"Bastion:" a ruined world, a kickass narrator and a great game.

“Proper stories are supposed to start at the beginning.... ain't so simple with this one.  Now here's a kid whose whole world got all twisted, leaving him stranded on a rock in the sky.”--Rucks, Bastion

Supergiant Games' Bastion is one of the best games I've played all year.

Since we're fast approaching the end of the year, I've been thinking back on my year spent through playing games.  There are plenty of fantastic games that I've had the privilege to play that stick out in my memory:  Portal 2, Pokemon Black, Skyrim, Dark Souls, Skyward Sword and many more.  But one of the most special to me has also been the one that I most recently finished: Bastion.

Bastion is an action-adventure game/RPG that came out earlier this year, though I didn't give myself the chance to play it until recently when it was on SUPER SALE on Steam, that most wondrous online platform of all platforms.
The game follows the story of a boy simply known as "The Kid," who wakes up after his entire world is torn asunder by a nearly-apocalyptic event.  The event--known as the Calamity--turned most of the people of his homeland, Caelondia, into stone, and destroyed the world, hurling some of the pieces into the sky.

What makes Bastion such a great experience isn't hard to realize.  It's a winning combination of a well-told story, beautiful aesthetic style and sound design and addictive gameplay that wrap together in a neat, albeit short, package.  And of course, it's all narrated perfectly by the single most badass voice you'll ever hear in a videogame to date:

Not even Morgan Freeman's pleasing penguin pedant voice could hold a candle to the spectacular Logan Cunningham's narration in this game.

One of the most fun and rewarding parts of playing Bastion, boss-ass narrator aside, is the fact that the mechanics of the game are so simple and addicting while at the same time not detracting any value from the story built around the game.  In fact, it blends the absorption of the story so well with the progression of the levels that one can hardly single out the unique elements of the game--the music, the narrative, the art style, the level design--because of how smoothly it pushes the player along and how nicely they play off of each other.

That's not to say that the gameplay is shallow though--far from it, in fact. Satisfying options for customization of the player's character abound through the inclusion of tons of upgradeable weapons, plus tonics to boost stats, as well as plenty of opportunities to bump up the difficulty if the player so chooses and earn more fragments to buy better equipment.

Back onto the subject of the story of Bastion, though, because that's where I believe the game really shines.  It's hard to describe why it resonated as deeply within me as it did.  Much like the style of gameplay, the story isn't too ornate or complicated, despite the fact that it layers the story in interlocking patterns so well as the game progresses.  It has a few well-crafted twists and some very lovable characters who are almost impossible not to feel real emotion for, even despite the fact that most don't have dialogue aside from the narrator.

What really impressed me and stayed with me, though, was the way in which the story was told.  As The Kid travels around, the pieces of the old world that he once knew so well form up in front of him as he walks, much as Rucks (the character of the narrator) voices-over his actions play-by-play, like a gruff old sports commentator with fantastically colorful language usage.  

The Kid doesn't need to talk.  His past, present and future are revealed through his actions and the perfect stylistic western-esque drawl of the old man.  Bastion pushes the player along the swells of the emotions that it crafts--be it creeping melancholy from viewing a world in ruins, or quickly-developing joy brimming from concentration after the frenetic sequences of action.  

There's a certain simple beauty in all of this; which is what I think makes Bastion such a damned fine experience overall.  It revels and plays gently with the wondrous world it creates, seems to know exactly what the player wants out of the experience and then proceeds to delight them by stepping far beyond those expectations.  

The game also has one of the best ending sequences I've played in recent memory, involving two huge decisions--which go far beyond simple questions of morality--that the player must choose that were, quite honestly, legitimately hard for me to make.  

This is my favorite scene.  SPOILER ALERT: Don't watch it if you plan on playing the game.

If you are somebody who loves games, has access to Steam or the Xbox Live arcade and have 10-15 bucks laying around, do yourself a favor and buy this game.  I love Bastion.  And that's a distinction in words that I save for but a few games.  

I can guarantee that, barring any unforeseen circumstances, you will love it too if you play video games.  You'd probably love it even if you didn't.  

Now, if you'll excuse me, I gotta go download this great soundtrack...