Bastion
Words can’t express what happened, but they’re all I got.
(04/08/11) There are certain games that make me wish I could buy their developers a drink. Bastion is such a game. On the surface, it’s a simple dungeon-crawling RPG with some lovely graphics and a neat method of narrative delivery, but it’s underpinned by some fantastic design decisions that set it amongst XBLA’s finest offerings.
Bastion comes across like a playable fairytale. The narrator’s gravely tones guide you through the game world, giving life and history to what would otherwise be merely pretty window dressing through which to hack-and-slash. It immediately made me wonder why more games haven’t used this method of storytelling, as it effortlessly solves one of the biggest problems regarding storytelling in a videogame; the need for the player to stop playing to absorb the story.Bastion never pulls you up to read a page of lore, never subjects you to a lengthy cutscene, yet manages to reveal a colourful post-apocalyptic world with depth, nuance, and history. The narrator describes the habits and habitats of the creatures you encounter even as you slice them to pieces. The lore of the desolate vistas is told even as the world itself is built around you, pieces falling into place as you move. Bastion’s universe, though simple, is fleshed out and detailed without relying on the heavy text-feed that has become something of a crutch for the genre.
The narrator is always a joy to listen to, dry, sharp, and witty, and the story he delivers builds up to an ending with genuine impact. With so many games these days implementing an arbitrary morality system that often has little relevance to the narrative, the choices you are required to make in Bastion’s closing moments are given real weight, built up gently over the entire course of the game.
Mechanically Bastion is simple yet sturdy, with a robust dual-weapon hit-and-dodge control scheme that is easy to learn, and with just enough nuances to be satisfying to master. It’s the mechanics that underpin the controls that are more impressive; weapon- and character-upgrade systems give you a good deal of control over how the game plays, but it’s the game’s variable difficulty system that truly shines behind the scenes.
The Shrine, which lets you invoke gods to empower your enemies for greater rewards, allows you to effectively choose how punishing the game is; choose to battle through a gruelling gauntlet and you’ll be rewarded with more EXP and money to spend. If you’d rather just experience the story at a gentle pace, then simply disable all the gods, and there’s little of real challenge standing between you and victory.
It’s a neat alternative to the standard ‘easy’ ‘normal’ and ‘hard’ difficulty tiers still used in many games. By giving the player direct control over the game’s difficulty, Bastion ensures that hardcore players are rewarded for mastering the game without evoking feelings of frustration or inadequacy in those who’d rather take things gently.
There’s much to be said for a game that does not waste a player’s time. Bastion is finely tuned, trimmed of all the flab that so often surrounds games of this genre, and as a result it feels fresh and vital. It’s not overlong and it’s never boring, yet its simplicity belies a subtle depth which encourages repeat play-throughs and prioritises player choice.
As such, Bastion is a game that appeals to new players as much as it does fans of the genre. It’s a title I would recommend over many full-priced retail titles at any time of year, but as an antidote to summer’s current gaming drought, it comes as something of a godsend. Effortlessly charming and surprisingly gripping, it's an easy game to recommend.
