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When I entered the world of Bastion, I was amazed by the beautiful environment artwork and fun, fast-paced gameplay. Completing Supergiant Games’ Bastion has become one of the best experiences I’ve had on the PS4. First releasing July 20, 2011 I thought this game would look dated and would be outdone by other new games regarded as fantastic and expansive. I thought wrong. However, there were a few problems that stopped this game from reaching its full potential.
Environments
The environments in Bastion are aesthetically pleasing to say the least. The world of Bastion is full of beautifully destructive colors. As you progress through the areas, the ground rises up from below you to further expand the water-colored environments. The jaw-dropping scenery parallels a world torn at the seams, narrated beautifully every step you go. Despite its single player experience, the narrator played a companion role. Beautiful graphics, a soothing voice to match, and a great symphony of music put me into a world that almost fell to the hands of an impossible evil.
The Arsenal
Bastion is a game that combines action with a narrative, therefore it needs strong and investing combat. Supergiant Games proved themselves with a meander of weapons and upgrades in your home base (The Bastion), inventory equipped bonuses, and upgradeable weapons. There are two weapon slots that you can use, and multiple weapons you can obtain and keep in your “Arsenal”. What set Bastion apart was its ability to change your style of gameplay with just two weapon slots.

I could change my load-out at arsenals and test out a variety of styles. Perhaps you want to be a ranged fighter, therefor you choose to take a carbine and dual pistols. Maybe you want to get up close and personal with the enemies, so you would choose the machete and a hammer.
Odds and Ends
There is a problem with obtaining new weapons though; if you acquire an item during a level, it takes place of one of your weapons, therefore it changes your load-out. I faced this problem many times during the course of the game, where my weapons were eventually the cause of my death. While idols increased the difficulty at the benefit of more reward and mini-games allowed for additional XP, the real question became where my end-point was. This became a welcoming and also a daunting question.
Abilities
Another gameplay feature are the secret skills. Secret skills are strong special abilities that can deal a prodigious amount of damage. There are many to acquire along your journey and there are very helpful, and sometimes necessary, in tight situations. Some are better than others, and sometimes, like the new weapons, can ruin your load-out if the game springs a terrible secret skill into your SS slot. Black tonics are required to activate a SS though, but they are generally easy to find.
Story
Bastion’s story is told by a narrator who gives brief descriptions of every environment the protagonist, The Kid, finds himself in. The narrator also explains various story elements, like the calamity, in small amounts on nearly every level. Bastion leaves you with nothing unknown at the end of your journey, but doesn’t provide a gargantuan amount of information to make you overwhelmed or bored. It provides just the right amount at just the right times.
Verdict
Though this game is mostly about attacking enemies vigorously, with my shield and sword I immersed myself into a beautiful 2D narrative, but it had more dimensions than I expected.
Rating:
Environments
9 A beautiful hand-painted adventure that uses a unique stained-glass style.
Graphics
8 Though a 2D experience displayed beautifully on the PS4
Arsenal
7 A lack of being able to change weapons and abilities freely made certain levels artificially hard
Gameplay
8 As you become stronger, so does your character, and you feel that connection throughout.
Story
8 The narrator explains the story flawlessly as you progress through the game
Final rating: 8/10