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Bastion (video game)

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Bastion
Developer(s)Supergiant Games
Publisher(s)Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Designer(s)Amir Rao
Programmer(s)Gavin Simon, Andrew Wang
Artist(s)Jen Zee
Writer(s)Greg Kasavin
Composer(s)Darren Korb
Platform(s)Windows, Xbox Live Arcade
ReleaseXbox 360 (XBLA)
July 20, 2011 [1]
PC (Steam)
August 16, 2011
Genre(s)Action role-playing game

Bastion is an action role-playing video game produced by independent developer Supergiant Games and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.[2] The game's visual style is inspired by anime and its narrative style takes the form of a dynamic voice-over. Bastion was released on July 20, 2011 for Xbox Live Arcade and on August 16, 2011 for digital download on Windows.[3]

Plot

The game takes place in the aftermath of the Calamity, a catastrophic event that suddenly fractured the world as people knew it into many pieces and led to an infestation of hostile creatures. Players take control of The Kid, a silent protagonist who awakens on one of the few remaining pieces of the old world and sets off for the titular Bastion, where everyone agreed to go in troubled times. He finds almost nothing left upon arrival, but is told by a wise old man that together, they could build something special. The Kid then embarks on a quest to reconstruct the world the way it used to be, while the old man narrates his adventure and provides details on what exactly has happened.

The Kid travels to three different overall areas: the remainders of the City, the Wild Unknown, and eventually the Ura homeland.

Gameplay

Bastion is an action RPG with a level structure. The player character moves through fantasy-themed environments that form paths on the fly. The protagonist travels to many unique locations other than the Bastion, including forests, bogs, and a volcano. As the player progresses through each level, the player grows stronger by finding more weapons, materials to upgrade those weapons, and by gaining experience from defeating enemies. At the end of most levels, the player collects cores (which allow the player to add a building to the Bastion) and Shards which allow the player to add a secondary level to said buildings.

Between levels, the Kid visits the Bastion, where he can use the 'Fragments', the game's form of currency, he has accrued to buy materials and upgrade weapons. Here, he can use establishments, such as a shrine, an armory and a distillery.

In between missions, the player can engage in challenge courses designed to test the player's abilities at using each of the weapons the player has found. The challenges differ depending on the weapon. For example, the hammer, one of the weapons in the game, has its own challenge course where the player must destroy a certain number of objects with it within a given time. Another weapon, the Breaker's Bow, requires you to break targets in the fewest shots possible.

As well as challenge courses, the player can test weapons and loadouts by selecting any one of three journeys to "Who Knows Where," to be selected when at the Bastion via three items the player finds as they progress. The first item found is a large smoking pipe; the second a large cooking pot; the latest a bed roll. These trips to Who Knows Where prompt the Kid to fight increasingly tougher waves of enemies, each trip featuring different types found in each of the three general areas of his journey. For example, the pipe has the Kid fight enemies like Turrets, Windbags, Gasfellas, and squirts, while the cooking pot has him fighting wild creatures like Pincushions, Wallflowers, and Stinkeyes. In between each ensuing wave, Rucks will tell the story of how one of the three youngsters came to the Bastion. The pipe tells the backstory of the Kid; the cooking pot of Zia's; the bedroll of Zulf's. The player earns Fragments and experience for each wave completed and each enemy slain.

The game incorporates a unique feature called 'dynamic narration'. Rucks, the old wise man (voiced by Logan Cunningham[4]), serves as the game's narrator. As well as delivering story exposition, he will constantly give different commentary based on the player's actions and style of play - for example, he might remark upon the player's affinity for a certain weapon if said weapon is used frequently during battle.

The Steam version of the game features a new hidden skill (Gel Canister) and a new achievement, which ties into the Portal series of games by Valve Software.[5]

Reception

Pre-release

The critical reception before the game's official release was generally positive. IGN praised the complexities and finesse of the combat mechanics.[6] Gamespot gave special mention to the visual design, calling it a 'striking art style filled with all sorts of rich and varied detail.'[7] Kotaku noted that 'the effect of the narration is magical' and that 'it feels like you are living a story into existence.'[8]

Bastion was nominated for the 2011 Independent Games Festival Awards in the "Excellence In Visual Art" and "Excellence In Audio" categories.[9] It also won the Game Critics Award for Best Downloadable Game of E3 2011.[10]

Post-release

Bastion received generally strong reviews. Aggregate scores were strong, with Metacritic reporting an 87/100.[11] GameRankings reports a slightly higher aggregate score of 88.45%.[13] Individual scores ranged from 65% approval to a perfect score. Multiple critics gave the game a perfect score, including McKinley Noble of GamePro,[24] Dan Crabtree of GamerNode,[25] Jason Evangelho of VideoGameWriters[26] and Luke Halliday of Capsule Computers.[27]

Luke Halliday of Capsule Computers praised Supergiant Games for what they accomplished with Bastion's story and art style. Halliday stated "For a story about the end of the world, Bastion is simply bursting with so much life, you wouldn’t even realise, upon first glance. What they have created here isn’t just graphics for a video game, they have created art." [27]

McKinley Noble of GamePro compared the quality of Bastion to that of previous critically acclaimed Xbox Live Arcade releases. Noble stated that "Bastion stands right at the top with Limbo and Braid."[24] Matt Miller of Game Informer, who gave Bastion a score of 9.25/10, praised the presentation, saying "The sounds and images stick in your mind after you complete the game just like when you closed the final page on a favorite childhood picture book."[28]

IGN's Greg Miller praised the replayability of Bastion, saying "I'm not the repeat type of gamer, but Bastion's leveling, weapon upgrades, and difficulty tweaks are just too gosh-darn addictive."[29] While Francesca Reyes of the Official Xbox Magazine stated her wish for a deeper battle system, she gave Bastion very high marks, saying, "Carefully crafted and full of charm, Bastion is irresistible." [30] Gamespot's Maxwell McGee lauded the art style of Bastion, as well as the varied challenges that the game presents. McGee stated, "Every stylish bit of scenery is filled with tiny touches that add to the game's fairytale vibe."[31]

Both Good Game and Good Game: Spawn Point rated Bastion at 8.5 stars but Good Game: Spawn Point lamented the lack of a co-op system.[32]

References

  1. ^ Navarro, Alex (2011-06-27). "Xbox Live Summer of Arcade Titles Have Prices, Dates". Giant Bomb. Retrieved 2011-07-22.
  2. ^ "It's Official: Bastion Coming to Xbox LIVE Arcade this Summer!". Supergiant Games. 2011-03-10. Retrieved 2011-07-22.
  3. ^ By: yAak. "Bastion by SuperGiant Games: Hands-on Impress - Shacknews.com - Video Game News, Trailers, Game Videos, and Files". Shacknews.com. Retrieved 2011-07-22.
  4. ^ "Logan Cunningham". IMDb. Retrieved 2011-09-13.
  5. ^ Kuchera, Ben (2011-08-22). "Bastion on PC? Now you're thinking with portals". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2011-08-22.
  6. ^ Anthony Gallegos (2010-09-04). "Building a Bastion - PC Preview at IGN". Uk.pc.ign.com. Retrieved 2011-07-22.
  7. ^ McInnis, Shaun (2010-12-06). "Bastion Hands-On Impressions - Xbox 360 Previews at GameSpot". Uk.gamespot.com. Retrieved 2011-07-22.
  8. ^ Stephen Totilo (2010-09-09). "Bastion Was The Other Buzz Game Of Penny Arcade Expo, For Good Reasons". Kotaku.com. Retrieved 2011-07-22.
  9. ^ "Minecraft, Amnesia:Dark Descent Lead IGF Awards Nominees". Gamefocus.ca. 2011-06-16. Retrieved 2011-07-22.
  10. ^ "Game Critics Awards". Game Critics Awards. Retrieved 2011-07-22.
  11. ^ a b "Bastion for Xbox 360 Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic.com. Retrieved 2011-07-22.
  12. ^ "Bastion for Xbox 360 Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic.com. Retrieved 2011-07-28.
  13. ^ a b "Bastion for Xbox 360". GameRankings. Retrieved 2011-07-22.
  14. ^ "Bastion for PC". GameRankings. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
  15. ^ Bramwell, Tom. "Bastion Review - Xbox 360". Eurogamer. Eurogamer Network. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
  16. ^ "Bastion Review - Xbox 360 - IGN". IGN. IGN Entertainment. 19 July 2011. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
  17. ^ "Bastion Review - PC Review at IGN". IGN PC. IGN Entertainment. 22 August 2011. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
  18. ^ "Bastion Review, Bastion Xbox 360 Review". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
  19. ^ Mackey, Bob (19 August 2011). "Bastion Review for 360 from 1UP.com". 1UP.com. 1UP Games. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
  20. ^ Scott, Ryan (16 August 2011). "GameSpy: Bastion Review - Page 1". GameSpy. IGN Entertainment Games. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
  21. ^ Miller, Matt (29 July 2011). "Rich Storytelling Sends Bastion Over The Top". Game Informer. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
  22. ^ "Bastion review". Edge. Future Publishing. 20 July 2011. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
  23. ^ Reyes, Francesca (19 July 2011). "Bastion | OXM ONLINE". Xbox Official Xbox Magazine. Future US. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
  24. ^ a b post a comment (2011-07-17). "Bastion Review from". GamePro. Retrieved 2011-07-22.
  25. ^ Post a Comment. "Reviews - Bastion Review". GamerNode. Retrieved 2011-07-22.
  26. ^ "Bastion Review (Xbox Live Arcade)". Videogamewriters.com. Retrieved 2011-07-22.
  27. ^ a b "Bastion Review". Capsulecomputers.com.au. Retrieved 2011-07-26.
  28. ^ "Rich Storytelling Sends Bastion Over The Top - Bastion - Xbox 360". www.GameInformer.com. 2011-07-19. Retrieved 2011-07-22.
  29. ^ Greg Miller. "Bastion Review - Xbox 360 Review at IGN". Xboxlive.ign.com. Retrieved 2011-07-22.
  30. ^ "Bastion". Oxm Online. Retrieved 2011-07-22.
  31. ^ "Bastion Review, Bastion Xbox 360 Review". GameSpot.com. Retrieved 2011-07-22.
  32. ^ "Good Game Stories - Bastion". Good Game. Retrieved 2011-08-18.

External links

Template:XBLA Summer of Arcade

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