Piki Geek’s Top 10 of 2011: #8 – Bastion

From now through the end of the year, Piki Geek will be counting down the ten best games of 2011, as voted on by our staff. In case you missed out, here are our picks so far: 10, 9. 

Coming in at number 8 is Supergiant’s debut title, the isometric action RPG Bastion. Michael Lawson explains how the Kid proves that the latest and greatest technology ain’t all it takes to make a great game.

Bastion isn’t like other games. The developers at Supergiant Games didn’t have a huge budget. It wasn’t released as a AAA game. It doesn’t have next-gen graphics, or an open world game. By the book, it doesn’t have what a game of the year should have. But it is on our top 10 list, and it more than deserves that spot.

The first thing to witness is the artwork. There are no HD 3D hyper-texture graphics here. This is plain and simple art direction, with color and beauty. The world looks like a painting, the characters are well conceived, and the world comes alive in motion. It is like playing in a world made up of the most imaginative of my dreams, but with more action.

Without a doubt, I had some of the most fun of the year playing this game over and over again. There is a range of weapons able to be paired with any other weapon to make a deadly combo. Each of those weapons can be upgraded and customized to your liking. No matter your strategy, there is a setup for you.

Personally, I like my games to be challenging in a way that forces me to reform my strategy and come back better than before. Bastion does this excellently. At first the game is easy, but there are variables that can be stacked for added difficulty. Each variable changes something specific that can be countered with the right weapon combo, and it makes for an exciting change of pace.

As the action of the game unfolds, the music is there to match it beat-by-beat. I didn’t actually play the game until after listening to the soundtrack a few times, but it stands up well on its own. I just didn’t think it would work for a video game. Once I finally paired the sound to the sights, it all clicked.

Darren Korb, the composer, brought an incredible style to the music, something totally unexpected. Story elements are backed by the pieces with lyrics, and it fits like folk music in the mountains. Other songs are heavy and brash, and the action is equal to the task. Somehow, Korb managed to make a familiar yet fantastical soundtrack, and it rocks.
While the music plays on the in the background, another of Bastion’s features makes a constant appearance. The narrator, named Rucks, has a guttural but experienced voice, something I thought would be a constant nuisance. Instead, the witty lines and no-nonsense attitude drew me even further into Bastion.

Rucks comments on unexpected things, getting a laugh out of me, but he also weighs a heavy opinion on unfolding events. The excellent voice acting gives it a campfire-story feel. The wonderful voice and well written lines give me a solid footing in actually caring about the fictional world of Caelondia.

From the get go, you’re introduced to a world that is in tatters. You play as “The Kid,” whose goal is to restore his world to its former glory. The devs don’t play games with story, there is no long introduction. You’re just thrown into the world, left to figure things out on the way.
Before the events of the game, Caelondia was a proud civilization, and the bastion acted as a last line of defense against foreigners and wild beasts. It isn’t as simple as a good vs. evil scenario. Instead, the player is frequently challenged with new perspectives on the history, for better or worse.

Throughout the game you learn bits and pieces about the history of the world. The writer, Greg Kasavin, came up with a colorful history of Caelondia, but withheld it all from the player. You’re given what you need to know; enough to entice and intrigue, but no more.
By this method of storytelling, Kasavin treats the player as if they’re already familiar with the world, like you’re one of the world’s inhabitants. There are bits and pieces of juicy back story told from time to time, but it is never overwhelming, and it makes my imagination get all excited.

As this is Supergiant Games’ first outing, I didn’t expect such amazing results. Now, this is the one game I gush about to my friends, and the game I will always keep installed on my hard drive. Bastion absolutely deserves this spot on the top 10 list, and I can’t wait to see what else Supergiant does.