Why Bastion is Awesome

This is, perhaps, one of the most pure and enjoyable gaming experiences I've had since I first played A Link to the Past.

For those of you who don't know my relationship with ALttP, this is saying a tremendous amount.

Now, I want you to know that I realize a few things:

1. The things I review here are a fairly eclectic mix. I try to keep them a bit dated on purpose. I don't want to build expectations that I'll review a new movie, book, or game when it first comes out or even within several months after its release.

This isn't that kind of review series. This is simply a "here's what I've been geeking out about lately" series.

The games I've been playing (often years after they first came out), the books I've been reading (likewise), and the movies or TV shows I've been revisiting. All of these are candidates for coverage on this series, and I like to give attention to the things that are important or meaningful to me.

(For these and many other reasons, I realize now that I should probably talk about A Link to the Past today instead, but I haven't played that one lately, so it's going to have to wait.)

So, yes, once in a while, you'll get something like my Alloy of Law review, simply because I'm a huge fan of the series and I consume the books I'm excited about. Other times, you'll get reviews like this one, because a game or etc. is Just. That. Good.

Most of the time, however, you'll get stuff like my Arkham Asylum review, because that's what I want to do.

2. I realize a lot has been said about the narrator in this game. It's all true. He really is that good. The game is worth getting for so many more reasons than just him, but his presence is yummy, yummy icing on top of an already delicious cake.

(Mmm...cake...)

On with the review.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the game, Bastion follows a simple premise: One day, a kid wakes up (scene captured above), and the world is gone.

It's a fairly standard apocalyptic premise. Some manner of Calamity has occurred, leaving few survivors. One of the main goals of the characters involved is to try and build a new world while attempting to salvage what fragments remain from the old one.

The best thing about this game is that these two themes tie into the gameplay mechanics seamlessly. 

You start out alone, but as soon as you begin to move, the voice of the narrator drops in and the world around you begins to build itself up. As you move, the path/layout of the level constructs itself in real time, making you feel as though the world is building itself for you alone. While this kind of self-centered attitude is not what we want to teach our children, it's immensely satisfying as a gameplay mechanic, as it makes you feel like you're having a direct impact on the world around you.

Soon, you come across a hammer (again, for those of you who don't know, the narrator is describing your every move along the way, but not in an annoying way). With this first weapon, you then face off against, well, the world. The above picture gives a good impression of how this feels.

This is probably a good enough time to talk about the actual gameplay, by which I mean the combat.

Over the course of the game's story, you collect a dozen weapons, each tied to a military group from the nation that you lived in (y'know, before it was destroyed). These range in complexity and tech level from the above-mentioned hammer, to a repeater crossbow, to a pair of dueling pistols, to a spear, to a mortar, and more.

Yeah, the setting is a bit sideways in its tone.

But here's the kicker: it works. The quirky art style makes everything, from the pseudo-steampunk tech level to the crazy, post-apocalyptic war setting, blend seamlessly together so that you never question any of the oddities (including the fact that everything you walk on is floating in the air!)

Beyond that, each of the weapons feels distinct. And from the beginning of the game until the end, there are legitimate reasons to use all of them. As in many modern games (particularly shooters), you're only allowed to carry two weapons with you. So this consideration of "what do I bring with me on this mission" becomes a tactical one, or a preference of playstyle, and not a simple evaluation of "which one is more powerful?"

The answer: All of them, depending on the situation.

See, this is what really bothers me about a lot of RPGs these days (and make no doubt about it, Bastion is a sublime example of the genre, just slightly different than most). Throughout most games, you're constantly gathering, examining, and equipping better and better equipment, in order to combat the greater and greater challenges that come.

Sometimes, this can get a bit annoying.

"What's that, you really like the appearance and secondary effects of that +2 Blitzing Shortsword of Freedom? Sorry, it's not going to be powerful enough for you to fight the Final Dragon of Doom (who is, in fact, in the middle of the game). You need to equip the +3 Flaming Club of Chains, because it's better. Why? Because we said so. Why does it look so stupid? I don't know, we ran out of time, and an art budget."

This is particularly frustrating in the MMOs (Massively Multiplayer Online games), where your appearance is an expression of personal preference, as much as statistical benefit.

Now, I understand why the advancement of equipment is a good thing. The constant acquiring of magical gear is a way to give a feeling of statistical and character progression during the oftentimes long periods between actual level-ups. That's cool, but I'm always interested in seeing someone challenge that approach.

Bastion does that.

As I said above, you slowly expand your arsenal of weaponry, but at no point in time does any weapon become obsolete. Sure, some seem to have more of a punch and thus seem more powerful upon first acquiring them (the "cool" factor of the mortar was especially powerful, considering the environment you obtained it in). However, you quickly learn that they all have their advantages and drawbacks.

More importantly, however, is the level of customization that can be added to the weapons beyond the simple "conditional considerations."

Much like you would level up a character in a traditional RPG and learn new attacks or improve your damage output, Bastion allows you to "level up" your weapons, unlocking new features. These range from increased damage, to adding a knockback effect, to reducing reload time, to increasing ammunition stores, and much more. In time, this can make the unwieldly Army Carbine into a sharpshooter's dream, or the lowly Cael Hammer into a destroyer of worlds.

But here's the real trick: you don't have to settle on just one thing.

Sure, you could upgrade that hammer for pure damage output, giving you special attacks that take time to charge up, but deal tremendous amounts of destruction when unleashed. However, you could also improve it to be better for crowd fighting -- giving it some knockback and a critical hit chance. And you can flip-flop between any amount of either setting every time you visit the armory.

It's this kind of free-form flexibility that sets Bastion apart. And it doesn't stop simply with the weapons. You can also customize your character's abilities by equipping certain tonics and other drinks that provide certain effects: from increased health, to improved movement speed while defending, to an ability that damages enemies when you die (it's okay, you'll get better). As you level up, you'll not only unlock new tonics, but you'll be allowed to equip more simultaneously.

While I do still enjoy the static progression of traditional RPGs, and I don't want to see them disappear completely, I would like to see more games like Bastion, games that take a risk with the customization by making it more open-ended (in the sense that, increasing your level increases your available gameplay options, not simply your damage potential).

One more note on the things that Bastion does well: as I mentioned above, the sense of progression.

In addition to the simple, quirky visual style of the platforms rising up to meet your feet as you walk past, Bastion provides a sense of progression (and reconstruction) by allowing you to actually rebuild the nation that was destroyed.

Okay, doesn't sound that exciting on paper, but again, this is tied to gameplay.

All of these wonderful character-building options are provided for you through various types of buildings: to improve your weapons, you go to the forge, to improve your character, you go to the distillery, to select your weapon loadout, you go the armory. Each building has a specific purpose.

However, you don't have access to any of these buildings at first. You have to build them over the course of the game, before you will be able to apply the bonuses I talked about above.

This provides tremendous incentive, beyond the story, to pursue the story-based missions. Training in the various zones does you little good without having access to all your options. So you pursue the story in order to unlock more of the Bastion's town. Along the way, you'll encounter a compelling story, but if you're purely looking for gameplay here, it's as good as an incentive as I've ever found.

Unlike other RPGs, you can only spend so much time wandering about "wasting" time with the sidequests before you hit a glass ceiling. Then you have to progress the story to progress your character.

Like I said, a seamless blend between gameplay and story. Beautiful. Elegant. So many good things to say.

All right. I'm going to cut myself off there. To say any more would be to repeat myself (if I haven't already), or else would ruin the game (again, if I haven't already). Go play Bastion if you haven't already, I highly recommend it, and I hope I've articulated why now.

I'm Joshua Kehe, and that's all I have to say.