My Thoughts On: Bastion
Disclaimer: This is not a formal review, these are just my thoughts,. See title of post. ^
So, I've had this game sitting around for awhile, and have been meaning to play it, along with the other hundred games I have collecting dust on my steam account, and shelf. I finally picked it up to play it three days ago, and finished it last night. Took me almost 8 hours to beat. And what a wonderful 8 hours it was. Not even sure where to start. I guess the narrative, which was brilliantly done.
The narrator is an old man who's known as the Stranger when you first meet him. He narrates your story as you progress through the stages. If you linger in one area, he comments on that as if it was meant to happen in the story, same with if you destroy certain items. It made me think of the Stanley Parable in that sense, except you don't have as much crazy freedom to break the game. It's very 'self aware' as a friend of mine put it. You learn about the world and its residences through finding items, such as memoirs, and weapons, and from the places you visit. I enjoyed this alternate way of story telling. You could also feel it in the art style. It was a bit unnerving moving around without the ground being there until it rose at the last second. I often found myself just edging forward in certain areas that wouldn't rise until I was basically on the edge.
I found the music very beautiful. My favourite song was Build that Wall. It always began playing just at the right moments, evoking the right emotions, and setting the tone for what was happening beautifully. The whole score did a great job of adding to the narrative of the game.
By the end of the same I found myself more emotionally invested than I expected. My friends, along with the rest o the internet, warned me it was a fantastic game. It definitely was, and I completely recommend it!!
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Bastion on Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/app/107100/
Check out other things on my shelf this year! 2015 Shelf