Bastion was the first game for this year’s Summer of the Arcade on Xbox Live. I love Summer of the Arcade – previous years have brought us Limbo and Braid, as well as Shadow Complex and Castle Crashers. Like all those titles, Bastion has become one of my favorite games of the year.
I dig a hole, you build a wall
Written by:zach
Unfortunately, I didn't quite believe in that part of the ending. After you kill more than a hundred of their brothers and sisters, the Ulra stop attacking you and let you go because you're selflessly rescuing *one* of them, someone they consider a traitor no less?
Yeah, right.
Just a small blemish on an otherwise perfectly pitched experience, though.
yeah i can dig finding that out of place. although in the game's defense they don't stop attacking right away – they only stop after it's apparent you will no longer retaliate now that you have what you came for. their decision to stop attacking is as much about making a conscious decision to break the cycle of violence as your decision to save Zulf is.
Although this does remind me of another hole: Are the Gasbags sentient? They seem to be the only actors who you are cleared to slaughter without too much remorse. They even populate most of the training fields. Yet they hold positions such as "foreman", they have names, and they have clothes…
Ah, getting goosebumps again just thinking of the ending.
I was so focused on not-dying (I was assuming I still had a limited number of potions as I was dragging Zulf away… that I still felt like I could die is brilliant design on the game's behalf) that I didn't pay attention to the fact that the Ura stopped attacking me. That gives it even more potency.
I think another thing Bastion did superbly was to give every party a justification for fighting and for doing what they did. I *hate* stories with Bad Guys who fight Because They Are Bad. No one is bad. Everyone is a good guy from their own perspective, and Bastion realised that. Of cause, Bastion was able to express this with some simple exposition over the gameplay thanks to the narration, but it worked splendidly.
What it meant was that it makes sense to me that the Ura would stop trying to kill me, and it made sense that they were trying to kill me in the first place. I, too, felt like I owed each murdered Ura an apology in a way I felt in few other games.
one more thing I noticed: The Ura are the only enemies that leave corpses behind when you kill them.
I also chose forgive. One thing I noticed was that after all the Ulra stop firing at you, one of them resumes fire only to be struck down soon after by a superior standing behind them. Perfect addition.
As for why the Ura stopped firing, I agree, they were amazed at the player's selflessness and courage (corny, but fine considering the moment), the fact that the player is carrying an enemy Ura through arrows and gunfire, even after betrayals and genocide.
Another little thing I liked was if you go to Zia with the harp she dropped earlier, Rucks asks Zia if she dropped it on purpose, to see if the Kid would go after her. I have to say, even though Zia never even utters a word until the very end, I had a bit of a crush on that girl from then on. Yes, yes, a videogame character no less. I know. Still, a good touch on their part I think.
Relating to gasfellas: it's hinted at in the game that all of the animals have some form of sentience; they collect cores, rally together and search for survivors, and ally with the player under certain circumstances. Birds have a superiority complex. Only the plants and turrets seem to have a lesser sentience. So yes, I think even the gasfellas have sentience is the game.
Loved the whole experience. Already almost done with my second playthrough. I would like to inquire the developers as to why they chose Gods as dealers of difficulty in the game. Are they all agnostic? 😛 I kid.
but squirts are used as target practice by the navy 😐 (which I guess is a weak justification of why Rucks never even mentions wholesale slaughter of gasfellas – Caeldonia views them as tools or pests, not as sentients.)
Nels over at Above49 suggests the gods are giving you Herculean tasks (http://www.above49.ca/2011/08/sometimes-you-build-bastion.html) which is a pretty useful way to think of it.
also since I'm linking: http://mwclarkson.blogspot.com/2011/08/scenario-and-story-in-bastion.html totally kicked my ass in looking at some of the undertones and themes of the game. He argues that Zia isn't as sympathetic as you and I experienced. I didn't have a "crush" on her but her backstory (and Zulf's, jesus) were both p compelling arguments for forgiveness and moving forward. Then again I am philosophically predisposed to those sorts of things.
Zulf's was my favorite by far, in a sad sort of way of course.
Definitely an interesting way of looking at those aspects.
As for the slaughter of Gasfellas and whatnot, you could say it's in self-defense. If you walk up to them, they will try to kill you. They're also looking for cores and shards, so it's a 'necessary evil' to kill them when in the end you have the option to bring them all back anyways, if you chose to undo the Calamity. Same would go for the creatures of the wild and the Ura.
Yes, yes, I know. A 'crush' on a fictional and digital character that doesn't even talk until the end is childish.
Zia shows acceptance at the whole debacle, as the people who created the Calamity are all dead anyways, including her father. It's the perfect way to undo: you still take your hits and learn from the mistake, but you can rebuild whatever and wherever you want. Zulf on the other hand, is still at the anger stage of depression. His wife-to-be exploded into ashes right before his eyes. Zia didn't have to see any of her loved ones die right in front of her.