Bastion
2011
Audio: English · Subtitles: Chinese, French, Spanish, English, German, Italian
- role-playing (rpg)
- adventure
- indie
- action
- fantasy
- single player
The story
A hack-and-slash RPG featuring a reactive narrator, various unlockable weapons, weapon upgrades, practice mini-games and optional difficulty modifiers, set in an imaginary world in the aftermath of an uncertain apocalypse, in which the player embodies a teenager with a troubled past as he and the narrator work together to rebuild the world out of a persisting hub called the Bastion.
What it’s like
Painterly, hand-painted isometric scenes glow in warm sunset oranges and bruised purples, with floating islands of broken stone and drifting shards of a shattered world rendered in soft, layered light. The soundtrack is the star: a rootsy, acoustic-tinged score of guitar, banjo and sparse percussion that swells under the narration, so every fight and every quiet moment feels scored like a folk ballad. The narrator's gravelly voice describes your actions in real time, reacting to each swing of your hammer or blast from a bow, which gives combat a warm, storytelling rhythm rather than a cold one. Pacing is brisk and rewarding: short hack-and-slash rounds in ruined arenas, bursts of dodging and weapon swapping, then long unhurried stretches rebuilding a hub town piece by piece. The emotional register is wistful and gently melancholic, with a lonely young survivor slowly finding footing among his scattered companions. Violence is stylised and frequent but cartoonish, with no gore and no sexual content, and the fear is mild. It suits a rainy evening, a comfort replay, or anyone who wants a reflective action game that feels like being told a story by a friend. It is especially for players who enjoy atmosphere, music and a responsive narrator as much as combat.
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