There was a time in my life when I had very few cares. One of the joys that I had in my life was when my parents would let me rent a Sega Genesis and a game. I would sit in our living room for hours with a giant smile across my face playing all the greats of that generation of gaming in complete awe of the fact that I could explore and effect these worlds. As I have grown older and played more and more games in hopes of reliving that experience I have found that only the most special games could ever hope to appeal to me in the same way as those first ones did. Bastion is one of those special games.
At first glance Bastion is a two dimensional action RPG. You spend most of your time in the game smashing enemies with various weapons. To say that that is all there is to this game would be a vast over simplification and injustice. This game has many deep aspects to it. You can upgrade and customize at least a dozen different weapons. If you feel the game is too easy you turn on several different idols which give your enemies different benefits. All of this makes for a fun game but not one that will give me the same feeling I had as a child playing on a Genesis. For that Bastion has a narrator.
Bastion‘s major claim to fame is its reactive narration. The narrator in the game only narrates what you do in the game not what is scripted to happen next in the game. If you spend a lot of time in one area smashing boxes then the narrator will comment on how your character decided to take out some anger and frustration on inanimate objects. If you lose a level 2 times and attempt it a third the narrator will propose that the third time might be the charm. The narrator caused me to be fully immersed in this game. It was because of the narrator that I finished my first play through of this game in one sitting. It is because of this narrator that I was compelled to sit on the floor in front of my television and finish the game 3 more times. And it is because of this narrator that I will play it again smiling all the while.