Bastion 📽 Through the Lens

High time we give Supergiant some lovin'. ❣️ (My hades review notwithstanding, we need to go back to the roots!)

Nowadays, Supergiant is a staple in the gaming scene. Hades truly brought the talent of the team to the forefront. But, what if I told you, that these guys haven't made a bad game, once. 😱 If you follow the gaming scene to any extent, you will know that companies with this kind of track record don't exist. 😅

Well, they do. And their first endeavor for many of their fans was their best. And I understand why, Bastion is a special game that broke grounds when it came out. And is still perfectly playable and enjoyable today. Supergiant are just special like that.

Therefore, it is time to take a look back at an indie darling that set the stage for quality in indie games. In this edition of Through the Lens 🎞, we'll be looking at Supergiant's first ever game, released in the year of our lord 2011: Bastion, Roll it! 📽

I've played this game so often over the years, its hard to keep track. 😅

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLA0vB9LCTM

I love this game (you guys are probably tired of hearing me say that, but I don't cover games I didn't enjoy playing 😅). And I'll try my very best to express that love in an understandable way. Since this is a relatively old game at this point (I can't believe it's been more than a decade....) some of you cats might still not have played it.

In which case what the %$#@ are you waiting for, fool ❗️❓

Straight up, I have got to tell you that the ending to this game is something else. Regardless of what you chose (and we'll get into that), with the music and the mathematical throughline of the story. 👌 One of those unforgettable moments in gaming for me.

Let em explain what you are missing. 😎 Listen... closely...

When this game out it came out through a little remembered platform: XBOX Indie Arcade. This ha since been discontinued but a lot of indie studios's first games were made and distributed through this platform. 💯 XBOX were Gs and actually offered to support indie developers in exchange for XBOX 360 exclusivity.

(I'm not sure if this is 100% true, I'm sure that some games were exclusive. But I distinctly remember this game being out on PC either on release, or shortly after.)

At any rate, Supergiant at the time were developing the game remotely from home, with around four people living in Greg Kasavin's home. 😁 (greg's a boss like that). The composer, now famous Darren Korb, recorded his stuff from his bathroom at home (or a hotel room, whichever). So the development process was... rocky to say the least.

But they persevered, and became arguably the biggest indie dev studio to date. 💪

There's a great noClip documentary on the development of Bastion. I surmised some points here, but I recommend you check it out if you have any interest in game development. ⏬⏬⏬

Anyone familiar with Supergiant will be familiar with the presentation style of their first release. The same art director and music composer have been with the company since the very beginning. And I have no idea how Greg managed to find these people, because they compliment each other to a T.

I'm not sure how many times I've listenedto the Bastion soundtrack, but it's a numerically impressive number. // again, my article, my nomenclature!

Daniel Korb seriously hit the ground running with this game. The soundtrack is a mix of western and low-fi tunes that just work synergistically together. 👐 It's one of the most famous gaming soundtracks nowadays, and for good reason. I really recommend you give ti a listen if you haven't already. 🙂

The song I'm about to link is in my Top 5 gaming songs. I'm cheating since it's 2 pieces put together, but when you lsiten to the whole thing, it's a magical experience.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKn_HIPo4W8

A true staple of Supergiant's consistency is that the core group of people have stayed with the company since its inception. One of said people is none other then the game's narrator, Logan Cunningham. Now, this guy, is a guy. 😁 He manages to portray a gruff and seasoned vet that travels with the player and narrates your every move. When this game came out ti was truly a unique experience. And while the novelty of it has run thin over the years, it's still an amazing feeling - like someone is watching over your soldier, narrating, back seating.

Holy hell, I just realised it's like twitch chat...

The art? What is there to be said about Jen Zee's art that hasn't been said a thousand times? The girl just gets it. Bastion has this amazing hand-drawn, but at the same time water colored style, that is, like all of Supergiant's games, timeless. 🕑

Like everything, this company's consistency runs through all its games. To the very fiber of their design. Bastion is no different.

Bastion is your typical action-adventure game, with small RPG elements added for good taste. 🤤 Like most of their games, it's perspective is set to isometric. Which might give you ARPG vibes, but it's far from that - more of a brawler than anything else.

The game functions as semi-linear with a hub that functions as your upgrade screens - aptly named the Bastion. From this hub you can affect your gameplay in a variety of ways, as well as chose which level to do next (there's no set order to doing them, but you have to do some to do others, hence why I said semi-linear).

One of the more unique mechanics of this place, that has remained a staple in every Supergiant game since, is the ability to hand craft your difficulty. 😮 Basically, you can choose how hard you make the game, in exchange for greater rewards. You can customize how many enemies there are, how fast they are, how much damage they do etc. Basically making your very own difficulty level. // this is very cool if you didn't notice.

As for the gameplay itself, you have two weapon slots (melee and range), and several other weapons and weapon upgrades. ⚔️ You can switch these weapons in-between levels in the Bastion, as well as during combat. The flow of the combat is silky smooth, the enemy attacks clearly telegraphed and dodge-able. Yes, you have a dodge. 😱 You have plenty different enemy types to keep you engaged and challenged. And challenged can be an understatement on the harder difficulties. 😬

And yes while we're here:

Multiple-choice endings suck

Bastion is not that great of an offender here, but it still sucks. I hate when I get an arbitrary choice of how my story is supposed to end. I'm gonna load back and replay the other story anyway, and remember the one I like more as cannon 😁 - so what the point? Also it's totally cheating, the best gaming experiences are those that marry their narrative and mechanics, and multiple choice endings are just easy mode for the developers. 😅

Bastion's legacy is Supergiant's legacy at this point. 🙂 One of the best indie-games ever made, developed by objectively the greatest indie-dev studio. Valve and CDPR don't count for obvious reasons.

It's been voer a decade since it's release, and it will be century henceforth, and this game will still be playable. As with every Supergiant game, their style is eternal. The costum difficulty system embedded in each of their games also ensure that anyone, regardless of age or capabilities, can play their games. The amazing and poignant stories ensure that a vast variety of people can enjoy them. And the endearing art-style and sound design ensure that they will be staples for good quality for... well forever. 😁

As I do with all of these, I wholeheartedly recommend you trying this game out. Even if you have played it before, i guarantee it has been some time since. 😄 Give it another crack! I'm sure it's better than you remember. 😉

Shout-out to the 🍕PIZZA🍕 gang, 🤙 gang. 🤙

Thinking I'm gonna quickly run through Supergiant's catalog for my next few Through the Lens pieces. So expect Transistor followed by Pyre next. 😤 All these games are great, so it's honestly a pleasure to bring light to the greatest indie-dev studio currently in the game.

Hope everyone enjoyed reading, I always appreciated your feedback. 😌

👊 Follow me on my HIVE blog 👊

Have a good one fellow gamers! 🙌

Return from Bastion 📽 Through the Lens to Јоцко's Web3 Blog