Bastion

[a purple future]

I picked this up during the Christmas Steam sale and finally got around to playing it this weekend. It didn't really blow me away or anything but I was still very pleased by the whole thing. Good show, Kasavin.

Also, I do love some lazy weekend- length games. A nice change after the bombardment of stupidly long games that came out late 2011.

I will say this though, I'm half-tempted to blow through NG+ with my fully upgraded spear because that thing is hilariously overpowered

[Drath]

Wow, a lot of negativity at the beginning of this post. I played through it, then played through it again in NG+, as well as getting all achievements. I basically sucked out everything from this game I could.

I love the implied mythos, the unique storybook-esque world and environments, the gameplay, the sense of pacing... well pretty much everything. GOTY.

It is a bit limiting for gamers expecting a more varied, open ended game and story... this game is not it. It's very deliberately paced and controlled, which I am fine with because I fell in love with the story and gameplay. There's weapons for every type of play style. Through upgrades, you can tweak and refine the weapons to suit your play style even more.

Unlike a lot of people here, I knew I would love this game right from the get to.

Oh ya, the soundtrack/OST... pure awesomeness there.

[Roderick]

I finished Bastion, which I got as a gift from the awesome Thunderpeel.

What an amazingly charming game! The voice over and western atmosphere are both fitting and fresh for the fantasy setting. They could've gone for a classic vibe but I'm glad they didn't. As someone mentioned earlier in this thread, the best part is how matter-of-factly the world is described. It's all Gasfellas and Something Stringy. Both the narration and the excellent lore are used incredibly competently. Enough is told to set the imagination ablaze, but nowhere does it succumb to the trap of getting too worked up over it too quickly and explaining everything. It's a spicing that gradually grows to be emotionally gripping - the antithesis of heavyhanded 'Blizzard-style' storytelling.

The ending:

it works on an emotional level and I found the story choices that you make there interesting. I had been expected some sort of boss encounter though, I don't think that would've detracted from the experience. Gameplay-wise, it ends on a bit of a dud in that respect. Am I the only one who was reminded of Red Dead Redemption with the cowboy songs playing and the themes of loss and longing playing such a big part?

Also a good move, and taking a leaf from Half-Life 2 amongst others, was the decision to give the player a new, powerful toy at the very end to play with. Bastion is great at spreading its gameplay across the full game, so that it just never gets the chance to be repetitive or boring. As for the art style, it's gorgeous. The 3D Kid character doesn't gel completely with the rest, but truth be told, you're never really looking at him anyway. Your eyes are, and should be, on the environment and the dangers therein.

For the record: I have started game plus with all the idols on, which is instantly super challenging. I'm playing with the WASD setup, which is my only option. A bit clunkier than the gamepad perhaps, and it may destroy my chances of getting all the proving ground challenges at first prize, but it'll do.

[MrHoatzin]

I need an incentive to go on. I've played the first couple of levels and so far there is a lot of hacking and slashing, some strategy and tactics, and a lot of super sacharine art. I don't have problem with any asset individually or the style in general—stuff is super gorgeous, no argument—it is when they're all put in a pile together that it gets busy and kindof focusless. Does the art get more coherent as one goes on?

Also I take it there is a story that is worth hanging out for? Hmmmm.

[Roderick]

If you didn't find what you were looking for in the first few levels, I don't really think you'll find it later on. The game is pretty consistent throughout. I was hooked right away by the richness of it (didn't see or wasn't bothered by the visual clutter), the fun challenges and the storytelling (which really isn't to say there's a big story going on, just more of a set of themes around a thin spindle of a narrative). But if it's not your bag, no problem.

[Upthrust]

Also a good move, and taking a leaf from Half-Life 2 amongst others, was the decision to give the player a new, powerful toy at the very end to play with. Bastion is great at spreading its gameplay across the full game, so that it just never gets the chance to be repetitive or boring. As for the art style, it's gorgeous. The 3D Kid character doesn't gel completely with the rest, but truth be told, you're never really looking at him anyway. Your eyes are, and should be, on the environment and the dangers therein.

I'm not sure if you mean the cannon or the ram, but I disliked the ram and thought part where you have the cannon was awesome.

The cannon gives you this great moment toward the end of the game. You grab the cannon and immediately feel like a badass. This could go through the entire level, or after a few minutes you realize - like I did - something to the effect of "Holy balls, I am such a badass with the pike and carbine that in my hands they are better than a cannon made of pure destruction."* After a couple minutes you come across the arsenal, put the cannon away, and go back to feeling all the more awesome for using your simpler weapons. You could argue that this tendency just makes the cannon a disappointing late-game weapon, but only if you are heartless.

The ram, on the other hand, takes those weapons away. It's nice to feel powerful at the end of a game, but it's especially nice to feel powerful in some way that you feel you have earned. The section at the end of Half-Life 2 works for me because I've been practicing with the gravity gun all game (plus there's a small sense of vindication -- I can't be the only person who tried to blast zombies away with the gravity gun once I got it). I suppose it might also work for people who just prefer guns that shoot bullets -- suddenly this novelty weapon becomes the most powerful thing in the game, in which case it works because it is a surprising reversal.

*This, of course, was when I was young and foolish. It is obvious now that the bellows and the mortar the best weapons in the game.

[Roderick]

The bellows and the mortar are the best weapons?! You're not being facetious? I tend to go for a pike/shotgun combo.

[Upthrust]

Well, maybe not obviously the best weapons in the game, but I sure like them. The mortar is monstrously powerful. I pretty much used the carbine like a mortar, so I switched to the slower, more powerful counterpart. It's especially nice at dealing with the idol that blocks damage, as it'll just bounce the mortar round somewhere nearby and do damage anyway. As for the bellows, I originally wrote it off the moment I got it, but it's second-to-none at murdering bird swarms, and doesn't need to be upgraded to pierce armor. Plus there's something gleefully sloppy about burning and exploding everything in sight.

[Roderick]

Will give this combo a try. With all the idols on, this game is getting intense.

[miffy495]

I was a machete/carbine man myself.