Bastion

So on my never-ending quest to find new things to play my friend mentioned a little game on Steam that just came out and suggested I try it out to quell my boredom...well that little game was Bastion and solve my boredom it did...at least for a while. Bastion is an India Action RPG, it’s a very well rounded game with nice visuals (a rustic painted kind of imagery), engaging combat that will keep you on your toes with many different types of enemies, as well as a plethora of secrets and challenges for you to complete if you desire something more than just the main story. While all of what I just mentioned is great, Bastion's main selling point is its story. But it goes a little beyond what you'd expect from a game like this, the entire game is narrated in real time by another character from the game which acts both as a guide through the levels as well as your source of back-story and information about what is happening around the main character. Seeing something like this in a game that only costs 15 bucks was pretty impressive, it’s one of the games that you know the developers put their hearts into and that always helps.

As I mentioned earlier, Bastion is incredibly well rounded with a lot of things to do and challenges to complete. You're given free reign over how you'd like to gear up the "kid" and there are many weapon combinations available to upgrade and pair up so you can find the style that fits best for you. In addition to the numerous weapon combinations you're allowed one "perk" every time you gain a level. These perks take the form of spirits (booze?) which you can equip to give the kid various abilities and passive bonuses like boosting your critical rate when you drop below 30% health or just something simple like boosting your maximum hp. When you're given this many options it boosts the replay value immensely since depending on what you choose can completely change how you experience the game.

The game's story is rich with back-story and things left to you to discover along the way involving the "calamity" which is the problem that the kid's world is faced with. You're even given several choices regarding how you handle the other plot related problems which include other survivors of the calamity and the remnants of a war that ultimately gave birth to the calamity and the progressive destruction of the world. For a game you only have to spend 15 dollars on, you certainly get your money's worth with Bastion. While the story isn't incredibly long there is enough content to keep you coming back for more I'll probably try to upload a game play video of one of the challenge arenas next week for anyone curious to see how it works! Thanks for reading!

-Fest