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This is what I conduct when I stay up sleepless until four in the morning reading a book about linguistics.

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Though we are not sure which one of us is the appropriate side in this belligerency.

[Once upon a time, there was a man named Xehanort.

The end.]

"The dead.

The dead ain't gotta worry about this mess.

Our world. She's done. But there's a way to put her back together. So better get ready, 'cause mother only knows what's out there on those rocks. Beasts who don't know up from down. Fragments of the old world. You bring 'em back, and together, we're gonna build somethin' grand.

And remember, you ain't in this alone.

That's a promise."​

What is "Bastion", one may ask?

Bastion is a rather unique and wonderful new game released only recently for Xbox Live and Steam. An Action RPG of sorts (with platforming elements later in the game), it is slightly reminiscent of hack-and-slash games with a number of unique factors and twists that keep Bastion a rather lovely gem in the world of new titles.

What is this "Bastion" about?

The game tells the story of a world post-apocalypse, suitably named the Calamity, which has - quite literally - shattered the world to pieces. Many have sadly perished through this, but a few remain, one of which is a young man known only as the Kid, and another rather mysterious old survivor who calls himself Rucks and serves as the narrator of the game. Together, along with the assistance of a few certain other survivors, they slowly attempt to rebuild the Bastion - true to its name - whilst understanding the history of this land pre-apocalypse; its peoples; its culture; and, most of all, the problems that horrendously plagued it when it still existed. But this goal, in itself, is quite the challenge.

The game is indeed, quite literally, a sort of "story" relayed to the player him or herself. Throughout the entire game, (primarily) the only such speech and narration is given through the voice over of the old stranger Rucks, whose gruff tones invoking the hard-smoking, alcohol-guzzling lone wolves of westerns, adds a very creative touch that never truly grows old. Even greater is the factor of the narrator being dynamic - Rucks' narration shall change depending on the preferences and actions of the player. For example, a player constantly breaking crates with a hammer may earn Rucks' quips of "Kid just rages for a while", or "Kid loves that hammer of his", along such lines.

What about the environment?

The environment of Bastion is perhaps as unique as one may note when the scenario is a world that is literally in pieces.

To begin, quite everything is essentially floating in the sky. Levels, environments, and the like continually form beneath the player as they walk throughout the level, which serves as one of the major mechanics of the game - and the game does indeed enjoy playing around with this major mechanic. Falls are prone, indeed, but they are not as annoying as one would presume.

On an even greater positive, the game in general is drawn with a very unique style - slightly Western cartoon- and anime-influenced - and is quite cel-shaded. This, combined with the extremely large usage of colour everywhere breathes a huge amount of life to the world - especially one that is quite literally in pieces, post-apocalypse. Lightning is used masterfully as well.

All of this is noted beneath a plot, art style, characterization, musical style, and various environmental factor that heavily draws upon the Wild West and United States Southern/Western culture in general, especially - as players may note with the plot - the United States around the 19th Century expansionist period. Allusions to factors from imperialism to Manifest Destiny are prevalent in secrecy for those who are aware of such history.

And the controls and mechanics?

The controls in themselves are quite easy to handle and use - at times they may require some getting used to and the like but gameplay continues to stay rather smooth indeed (with the exception of a notorious platforming section near the end of the game, cough).

The game offers very unique methods of upgrade and game changing - suffice to note, such things as upgrading weapons, stat boosts, and even changes in difficulty are caused by in-game instances and unique justifications that add to the environment and story. They are not simply present as an instance outside of the environment, but are part of it as a whole.

Weapons are primarily divided into two types - short range melee and long range, along with an accompanied shield and a secret skill that serves as a special attack. Every single one of the weapons presented is unique in some sort of way - being rather unlike any other weapon before it, which adds a lovely excitement and customization sense to the game as well.

And what of the music?

The music draws from a very interesting influence. As per its aforementioned cultural style, the music is an eclectic mix of rock, blues, country, modern influence, and even some Southern Louisianan Zydeco thrown into one interesting package that is rather hard to define and unique in itself. The Bastion soundtrack is available separately on Steam and here.


I shall leave this thread with screenshots and a video.

(via IGN)

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Gameplay video until the player reaches the Bastion (by AmTheBroseph01)

[video=youtube;G5FuG0H3x2k]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5FuG0H3x2k[/video]