The Game Boy: Why Bastion Succeeds Where Most Games Fail Miserably

Posted 09/21/2011 at 12:02pm | by Nathan Grayson

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Bastion is about looking back. For Rucks' sake, the game's named after a device created to take the entire world back in time. Tiles of all shapes and sizes rise up to meet your footfalls. They're chunks of the old world – pieces of the past deciding the destination of every step you take. Occasionally, you'll encounter former citizens of Caelondia – now frozen in ash, dead to the world in all but appearance. They're a sobering reminder of the thrumming society that you used to be part of. You smash them, because The Kid doesn't want to remember. But he can't help it. And all the while, the narrator fills in the blanks, ensuring that every little detail lingers in the front of your mind. 

About half-way through the game, the Kid falls into an extremely surreal flashback. Rucks' voice still comes through – albeit quiet and distorted – but it's finally the Kid's thoughts that are doing the talking. “He has the nerve to flash the shield he stole,” says the garbled narration. “Would you look at what he did to poor old Rondi the bartender?” And finally, the kicker: “The Kid succeeds were the Calamity failed.” The Kid doesn't want to be here. While obligation propels him forward, guilt and sorrow hold him back. Hell, for all he knows, creatures he's killing all throughout his journey could very well be the last of their kind. But he presses on in hopes that – ultimately – all of his damage will be undone.  

And then there's Zulf. When he discovers the true method behind the Calamity's seeming madness, he's driven to seek out revenge against those responsbile – you included, if necessary. But he fails utterly – just like the Calamity before him. Even so, more people die because Zulf can't let go of the past. Many more. Out of all that, though, comes one incredible moment.

Zulf is ultimately stabbed in the back by his Ura clansmen, and you can either charge in, stare them straight in the eyes, and send each and every one fearfully fleeing into well-deserved graves, or you can drop your weapon, pick up Zulf's barely breathing form, and carry him to safety. It's your call.

Zulf nearly ruined your chances to fix everything once, and he'll probably do it again. Besides, what's one more despicable deed? The Kid's already got gallons of blood on his hands. It's all for the greater good, he tells himself. So he strides into a room full of Zulf's countrymen, muscles snapping, crackling, and generally doing their best impression of a bowl of Rice Krispies under the strain of a weapon thrice his size.

At this point, it's a matter of same song, different verse. You or them. The Bastion or them. Even though the Ura have overwhelming numbers on their side, the Kid's gigantic new toy makes dealing with them seem like child's play. You kill them all in cold blood. You escape as glassy, frozen eyes look on in unison.

You return to the Bastion. Finally, you can restore it. You can start over. You can kill the Calamaity before it harms a hair on anyone's head. Or can you? Rucks isn't so sure. Maybe you'll just drop the ball again. Maybe you're already stuck in one big, misery packed infinite loop. But you've come so far, hurt so many, destroyed so much. There's nothing left. Caelondia may have wronged and oppressed the Kid, Zulf, and Zia, but it's still better than this.

The Bastion can burn out its battery with another feature. It can fly away. But where will you go? And why? The answer, then, is obvious: You press the giant “REDO” button. You've been chasing the past this whole time, but you could never quite catch it. Well, here you go.  A lot of people screwed up. Now it's up to you to set things right.