Bastion Mini-Preview

Developed by Super Giant Games, Bastion is an isometric action RPG blessed with beautiful, hand drawn style graphics, silky animation and the coolest contextual commentary available in gaming. Due out out this Summer for Xbox LIVE Arcade and PC, during E3 we got a chance to take a first look at this intruiging title.

A fantasy game, Bastion is played out across a floating world, filled with beautiful audio and a flowery, natural aesthetic that conjures images of the early levels of Braid. Bastion’s unique selling point is a contextual commentary, ever present as the player makes their way through the game. Even simple player actions are treated to honey voiced description from the games narrator, with more detailed exposition saved or key moments and solving puzzles, which all leads to a feeling of being wrapped in a story that you are being told, but feel in total control over.

The showfloor demo showed the early part of the game, with the player awakening and starting his quest, discovering tools like a massive hammer, automatic crossbow and hunting longbow whilst squaring off against floating ghost like enemies, all the while the ubiquitous narrator explaining your every step, as well as the play mechanics and commentating on your fighting skills and deficiencies.

Whether having your every moved recounted to you, however imaginatively, will become tiring over time is yet to be seen but Bastion certainly appears to be yet another title that is a credit to the XBLA and one that players should watch out for throughout the summer.

[nggallery id=396]

Bastion is due out this Summer for PC and Xbox LIVE Arcade.