Last played on: August 2021.
My verdict is at the bottom.
Read the full review, with pictures[raggartsreviews.com]
Before Bastion I liked playing video games. Thanks to this game, I can now say I LOVE playing video games. I can’t put my finger on what it is exactly that I like so much about it. Maybe it was simply the game I needed at that point in my life? It felt just like you find a book, movie or music album that just resonates.

The music is perfect, the narration adds a lot to the immersion, the gameplay is sharp and the story is captivating. All of these put together make for one of my favourite games of all time.
Bastion is an isometric action platformer where you play the part of the Kid waking up after the Calamity. Wandering around and exploring parts of his beautiful post-apocalyptic world, the Kid seeks survivors as well as answers. What caused everyone to turn to stone? What lies beyond the Wall? Venture forth while slaying all manner of beasts to find out.

I found the story, about hope, the future and how to (re)build it, quite appealing. The world’s lore and history are revealed little by little, with every level and stage, through the narrator’s gritty voice. There’s also “dream-like” levels (called “Who Knows Where”) where the personal story of each of the characters is revealed in greater details - if you can beat enough stages.

The story is well defined enough that even the various weapons, mementos and spirits have a unique story or description. It has been a while since I played the game for the first time but I remember I was really gripped by the story and wanted to finish the game as quickly as possible to finally have all the answers. Fortunately, every level, every step forward, reveals more of Bastion so you can enjoy the game and learn the story and lore at the same time.
The music, sound and especially the narration, play a big role in this game. I felt a bit let down by the Kid’s voice and found the sound effects ordinary. They hit all the right notes but don’t pop out any more than that. The narration, though, helps with immersion and reveals the story while never breaking the flow of play. It also helps cement the emotional investment.

An added benefit of the narration is that there is no need to scroll through walls of text or press buttons to engage in lengthy conversations. The flow of the game and the pace of the story is mostly seamless.
Bastion came out in 2011, more than 10 years ago! It’s a testament to the quality of game-making skills of the original seven members of Supergiant Games that the game is still so good after all this time.

If you play Bastion now and you have played other games in the same genre before, you will not find much that is new. At the time though, it contained a lot of novelty. The narration as story development, in particular, was unheard of. The devs really hit the nail on the head with this one.

Today it’s still a fun game with a lot of production value, including a New Game + mode - allowing you to replay the game with all the upgrades you had unlocked in the previous playthrough - if you feel so inclined.
As you can probably guess by all the praise written so far, I give the game a glowing recommendation. However it’s not for everybody. You have to enjoy isometric games, you have to like action-RPGs and I think you should play it with a controller. If you like games where music is important, you should also like Bastion.
The narrator! Also, the way every weapon and combination of spirits and weapon revealed its true potential after playing with them for a while.
How the end felt less fully developed than the start. At the start, the narrator will say random interesting things depending on how you play (“The Kid just rages for a while”). Towards the end everything is much more streamlined and I missed that special flavour.

Also, sometimes it’s hard to tell how to move through some of the sprites so you might get stuck during combat.
If you like this type of game, absolutely. Maybe watch a video or two before buying but for $15 I think you get more than your money’s worth. Also, it’s frequently on sale so you might get it for cheaper if you wait a bit.

[b]Last played on: August 2021.[/b] [i]My verdict is at the bottom.[/i] [url=https://raggartsreviews.com/reviews/bastion/]Read the full review, with pictures[/url] [h2]A Sleeper Gem[/h2] Before Bastion I liked playing video games. Thanks to this game, I can now say I LOVE playing video games. I can’t put my finger on what it is exactly that I like so much about it. Maybe it was simply the game I needed at that point in my life? It felt just like you find a book, movie or music album that just resonates. The music is perfect, the narration adds a lot to the immersion, the gameplay is sharp and the story is captivating. All of these put together make for one of my favourite games of all time. [h2]A Calamity for the ages[/h2] Bastion is an isometric action platformer where you play the part of the Kid waking up after the Calamity. Wandering around and exploring parts of his beautiful post-apocalyptic world, the Kid seeks survivors as well as answers. What caused everyone to turn to stone? What lies beyond the Wall? Venture forth while slaying all manner of beasts to find out. I found the story, about hope, the future and how to (re)build it, quite appealing. The world’s lore and history are revealed little by little, with every level and stage, through the narrator’s gritty voice. There’s also “dream-like” levels (called “Who Knows Where”) where the personal story of each of the characters is revealed in greater details - if you can beat enough stages. The story is well defined enough that even the various weapons, mementos and spirits have a unique story or description. It has been a while since I played the game for the first time but I remember I was really gripped by the story and wanted to finish the game as quickly as possible to finally have all the answers. Fortunately, every level, every step forward, reveals more of Bastion so you can enjoy the game and learn the story and lore at the same time. [h2]A story told[/h2] The music, sound and especially the narration, play a big role in this game. I felt a bit let down by the Kid’s voice and found the sound effects ordinary. They hit all the right notes but don’t pop out any more than that. The narration, though, helps with immersion and reveals the story while never breaking the flow of play. It also helps cement the emotional investment. An added benefit of the narration is that there is no need to scroll through walls of text or press buttons to engage in lengthy conversations. The flow of the game and the pace of the story is mostly seamless. [h2]An inspiration for many years[/h2] Bastion came out in 2011, more than 10 years ago! It’s a testament to the quality of game-making skills of the original seven members of Supergiant Games that the game is still so good after all this time. If you play Bastion now and you have played other games in the same genre before, you will not find much that is new. At the time though, it contained a lot of novelty. The narration as story development, in particular, was unheard of. The devs really hit the nail on the head with this one. Today it’s still a fun game with a lot of production value, including a New Game + mode - allowing you to replay the game with all the upgrades you had unlocked in the previous playthrough - if you feel so inclined. [h2]Verdict[/h2] As you can probably guess by all the praise written so far, I give the game a glowing recommendation. However it’s not for everybody. You have to enjoy isometric games, you have to like action-RPGs and I think you should play it with a controller. If you like games where music is important, you should also like Bastion. [h3]What I liked most about the game[/h3] The narrator! Also, the way every weapon and combination of spirits and weapon revealed its true potential after playing with them for a while. [h3]What I liked the least about the game[/h3] How the end felt less fully developed than the start. At the start, the narrator will say random interesting things depending on how you play (“The Kid just rages for a while”). Towards the end everything is much more streamlined and I missed that special flavour. Also, sometimes it’s hard to tell how to move through some of the sprites so you might get stuck during combat. [h3]Should I buy this game?[/h3] If you like this type of game, absolutely. Maybe watch a video or two before buying but for $15 I think you get more than your money’s worth. Also, it’s frequently on sale so you might get it for cheaper if you wait a bit.