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[Red]

Just finished. Pretty good game. I love how they handled the upgrades and all that stuff. It can be pretty annoying in a lot of other games. Music was amazing as well. I however didn't like how the ending was structured.

Spoiler

It could have been amazing, but it was too obvious for me. It was too obvious what the developers intended and too obvious what the "moral" and "logical" answer was. This may sound weird but stay with me here, because it's the sort of situation I remember from an episode of Buffy.

It's an episode where the heroes of the show have been reset into an alternate reality where everything is really shitty. At some point a character is given the option to reset back to what it was before, but of course the character will no longer exist once they do it. The villain asks when the character is about to reset everything, "How do you know that world is better than this one?" and the character responds "It has to be." Now of course you are killing off a bunch of people in this reality and logically it might not be the best thing, but as a viewer you are in touch with the emotional response, and you don't care about the unintended consequences. Bastion didn't succeed at that at all for me.

I sat there and thought, "resetting will just create a feedback loop so all those people who I could be saving will just die in the exact same way, so I'll just move on (as so many people say when bad things happen) and do what Zia wants essentially." It would have been sweet to make that decision to reset in a moment of emotional desperation, and then do new game+ with the realization that I made the wrong choice, but I get another chance and I can fix it. It would be like actually going through the calamity all over again but this time I have a connection to it as a player instead of just starting the game with zero background.

That being said i'm going to read through the thread to see if others had the same experience or if the ending worked for them.

If you weren't emotionally attached, you wouldn't have thought that much about the outcome. That thing you sat there and thought is a judgment based on morals. You are saying

Spoiler

you didn't want all those people to die again.

How is that not emotional?

I finished the game a few hours ago and immediately jumped into NG+. What a game. That ending song was bliss.

 

[Tawpgun]

Beat my New Game Plus.

Spoiler

Chose Evacuation this time around. A lot of people said Evacuation was a better ending... I don't know. At this point I can't decide which I like better. What a great game...

Also... I chose to save Zulf again... That walk is just too breathtaking to pass up. But I'd love to see what happens when you leave him.

I might run through this game again. I didn't tinker much with the Idols and I still need to max out my fire bellow.

Wait.... nevermind. If you complete your New Game Plus you can Continue your game right before

Spoiler

The Tazal Terminals

I loved the subtle changes in narration in New Game plus as well. And I found my new favorite combo. Went from Hammer Pistols to Machete Pistols.... and now I wrecked everyone with Pike Pistols. I just can't leave those pistols though.... love them.

 

[TheChewyWaffles]

Yah so how do I beat the challenge level with the squirts? It's horrible.

 

[Lima]

Yah so how do I beat the challenge level with the squirts? It's horrible.

You mean the one with the mortar? Just upgrade it to have more splash damage and make sure you hit the power shot.

Or the one with the machete? Just go towards the middle where they spawn immediately after grabbing the machete. Slash away until the initial spawn is empty. Now destroy those carts and the towers and defeat whatever is left.

 

[Red]

Yah so how do I beat the challenge level with the squirts? It's horrible.

The mortar one is stupid easy, so I'm guessing you're talking about the machete? Spam attack in the center, then kill the stationary guys with throws. Can be a pain when one or two fleeing squirts get away, but it shouldn't take more than a couple of tries.

 

[PepsimanVsJoe]

My review is up

http://www.the-nextlevel.com/review/xbla/bastion/

Five stars. *shrug*

 

[zethren]

My review is up

http://www.the-nextlevel.com/review/xbla/bastion/

Five stars. *shrug*

Lame, should have been 6 stars.

Spoiler

jk, obviously

 

[Emitan]

Lame, should have been 6 stars.

Spoiler

jk, obviously

6/5 stars? Everyone knows that improper fractions caused the Calamity.

 

[Phat Michael]

this game is great. i absolutely adore it. it has my favourite graphics in any game this year for me. its absolutely beautiful. id love secret of mana remake with these sort of graphics. the music is amazing too - a real labour of love

 

[Dany]

Spoiler

so i saved zulf both times, curios to know if the music still plays as you walk through with your ram

 

[AEREC]

Finally got 200/200. Seriously, this is one of the best games of the year...it just feels like a complete package (story/gameplay).

Looking forward to the sequel..maybe...how well did this sell so far?

 

[see5harp]

Last night I started a newgame+ and realized that I had not completed a single vigil in my first playthrough (didn't know you had to go back and hit a). I instantly had about $20,000 to spend. DOH

 

[garath]

Last night I started a newgame+ and realized that I had not completed a single vigil in my first playthrough (didn't know you had to go back and hit a). I instantly had about $20,000 to spend. DOH

What the heck is a vigil?

 

[LiK]

What the heck is a vigil?

Challenges in the memorial.

 

[AEREC]

What the heck is a vigil?

The tasks in the Memorial.

ex. Us the Bow to kill 3 enemies in one shot, etc...

 

[Baller. PhD]

Spoiler

so i saved zulf both times, curios to know if the music still plays as you walk through with your ram

Spoiler

It's different music, but you're still invincible. You just have to kill all the peoples while you walk.

 

[garath]

The tasks in the Memorial.

ex. Us the Bow to kill 3 enemies in one shot, etc...

Ah ha. Thanks guys. I haven't gotten the memorial yet so that explains it.

 

[Sir Garbageman]

Just beat the game, awesome experience. Went with the pike / dual pistols / pike vault for the weapons of choice.

Now onto the spoilers, don't highlight unless you've beaten the game.

Spoiler

I saved Zulf and evacuated the Bastion. Seemed like the right thing to do in both cases. The discovery of Zia and the march while you carry Zulf where two amazing moments that defined the game. Great stuff.

Two quick questions. For the third reflection, is it bugged? The bedroll for me didn't appear until the Uhra attacked the Bastion, and I never had the opportunity to click on it nor was it ever highlighted like the first two. When is it supposed to appear? Second, I didn't get credit for the Achievement "Complete the Story". Is that for beating the game or only for going the restoration route?

I went right to new game plus after I finished it, look forward to round two.

 

[Emitan]

Both endings have an achievement.

 

[kylej]

Cael Hammer proving ground. Please god no more 25 second, 2nd places.

 

[alphaNoid]

6/5 stars? Everyone knows that improper fractions caused the Calamity.

haha nice!

 

[Emitan]

Kinda getting burnt on the game and believe me I was hyped as anyone else. Combat and enemies bore me a tad and are just not fun to fight. About to go hunting for first

Spoiler

shard

and am hoping the game ends soon. Not for me, atm.

You're about halfway through. The game never stops getting better. If you keep playing and still don't enjoy it, then it's not for you but I think it's short enough that it's worth playing through to the end.

 

[zabuni]

So, Quarter to Three had a podcast with Greg Kasavin, about a hour and a half with him giving writer's commentary.

http://www.quartertothree.com/fp/2011/07/25/qt3-podcast-greg-kasavin-and-bastion/

Very long, very interesting. They mention a lot of things about the end of game, the choices you make. Heavy spoilers, but they give warnings before they start into them. Chick gushes pretty hard on the game.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

Kinda getting burnt on the game and believe me I was hyped as anyone else. Combat and enemies bore me a tad and are just not fun to fight. About to go hunting for first

Spoiler

shard

and am hoping the game ends soon. Not for me, atm.

I'm in the same boat as you, just a little bit further in game. The enemies, for the most part, simply aren't any fun to fight. I do like the counter system, but the animation for raising your shield seems just a split second too slow. I keep switching up weapons, but it seems to me like the Cael Hammer and the blunderbuss thing is the best combination for most stages so far.

The art is stellar, the sound is great, and the story and atmosphere are pretty cool, so I'll definitely see this through to the end at least. It's too bad I'm not enjoying the combat as much as I had hoped I would.

 

[Jonnyram]

Kinda getting burnt on the game and believe me I was hyped as anyone else. Combat and enemies bore me a tad and are just not fun to fight. About to go hunting for first

Spoiler

shard

and am hoping the game ends soon. Not for me, atm.

Wow, that's about the point where the game just starts pulling shitloads of surprises on you. It just gets more exciting from there, imo.

 

[feel]

Just played through the part with Zia's Song for the first time. Was in complete zen mode from the moment the song started until the end of the level, only achieved that level of relaxation a few times in my gaming life. WOW. This brilliant game, so perfect and I don't want to it to end...

 

[Phat Michael]

Just played through the part with Zia's Song for the first time. Was in complete zen mode from the moment the song started until the end of the level, only achieved that level of relaxation a few times in my gaming life. WOW. This brilliant game, so perfect and I don't want to it to end...

im with you. im excited to go home and play it. not sure how far im in but i have unlocked all the buildings/places in the bastion but im only level 4. in one stage i made a STUPID mistake of getting the core straight away and then hit the switch and the level finished. i couldnt go back and get the things i missed out on (guess thatll be for NG+)

so far im using 2 guns as my weapon. the muscat as close in weapon and the fang repeater as my long shot. i didnt like the hammer or the sword so this works to my playing style. for special skills im using the trap thing which is also cool.

such an excellent game and i wish more games would adopt this style of graphics.

 

[Deleted member 30609]

I'm a bit disconnected from the story, and I'm not really ENTIRELY happy with the moment-to-moment act of playing this, but there's something that keeps pulling me back to it. The art, audio and, yeah, the narrator, are all super-cool.

 

[Lima]

Cael Hammer proving ground. Please god no more 25 second, 2nd places.

I know what you are talking about. I kept getting 25 seconds. And then I got it in 22 seconds.

 

[ThirdEngine]

I'm having so much fun maxing out all of the weapons and trying different combinations. I know a lot of people are fond of the Army Carbine, but the Fang Repeater maxed with seeking shots is quite good. Snooze Dart is one of the best skills in the game and very helpful for the challenge rooms.

Also has anyone figured out how scoring works in Story mode?

 

[JumpingTheGun]

What is the preferred weapon loadout for the third trip to Who Knows Where? Im currently switching between the blunderbuss/pistols and the machete. All three are maxed out.

 

[AEREC]

Pike/Rifle/Pike Sweep is probably my favorite weapon/skill combo right now.

 

[bryehn]

GAH! cocksucking fuckin' X button! I was about to finish off

Spoiler

Queen Anne

and accidentally warped out of the level!

 

[cwmartin]

Can anyone speak to the "RPG"ness of it? Still getting it regardless, but i was wondering what aspects existed. Just finding new weapons basically?

 

[ultron87]

Can anyone speak to the "RPG"ness of it? Still getting it regardless, but i was wondering what aspects existed. Just finding new weapons basically?

That, you level up which increases your health and lets you pick more passive buffs, and you can upgrade your weapons.

 

[red13th]

Wow, I just read about this game now. It looks amazing, I love the art style. I'm picking it up when I get home in the evening.

 

[bryehn]

Just finished, really came together at the end. DAT EMOTIONAL ATTACHMENT!

Decided to

Spoiler

take Zulf and restore the world.

Still wasn't a fan of the proving grounds or combat in general, but the storytelling/writing and art--to a lesser extent audio design--were top notch. Will play a second time through for sure, just a shame it takes so long to get going. Took me ±7 hours, but I was methodical about exploring levels.

Was going to score 3/5 for my review, but that end game was just so awesome I'm bumping it to 4/5. Only real knocks are targeting, shallow combat (for half the game at least) and the fact I got stuck in geometry a few times and had to restart levels.

 

[hearsaybear]

Just beat the game, awesome experience. Went with the pike / dual pistols / pike vault for the weapons of choice.

Now onto the spoilers, don't highlight unless you've beaten the game.

Spoiler

I saved Zulf and evacuated the Bastion. Seemed like the right thing to do in both cases. The discovery of Zia and the march while you carry Zulf where two amazing moments that defined the game. Great stuff.

Two quick questions. For the third reflection, is it bugged? The bedroll for me didn't appear until the Uhra attacked the Bastion, and I never had the opportunity to click on it nor was it ever highlighted like the first two. When is it supposed to appear? Second, I didn't get credit for the Achievement "Complete the Story". Is that for beating the game or only for going the restoration route?

I went right to new game plus after I finished it, look forward to round two.

Spoiler

You should get a dialog when you walk close to it for the first time, then it will light up with an icon like the others did. I didn't complete it on my first playthrough, but beat it before completing my NG+, so it is possible to do before you beat the game. Also, like said earlier, there is a unique achievement for both endings (does not matter what you do about Zulf though).

 

[Xamdou]

XBLA game only? Not on steam yet?

 

[Splash Wave]

Superficial question that will help me decide if I'm playing this or Dead Space 2 next: how long is it?

 

[Roddslayer]

Cael Hammer proving ground. Please god no more 25 second, 2nd places.

rolling into a lot objects helped me get that time down

 

[Red]

Superficial question that will help me decide if I'm playing this or Dead Space 2 next: how long is it?

Took me about 10 hours, but I spent a lot of time just exploring, listening to music, and smashing every last object in the game.

Also farmed the dreams a lot, ended up finishing the game at level 9 with over half the weapons completely upgraded.

 

[Wibblewozzer]

Superficial question that will help me decide if I'm playing this or Dead Space 2 next: how long is it?

To get all achievements (requires going through once more in New Game+) it took me somewhere around eight to ten hours. I'm fairly certain it was in the lower amount since I beat it in roughly six hours and replaying through to clean up achievements and just complete everything in the game (I upgraded everything and hit level 10 despite not necessarily needing to) took only another few hours since I was so powerful and was able to breeze through it and run through everything.

 

[Splash Wave]

Thanks for the feedback, you guys. I'm still having a hard time deciding which to play, as I haven't touched a game in months and both sound so absolutely good to me right now.

 

[Cartman86]

If you weren't emotionally attached, you wouldn't have thought that much about the outcome. That thing you sat there and thought is a judgment based on morals. You are saying

Spoiler

you didn't want all those people to die again.

How is that not emotional?

I finished the game a few hours ago and immediately jumped into NG+. What a game. That ending song was bliss.

Spoiler

I wasn't emotionally attached though. The moment that choice presented itself I went into pure logic mode. Sure it's based on my morality, but there was no emotion involved. It's incredibly easy in a piece of entertainment to just go with the mathematical answer (less people die == good) and not feel anything as they are not real people to begin with. The piece of fiction has to do it's job and make you care through whatever tricks it can come up with. They just didn't work on me.

 

[Red]

Spoiler

I wasn't emotionally attached though. The moment that choice presented itself I went into pure logic mode. Sure it's based on my morality, but there was no emotion involved. It's incredibly easy in a piece of entertainment to just go with the mathematical answer (less people die == good) and not feel anything as they are not real people to begin with. The piece of fiction has to do it's job and make you care through whatever tricks it can come up with. They just didn't work on me.

The real punch in the gut was

Spoiler

carrying a dying Zulf, and the Ura letting up their fire.

 

[Emitan]

The real punch in the gut was

Spoiler

carrying a dying Zulf, and the Ura letting up their fire.

Spoiler

And one still fires at you and he gets killed.

 

[Red]

Spoiler

And one still fires at you and he gets killed.

Funny how a game so praised for its dialogue is most powerful during a moment of silence.

 

[Gav47]

Really enjoy the scene were you first meet

Spoiler

the singer

Spoiler

Youtube link

 

[sixghost]

Spoiler

It's different music, but you're still invincible. You just have to kill all the peoples while you walk.

Spoiler

are you sure you are invincible during that sequence? I kept getting the prompt for Werewhiskey being activated, so I just assumed I was losing health. I thought I just got lucky as I made it to the exit on my last potion.