Topic: Bastion - 2D-style Action-RPG

[MysterD]

REVIEWS:
XBLA Reviews
Destructoid -> 6.5 [of 10], reviewed by Jim Sterling.
Shacknews -> Review for XBLA Version.
GameSpot -> 8.5 - Written Review; Video Review.
IGN -> 9.0 - Written review; Video review.
GameInformer -> 9.25.
Joystiq -> 4 stars.
Eurogamer
Bastion XBLA review - Score of 8.
Eurogamer's Game of the Week = Bastion.

OLDER:
GameSpot -> Interview w/ Greg Kasavin on exposition and the narrator in Bastion.
TechSpotlight.net -> Bastion - 5 mins of footage.
Eurogamer -> Bastion - ARPG revealed for 2011 w/ a Video.

Screens from Eurogamer link above:

[idolminds]

Wow, that looks amazing.

[MysterD]

Wow, that looks amazing.

As awesome as the screenies look, the videos are EVEN more dazzling...
You have to see this thing in motion.

[iPPi]

Looks like a very colorful Diablo type game. 

[sirean_syan]

The narrator is a cool idea, but I'd worry it'd get like this.

[Xessive]

Haha that could annoying

Bastion looks pretty sweet! The animations are very fluid.

[MysterD]

The narrator is a cool idea, but I'd worry it'd get like this.

Walking down the road; left foot, right foot...

[W7RE]

I think I recall from an interview with Greg Kasavin (who is working on this now as creative director) that the narrator is usually less chatty, but in the first videos they released, it was showing the beginning of the game, where it's sort of explaining things to you a lot.

Also I don't see it mentioned here, but Giant Bomb is supposed to be getting a lot of exclusive coverage o this game, thanks in part to their history with Kasavin. Also because of this, they won't be reviewing the game, since they'll be a little too close to the project.

[MysterD]

Kasavin is involved in this???
Very cool. 

[MysterD]

GameSpot -> Interview w/ Greg Kasavin on exposition and the narrator in Bastion.

Kasavin pointed to his current project, Bastion, as being guided by that approach to exposition. He said the team couldn't do story in a traditional sense with expensive pre-rendered cutscenes, so the narrative had to be conveyed through gameplay. To that end, the game features a narrator reacting to the game in real-time. The narrator never repeats a line, and he reacts to the player's actions, Kasavin said. Systemically, every weapon in the game introduces its own wrinkle of new gameplay.

[W7RE]

The Whiskey Media happy hour (GiantBomb and company hour long live show on friday nights) is free this week (usually it's only for paid members). Their gonna be talking about Bastion and showing some stuff off.

It's at 3:30 PST today

http://www.giantbomb/com/chat/

[Pugnate]

The narrator is a cool idea, but I'd worry it'd get like this.

The narrator is a cool idea, but I'd worry it'd get like this.

hahah

My mistake was actually watching your link first, and then the videos D posted.

Who the heck thought the narrator was going to be a good idea? He sounds super creepy, like some sort of molester. Far too much.

haha Imagine if that was Kasavin's only contribution to this project so far.

edit:

Looks really cool though. I think the only way this can meet success on the PC is if it follows Torchlight's price model.

[MysterD]

I bet having one narrator is cheaper than say paying all kinds of different voice-actors...

[Pugnate]

Yea it actually is a pretty nifty idea, as long as they keep it in check. As everyone pointed out, those videos are from the introductory bits of the game, so hopefully he isn't so annoying later.

[MysterD]

Yea it actually is a pretty nifty idea, as long as they keep it in check. As everyone pointed out, those videos are from the introductory bits of the game, so hopefully he isn't so annoying later.

If the narrator comes in here and there - basically to teach the player how to play in "Tutorials"; tell more story; explain what maybe two characters ore more in conversation are saying to each other (since maybe the company can't afford high-end voice-acting); and other important stuff - yeah, I think it'll work.

The narrator's gotta' be good if he is gonna talk a lot - b/c it's quite obviously, it looks like he's gonna be a very important character in the game.

Nice fail-safes and fall-backs would be to have subtitles appear on-screen when the narrator talks matching the narrator's audio AND also maybe a toggle option to turn off/on the narrator.

[W7RE]

I think I recall actually hearing Kasavin say at some point that you won't hear the same line of dialog from the narrator twice in the same playthrough. So basically it sounds like, you do something for the first time and he's gonna tell you about it. So when you first start off, there's a lot of "first times", but once you get into it he'll be less present.

On the live show tonight they basically talked about the reception at PAX, and then showed their first prototype, which just had the basic gameplay but with scans from a D&D monster book for enemy placeholders. Then they showed some gameplay from a new area they havent' shown before.



As far as price, I'm pretty sure it's being targeted XBLA, PSN and PC. That means digital release type pricing, probably $10-15.

[Pugnate]

Yea it looks really good. I think it looks easily worth $20, assuming it has some depth to it.

And very glad that Kasavin is working on this.

[Xessive]

E3 2011: Bastion preview from Gamespot & interview with Greg Kasavin!

[TheOtherBelmont]

I am really digging this and that video Xessive just posted has me almost entirely sold on getting this.

[Xessive]

I'm pretty psyched about it, although Greg mentions the XBLA version comes out this summer and the PC version comes out vaguely "later this year."

[Quemaqua]

Nice link... I'm excited. Does kinda suck that they don't give specifics on the PC version, but that's most definitely what I'll be getting. It looks great, and I'm really glad to see Kas finally getting to do something that really matters to him. He's a lucky guy to be sure.

[Quemaqua]

Out tomorrow! Woo! Too bad I still have to wait. =(

[idolminds]

I saw this tip posted because its not immediately noticeable:

When you pick one of the two options for upgrading a weapon, you can always go back into the forge and switch to the other option for each level of upgrade!

For instance, say you get a sword. You find the upgrade material and pay the 150 spacebucks to unlock the first of the three upgrades. Now you get to choose whether you're unlocking +1 damage or +10% to critical hit chance. So you pick +1 damage (duh) and you go on your merry way. However, you can always come back and toggle over to +10% to critical hit chance. You have unlocked both options! This is true at every level of upgrade for every weapon.

[Cobra951]

I tried out the, er, trial.  The combat gets real in a hurry.  It's really well done, except for the scrolling getting jerky way too often (which was an unexpected disappointment).  Games like this should never have a problem with that.  The narrator is not annoying at all, at least through the trial segment, which takes you from awakening to a sort of hub area.  If anything, the narrator adds interest to what's happening, and a fair bit of humor.

I will be getting this eventually, I'm sure.  I'm involved with something else at the moment, and I want to get a bit more feedback on Bastion.

[MysterD]

XBLA Reviews
Shacknews -> Review for XBLA Version.
GameSpot -> 8.5 - Written Review; Video Review.
IGN -> 9.0 - Written review; Video review.
GameInformer -> 9.25.
Joystiq -> 4 stars.

[Quemaqua]

Fuck me. I should not have watched the video reviews. I really, really should not have. I want this game so bad I could spit.

[wizall]

Yeah, this game has me jonesing for a 360 again. I really enjoyed the Quicklook at Giantbomb. It looks so fun. And I'm always happy to support Greg Kasavin.

[MysterD]

Eurogamer
Bastion XBLA review - Score of 8.
Eurogamer's Game of the Week = Bastion.

[Quemaqua]

Only negative review so far has been that annoying moron from Destructoid, whatever his name is.

I caved and bought it. Sigh. I wanted to wait for the PC version, I really did, but I just couldn't, and after an hour I have absolutely no regrets. Game is completely fucking awesome. If they give me even the slightest reason to buy it again on PC, I probably will.

[MysterD]

Only negative review so far has been that annoying moron from Destructoid, whatever his name is.

Jim Sterling.

[Cobra951]

I read that.  He's alone with his thoughts, it seems.

[Quemaqua]

He usually is. I'm also pretty sure he's the only reason they still make Dynasty Warriors games, which should tell you a lot about his taste.

[Quemaqua]

Interesting read. Interview with Kas at Kotaku about games and not wasting people's time.

[Quemaqua]

Soundtrack is out!

[sirean_syan]

Sweet. I'm sure my coming off of Bastion didn't help my comments towards Shadow Planet's soundtrack (or lack of one). The music throughout the game was fantastic; I found myself humming the weapon challenge song several times after playing the game.

[Cobra951]

Nice.  I found my favorite tracks (the girl singing and the boss tune) last week.  It will be nice to get the whole lovely OST optimally recorded and complete.

I keep chipping away at this game.  For some reason, I can't stick with it for long sittings.  It's more enjoyable in short stints--a level here and there.

[idolminds]

PC version hits Steam on Aug 16.

It does say its coming to other services as well, though whether those also require Steam is yet to be seen.

• DRM-free
When you buy something it should be yours.

• Steamworks Enabled
Cloud saves, Leaderboards, and Steam achievements.

Uh, I'm fairly sure those are mutually exclusive concepts.

[MysterD]

PC version hits Steam on Aug 16.

It does say its coming to other services as well, though whether those also require Steam is yet to be seen.
 Uh, I'm fairly sure those are mutually exclusive concepts.

I'll ask Kas' on Twitter.
He's pretty good at answering questions.
Hopefully, he'll reply.

[MysterD]

@kasavin Are ALL digital versions of Bastion PC going to require Steamworks?

@MysterD We don't expect the other versions will require it, no.

EDIT:

@kasavin Any idea yet if Bastion PC is going to Impulse? Direct2Drive? Gamersgate? Amazon download service? Anywhere else digitally?

@MysterD Hey, not confirmed yet about which other specific services other than Steam.

[idolminds]

Well, my happiness just shot up. Thanks D.