Poll: Thoughts On Bastion?

[brunothepig]

So, it's finally released on Steam, I've just spent the last 2-3 hours playing it, managed to drag myself away because it's now 6 in the morning here in Australia. I'm loving it so far, was just wondering how the other Escapists felt. Personally, I am now in love with the narrator. The whole dynamic narration thing is very well done. Mechanics are almost flawless so far, except the blocking thing. But this isn't a review or anything, just wondered how many other Escapists bought it today, and who else loved it like me.

As an aside, a Cracked article just mentions Yahtzee of the cuff.

The only reason you would make jokes, according to this group, is to attack something and say it is bad, like Jon Stewart making jokes about Fox News, or Yahtzee reviewing video games.

I don't know, I always forget just how well known this site, especially Yahtzee, is.

 

[Thespian]

Let me divide my thoughts into pros and cons.

Pros -
- Narration works beautifully. Very cleverly integrated into gameplay.
- Story is immersive, well thought out, and nicely mixed with the action, if a tad simple.
- Music is just damn amazing. The score is easily my favourite thing about the game.
- Characters are interesting, the world is cool, I like all the creatures.
- Lots of weapons, abilities, upgrades, perks and passive talents to customize with.

Cons -
- Though the Aesthetic design is potentially beautiful, everything is horribly clustered so that you can't really appreciate the detail put into any one of the single hand-drawn setpieces.
- Combat is very cluster-fucky and it's hard to tell what's going on at times. Likewise, it's damn easy to wander off onto what you think is a ledge and is really an endless void.
- Combat, though solid, doesn't have a whole lot of depth. You can customize a lot, but it's not always necessary. Piling on upgrades lets you breeze through most fights.
- I'm attached to the characters and all, but it'd be nice to offer a little depth. I'd love it if there was interaction with citizens and shopkeepers in dungeons, instead of just killing everything that moves when you start a mission.

All in all, it's not perfect, but it's a nice little gem. The story really drew me in, and I genuinely cared about what happened in it. Some combination of the highly detailed world, the enigmatic music, the rich narration and a touch of mystery makes the game irresistible.

And it lets you feel like a badass. As Rucks said when I left the Bastion one day,
"You see a kid walking down the street with a Machete and a Mortar Galleon, you just keep on walking."

Heheh.