Bastion Catch-all (now coming to iPad)

garion333 wrote:

Soundtrack is a go.

Woo! I think I'll try to get the CD at PAX. This game deserves some paper artwork.

garion333 wrote:

Soundtrack is a go.

Picked up the CD myself. You can get immediate download for $10, or CD signed by composer and original artwork for $15 or more. CD's ship Sept. 2nd. CD orders get immediate d/l of the 320kbit version too.

I've been listening at work. Very cool.

What are you reading this for--GO BUY IT!

Scratched wrote:

http://store.steampowered.com/app/10... - Out on 16th August.

Yeeeeeeeeeeeesssssssssssssssss!

Scratched wrote:

http://store.steampowered.com/app/10... - Out on 16th August.

So soon! Very cool for PC players who usually have to wait for ports.

garion333 wrote:

Soundtrack is a go.

I don't think I've ever bought a soundtrack at full price, but I don't think I can resist.

garion333 wrote:
Scratched wrote:

http://store.steampowered.com/app/10... - Out on 16th August.

Yeeeeeeeeeeeesssssssssssssssss!

Ditto. I stopped by to post this.

Scratched wrote:

http://store.steampowered.com/app/10... - Out on 16th August.

Oh man, I actually envy you PC players for once. I sit about 9' away from a 42" TV, but for the last third of the game I was sitting on the floor about 2' away just to better appreciate it, every line, every brushstroke of the hand-painted backgrounds. This is made for playing on a monitor where you can see every detail.

Garden Ninja wrote:
garion333 wrote:
Scratched wrote:

http://store.steampowered.com/app/10... - Out on 16th August.

Yeeeeeeeeeeeesssssssssssssssss!

Ditto. I stopped by to post this.

Wow! That was way faster than expected.

Edit: Oh wait, they must mean August 16, 2012.

Actually considering adding this to my pile...

For any PAX-goers, I just read this on Supergiant's Twitter feed:

@mrasmus wrote:

@SupergiantGames It makes it sound like pre-ordering the disc means you get it fulfilled after PAX, but I want the download now!

@SupergiantGames wrote:

@mrasmus Hey if you bring your receipt to PAX we'll hook you up! Shouldn't be a problem.

In the spoiler section of this week's CC, the crew were talking about how the choice they made at the end seemed like the obvious choice to them—even though they didn't all make the same choice. So as I was listening to the soundtrack now, particularly the end theme which beautifully combines the two competing viewpoints in the game, I was reflecting on the choice I made, and how obvious it seemed.

(Incidentally, looking at the Goodjers on my TrueAchievements friends list, it wasn't their first choice. Really, guys? )

Into the wall...

Spoiler:

So in the CC, the decision to evacuate on the Bastion is described as being the decision to let go of the past and move forward; whereas the decision to activate the Bastion is the decision to attempt correcting past mistakes. But as Certis points out, Rucks suggests there's no guarantee the Calamity can be avoided—to be stuck in the past, emotionally, by wanting to fix it, may doom everyone to be stuck in it literally, doomed forever to their failings, like the end of Soderbergh's Solaris.

Certainly in that respect, coming to terms with the past and moving on with life, as Zia is ready to do, contra Zulf, seems like the right choice. But then, like I mentioned, apparently it wasn't everyone's first choice!

But to me, by the time I was at the Monument, it seemed obvious. As Rucks says at the beginning, the ground forms up beneath the Kid's feet and he don't stop to wonder why. I still don't wonder why, though there was initially the suggestion, as I rebuilding the Bastion with the Cores, of restoration and the Kid's fundamental role in that (maybe this feeds into rabbit's interpretation).

But while the ground was appearing underneath for reasons unknown to me, I was consciously destroying what I could: scenery for the fragments, or simply because I rolled through it; and the people, because it seemed better than being left forever as statues of ash. And in a game that so heavily foregrounds a couple of key choices (in addition to allowing the player to alter the experience through many other choices: load-out, upgrades, idols, tonics), it seemed right to privilege, in my view of what was happening, my choice to do things, over that which just happens.

The ground just appears, so I keep walking. Throughout the game as I was destroying what was left of Caelondia, initially for the mainly material benefits, I began to realize that I was really wiping out what was left after the Calamity. And it was rubble and ash. It couldn't be restored, or saved. Attempting to do so would be to deny it, temporally if not just emotionally, but that would also be to deny what led to it: the tension between the Caelondians and the Ura that was resolved so violently. Going back in time wouldn't change that underlying danger and it would explode again. Even Zulf began as a bastion of tolerance and that collapsed too.

Instead, as with Zia, the choice seemed clear to me. I acknowledged that Caelondia was gone, reiterated through my destruction of what was left, and the survivors needed to move forward, as a united group free of the past conflict and into the new beginning.

Regarding why the world forms around the Kid, I always assumed it was caused by that gear-thing he wears on his back. When you ask Rucks about it, he said it contained part of the Bastion's power.

Regarding the choice at the end:

Spoiler:

I chose to restore the world. Sure, Rucks said there was no guarantee that things would be different the second time around, but the way I saw it the worst-case scenario had already happened. If restoring the world fails to change anything, then the Calamity will happen all over again and the Kid will just end up right back at the same place as before. If something does change the second time around, then maybe the Calamity can be averted. Even a long and bloody war between the Caeldonians and the Ura can't be worse than the Calamity, which blew up the world and apparently killed all but two Caeldonians and a handful of Ura.

muttonchop wrote:

Regarding why the world forms around the Kid, I always assumed it was caused by that gear-thing he wears on his back. When you ask Rucks about it, he said it contained part of the Bastion's power.

Regarding the choice at the end:

Spoiler:

I chose to restore the world. Sure, Rucks said there was no guarantee that things would be different the second time around, but the way I saw it the worst-case scenario had already happened. If restoring the world fails to change anything, then the Calamity will happen all over again and the Kid will just end up right back at the same place as before. If something does change the second time around, then maybe the Calamity can be averted. Even a long and bloody war between the Caeldonians and the Ura can't be worse than the Calamity, which blew up the world and apparently killed all but two Caeldonians and a handful of Ura.

Spoiler:

Well worst case scenario is that they always restore and the Calamity happens over and over, forever. Rucks even says, "Felt like I've said this a thousand times." And because mindsets and attitudes won't change I suspect that will be the case: they'll always end back at the Calamity. The Calamity is like a bad break-up; restoring is like trying to get back together again, trying to make the relationship work. But you broke up for a reason, and if you get back together it's just going to end up where you were before.

So in so far as there's a "correct" ending, that's why the evacuation feels proper to me: it's the only way they can make a break from their past and move on.

That reminded me a lot of the ending of Metro 2033—or at least the ending I chose. And I loved that game, and Bastion sharing a similar theme is something I really appreciate.

Also, it was only through my second playthrough that I realized the Narrator isn't speaking to the Kid/player, at least not all the time. He makes it plain at points, but somehow I missed it.

Not sure whether to wait for the PC version, do you think this will be better to play using a gamepad?

There is no doubt in my mind it plays better with a gamepad, and I'm a keyboard and mouse user through and through.

Plug a gamepad into your PC. The steam page says it uses them.

D-Man777 wrote:
garion333 wrote:

Soundtrack is a go.

Picked up the CD myself. You can get immediate download for $10, or CD signed by composer and original artwork for $15 or more. CD's ship Sept. 2nd. CD orders get immediate d/l of the 320kbit version too.

I've been listening at work. Very cool.

What are you reading this for--GO BUY IT!

Sold.

Gravey wrote:

Also, it was only through my second playthrough that I realized the Narrator isn't speaking to the Kid/player, at least not all the time. He makes it plain at points, but somehow I missed it. :P

Spoiler:

Near the end, I think it is made clear that the narration is Rucks telling Zia stories-- including the Kid's story-- to pass the time while the Kid is on his multi-day journey to Tazal Terminals, right?

beeporama wrote:
Gravey wrote:

Also, it was only through my second playthrough that I realized the Narrator isn't speaking to the Kid/player, at least not all the time. He makes it plain at points, but somehow I missed it. :P

Spoiler:

Near the end, I think it is made clear that the narration is Rucks telling Zia stories-- including the Kid's story-- to pass the time while the Kid is on his multi-day journey to Tazal Terminals, right?

Spoiler:

Yup, in some interstitial loading text. He also addresses Zia by name when he explains the Bastion, and seems to be generally referring to the Kid as "he" while addressing another "you", i.e. not the player. (During the ending cut scene he's speaking to the Kid/player though, like the Discuss options.) It makes me want to play the game a third time to note when those changes in address are or if he's always speaking to Zia. Like at the very beginning, before the player meets Zia, he says, "Is that survivor? No, ma'am." Seemed idiosyncratic when I played the demo, but makes sense now.

Out of curiosity I went to their website because I was whether the shipping cost would be as rediculous as many other retailers shipping from the US to Canada. Turns out, yes, I'll be paying more for shipping, but not much, and the actual cd costs less with the rate of exchange. Altogether, it showed as $16.82 CAD, compared to $17 USD.

I presume that they're leaving the price negotiable (with that minimum $15) so that if you feel this effort was worth an extra donation, you can contribute an extra few dollars? That, or "pay what you feel a signed copy is worth to you." Either way, there have been few enough games where the music is such a visceral part of it, I'll be picking this up and eagerly awaiting their next endeavor.

Has anyone decoded the loading screen runes yet? I know on the giantbomb "building the bastion" feature series, they did tease the notion that all that stuff was translatable.

PC version is out tomorrow. I look forward to the enabling.

Beat the game yesterday and almost fired up the game+. I almost never do that. About the cauldron trial...

Spoiler:

I went through it twice with 4 idols on and couldn't even make a dent in the three Kids that attack you at the end. I was just rolling around musketing them, but it was hardly doing any damage, and they would tap me now and then.

Vector wrote:

PC version is out tomorrow. I look forward to the enabling.

I'm probably picking it up which is surprising to me, because when the summer started the XBL Summer of Arcade PC Port I was most interested in was From Dust and not Bastion.

carrotpanic wrote:

Beat the game yesterday and almost fired up the game+. I almost never do that. About the cauldron trial...

Spoiler:

I went through it twice with 4 idols on and couldn't even make a dent in the three Kids that attack you at the end. I was just rolling around musketing them, but it was hardly doing any damage, and they would tap me now and then.

Re: Cauldron with Idols

Spoiler:

I like the musket but I think it loses effectiveness as you add more and more idols. I believe that's because the damage is done by dozens of pellets, each doing a small amount of damage. High volume/small individual damage attacks get weaker as enemies get more damage resistance, regeneration, and the ability to phase or deflect attacks.
Look for weapons and effects that do a single, high-damage attack, preferably with armor penetration and/or damage over time. There are plenty of weapons that meet those criteria, so it shouldn't be too constricting. For example, the hammer, pike, carbine, mortar, rocket launcher, and fire bellows can all work against those tougher foes. And you should still be able to bring the musket along if you like it for the crowd-control.

Tagged for after the PC release.

Scaphism wrote:
carrotpanic wrote:

Beat the game yesterday and almost fired up the game+. I almost never do that. About the cauldron trial...

Re: Cauldron with Idols...

Spoiler:

I ran through my New Game+ with most of the idols active, and my favourite combo was the carbine and the musket. The musket won't kill much on its own, but it's great for knocking enemies back so you can finish them off with the carbine. The fire bellows is decent in a lot of situations but it's pretty terrible when you get swarmed, especially with the "drop bombs on defeat" idol active.

It looks like this is out on Steam now. I played the demo and was pretty impressed with it. The art style reminded me a bit of Odin Sphere, and any game that recalls that gem gets a thumbs-up in my book.
Does the full version let you play with the camera zoom level? The art work is nice enough that I'd like to be able to zoom in at some set pieces, but I couldn't find an option in the demo.
For those who completed it, how long did it take you to get through it?