Bastion's ending

ClockworkUniverse

My roommate and I both finished Bastion today.

...

Holy crap. That was...just...wow.

Myrmidon

Yahtzee spoiled it for me.

>

ClockworkUniverse

Yeah, same here.

If you haven't played it, though, you should know that he didn't spoil everything. The stuff immediately before and after after the thing he spoiled was even more impressive than the thing he spoiled.

GLORIOUSLeader

Good, the Wikipedia page has nothing on it, so now I can play it without spoilers.

I hope it has nothing to do with the narrator.

ClockworkUniverse

Eh...well...you find out the narrator's backstory, but that's only tangentially related what I was going "holy crap" about.

Blueeyedrat

Bumping this thread because I finished the game today. "Wow," indeed.

And story aside, the gameplay and soundtrack are phenomenal.

Blackmoon

That thing with Zulf.

Goddamn.

ClockworkUniverse

^^This is one of those rare games where everything just went right.

Bastion

*sneezes*



I mean, agreed.

Blueeyedrat

Normally, I try to avoid vocal songs in soundtracks, but I think this is the game I'll make an exception for. "Build That Wall" is excellent, and "Mother, I'm Here" is gut-wrenching. All of the non-vocal stuff is great, too-- "Spike in a Rail", "The Mancer's Dilemma", it just goes on and on. Darren Korb did a fantastic job.

Saturn

So what is the gameplay of this game anyway?

Blueeyedrat

It's mainly "run around and kill shit". Over the course of the game you unlock a large variety of weapons, and you can use whatever loadout you feel like. Hammer and bow, pike and pistol, gun and more gun, mortar and miniaturized weapon-of-mass-destruction, whatever. Most if not all of the options are pretty viable.

Saigyouji

You forgot machete. Which is the best thing.

Blueeyedrat

Eh, the machete is probably the one I used the least-- really short melee range, and I rarely used the throw. Partners well with the musket though-- short-range projectile weapon, long-range (when thrown) melee.

Noimporta

I mostly used the bow, except when it was a really bad choice.

Blueeyedrat

I went into the Tazal Terminals with the Cael Hammer. It seemed appropriate.

Saturn

Just looked up gameplay. Getting it in a bit. I original thought it was turn based, and I didn't feel like playing a turn based game.

Blueeyedrat

Solid gameplay, compelling story, fantastic soundtrack... I would say "new favorite game", however SpaceChem is still a thing. Best action game I've played, though.

Kraken

Did you play it twice? Because you totally should have.



It's one of those games that I feel totally merits it, because playing it a second time around actually makes sense with the story.



Also, being a twin-stick game, while it is certainly playable on a keyboard, it just doesn't have the same precision, and you will probably not only die a lot, but it also renders some of the weapon challenges nigh-impossible to best entirely.

ClockworkUniverse

because playing it a second time around actually makes sense with the story.

If you picked the reset ending.

Bastion

I went into the Tazal Terminals with the Cael Hammer. It seemed appropriate.

Same. "The forces behind the Calamity may not be well understood...but a hammer is."

Kraken

Exactly. You need to choose that, realize that it was the wrong choice, and then play through it again.

Forzare

I didn't look at any posts in this thread, but it's reminded me that I really need to play this through.



I got it on steam during... the last Christmas sale, I think, and I got like two hours into it before something that I don't remember happened and I lost my save game. And of course, when that happened I just got irritated and stopped playing. And mostly forgot about it.

Blueeyedrat

Oh, I'm well aware of New Game Plus. I'll be getting into that soon enough.

Also, being a twin-stick game, while it is certainly playable on a keyboard, it just doesn't have the same precision, and you will probably not only die a lot, but it also renders some of the weapon challenges nigh-impossible to best entirely.

(beat every proving ground with the keyboard)

Saturn

Apparently if you map the guns to the scroll wheel they shoot really fast.

ClockworkUniverse

I played it on a keyboard and didn't have any trouble beyond the initial learning curve.

Kraken

Well I played it through at least twice and thus managed to best every proving ground with the keyboard, but only after getting ten draughts and every known upgrade. I made myself as hardy as possible and just ran through the spike rain gauntlet that is the Pike proving ground, drinking health tonics like mad.



Also I have no idea how I got through every tier of the Squirt Ranch.

Alkthash

I don't really think picking reset is the wrong choice. No more than picking exploration is the right choice. The ending of Bastion presents two uncertain options, neither having the guarantee to be good and both having lots of ways to go wrong. It's just a question of asking which option appeals more to you. 

Blueeyedrat

Playing through New Game Plus and taking a new loadout into every level. Turret Surprise + the Melting Pot = fun times.

Blueeyedrat

Back to what I said about every weapon having viability: Fire Bellows? Pathetic. Fire Bellows + burn damage + Leechade = hit-and-run like a pro. Fang Repeater? Weak. Fang Repeater + more damage + more ammo + homing shots = Daaaaamn.

Also, OH MY GOD THE GEL CANISTER IS THE BEST THING.

Kraken

It is rather glorious, yes. And adoreable.



Although my favorite is simply the Carbine, because of how it feels.



I think one of these days I'll play it again, going either all Cael or all Ura upgrade trees.