actually remind me of Beck's "Loser" and Odelay. He mixes that with some thick, distorted '90s downtempo drums that aren't really as nuanced as the genre at its best, and I could personally do with less of those drums. But I can't argue against their effectiveness in upping the tension in some pieces - often playing when you're being swarmed by enemies - especially when they're matched with some of the folkier parts of the soundtrack, where the drums usually take a backseat anyway. The folk instruments - lots of South Asian string instruments and scales coming through here - are where Korb really shines (on Hades, too), and provide a lot of the soundtrack's most memorable moments: the twisted melodies of "Terminal March", the slight accents to the steady lumber of "Bynn the Breaker", the bluesy slide guitar in "Slinger's Song". Those already would have cemented Korb's status as a composer to pay attention to, but to cap things off Korb also proved himself adept at writing more solemn vocal songs that function as motifs and signposts for different characters. In these tracks - especially "Build That Wall", featuring the great, understated Ashley Barrett - Korb displayed a unique talent for highlighting a melody as a central focus that gains new depth through the voices singing them. The lyrics are incidental, and Korb himself is a merely adequate singer; it's more about how those melodies are filtered through the voices.

The combat, on the other hand, isn't terribly deep or even creative - pretty much how you'd expect an isometric action game to play out - but it has a lot of variety that consistently feels good and continually allows for chances to keep things fresh. It's no Hades, of course - the Kid just feels too sluggish to match up - but once you start collecting and upgrading weapons there's a lot of eclecticism that gets added to the game. My personal favourite combination was the Scrap Musket (wide midrange spread with knockback good for clearing out lots of enemies) and the War Machete (lots of close range damage with a long range attack that's unreliable but works well enough for the enemies that need it), but every weapon feels like there's something worth trying out, whether it's the awkward but powerful Army Carbine, the dangerous spread of the Flame Bellows, or the simple pleasures of the Cael Hammer. I only wish there were more opportunities to try new combinations out - there's different difficulty options you can apply and a new game+ to use them on, but I would've preferred some semblance of new content to play through. (Basically it would've been nice if this was a roguelike too.) Still; at least there is an option, which is more than I can say for plenty of other games.

All in all, about as good a warmup as you can ask for. I've not yet played Transistor or Pyre - though I look forward to doing so! - but what this game's made me realize is that if the conventional narrative is true and Hades is a culmination of all previous Supergiant efforts, it's impressive that they all feel so seamless in that game because just a few of the pieces in this game work together to make something pretty stellar.

top down cartoony action game with very light rpg mechanics. the combat system is slightly beat em up with tight controls and satisfying gameplay. the story is memorable with an enjoyable dynamic narrator. the game overall has a comfy vibe and the various methods of combat flow well with well designed environments that fall in place around you.

7/10

Whilst the protagonist simply known as The Kid was sleeping, the world has ended due to something known as The Calamity. He seeks refuge in the floating island known as the Bastion which needs to be rebuilt. So The Kid goes on a quest to find Shards which can help with this process. Due to a piece of the Bastion that The Kid carries with him, the levels re-form in front of you, which is an awesome visual effect as well as assisting with navigating through the levels. The graphics are very sharp and detailed, so watching the land reform in front of you is a wonderful sight. Also, as you play, a narrator is constantly chipping in comments about the story, the land, or what The Kid is happening to be doing or should be thinking at the present time.

Gameplay-wise, it is hack and slash. Although games like this can be a bit mindless, there's plenty of interesting ideas. You can use your shield to block, but if you time it correctly, you can reflect projectiles for a powerful attack. There are plenty of primary and secondary weapons which are found over the course of the game, each having varying properties and these can be set and upgraded before each level. You can bring two weapons with you as well as a special attack. Some weapons are standard hack-and-slash, but the ones that can be charged up often have a sweet-spot which deals extra damage.

You also unlock Idols which is a way of customising difficulty. You can make the enemies have higher defence, stronger attack, faster attack, regenerating health as well as extra behaviour such as dropping grenades on death. Each idol you activate gives bonus XP when you defeat enemies, but it does ramp up the difficulty significantly, especially certain combinations. Bastion seems a bit easy at first, but given the customisation, you can make it a crazily difficult challenge.

Enemies can be quite tough especially when dealing with many enemies. Some enemies attack in swarms, while others attack in bursts and can churn out a barrage of projectiles. So when you are dealing with a projectile barrage and other enemies are coming from the sides, they can take you down fairly quickly if you aren't careful. Usually, a nice mix of dodging, blocking, attacking from range, and attacking from close range is required.

There is a special challenge stage for each weapon which tests either speed or accuracy and completing the stage awards you with items. When you level up, you can assign a 'tonic' to an upgrade slot which gives various bonuses. These tonics can be bought in the shop or found as you progress, and can be switched between levels. This system is a welcome addition, because if you choose an upgrade and regret it, you can just switch it out after the level is finished.

Bastion isn't a particularly long game, but once you complete it, a 'new game plus' is unlocked that lets you carry over all your weapons and experience from the previous game. Bastion is definitely recommended for fans of hack-and-slash games since it is a great game and brings some interesting ideas to the table.