Supergiant Games has become one of the most beloved indie developers in video games, in large part because of Hades, their Greek mythology roguelike-RPG that garnered many Game of the Year awards. However, before Hades’ release in 2020, Supergiant’s very first game was a small action-RPG released in 2011 called Bastion that laid the foundation for what was to come for the developer.

In Bastion, you play as The Kid, a mysterious hero who’s trying to restore Bastion to its former glory, as told by Rucks, the main NPC in the game, who narrates the whole game while you’re playing.

At its core, Bastion is a simple, straightforward action-RPG. The Kid has a melee attack, a ranged attack, and a special move. He can acquire passive abilities as he gains levels. He’ll acquire a variety of melee and ranged weapons to choose from, which can be strengthened and made more powerful through simple crafting. The Kid can get materials for crafting in the different regions he travels through, or he can buy them at a store.

The Kid fighting a Gasfella.

You can customize the difficulty to your liking by supplicating different idols connected to the gods of the land. This makes the game more challenging and offers more Fragments (currency) to spend for defeating foes. There’s also a set of in-game achievements which reward The Kid with Fragments to strengthen his weaponry. A New Game + mode lets you carry all your powered-up weapons, money, levels, and abilities to a fresh playthrough of the game. If you want to 100% the game, or get a good understanding of the story, this is a welcome feature, as you’ll probably not be able to do either in one playthrough.

Bastion’s world is uncovered while you move. As The Kid is progressing through a region, the ground is literally flying up and forming in front of him as he’s walking. It gives the story, and the game overall, somewhat of a storybook quality.

While Bastion’s narrator-driven approach to telling the Kid’s story is unique, it has its strengths and drawbacks. The writing and voice-acting in the narration are both great, but having someone constantly talking while you’re playing can get grating at times, especially if you’re in a difficult section of the game. While you’re dodging and weaving and taking out enemies, the narrator might be trying to tell you a story about one of the game’s characters, and it’s hard to care about it, or give it the attention it probably deserves, because you’re just trying to stay alive. So while the creativity and care that went into Bastion’s story and how it’s told is appreciated, it’s not something I would want in more games. It works well enough for Bastion, but it’s not for every game, or even most games.

If you don’t care about the story, it’s probably not a big deal. However, if you’re like me, and you do care about the story, the game divides your attention between the story and the gameplay too often. However, on repeated playthroughs, it becomes less of an issue since you already have a good idea of what’s going to happen next, but sometimes you just want him to stop talking. Overall, Bastion’s story is good, but it takes itself a little too seriously at times.

The Sundown Path as narrated by Rucks.

Bastion’s visuals are beautiful and do a lot of the heavy lifting in making the experience memorable. It’s close to Hollow Knight as being a game that always looks fantastic. Supergiant’s attention to detail in their hand-crafted art style and use of color sets the tone the whole way through. Bastion runs at mostly 60 FPS in handheld mode on the Switch. There are little chugs here and there in the hub world, but nothing that affects gameplay. The whole experience feels very polished and meticulous with a lot of attention to detail.

Bastion is a short game and pretty linear for an action-RPG. It can be beaten in about ten hours. Even using New Game +, it can be completed in about 20 hours. So while there’s not a lot of meat on the bone compared to other big AAA action-RPGs out there, it’s memorable for its story, presentation, and polish.

If you’re looking for a short action-RPG, Bastion is a game you should consider. It takes simple systems and mechanics and combines it with a memorable presentation and story to make a polished little gem of a game that should be experienced by indie game and action-RPG lovers, especially if you’re at all curious about Supergiant Games as a developer and how they got their start. Bastion does what it sets out to do, does it well, and doesn’t overstay its welcome along the way. Recommended.