You’d be forgiven if you hadn’t heard of Supergiant Games before; after all, Bastion–a $15 downloadable title–is the studio’s first and only game to date. And frankly, if former GameSpot editor and fan favorite Greg Kasavin weren’t the team’s Creative Director, it’s doubtful that Bastion would have received anywhere near the press coverage it has. But if Kasavin and his team can keep up their devotion to utterly unique game-worlds that are both visually and aurally appealing, as well as continue to support them with simple to learn, hard to master gameplay, I have no doubt that we’ll all know this studio very well before too long.

Bastion wastes no time in throwing you into the action. Playing as “The Kid,” a white-haired, hand-drawn throwback to the sprites of yore, you wake from your bed to find it floating in the sky with the remains of your world strewn about the surrounding heavens. “Kid wakes up,” says the gruff narrator. You walk forward and the ground forms up from beneath your feet. Thus begins a quest to discover the mystery behind what later becomes known as “The Calamity.”

The ethereal backgrounds of Bastion give its universe a wonderfully alien feel that helps to distinguish it from other games, but its the lush and vibrant colors of the foreground that truly catch the eye. It’s as if the developer’s goal was to capture the feel of yesterday’s most amazing, hand-drawn box-art and put it into motion. And from the overgrown swamps of Roathus Lagoon to the pristine stronghold of the Bastion to the great unknown of Who Knows Where, every one of Bastion‘s many varied environments upholds this enchanting aesthetic. That Supergiant Games went as far as to build meaningful histories around every environment and the multitude of imaginative enemies populating them just puts these visuals over the top.

But what really personifies this fantastical world that’s always forming before your eyes is what could very well be one of the most memorable scores in video game history. A striking mix of twangy Western riffs, racing trip-hop beats, and some folksy vocals that are nothing short of divine all combine to form a score that is always dictating the emotional core of a scene. Different environments and situations conjure different musical themes and variations in a way that the score never gets stale. The game’s most memorable ballad even weaves itself directly into the narrative and helps to emphasize the thematic importance of something as culturally primal as music in a world of chaos.

But that particular song wouldn’t be quite so moving if the voice acting/singing weren’t so phenomenal. Only two characters speak throughout the entire game, and one of them for only a few lines, but the performances still stand out as superb. The reason why we only hear one voice for the majority of the game is because it is the voice of the narrator, whose story-telling is actually justified within the plot, thankfully making it more than a gimmick. And since that narrator has something to say about nearly everything the Kid does (no exaggeration; you do something and Rucks will chime in with perfect timing), it’s a good thing that his voice is so satisfying to listen to. He’s got the deep and hardened voice of a man who’s seen enough to warrant being heard, and considering how varied his commentary is (even if you die and have to replay a section), most gamers should be absorbed in the story he has to tell.

That feller on the right derr goes by the name a Rucks.

But one of the great things about Bastion is that its story isn’t force-fed to you. Rucks fills us in on what we need to know, but there’s so much history to the world that’s just barely touched on, allowing the miniscule sights and sounds of every environment to tell the story for us. Hearing the terrifying roar of an anklegator allows us to imagine what it must have been like for the Brushers who used to hunt them before the Calamity. That same subtle environmental story-telling hints at the histories of over a dozen other cultures in the world of Bastion, making it an incredibly rich experience.

Still, all of the sublime visuals and sound effects in the world wouldn’t make the game worth playing if the core mechanics weren’t fun. Thankfully, combating the incredible variety of completely distinct enemies is simple, fun, and deceivingly deep. Of the dozen unique weapons that are made available to you throughout the game (ranging from hammers and swords to flame-throwers and mortars), you can carry any two you like at a given time, whether you choose to go for melee, ranged, or a combination of the two. You also have a simple dodge maneuver and a shield to block with. Add in one special skill and you’ve got the five buttons that make up combat in Bastion. It’s very easy to pick up and play, yet it can require a fair amount of strategy and skill, especially with difficulty modifying idols activated. Things can get particularly frantic depending on how much of a challenge you’re praying for.

And that’s one of Bastion‘s most ingenious features. Rather than having pre-set difficulty levels or AI that adapts to you without your blessing, Supergiant decided to make challenge optional. By praying to certain idols at a shrine in the Bastion, you can invoke varying difficulty modifications that give experience bonuses. For example, you might pray to a god that will make enemies strike and move faster, or maybe one that makes them drop explosives upon defeat. With up to ten idols that can be activated simultaneously, this is a wonderful system for setting the level of challenge you want as a gamer. My only gripe with it is that the extra experience gained by activating the idols is hardly necessary. If they’d made it impossible to acquire some of the better equipment and upgrades without enduring the gods’ trials there’d be a lot more incentive to take up the challenge. As it stands, the only real reason to activate idols is because the standard game is a little too easy to maintain interest throughout, especially in New Game +.

You don't want to ride that bull...

If you are activating idols you might run into one of Bastion‘s few issues. If you happen to succumb to the might of your foes, the game will give you an option to either restart the level with no idols active or with the exact configuration you died with. If you want to remove just one or two idols, you have to leave the level you’re in and head back to the shrine in the Bastion to do so. It’s a minor flaw, but one that’s representative of several user interface issues in the game. As a similar example, new weapon load-outs can’t be selected upon death, meaning yet another trip back to the Bastion. It would have been a simple narrative concession to allow equipment tinkering at the death screen, but instead we’re essentially forced to endure multiple load screens on our way to another menu and back. There’s also inconvenient menu-jumping when you’re equipping your character due to a lack of item information. When selecting weapons, there’s no way of seeing how heavily something’s been upgraded unless you either remember or go to the separate upgrade interface. To put it simply, the menus aren’t very cohesive or efficient.

Luckily, those problems are forgivable because, for the most part, every menu is part of a commendable devotion to player progression. As you collect mysterious cores and shards for the Bastion, you bring the stronghold back to life and are able to restore six buildings in any order you like. These buildings all serve varying purposes–weapon and skill equipment, weapon upgrading, skill and upgrade-material purchasing, stat-modifying tonic equipment, idol activation, and the collection of challenge bounties–and offer you a lot of choice in how you want to grow your character. Every weapon has two separate upgrade paths that can be mixed and matched, there are dozens of unique skills to be attained, and the distillery offers a plethora of useful tonics to suit different play-styles. You’ll always feel like you’re progressing in Bastion, even if there are only ten levels and a complete lack of traditional loot.

To attain some of the better weapon skills in the game, you’ll have to quicken your reflexes with some fiendishly difficult weapon challenges that are not only fun, but educational as well; you’ll truly feel like a master of the weapon you’re using if you manage to ace its respective challenge level. But if those rewards just aren’t enough and you need some cold, hard experience points to spend, then you can head to Who Knows Where–essentially Bastion‘s Horde mode. The awesome thing about this mystical trip into the ether is that in addition to the game’s most trying and varied challenges, you also get bits and pieces of the main characters’ histories upon completion of each wave. Keeping with the game’s less-is-more narrative approach, you might be left wishing for more reflections into the past, but what’s there goes a long way in characterizing our hero and his friends.

Getting to know those characters adds a lot of depth to the later stages of the story and makes the couple choices that have to be made rather difficult. While the bulk of the story could be considered a little predictable and cliched, it’s certainly entertaining, and by the end, it manages to plant some very thought-provoking questions in your head. The final choice isn’t the black and white fare we’re used to in most RPGs and will likely stick with you for a good long while. The ending that I picked on my initial play-through had me immediately pining for a sequel, which says a lot about the quality of this universe and the stories within it.

Given how enjoyable Bastion‘s adventure is throughout, it’s a little disappointing that there’s only around ten hours to be had in this memorable world. The length certainly works and doesn’t stand as a detriment to the game’s quality, but if I had the choice to spend another 20 hours in this game learning more of the world’s minutia, going on side-quests, meeting more characters, and leveling up more, I wouldn’t hesitate to dive in head-first. As it stands, it’s worth replaying in New Game + to see the opposite ending, and leaderboards for the different variations of Who Knows Where give some incentive to slap on as many idols as you can and hone your skills to perfection. And at $15, the lasting impression this world leaves is totally worth it.

Ultimately, Bastion is a memorable game with a ton of personality and very few flaws. The colorful world is unlike any other and the music and narration raise the bar for all games, whether they be downloadable or AAA retail products. The gameplay is always fun and intense thanks to the innovative idol shrine, assuming you choose to seek out the challenge for the sake of a challenge. There are a few minor interface issues, but the only real problem with Bastion is that there’s not more of it. There’s the potential for more depth in its systems, more arcs in its story, more of everything. As far as complaints go, wanting a bigger and better sequel because the first game was so great isn’t the worst thing in the world.

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If we’re looking for someone to blame for this whole calamity thing, I’d start with Supergiant games; without the calamity, they wouldn’t have a game to profit from. Damn you, Greg Kasavin! Think of all the beautifully drawn children that you surely condemned to death!

But hey, if nefarious conspiracies and the loss of innocent virtual life doesn’t bother you, then you can drop the 15 clams required to find out what this calamity is all about come July 20th. I know I will.

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Okay, so you can clearly see how beautiful Bastion is, with your eyes, but you might not be able to feel its grace with your fingers. Take it from this guy, who had some hands-on experience at PAX East a few months back: it’s got all the ingredients of a fun game. Now if we add on the fact that one of the all around coolest and most down-to-earth dudes in the industry, Greg Kasavin, is writing the story and that this game couldn’t be closer to his heart…well, I don’t know about you, but I’d like to help put some food on that man’s table.

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I have to say that the narration is hilarious, whether that was the intent or not. But from all I can gather so far, this looks like a beautiful game with some tried and true action-RPG gameplay. I’ve also just learned that Greg Kasavin left Spec Ops: The Line to be the Creative Director on this project, so my interest is definitely piqued. I’ll be looking forward to Bastion over the next year.

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Well, a moderately interesting game just got a whole lot more interesting for me, or anybody else who knows and loves the talented Mr. Kasavin. But all bias aside, the way they explained the morality in this game does sound very appealing to me. I’ll certainly be keeping tabs from now on.

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