I picked up the new XBLA game Bastion yesterday and was able to get a ways into it before I had to stop. I’ve seen and read many reviews on the title, and I was impressed with the amount of praise the little game was getting. From what I could tell it was an action-RPG with gorgeous visuals and a unique touch to narration. So, being the person I am, I felt I owed it to myself to play. And I did. And it was good.

The first thing that impressed me about Bastion was the art style. I mean, check this stuff out:

Nothing else really stands out like this game. It gives me thoughts of early SNES games with the bright colors and fantastic setting. I’ll try and get a gameplay vid of myself up later so you can see it in motion. The way the world just creates itself around the hero is pretty cool. It’s an orgy of colors for your eyes!

Only being able to play for an hour or so I can’t make a full claim on the game, but so far the gameplay itself is smooth and straightforward. The melee attacks are a bit slow to execute, but nothing to big, and the ranged attacks are aided by a very welcome auto-aiming mechanic. Bastion implements enemy placement and attack patterns that are well thought out and not just arbitrarily placed, making the game feel like each enemy is there for a reason.

In what could turn out to be a negative and annoying feature later, a narrator speaks of every action taken. Whether you find a new weapon, fall off the side of a cliff, or an enemy appears, a cool, deep voice articulates each step of the adventure. My first thought is, “Hell yeah, this is great!” but looking at it again I can see how this could be annoying: “I don’t give a shit that I killed a ghost, I just want to enjoy the game!”

Alright, that’s all for now. I ‘ll get back to the game and hopefully get a video and review up soon.

Laters,
-Jsick