[Game Review] Bastion

"War doesn't determine who's right - only who's left."

                                     -Bertrand Russell

Special is a hard word to put reliably into context. How could you say that anything really is special, its probably been done before and better; you could argue that any experience you have with a game, or a book, or an anime, is something you could get from something else. Originality is dead right? And that's a lonely thought, but I wouldn't find it hard to accept. Well, if not for a couple of things. Because personally, there's a couple of stories I've experienced that have changed my perception, ambition, and views of certain genres, and if that isn't worth taking that story and putting off to the side, pointing, and saying fervently: "this is awesome!", I don't what is. And in Bastion, a "indie-game" developed by Supergiant Games, and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, I think I can safely say I've found another thing that is "special".

     Hello people of "The Wired", my name is Quan, I hope you're having an awesome time on this day of September 14th, 2014, and hey, I'm not dead. Yeah. I have been trying to get something out this past week, but just "stuff" has been getting in the way lately, but now I'm finally done with homework and personal demands, so it's time to talk about Bastion, which is now probably one of my new favorite titles. Here we go. 

     The story of Bastion begins with our main character: a sort-of-silent protagonist known only as "The Kid" waking up one morning to discover that the entire world has ended, and that his bedroom is floating in the middle of nowhere, seemingly unsupported, all because of the catastrophic event known as The Calamity. So obviously, this raises quite of a couple of questions, but it's clear that the game has no intention of telling you anything right off the bat, which I'll get to in a second. The second thing you might notice as you set off, (because now for some reason the ground is rising up in front of you to make a path)is that everything is being narrated by a guy with a voice so awesome that it could put Jamieson Price to shame. Again, we don't why he's narrating this story, or who he even is talking to, but whatever, we have a hammer now, and it's time to hit to some stuff with it, namely these weird monsters that are appearing out nowhere.

     So yeah, if you couldn't tell, Bastion's plot isn't one to show all of its cards right off the bat. The main driving point of the plot is basically just to find out what the hell happened to the world, and it won't be easy either. Bastion builds its mystery by giving you increasingly bigger hints as the story progresses, and as you slowly start to build the bigger picture of what the world was and what ended it, even if those secrets might be being hidden by the few survivors you find along the way. Bastion is good at a little thing called pacing, and as everything escalates, and themes of morality, superiority and what is means to truly rebuild crop up, you start to wonder even if what you're fighting for is the right decision, as the moment of truth draws slowly closer. And that's kind of awesome.

    OK, the story isn't perfect admittedly. While most of its appeal comes from the themes and characters, the plot itself isn't really that complex. Don't get me wrong, simple stories are fine, but judging from the way this one is told, in such a drawn out manner, I think I was expecting a little more. Also I still have a few questions about The Calamity, don't worry they pretty much tell you all you need to know, but I still don't really understand why it happened the way it did. You might understand what I'm talking about when you go play the game. Whatever the reason, I still think The Calamity is possible one of the coolest apocalypses ever conceived. 

This is quite a way to wake up.

     In addition, a secondary goal of the game is the rebuilding of The Bastion, a floating fortress which may have the key to restore the world, but of course, has no power left, and its up to you to collect "shards" to restore the power and activate the emergency mechanism to restore the world. Again, don't ask why such a convenient thing exists, you might not like the answer. The Bastion also serves as your in-game hub, where you can exchange weapons, gain abilities, and talk to the other characters. Speaking of game-play, I think its time to talk about it.

I rather like the combat in Bastion, because it's one that encourages experimentation. You're given a large number of choices for both close-ranged and long-ranged weapons, leaving your play style up to you. Personally, I went for very weapons that were very quick, like the War Machete and the Dueling Pistols, so I could roll around enemies slashing at their heels like an albino ninja. Of course, you could just tank it as well and just smash everything in your way with a Cael Hammer and a Calamity Canon, whatever works for you. Admittedly, the hammer might be a tad overpowered, but upgrades for your weapons require gems that enemies drop and are expensive, so I guess it evens out. You can also assign passive abilities for The Kid, as well as switch up the game-play by changing certain rules of the game. All in all, I think it's balanced, and I had a lot of fun choosing different tactics to take down the wide range of enemies. Don't worry about the difficulty either, because while its certainly not a hard game, the levels do show a steady climb of difficulty, and the last one did give a fair amount of trouble. And hey, if you're a gaming bad-ass and find the game too easy, there's new game plus to up the ante, or you can also try one of the challenge-arena type modes which sends in stronger and stronger waves of enemies, while simultaneously giving you more information about the back-story of The Kid or any of characters, which is good game design. You need to play more of the game to find out more about the story. Personally, I didn't really bother with those since it was 1 in the morning and  I needed to finish the game, but also because I was projecting like hell onto The Kid, and I had a character arc going, so I didn't want to ruin the carefully planned back-story I already had for him. Which may or may not have included being a ninja. 

     But now it's time to get to the real meat of Bastion: and if you've heard of the game, you probably heard of the achievement it meets which is now basically synonymous with the game: the mixture of story and game-play. And yeah, that's basically right. I've already mentioned how you play the game to learn more about the story, but it goes deeper than that. The constant narration not only reacts to things you do in the game, but also gives commentary on what The Kid and the narrator might be thinking. And not in the way that it just tells you what the characters are thinking, but like everything else in the game, develops its characters by subtle winks, nudges and hints, that leave most of it to interpretation. This is most clearly shown in the masterfully-done final level of the game, which slowly unravels the plot of the entire game through character actions, level design, and even how certain things are worded, all through simple narration. This all accumulates into an emotional finale which mixes the game-play and story into perfect harmony, left me speechless and drew very close to being...well, perfect. 

Tell me this doesn't look cool.

Wow, I really do love the art style. It's lush, its distinctive, and makes for some really awesome screenshots. As I've said, the path rises in front of you as you walk, and the actual path is made of clashing textures, all which look cool in their own right. Its pretty to look at; as various art-styles make up a level design, like for instance watercolor, and it's kind of like walking through garden made of random stuff you found lying around. The different textures and styles do threaten to clash a little and make everything a little overbearing, but it manages to keep it mild enough so you don't accidentally fall off the edge of the level. It almost reminds me of Akiyuki Shinbo's and Shaft's art style, just not quite as bizarre or disturbing. If I had to compare it to a game though(and I kind of do actually), I'd say its reminiscent of Braid, a sort of colorful mash-up style that ends up looking awesome.

Some more pretty colors for your viewing pleasure.

Now it's time to rant about the music, because Oh my god is it good, like legitimately amazing. I'm not even, joking it's really fantastic. It was composed by Darren Korb, who doesn't have a Wikipedia page for me to link you to, but I'm sure he's still awesome. It's this mash-up of bizarre country-sounding tunes, and all the tracks are cool to listen to, with context or not. And there is a lot of good to come from the OST. First of all, all of the characters tracks are amazing, especially the character themes, which rank in my favorite of all time, and I haven't even gotten to the variety of the music, though they are all the same style of music. There's plenty of fast paced fight songs, like "A Proper Story" and "Mine, Windbag, Mine", as well as some slower ones, headlined by the character theme "Build That Wall". If I had to choose a favorite song though, it would be "Setting Sail, Coming Home", which is the ending theme of the game, and mixes the character tracks together, and it sounds amazing. But remember, Bastion is the master of story and game-play mixture. There's only four vocal tracks in the whole OST, but if you listen to the lyrics, you might learn a thing about the characters or the story, which I just think is really, really, cool. By the way, this is Korb's very first soundtrack for a game and was apparently recorded in a closet, which just blows my mind. I'll still showcase some songs below, but here a link to the full OST. Do yourself a favor and listen to it.

So yeah. Bastion is pretty great game, so seriously go play it, it's only like 15$ or something crazy like that on Steam. As I said in the beginning of this review, I think this a truly special game, one that really needs to be played to be appreciated. It may not have the best story or game-play in the world, but it manages to achieve an experience like no other, and stands out among the sea of repetitive shooters and sequels that mainstream gaming usually brings us. I think the best way to describe Bastion is a small gem, not easily found, but once you finish it, you can lean back and realize that this game is much better than most games you'll play this generation. If none of that, well, the music is awesome. Thanks for reading. 

Final Verdict: 8(.5)/10

P.S: Come on Zulf, we're going home. 

Check out my other game review on Dishonored here. 

Or if you're up to an anime review, check out mine on Higurashi no naku koro ni here. 

My first impressions of Hyouka is here. 

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