When I accidentally send the Kid careening off the edge of the crumbled world with an overzealous dodge, he says, "And so the Kid fell to his death…just kidding." When I accidentally send the Kid into pockets of brush so sharp that they could have come from my native South Texas, Logan tells me that they "hurt as much as a broken heart." When I use up all my conversation options with him at the Bastion (the place everyone is supposed to run to when things go to hell), he says, "Sometimes there's just not much to say." There is pain in the world that Supergiant has created, such moments seem to say, but there's always cause to crack a smile when things are at their grimmest. There's plenty of hacking and slashing, but some of the most intense levels simply require you to stay on stable ground. It's an effect that allows Bastion to transcend simple narration to the point where the Stranger is telling our story as much as the Kid's. It's all the work of voice actor Logan Cunningham, who adds both weight and the occasional dose of humor to the action, and its power springs from the way it is triggered with almost every action the Kid performs. As in Blood Meridian, the Kid's travels are narrated by a detached speaker who hangs out at the central hub known as the Bastion, but here, the intonations are less 18th-century New England preacher and more Bourbon Street jazzman. Darren Korb's fantastic soundtrack weaves through it all, and its power is such that I still sometimes use it to write to almost four years later.īut Bastion remains relevant and fresh largely on account of its narration. It may feature a world that's falling apart in the aftermath of an initially unknown calamity, but this is no wasteland where the trees of Appalachia rot with the rest of the world Bastion takes place in an impressively varied world that's almost ecstatic with hand-painted color-a world that falls back into place as you traverse it as though its destruction were partly on rewind. Bastion draws heavy inspiration from McCarthy, yes, but it doesn't smother the experience with seriousness. It's the same isometric hack-and-slash exploration game first released in the summer of 2011, when independent games were continuing to gain prominence across a number of platforms, The Calamity was world-shattering, but the Kid isn't entirely without people to appreciate his nifty bandana.Īnd that's why, if you've never played Bastion before and you have a PS4, you should take this opportunity to jump in. Nothing has changed, apart from the requisite upscaling to support the PS4's beefier resolutions You find no new monsters barring your travels across the ruins of Caledonia, and discover no new weapons to whack them with. You may not so readily notice these details, at least if you already own Bastion on one of the many systems it already graces, whether it's the Vita, the Xbox 360, or even Google Chrome. For the PlayStation 4 release of Bastion, I more often found myself appreciating the game's many nods to the novels of Cormac McCarthy, both in the easy (and a bit tired) parallels to the post-apocalyptic world of The Road, and in the main character of the Kid, who recalls a character of the same name in McCarthy's gore-drenched Blood Meridian. UNIVERSAL APP: Play on iPad, iPhone, or the new Apple TV with save data stored via iCloud.I confess that I look forward to re-releases of popular games because they allow me to notice aspects I might not have caught the first time around, and thereby discover whether they've managed to live up to their critical acclaim. INFINITE RECURSION: 'Recursion' option introduces all-new battles after finishing the story. UNRAVEL THE STORY: Piece together the Transistor's mysteries as you pursue its former owners through a rich and atmospheric story. IT'S YOUR TURN: Transistor seamlessly integrates thoughtful strategic planning into a fast-paced action experience.įIGHT YOUR WAY: Configure the powerful Transistor with thousands of possible Function combinations to overcome any obstacle. *Transistor requires at least an iPhone 5, iPad 4, or iPad mini 2.*įROM THE CREATORS OF BASTION: Experience a science fiction action RPG like no other! Wield an extraordinary weapon of unknown origin as you fight through a stunning futuristic city.īUILT FOR TOUCH: Transistor for iOS features the vibrant presentation and deep combat that Transistor is known for, with an intuitive new touch interface - or switch to Classic Controls with optional gamepad support.
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