“The dead ain’t gotta worry about this mess. Our world, she’s done; but there’s a way to put her back together again” -The Narrator
In Bastion, the player starts off, as so many video game heroes do, by waking up in a world of ruin. Yet, even in these first few minutes, Bastion is already showing off the distinct art style and superb storytelling which sets it apart. Bastion’s theme of rebuilding civilization and memorializing your lost people takes you through a wild-west-in-space themed morass of destruction. Think Firefly meets Torchlight with more streamlined weaponry.
The bittersweet contrast between the optimism of bringing a land back to life and The Calamity that ruined it is all around you. It’s painted in the warm, green-soaked backgrounds, and the darker, grey and red reminders of the people your hero loved and lost.
The Narrator
To guide you through the land is “The Narrator,” voiced to perfection by Logan Cunningham. His voice, smoother than the finest whiskey, is directly interlaced with the game play. Triggered by your own actions, his voice puts you in touch with your surroundings, without removing you from the game—quite a departure from the series of scrolling frames or cut scenes that we’re used to. Bastion’s narrative keeps you involved in both the storyline and action at all times. Many games have attempted to blur the lines between story mode and game mode by having you hit random buttons amidst story elements (think God of War), but Bastion actually makes the two inextricable. It’s quite powerful.
Designed as an isometric dungeon crawler, as you walk along the game’s precarious ledges, the environment quite literally drops into place around you. In this way you create the world even as you are actively involved in its destruction.
As for your opposition, Bastion doesn’t just force you to choose between vengeful god-like creatures and harmless fluffy bunnies in the park. The player is given direct control over the level of difficulty through stackable in-game items. With these, you can pile on unique attributes for your enemies such as vengeful, poisonous, or fast-moving—until you reach your own custom-tailored level of masochism.
On living room development
There are a few flaws in Bastion, sadly. I personally encountered some bugs in the shop menus, and was occasionally irked by an aiming mechanism. However, these are minor details that don’t overshadow the positives, and first-time game developers Supergiant Games put a level of polish and thoughtfulness on Bastion that would be typical for, say, a Pixar movie. Knowing that this is their first game is extremely impressive, when you consider that Supergiant is a seven-man team headquartered in a San Jose living room.
Being an indie game, Bastion comes with an indie price tag—$15 through the Steam Store or Xbox LIVE Arcade. If you’re a lucky PC gamer, it may even go on sale (it was already on sale once at 50% off).
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