Date: 22 March 2014
Time: 12:38 PM ET
Mood: Gonna take a nap after this
"Rapid Review Saturday" is a series in the Daily Bloggity where I look at a video game, movie, or show and give some quick comments on them. Spoilers may be given. This is a weekly series and will appear every Saturday at 5PM ET.
The great thing about the Xbox 360 is that if you are a little tight on cash but are looking to play a great game for little cost, you can look no further than the systems Xbox Live Arcade. The Xbox Live Arcade contains a wide variety of indie games or games from small independent companies and as such can range from around $20 to absolutely free. Some are very good, and most of them are absolutely atrocious. However for the ones that are good, you are in for a wild ride as they can have the quality of a triple AAA wrapped and packaged in a small game. For that being said, we are going to look at Supergiant Games hit game
Bastion, which is classified as one of the best games available on Xbox Live.
Daily Music - "It's Alright" by Matt and Kim
Bastion is an action role-playing game in which you play as "the Kid," one of the lone survivors who must travel to a wide variety of environments via the large airship and safe haven called the Bastion in order to defeat "the Calamity" and bring order back to his world. To do so, you must travel to each environment and recover the Shards that will fix the Core of the Bastion, which once fixed will allow you to reverse the effects that have fallen upon his city of Caelodonia. It's a plot-thick kind of game as the more you play, the more you shall learn about the Calamity, the story of who the Kid is, and why you must save Caelodonia from utter destruction. Supergiant Game's
Bastion actually went on to win numerous awards, including the Game Critics Award of E3 2011 and the Spike Video Game Award for "Best Downloadable Game," as well as the Spike Video Game Award for "Best Original Score."
Daily Comic - "Spring Time" by Wulff & Morgenthaler of WuMo
I think the most shocking thing about this game is that is was created by only 7 people. Artistically,
Bastion is one of the most beautiful games I've ever played. To me, it literally looks like you are playing a painting, as the amount and care for detail is staggering. Each minuscule pixel shows how much work and effort was put into this game, and the variety of the environments shows the amount of time and thought was put into making each world a new stage that can be ventured with new experiences and awe at every turn. More artistically specific though, it's the music that strikes me the most. Composed by Darren Korb, he said the music was to "evoke both the American frontier and an exotic fantasy world" which justifiably does.
"Build That Wall (Zia's Theme)" and
"Spike in a Rail" are two of my favorite songs from the game, as they both invoke that kind of response that Darren Korb cited. "Spike in a Rail" specifically reminds me a lot of
Borderlands 2. which hell, that's perfectly fine with me as the song ignites an adventurous spirit in me.
Daily Video - "Mr. Literal" by animator Egoraptor
My personal experience with this game is very interesting. I actually bought the soundtrack for this game at last year's PAX East before I even picked up a controller for this game. That being said though, I absolutely love this game. Besides what I've already said, the narration for this game is one of a kind. Voiced by Logan Cunningham, he does an excellent job pushing the plot forward in a very - if I may say - ruggedly arousing way. His voice is just so soothing that...I'm just going to stop there. Anyways, the gameplay itself isn't too difficult. The casual gamer could easily beat this game, but just because it's difficulty isn't of the highest caliber shouldn't mean that this game should be looked over. The story itself will capture you and immerse you into wanting to finish it, and I remember playing this game late at night and not wanting to go to bed because of that reason.
Bastion is an excellent game for the average gamer. Have you ever played it before? Think you might pick it up? What is your favorite Xbox Live Arcade game to play? Comment below as I'd love to hear and discuss about what you have to say!
Supergiants Game's Bastion
is currently available on Xbox Live and Steam for $14.99.
‡ As always, the "Daily Bloggity" is self written by myself and includes just some of my opinions on different mediums. If you have a subject that you might want me to touch on, feel free to PM me or comment below! I would love to hear some of your ideas! Tune in tomorrow at 5PM Eastern Time for the next edition of the "Daily Bloggity!" Cheers! ‡
- elheroeoscuro
