Originally released in 2011, “Bastion” was a hit from the start. In its 5 year lifespan, Supergiant Games’ stellar debut has made itself at home in 7 platforms, selling over 3 million copies.
An action RPG at heart, “Bastion” sets itself apart from the crowd by its beautiful art-style, amazingly narrated story and fun gameplay.
As “The kid”, you must travel and reconstruct your world after The Calamity. The game is definitely more than a sum of its parts, though.
On paper, it might seem like “Bastion” is just an action RPG. But it has so much heart, and such attention to detail, that you can’t help but fall in love.
Remember that narration? Logan Cunningham’s hauntingly “spaghetti western” voice is constantly doing a play-by-play of what you do, making the experience extremely engaging. It’s not only his voice, though: his cadence is just as important, adding noticeable weight to an already rich story.
The story contains an amazing amount of detail for what is a “short game” (the campaign can be done in around 5 to 6 hours). Without giving too much away, “The Kid” will face many tough decisions before you see the credits roll.
Game play consists of using a variety of close-up and ranged weapons to defeat a (very wide) variety of enemies. It feels tight, fair, and most of all: fun. You level up “The Kid” and “The Bastion”, adding more resources as you go along. It’s the best from the RPGs we love, without the things we (sometimes) dislike, such as endless grinding for a minor stat upgrade.
Gratification is at hand (but never handed in a silver plate), and even though the story is but a few hours long, there is plenty to do after you’re done with it (side-quests, weapons upgrade, game modes, etc).
I feel, however, that “Bastion”s praise has been sung in the half-decade since it first saw the light of day, so let’s get down to the Vita port of the game.
It looks fantastic on my OLED Vita. It sounds even better.
The only problem I had with the game was the occasional frame-drop. It’s not game-breaking by any means; in fact, it’s barely an issue at all. But considering how gorgeous the game is, I wish it could have been avoided.
Aside from that, “Bastion” on Vita is one of the best games I’ve ever played, on this or any handheld, and beyond. It’s beautiful, fun and haunting.
Did I mentioned this gem costs less than a cup of that fancy green-branded coffee?
Stop reading this review, start playing “Bastion”. You can thank me later.
Stay tuned for an interview with Greg Kasavin, writer of “Bastion”, coming up soon!
- Title: Bastion
- Publisher: Supergiant Games
- Developer: Supergiant Games
- Format: PSN Download
- Cross Buy: Yes
- Cross Play: N/A
- Cross Save: N/A
- Memory Card Space Needed: 958mb
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