The Innovative Indie Goodness That is Bastion

Forbes’ contributor Erik Kain has penned an editorial in praise of Supergiant Games’ Bastion, highlighting the features he most enjoyed and what he considers to be the most innovative additions in the title. Here’s a snippet:

1. The narrator.

Voiced by the marvelous Logan Cunningham, the narrator really makes the game. He’s funny in a film noir sort of way, describing the adventures of The Kid in real time. It’s one of the most unique forms of storytelling that I’ve seen in a game, and more fascinating because it’s dynamic. The narrator will change his narration based on choices you make during play.

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3. The combat.

I remarked to myself that this is what Diablo might have been like if there were actual defensive mechanics. As far as I’m concerned, too often games focus on offense and leave defense either out entirely, or pushed off to the side. When I talk about what made Dark Souls combat so refreshing, I’m largely pointing to the defensive mechanics. In most top-down hack-and-slash style action-RPGs you’ve got lots of powers to destroy and probably some passive defense, but rarely any moves.

Well, in Bastion you can roll and block with your shield and so forth. There’s actual defense! And it makes the combat a lot more fun.