Bastion-Action RPG of the Year

The_Tuninator

Ah, a fellow pike/musket user? That was the combination I settled into as well, the amount of reach and control over when you fight it gives you is just fantastic.

Are those widely considered the best weapons? I'm curious, haven't really tested the various merits of each of them yet.

AnteCantelope

I stuck with mortar + musket for most of my second play, there were some enemies it wasn't ideal for (anklegators and jumpy things with shielded heads) but I managed.

Shimshai

Well it was a combo that worked very well for me, though I'm not sure what everyone else used. I'm, pretty late to the Bastion party.

I had the musket configured for max spread and used it mostly for crowd control. The pike was for short-range melee, and thrown for when the musket couldn't reach. I felt the two weapons complimented each other's weaknesses very well.

The_Tuninator

I go range/knockback with the musket, and crit on the pike. Pretty much I just roll everywhere, poke for crit, fire musket to knock them away, and keep rolling. The pike can get a pretty crazy inbuilt crit chance.

It's funny, too, because I honestly just did not like the pike at all first time I picked it up. I fell in love with it during the Proving Ground when I realized just how crazy the reach actually was.

Cantido

I want a Bastion Diablo clone. No I have no idea how that would work.

SkyEye

What weapons do people feel are underrepresented? I felt so smart going with mortar/flamethrower before realizing that everyone else rolled mortar anyways.

Shimshai

Never liked the flamethrower, felt far too vulnerable while using it. Same with the war machete, too much time spent not moving or blocking for it to be effective.

TychoCelchuuu

I used the machete 24/7 though. I don't think any weapon is underrepresented.

SkyEye

I wanna try out the army carbine. Don't think that weapon really clicked with me the first time.

Houn

An awesome person bought this for me on Steam, and I am absolutely fucking loving it so far. Holy shit, how did I miss this?

Anyway, I'm not done yet, but I've settled into Carbine/Musket, with the Carbine built for speed and the musket for range/damage. Roll around sniping bitches with powershots, blast packs of squirts/peckers.

The Ender

The worst thing about this game is that there is not currently a sequel or prequel available.


This was such an awesome little surprise when I found it. Completely rocked my socks. The bits of dialogue describing the alcohol perks alone were better written than anything that you'll find throughout the entire course of a 'AAA' title on the market.

Icemopper

The Ender wrote: »

The worst thing about this game is that there is not currently a sequel or prequel available.


This was such an awesome little surprise when I found it. Completely rocked my socks. The bits of dialogue describing the alcohol perks alone were better written than anything that you'll find throughout the entire course of a 'AAA' title on the market.

I think one of the great things about SuperGiant is that they released this game so it could stand alone, without planning any DLC or sequels or anything. As much as I want more Bastion, I am glad they gave us the full package in one go.

I'm excited to see what they come out with next.

Cantido

Bastion 2: The Boundless Sea. KICKSTART IT

The_Tuninator

Shimshai wrote: »

Never liked the flamethrower, felt far too vulnerable while using it. Same with the war machete, too much time spent not moving or blocking for it to be effective.

That's how I felt about the Fang Repeater; being rooted to the ground just felt way too vulnerable.

SkyEye wrote: »

I wanna try out the army carbine. Don't think that weapon really clicked with me the first time.

Yeah, same. I was messing around with it with some upgrades and it felt a lot better. Don't think it'll supplant the musket, but I do owe it a fair shake.

Houn

The carbine isn't supposed to supplant the musket. The carbine is basically a sniper rifle or rail gun; single shot that's accurate and powerful over long distances. The musket is crowd control; spread fire with knockback.

Seriously, try using them together, it's amazingly lethal. I've got the carbine rigged for speed, popping off power shots every 2s or so, and the musket for damage with the smaller cone, wiping out small clusters with ease. Squirt lure to keep enemies off you, circle them like an apache, let the bullets fly.

Skull2185

You don't really hear about people using the hammer all that much. I mean, I can't see using anything but the Pike because of how awesome it is.

Houn

I like the power on the hammer. As the difficulty ramps up, I just don't like being up close and personal.

R0land1188

I used pike/carbine combo it just... fit. Enemies are dead before they can even get close, but I haven't played with all idols activated yet either.

Houn

I haven't touched the idols yet. I'm so anti-religion I refuse to acknowledge fictional gods in a video game.

Cantido

Houn wrote: »

I haven't touched the idols yet. I'm so anti-religion I refuse to acknowledge fictional gods in a video game.

I have yet to start messing with the difficulty in this game. Maybe I should. I'm in Score Attack after all.

Shimshai

Do they affect score earned in score attack mode? I've been playing with most of them on despite all the weapons being reset. It's tough, but much more exciting this way.

R0land1188

Yes they do.

Also I understand Bastion is a stand-alone product but I would love something in the same universe. Anything. A children's book even. I would buy it.

Shimshai

I'd love more music.

The_Tuninator

R0land1188 wrote: »

Yes they do.

Also I understand Bastion is a stand-alone product but I would love something in the same universe. Anything. A children's book even. I would buy it.

I'd love some kind of follow-up based on

Spoiler:

Bastion airship ending, the only acceptable ending.

gjaustin

The other ending is fine. As long as you play a New Game+ every time you pick it.

Shimshai

I picked the other ending first, so that the New Game+ would make more sense.

R0land1188

Shimshai wrote: »

I picked the other ending first, so that the New Game+ would make more sense.

I played through and picked the good ending. I always feel in any game that the first playthrough should always be the 'true' one and New Game+ is just clean-up.

Spoiler:

I had to, the Kid had nothing before the Calamity, and why would you want to go back to that? He has the Stranger and Zia, and even Zulf (Yes I saved him, I couldn't leave him to die.)

Shimshai

Well the way I figured it,

Spoiler:

going back in time would mean there would be at least a chance that things would turn out differently, (obviously it's not going to happen since it's only a game) as opposed to four people escaping the aftermath of the Calamity.

Icemopper

Houn wrote: »

I haven't touched the idols yet. I'm so anti-religion I refuse to acknowledge fictional gods in a video game.

You should definitely give it a shot. It ramps up the difficulty but in manageable ways. Like Ninja Gaiden, it beats you into a finely chiseled killing machine.

TychoCelchuuu

R0land1188 wrote: »

Shimshai wrote: »

I picked the other ending first, so that the New Game+ would make more sense.

I played through and picked the good ending. I always feel in any game that the first playthrough should always be the 'true' one and New Game+ is just clean-up.

Spoiler:

I had to, the Kid had nothing before the Calamity, and why would you want to go back to that? He has the Stranger and Zia, and even Zulf (Yes I saved him, I couldn't leave him to die.)

Well...

Spoiler:

The Kid had nothing, sure, but what about all the people who died?! Don't you care about them?

The Fourth Estate

I used the Hammer. Charged up it does insane damage and armour piercing is just a bonus. I have since converted to the church of the pike but if you want something dead with the minimum of strikes the hammer is a good place to be.

Shimshai

Once I starting using the idols that cause enemies to do damage on contact and drop bombs on death , I stopped using the hammer entirely. The charged attack was basically a suicide move at that point.

gjaustin

TychoCelchuuu wrote:

R0land1188 wrote: »

Shimshai wrote: »

I picked the other ending first, so that the New Game+ would make more sense.

I played through and picked the good ending. I always feel in any game that the first playthrough should always be the 'true' one and New Game+ is just clean-up.

Spoiler:

I had to, the Kid had nothing before the Calamity, and why would you want to go back to that? He has the Stranger and Zia, and even Zulf (Yes I saved him, I couldn't leave him to die.)

Well...

Spoiler:

The Kid had nothing, sure, but what about all the people who died?! Don't you care about them?

But

Spoiler:

There's no guarantee that everything won't just happen all over again. You might just be dooming everyone to an infinite cycle of death.

R0land1188

gjaustin wrote: »

TychoCelchuuu wrote:

R0land1188 wrote: »

Shimshai wrote: »

I picked the other ending first, so that the New Game+ would make more sense.

I played through and picked the good ending. I always feel in any game that the first playthrough should always be the 'true' one and New Game+ is just clean-up.

Spoiler:

I had to, the Kid had nothing before the Calamity, and why would you want to go back to that? He has the Stranger and Zia, and even Zulf (Yes I saved him, I couldn't leave him to die.)

Well...

Spoiler:

The Kid had nothing, sure, but what about all the people who died?! Don't you care about them?

But

Spoiler:

There's no guarantee that everything won't just happen all over gain. You might just be dooming everyone to an infinite cycle of death.

Also

Spoiler:

It is selfish but they are already gone, you aren't killing everyone, that was done by Caelondia. Yes I cared about the people, but they are already dead, and you have to move forward.

Nuzak

Shimshai wrote: »

Never liked the flamethrower, felt far too vulnerable while using it. Same with the war machete, too much time spent not moving or blocking for it to be effective.

flamethrower is pretty good fully upgraded with leechade. goes straight through armour too! pretty sure that's the first weapon you can get that will pierce armour unless you're a big nerd that grinded your way to the top upgrades.

AnteCantelope

TychoCelchuuu wrote: »

R0land1188 wrote: »

Shimshai wrote: »

I picked the other ending first, so that the New Game+ would make more sense.

I played through and picked the good ending. I always feel in any game that the first playthrough should always be the 'true' one and New Game+ is just clean-up.

Spoiler:

I had to, the Kid had nothing before the Calamity, and why would you want to go back to that? He has the Stranger and Zia, and even Zulf (Yes I saved him, I couldn't leave him to die.)

Well...

Spoiler:

The Kid had nothing, sure, but what about all the people who died?! Don't you care about them?

Spoiler:

This is pretty much what I thought. A whole bunch of people died in the calamity, maybe I should at least try to save them, even if I didn't see how it would lead to anything but a repeat of the same actions.

The fact that I knew it would fit into a NG+ nicely also helped my decision.

Cantido

AnteCantelope wrote: »

TychoCelchuuu wrote: »

R0land1188 wrote: »

Shimshai wrote: »

I picked the other ending first, so that the New Game+ would make more sense.

I played through and picked the good ending. I always feel in any game that the first playthrough should always be the 'true' one and New Game+ is just clean-up.

Spoiler:

I had to, the Kid had nothing before the Calamity, and why would you want to go back to that? He has the Stranger and Zia, and even Zulf (Yes I saved him, I couldn't leave him to die.)

Well...

Spoiler:

The Kid had nothing, sure, but what about all the people who died?! Don't you care about them?

Spoiler:

This is pretty much what I thought. A whole bunch of people died in the calamity, maybe I should at least try to save them, even if I didn't see how it would lead to anything but a repeat of the same actions.

The fact that I knew it would fit into a NG+ nicely also helped my decision.

I'm with Evacuation.

Spoiler:

With no "the Calamity is finally stopped" ending in sight, Evacuation is the only option for me. I pick that one every time.

The_Tuninator

TychoCelchuuu wrote: »

R0land1188 wrote: »

Shimshai wrote: »

I picked the other ending first, so that the New Game+ would make more sense.

I played through and picked the good ending. I always feel in any game that the first playthrough should always be the 'true' one and New Game+ is just clean-up.

Spoiler:

I had to, the Kid had nothing before the Calamity, and why would you want to go back to that? He has the Stranger and Zia, and even Zulf (Yes I saved him, I couldn't leave him to die.)

Well...

Spoiler:

The Kid had nothing, sure, but what about all the people who died?! Don't you care about them?

Spoiler:

What about them? All the Bastion does is reset things exactly to the way they were before the Calamity happened. The exact same thing is going to happen over and over again; the cycle of hatred is going to continue, and the Calamity is going to keep happening. Even if the Kid and Rucks have their memories, who the hell is going to believe them?

No, at the end of the day, Evacuation is the best choice because Restoration has no inbuilt way to break the cycle. Everyone's dead, and everyone's going to keep dying over and over again; might as well just mourn the dead and move on.

If there was any way going back would change things, then it'd be the moral choice, but the designer of the Bastion himself professes that it can't do that, and that the Calamity may very well happen again. Logic dictates that it is going to happen again.

What's more, by constantly reusing the Bastion, you lock the entire world into a temporal loop of endless death and destruction thanks to the actions of the Caeldonians. Is that really moral?

TychoCelchuuu

The_Tuninator wrote: »

TychoCelchuuu wrote: »

R0land1188 wrote: »

Shimshai wrote: »

I picked the other ending first, so that the New Game+ would make more sense.

I played through and picked the good ending. I always feel in any game that the first playthrough should always be the 'true' one and New Game+ is just clean-up.

Spoiler:

I had to, the Kid had nothing before the Calamity, and why would you want to go back to that? He has the Stranger and Zia, and even Zulf (Yes I saved him, I couldn't leave him to die.)

Well...

Spoiler:

The Kid had nothing, sure, but what about all the people who died?! Don't you care about them?

Spoiler:

What about them? All the Bastion does is reset things exactly to the way they were before the Calamity happened. The exact same thing is going to happen over and over again; the cycle of hatred is going to continue, and the Calamity is going to keep happening. Even if the Kid and Rucks have their memories, who the hell is going to believe them?

No, at the end of the day, Evacuation is the best choice because Restoration has no inbuilt way to break the cycle. Everyone's dead, and everyone's going to keep dying over and over again; might as well just mourn the dead and move on.

If there was any way going back would change things, then it'd be the moral choice, but the designer of the Bastion himself professes that it can't do that, and that the Calamity may very well happen again. Logic dictates that it is going to happen again.

What's more, by constantly reusing the Bastion, you lock the entire world into a temporal loop of endless death and destruction thanks to the actions of the Caeldonians. Is that really moral?

Spoiler:

It's not clear that the Bastion sets everything back exactly though, right? Doesn't Ruck say some stuff like "I think this is a reset button but I'm not 100% sure what happens, I'm not sure if everything will just happen the same way or not?" I thought it was pretty clear that there was at least some chance that maybe, by resetting, you'd be able to avoid everything.

R0land1188

TychoCelchuuu wrote: »

The_Tuninator wrote: »

TychoCelchuuu wrote: »

R0land1188 wrote: »

Shimshai wrote: »

I picked the other ending first, so that the New Game+ would make more sense.

I played through and picked the good ending. I always feel in any game that the first playthrough should always be the 'true' one and New Game+ is just clean-up.

Spoiler:

I had to, the Kid had nothing before the Calamity, and why would you want to go back to that? He has the Stranger and Zia, and even Zulf (Yes I saved him, I couldn't leave him to die.)

Well...

Spoiler:

The Kid had nothing, sure, but what about all the people who died?! Don't you care about them?

Spoiler:

What about them? All the Bastion does is reset things exactly to the way they were before the Calamity happened. The exact same thing is going to happen over and over again; the cycle of hatred is going to continue, and the Calamity is going to keep happening. Even if the Kid and Rucks have their memories, who the hell is going to believe them?

No, at the end of the day, Evacuation is the best choice because Restoration has no inbuilt way to break the cycle. Everyone's dead, and everyone's going to keep dying over and over again; might as well just mourn the dead and move on.

If there was any way going back would change things, then it'd be the moral choice, but the designer of the Bastion himself professes that it can't do that, and that the Calamity may very well happen again. Logic dictates that it is going to happen again.

What's more, by constantly reusing the Bastion, you lock the entire world into a temporal loop of endless death and destruction thanks to the actions of the Caeldonians. Is that really moral?

Spoiler:

It's not clear that the Bastion sets everything back exactly though, right? Doesn't Ruck say some stuff like "I think this is a reset button but I'm not 100% sure what happens, I'm not sure if everything will just happen the same way or not?" I thought it was pretty clear that there was at least some chance that maybe, by resetting, you'd be able to avoid everything.

Spoiler:

There is also a chance that the rest wipes everything out, and that chance may be greater than everything being fixed. Rucks doesn't know what will happen if you rewind time.

Edit'd because broken