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I started Bastion in January, and I just finished it last night. It only took me about ten hours to make it to the end with a fairly high level of completion, but I enjoyed the game so much that I didn't want it to be over, so I took long breaks between sessions.
I've been wanting to replay Secret of Mana for months now, and Bastion scratched my adventure game itch. The game has everything that's good about Secret of Mana: there's a leveling system that doesn't require a lot of grinding, a nice selection of fun weapons to play with, a cool leveling system for these weapons, combat that's challenging without becoming frustrating, and a vibrantly colorful world to explore.
The only thing I disliked about Bastion's mechanics is that, once an area of the game has been completed, it can't be re-entered. This is contingent to the story in a few places, as the protagonist destroys several locations through his interactions with them, but in most other cases (including the weapon training areas) it's completely arbitrary. This element of gameplay means two things: first, all of the collectibles are missable; and second, the player doesn't get to enjoy the experience of returning to earlier areas at a high level to trounce weak enemies while enjoying the scenery.
Bastion compensates for its linearity both offering two distinct endings, as well as two sub-possibilities within each ending. I chose to not fuck around with time travel and to spare the life of the bad guy, because of course I did. During the ending credits, the player gets to see pictures of the characters setting out into a new world, taking the final remnants of their ruined city with them. There's one image of the bad guy chopping vegetables with a tame version of one of the game's monsters that made tears stream down my face, and the gorgeous song that plays during the credits didn't help. I want to hug everyone in this game.
I've been wanting to replay Secret of Mana for months now, and Bastion scratched my adventure game itch. The game has everything that's good about Secret of Mana: there's a leveling system that doesn't require a lot of grinding, a nice selection of fun weapons to play with, a cool leveling system for these weapons, combat that's challenging without becoming frustrating, and a vibrantly colorful world to explore.
The only thing I disliked about Bastion's mechanics is that, once an area of the game has been completed, it can't be re-entered. This is contingent to the story in a few places, as the protagonist destroys several locations through his interactions with them, but in most other cases (including the weapon training areas) it's completely arbitrary. This element of gameplay means two things: first, all of the collectibles are missable; and second, the player doesn't get to enjoy the experience of returning to earlier areas at a high level to trounce weak enemies while enjoying the scenery.
Bastion compensates for its linearity both offering two distinct endings, as well as two sub-possibilities within each ending. I chose to not fuck around with time travel and to spare the life of the bad guy, because of course I did. During the ending credits, the player gets to see pictures of the characters setting out into a new world, taking the final remnants of their ruined city with them. There's one image of the bad guy chopping vegetables with a tame version of one of the game's monsters that made tears stream down my face, and the gorgeous song that plays during the credits didn't help. I want to hug everyone in this game.
