“Whoever this narrator is, I love his voice. It inspires me to become a narrator!” – CutieRoo
When first starting this game, I will have to admit it was something that I did not expect. Bastion first peeked my interest because of the striking art design, however the more I played and the more the game began to unfold it became better and better. Now the genre of this game is considered as an action role-playing, but I find myself more thinking that it leans on an arcade action adventure added with RPG elements. I say this due the use of customization like leveling up your weapons or other items but the fighting style is different. Plus, growing up playing RPG’s as my main genre and knowing how they work inside and out, I could daresay that this is borderline RPG with lots of fun action adventures.
As for the overall story, it revolves around a white haired kid. He awakens to a great catastrophe, that has caused destruction to the entire Bastion world. Aware of your surroundings you notice your left on a floating land mass from what little left there remains. With each step that you take bit by bit of land is reconstructed back into the world, all coming at you in real time. There is much to this world there is to explore and discover. You will uncover new items, locations, weapons, and survivors to help you on your journey through the remnants of Bastion, all while encountering the immense hordes of creatures that you will definitely come across.
During your travels you will visit a place that is designated as the central hub, that you will go back too after exploring the different worlds (you will go here a lot, for good reason). Progressing through the story, you will begin to slowly restore the central hub by finding various items that you deliver to the central monument. As you continue doing so, more of the land will restored unlocking various locations and features at your disposal allowing you to build such buildings like the Forge, Distillery, Temple, Armory and etc. (use them, you won’t regret it).
One of the main buildings that will come out of this that is very important to use is The Armory. Of course as the name states it is the place where you will purchase your weapons. Plus, not just weapons you are also able to choose a special attack as well if you like.
Let’s begin weaponry time; where I get to talk about the weapons in the game *oh the thrills and chills*. You get all sorts of neat and different kinds of weapons. The weapons are:
- Army Carbine
- Battering Ram
- Breaker’s Bow
- Brusher’s Pike
- Bullhead Shield
- Cael Hammer
- Calamity Cannon
- Dueling Pistols
- Fang Repeater
- Flame Bellows
- Galleon Mortar
- Scrap Musket
- War Machete
There are plenty to choose from to have some action packed fun time! The next important location to know about is the Forge. This grants you the ability to upgrade your weapons from various items that you find while exploring other worlds. These locations were one of my favorites to find and try out all the weapons and attacks that I had in my arsenal.
An important feature in the game that I want to point out is the overall movement in the game. It is very ongoing. All of the enemies you will fight are all moving targets (hope your aim is good, you’ll need it), from all angles of the land, as well as aerial, spawned, and turrets or deadly plants that shoot at you *plus boss fights! *. This aspect of the game makes you think more strategically and a little on your feet due to the pressure of overwhelming odds and each fight is different in its own way. This is because each enemy has particular weaknesses, you have to figure out what is best against each enemy while the game progressively gets harder as you move forward.
Next on to what originally grabbed my attention for this game is the stunning and creative visual design. The animation never gets boring as the world is being built around you, it just keeps you stimulated for more. Plus, all the overall concept is original and true to its forms. Even the menu and icons or the customization screens are persuasive to the eye. While adding in my favorite and very innovative narrator who works solely based on your actions, giving this game a very enticing yet subtle touch (making your time playing Bastion absolutely worth it). One of the main reasons I would play this game is because of the mysterious-real-time-smooth-jazz-vibe voice of the narrator. I really have to give kudos to the narrator. It’s neat because when you first play, the narrator is all about the actions of what you do, but as the game progresses, the dynamic of the narrator shifts to giving hints about what to do or telling you more about the story.
There are plenty of challenges in the game, little to even a grand scale. Such things like…oh yeah Gods! They will go against you as you progress through the game continuously testing your strength. However, if that isn’t enough for you there is a place known as the Shine. This will open more options for you and even tougher challenges to face to overcome in the game. Did I mention while going through this path it will bestow upon you side effects that makes the game harder (didn’t I say if you wanted a challenge it didn’t disappoint)?
In conclusion, the major part of Bastion that I really admire are the unique and original ideas that are put into use. I think it’s one of the most originals titles that I played for in a while. It is quite enlightening and refreshing to play a title like this because of being able to immerse myself and discover new ways to overcome the challenges that I faced. I couldn’t get enough. Bastion is an excellent game that I greatly encourage you to try out and experience it all for yourself. I for one will admit this is one game you won’t want to miss out on.
Creator Website:
https://www.supergiantgames.com/games/bastion/
**Disclaimer Notice**
I provide my opinion of experience with the video games I review by being a consumer and share my voice in the gaming industry.
Proofed by: R. Arias
Device used for game-play: PlayStation 4
Review on: Bastion
CutieRoo Gaming World 