Bastion review
The Calamity ruined everything—the infrastructure, the people…the world. The truth behind this cataclysmic event remains shrouded in mystery, but the aftermath sets a lonely tone in a crumbling land.
The city of Caelondia is collapsing, and there’s no one left to repair it. For the last surviving human there (referred to as “the Kid”), there’s nothing to live for except survival—that is, until the Kid meets a Stranger and is led to the Bastion, a safe haven isolated from the dangerous creatures that have overrun the rest of Caelondia.
I’ve had the blessing of playing very immersive games recently, and Bastion continues that trend. The in-game world is a stunning place, something that is part post-apocalyptic and part fantastical. As the Kid wanders his homeworld, fighting monsters and collecting materials and items to help restore the Bastion, his journey inevitably leads him further and further into the Wilds. Those adventures serve as a catalyst that launch the Kid into what feels like the last great crisis of human existence.
The world of Bastion comes to life thanks to a phenomenal art direction. Hand-painted backdrops are almost distracting at times, and the way levels “fall” into place adds a unique sense of character in the game. (This could also be a clever way of ensuring that the player’s eye is always studying—and marveling at—the environments.) Bastion’s music fits with its world perfectly, and the game’s narrative creates a compulsion that drove me to explore every corner of Caelondia’s districts.
The character referred to as “the Stranger” narrates the entirety of Bastion’s story, and his tone creates a memorable blend of a bedtime fairytale and a campfire story shared in the Wild West. In fact, you could argue that the Stranger does more to set the atmosphere than the plot or the gameplay—his unique personality and delivery resonate well, in part because his narration changes with the player’s decisions, going so far as to comment on specific actions like changing directions or unlocking an achievement. The overall takeaway is the illusion of a personalized story, and I wish I could hire the voice actor (Logan Cunningham) to narrate every book and article that I read.
…but, that being said, the story definitely left me wanting in some respects. I still don’t understand the Calamity, or where all the people went (except for a few convenient exceptions). I didn’t like that I spent the first half of the game collecting cores to power up the Bastion, then the second half doing the exact same tasks for the same basic reason—this decision felt like an effort to pad the overall playtime. And while I enjoyed the combat immensely, the “fetch quest” grind eventually stole my desire to explore every corner of the world in favor of seeing how the game ended.
Speaking of mechanics, the excellence of Bastion’s art style is matched only by its combat. The difficulty of combat offers a fun and rewarding challenge, combining three types of attacks—melee, ranged, and special abilities—to navigate the environment, fight back enemies, and tackle challenge stages. The full arsenal of options allow the Kid to combat over a dozen unique enemy types, and the end result is a level of mayhem that is far more fun than I expected. (The collection of weapons and skills also keeps combat encounters flexible, offering a variety of solutions for the most complex battles.)
Unfortunately, as with the story, a single design decision soured my final impressions. At the very end of the game, Bastion introduces an incredibly long jumping puzzle; if I hadn’t chosen to get an ability that reduced falling damage, I could have spent upwards of an hour trying that section again and again. This area allowed the player to acclimate himself to a new movement action, but the overall effect felt like a platforming nightmare instead of a new ability tutorial.
Bastion offers a truly remarkable experience, but for all of its successes, the game can’t quite avoid a few troublesome pieces. The game offers a plethora of wonders to enjoy, spread across a handful of hours of gameplay, but the final hours presented several stumbling blocks that derailed my personal hype train.
In an utshell
As Supergiant Games’ first title, Bastion sets a high bar for the studio’s future endeavors. The setting and style of Bastion truly set it apart from other indie titles, leaving an incredible and lasting impression. With several hours of fun combat, an enticing world to explore, and light-but-valuable RPG mechanics, Bastion crams a lot of excellent pieces into a very small (and totally worthwhile) package.
You may like Bastion if you enjoyed Ori and the Blind Forest or Song of the Deep (although, honestly, you’d be hard-pressed to find anything quite like Bastion).
Pros
+ Narrative delivery
+ Breathtaking art
+ Mysterious setting
+ Reactive combat
Cons
- Repetitive tasks
- Random jumping puzzle