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Bastion |OT| of Rebuilding Worlds & Voices in My Head
- Thread starter LiK
- Start date
despite the good reviews i wasn't much interested in this game, but the trial was really damn good. I was surprised at how responsive the controls were. I will pick this up sooner or later. For the first time in my life i have a massive backlog (curse you steam sales!). I'm not interested in enough of the Summer of Arcade games to go for the promo deal.
Foliorum Viridum
Banned
I'm about two hours in, so far:
+ I love the colours, it has a great visual style and also framerate.
+ The narrator is really funny and makes the game quite charming. Not sure if I'd want him in NG+, but for the first time it's really making the experience unique.
+ I like the variety in weapons, items and abilities.
+ Those challenges are awesome.
- Combat isn't as satisfying as I thought it would be.
- Levels have been quite small so far. Not much exploration. There's been a lot, so that's good, but I was expecting it to be more of an "adventure" than going from a HUB world into lots of small worlds.
- The story is downright bad. I know they're trying to build mystery about what's happened in this strange world, but it's not working at all.
So overall it's got a lot of good and disappointing elements, but I'm enjoying it a lot regardless.
+ I love the colours, it has a great visual style and also framerate.
+ The narrator is really funny and makes the game quite charming. Not sure if I'd want him in NG+, but for the first time it's really making the experience unique.
+ I like the variety in weapons, items and abilities.
+ Those challenges are awesome.
- Combat isn't as satisfying as I thought it would be.
- Levels have been quite small so far. Not much exploration. There's been a lot, so that's good, but I was expecting it to be more of an "adventure" than going from a HUB world into lots of small worlds.
- The story is downright bad. I know they're trying to build mystery about what's happened in this strange world, but it's not working at all.
So overall it's got a lot of good and disappointing elements, but I'm enjoying it a lot regardless.
Vire
Member
Played for around 3 hours or so, here's some impressions for those still on the fence.
Pros:
+Outstanding voice acting work and overall very high quality music
+Beautiful visuals with lush designs
+Responsive controls
+Cool challenges to do in the Proving Grounds
+Upgrading weapons really brings in the RPG elements into the game
Cons:
- Combat while fun, is rather simplistic, and could maybe use a few combo moves or something of the sort
- I wish the melee weapons had a vibration on impact with the hits.
Bottom line: If you like games like Diablo, Torchlight or anything with an intriguing story, good voice acting, and a beautiful presentation - this game is for you.
Pros:
+Outstanding voice acting work and overall very high quality music
+Beautiful visuals with lush designs
+Responsive controls
+Cool challenges to do in the Proving Grounds
+Upgrading weapons really brings in the RPG elements into the game
Cons:
- Combat while fun, is rather simplistic, and could maybe use a few combo moves or something of the sort
- I wish the melee weapons had a vibration on impact with the hits.
Bottom line: If you like games like Diablo, Torchlight or anything with an intriguing story, good voice acting, and a beautiful presentation - this game is for you.
itwasTuesday
He wasn't alone.
So should I be destroying all the world objects or are they all empty set pieces.
Also right after you get the repeater you can roll to the island to the right of it, but can't get back to the main land from it.
Gotta restart as far as I can tell.
Also right after you get the repeater you can roll to the island to the right of it, but can't get back to the main land from it.
Gotta restart as far as I can tell.
GarthVaderUK
Banned
Edge gave Bastion a 9:
http://www.next-gen.biz/reviews/bastion-review
http://www.next-gen.biz/reviews/bastion-review
MikeE21286
Member
Can't wait to go home and insta-buy this.
My most anticipated game in awhile.
DAT NARRATOR!
My most anticipated game in awhile.
DAT NARRATOR!
I do love me some Jen Zee art. Popped into this thread since I'd just read that the project she was working on was finally released... I haven't really been following news on Bastion, but now that I've read up on it I'm really excited! The narrator, new game plus, premise, and world... all of it sounds fantastic. Will buy as soon as I'm home.
Just going to chime in with a few impressions about 90 minutes in.
The VA for the narrator is doing a pretty good job so far. I thought the narration would be a bit more spontaneous / random - kind of like a narrated, Choose-Your-Own-Adventure book, but you can see where the events are scripted pretty easily. Still adds a nice touch.
The writing in the game is consistent and slightly above average in quality. It's good, but it's not "Oscar Quality" like some people claiming.
The background / stage art is nice and is probably the biggest hook (along with the narrator.) I'm not going to say it's amazing, but it's reminiscent of a Korean, flash-browser game (or Secret of Mana.)
Stage design is fair. A lot of the areas are small, though there is a bit of leeway to do some exploring for extra items / shards. Some areas have short roads that branch off, end, and then force you to backtrack to the start point in order to explore the rest of the stage. The narrator does a good job of letting you know when you've found everything there is to find, but I was left hoping for a bit more (so far.)
The isometric view is hit & miss. I like the view it offers, but with the large number of holes (some of them not entirely obvious) you'll find yourself rolling off ledges, falling through holes that look safe, or being knocked down those holes by enemy attacks. The penalty is rather small, but it's still something that could have been tightened up.
Combat is simple, but I'm not going to say that's a bad thing necessarily. There are a decent number of weapons / special abilities and the branching power-up paths you have to choose from are meaningful and significant (at least at this point.) I do have a beef with the targeting system - both the automatic and manual targeting. You probably won't notice it until
The problem is that the order that you cycle through your targets can be erratic, causing you to fire at off-center targets or miss the prompt because you're too busy toggling between targets.
My other beef is with the inconsistent framerate. I imagine it's a result of all the art , but there are very noticeable dips in some areas without really any clues why. I can only imagine that the HD art was maxing out the RAM or maybe they needed more time to optimize things on the programming side but it's there. It's not a game killer, and it doesn't happen consistently enough to give me a headache but it's still disappointing.
Overall, I'm fairly happy with my purchase. I think you'll be happier if you go into the game with lower expectations. As it stands now, I feel like this should be an 800 point title, but I'm still only 90 minutes into the game. I strongly recommend you DL the demo first. I have a feeling that you'll experience most of the gameplay elements that the game has to offer all in the first stage (minus some of the customization elements, abilities, and New Game +.) Then, if you think you'd enjoy the game "as is" for the next 8 or so hours, then go ahead and pick it up. I don't regret my purchase, but I'll probably try to finish Bastion up before From Dust goes on sale next week.
Overall, the presentation in Bastion is very nice, but certain gameplay elements like stage design, shallower combat, and targeting issues keep the game from really shining. The jury is still out on the story.
Just my 2 yen.
The VA for the narrator is doing a pretty good job so far. I thought the narration would be a bit more spontaneous / random - kind of like a narrated, Choose-Your-Own-Adventure book, but you can see where the events are scripted pretty easily. Still adds a nice touch.
The writing in the game is consistent and slightly above average in quality. It's good, but it's not "Oscar Quality" like some people claiming.
The background / stage art is nice and is probably the biggest hook (along with the narrator.) I'm not going to say it's amazing, but it's reminiscent of a Korean, flash-browser game (or Secret of Mana.)
Stage design is fair. A lot of the areas are small, though there is a bit of leeway to do some exploring for extra items / shards. Some areas have short roads that branch off, end, and then force you to backtrack to the start point in order to explore the rest of the stage. The narrator does a good job of letting you know when you've found everything there is to find, but I was left hoping for a bit more (so far.)
The isometric view is hit & miss. I like the view it offers, but with the large number of holes (some of them not entirely obvious) you'll find yourself rolling off ledges, falling through holes that look safe, or being knocked down those holes by enemy attacks. The penalty is rather small, but it's still something that could have been tightened up.
Combat is simple, but I'm not going to say that's a bad thing necessarily. There are a decent number of weapons / special abilities and the branching power-up paths you have to choose from are meaningful and significant (at least at this point.) I do have a beef with the targeting system - both the automatic and manual targeting. You probably won't notice it until
you reach your first challenge, where you'll need to shoot a number of targets with your bow in as few shots as possible. To do this, you'll need to hit multiple targets with each pull, as well as time the release with a visual prompt (flashing character) to trigger a "Power Shot" - which offers the increased damage needed to destroy the targets.
My other beef is with the inconsistent framerate. I imagine it's a result of all the art , but there are very noticeable dips in some areas without really any clues why. I can only imagine that the HD art was maxing out the RAM or maybe they needed more time to optimize things on the programming side but it's there. It's not a game killer, and it doesn't happen consistently enough to give me a headache but it's still disappointing.
Overall, I'm fairly happy with my purchase. I think you'll be happier if you go into the game with lower expectations. As it stands now, I feel like this should be an 800 point title, but I'm still only 90 minutes into the game. I strongly recommend you DL the demo first. I have a feeling that you'll experience most of the gameplay elements that the game has to offer all in the first stage (minus some of the customization elements, abilities, and New Game +.) Then, if you think you'd enjoy the game "as is" for the next 8 or so hours, then go ahead and pick it up. I don't regret my purchase, but I'll probably try to finish Bastion up before From Dust goes on sale next week.
Overall, the presentation in Bastion is very nice, but certain gameplay elements like stage design, shallower combat, and targeting issues keep the game from really shining. The jury is still out on the story.
Just my 2 yen.
Crazypanda_85
Member
I do appreciate the early expressions but most of the interviews mentioned that the first few hours, the game does open up and get more complex (to a certain degree). Give Bastion time 
justin12140
Banned
has anyone gotten first place in that hammer proving grounds yet? I can't seem to get any lower than 31 seconds
Spartan FI
Neo Member
Had some stuttering and framerate issues especially in the trial area but also in the later areas. Played from an quite old 120 GB hard drive. Moved the game to an USB drive and it works perfect now. Don't know what the problem was maybe some fragmentation issues. Maybe this works if somebody has a similar problem.
Loving the game though, well worth 1200 ms points.
Loving the game though, well worth 1200 ms points.
FrenchMovieTheme
Member
played for a couple hours this morning. pretty entertaining and fun game. the rpg elements are on the light side but they did say from the get go that this isn't a hack&slash dungeon crawler/loot game.
probably the best xbla game since castle crashers
probably the best xbla game since castle crashers
DeadRockstar
Member
Just finished the game. I can't remember the last time I played through a game in basically one sitting like that. It certainly holds up all the way through, and in fact gets better the more you unlock. The game's strength is really variety as opposed to depth. Variety in the artwork, narration, weapons, skills etc. I think that's an intelligent direction to go in if your aim is making a shorter downloadable game feel like a full experience. Which it does. I hesitate to use the word epic, but it does feel surprisingly epic considering the length.
The story is simple, but the narrator carries it to a level higher than I think it could have achieved without. I can't remember which review said the narrator was a mistake but I couldn't disagree more. The experience is that much more personal because of the narrator. To my knowledge, he didn't repeat a single phrase and made the game that much more engaging than exposition in a cutscene ever does. He's also useful at times: the line "times like this, kid's glad be brought trip mines" reminded me to use them without resorting to an obnoxious on screen pop-up like other games might. Great dialogue in general.
Almost needless to say, the artwork and music are excellent. I won't say much more because the game just came out and it's better people experience it for themselves. The game is definitely worth your time and money.
The story is simple, but the narrator carries it to a level higher than I think it could have achieved without. I can't remember which review said the narrator was a mistake but I couldn't disagree more. The experience is that much more personal because of the narrator. To my knowledge, he didn't repeat a single phrase and made the game that much more engaging than exposition in a cutscene ever does. He's also useful at times: the line "times like this, kid's glad be brought trip mines" reminded me to use them without resorting to an obnoxious on screen pop-up like other games might. Great dialogue in general.
Almost needless to say, the artwork and music are excellent. I won't say much more because the game just came out and it's better people experience it for themselves. The game is definitely worth your time and money.
Rygar 8 Bit
Jaguar 64-bit
just beat it about 20 minutes ago god fucking damn it great game gonna have to do a new game+ for the other ending for this ending i chose
rebuild the world
Rygar 8 Bit
Jaguar 64-bit
Jonsoncao said:
started it at about 4:30 and beat it at about 10:30 so 6ish hours and i havent done new game + yet so no idea about enemies but the splash screen at the end said i could use all the weapons ive collected and i can build all the buildings in any order
desertdroog
Member
Just added points and added Bastion to my queue from my Droid.
This and From Dust are my most anticipated Summer of Arcade games.
I hope these games succeed and cause full blown projects to leverage what we see in these creative ventures.
The same goes for Trenched.
This and From Dust are my most anticipated Summer of Arcade games.
I hope these games succeed and cause full blown projects to leverage what we see in these creative ventures.
The same goes for Trenched.
darkressurection
Banned
I beat the game about 30 minutes ago. Fantastic gameplay aside, the strongest thing I can say about the game is that the end of the game made me emotional. I can't really think of any other game that has done that to me.
End Spoilers Within
I want to give the biggest props in the world to Greg for be able to tell a story so well that was integrated into the game without resorting to cutscenes and yet still be able to have an emotional impact.
Big props all around to the Supergiant Team, this is EASILY my favorite downloadable game out there right now.
End Spoilers Within
I chose to Evacuate the Bastion, the way the music fit in not only the actual ending, but the endgame parts was just amazing. The Narration and music in the game overall were just fantastic.
I want to give the biggest props in the world to Greg for be able to tell a story so well that was integrated into the game without resorting to cutscenes and yet still be able to have an emotional impact.
Big props all around to the Supergiant Team, this is EASILY my favorite downloadable game out there right now.
Here's the moment I knew I would love this game (not much of a spoiler, just a narrator's comment at the very beginning of the game, but I'll tag it anyway):
"Kid just rages for a while". LOL He said that right after I got the hammer and began smashing everything in sight. Love this dynamic narration haha.
Uno Venova
Banned
This was probably asked before but I didn't see it in the OP...How big is this game?
Foliorum Viridum
Banned
6 hours sounds like it will be a bit long if it keeps on at the pace it has where I am (about 2 hours in).Rygar 8 Bit said:
Hopefully it changes up a bit so that's not the case.
dragonelite
Member
Fjordson said:
Whirlwind. "The kid is a fast learner"
toythatkills
Member
OnPoint hates Bastion, confirmed =POnPoint said:
To whoever asked, it's about 550MB if that's what you meant by "how big." (EDIT: Oh, beatered!)
Uno Venova
Banned
thanks, awesome it can fit.FTH said:
Family Fry
Member
Just let my Allards free bought Bastion, damn thing has crashed on me twice as the kid jumps through window in very early stages. Anyone else experience this at all? Just about to clear cache, delete game and redownload.
MarshMellow96
Member
I don't think I've seen this posted..
I know it's only The Maw, but I'll be damned if you US guys get all the cool shit on Live. And on PSN, too...
Buy Bastion, get The Maw free.
I know it's only The Maw, but I'll be damned if you US guys get all the cool shit on Live. And on PSN, too...
Buy Bastion, get The Maw free.