Bastion

20.07.2011
Critic 90/100
Users 82/100
A hack-and-slash RPG featuring a reactive narrator, various unlockable weapons, weapon upgrades, practice mini-games and optional difficulty modifiers, set in an imaginary world in the aftermath of an uncertain apocalypse, in which the player embodies a teenager with a troubled past as he and the narrator work together to rebuild the world out of a persisting hub called the Bastion.
The game takes place in the aftermath of the Calamity, a catastrophic event that suddenly fractured the city of Caelondia as well as the surrounding areas of the game's world into many floating pieces, disrupting its ecology and reducing most of its people to ash. Players take control of the Kid, a silent protagonist who awakens on one of the few remaining pieces of the old world and sets off for the eponymous Bastion, where everyone was supposed to go in troubled times. The only survivor he meets there is an elderly man named Rucks, the game's narrator, who instructs him to collect the Cores that once powered Caelondia. A device in the Bastion can use the power of the crystalline Cores to create landmasses and structures, as well as enable the Kid to travel farther afield via "skyways" that propel him through the air. During his quest, the Kid meets two more survivors: Zulf, an ambassador from the Ura, underground-dwelling people with whom Caelondia was once at war; and Zia, an Ura girl who was raised in Caelondia. Both of them return to the Bastion, but upon reading a journal that the Kid discovers, Zulf intentionally damages parts of the Bastion's central device (the monument) and returns to Ura territory. The Kid learns that the journal belonged to Zia's father, Venn, who had worked for the Caelondians. He had helped Caelondian scientists ("Mancers") build a weapon intended to destroy the Ura completely to prevent another war. Venn rigged the weapon to backfire, so that when he was finally forced to trigger it, the resulting Calamity destroyed most of Caelondia as well. To repair Zulf's damage to the Bastion, the Kid starts collecting Shards, a lesser form of Cores. As he obtains the penultimate shard needed, the Ura attack the Bastion, damaging it and abducting Zia. In the next seven days, The Kid engages in sporadic skirmishes in Ura territory. When he finally blasts through an Ura outpost and meets Zia, she tells him that she had left with the Ura voluntarily to find out their intentions; Rucks had previously told Zia that the Bastion had the ability to somehow fix the Calamity. The Kid travels to the once-underground Ura homeland to retrieve the last shard. There, he discovers Zulf being attacked by his own people: the battle with Kid has devastated the Ura forces, and they blame Zulf for bringing the Kid to their home. The Kid can choose to drop his weapon to help Zulf or leave him. If he leaves Zulf behind, the Kid destroys the remnants of the Ura and escapes through a skyway. If he chooses to carry Zulf, Ura archers initially open fire on them but ultimately cease fire and watch silently as the Kid and Zulf take the skyway back to the Bastion. After the Kid returns and recovers, Rucks gives him another choice: He can have the Bastion rewind time to before the Calamity in the hopes of preventing it, or use it to evacuate the survivors and move on to somewhere safe. Rucks is unsure if there is any way to prevent the Calamity from reoccurring if the time is rewound, as there was no way to test the process. The game ends either way, showing images of the characters (with the inclusion of Zulf if the player chose to rescue him) flying away or of their lives before the Calamity along with the credits. In the New Game+ mode, which is unlocked after beating the game once, it is hinted that restoring the world didn't prevent the Calamity.

Buy

Could be interesting

03.07.2009

Trine is a physics-based action game where three characters allow clever solutions to challenges created by hazardous puzzles and threatening enemies. The gameplay is based on fully interactive physics – each character's different abilities and tactics can be used to invent new ways to overcome obstacles and save the kingdom.

01.12.2008

In Edge players take direct control of the cube and roll their way around the game's dozens of levels. Search for all the prisms and find the shortcuts to improve your times.

15.12.2010

Dungeon Defenders is a Tower Defense Action-RPG where you must save the land of Etheria from an Ancient Evil! Create a hero from one of four distinct classes to fight back wave after wave of enemies by summoning defenses and directly participating in the action-packed combat! Customize and level your character, forge equipment, gather loot, collect pets and more! Take your hero through multiple difficulty modes and challenge/survival missions to earn more experience & even better treasure. Join your friends with 4-player online and local (splitscreen) co-op to plan your strategies together or compete in PvP Deathmatch.

13.12.2016

The Little Acre follows the story of Aidan and his daughter, Lily, set in 1950's Ireland. After discovering clues as to the whereabouts of his missing father, Aidan begins investigating until he inadvertently finds himself transported to a strange new world. Ever the hero, Lily sets off after him, encountering her own perils along the way. Featuring voice-acting and hand-drawn animation, The Little Acre is a memorable, lovingly crafted adventure game.

21.07.2010

Limbo is a black and white puzzle-platforming adventure. Players take the role of a young boy traveling through an eerie and treacherous world in an attempt to discover the fate of his sister.

05.01.2010

Apocalyptic power of War: Unleash the wrath of War, combining brutal attacks and supernatural abilities to decimate all who stand in your way. Epic quest: Battle across the wastelands and demon-infested dungeons of the decimated Earth in your quest for vengeance and redemption. Character progression: Uncover powerful ancient relics, upgrade your weapons, unlock new abilities, and customize your gameplay style. Battle Heaven and Hell: Battle against all who stand in your way—from war-weary angelic forces to Hell's hideous demon hordes.

05.05.2009

Plants vs. Zombies is a tower defense game in which players protect their suburban home from waves of approaching zombies by placing various plants on a grid-based lawn. Each plant has a unique defensive function, from shooting projectiles to blocking or exploding, while different zombie types require specific strategies to defeat. The game spans five stages across daytime, nighttime, backyard pool, fog, and rooftop settings, with additional puzzle, mini-game, and survival modes.

01.11.2011

The Lord of the Rings: War in the North is a co-op Action RPG that immerses you and your friends in a brutal new chapter in the War of the Ring. Snowblind Studios is in the unique position of drawing inspiration from both the literary and film rights to world of Middle-earth, allowing players to bloody their axes on a wide range of deadly enemies and traverse both established and never-before-seen locations. The result is a journey that is both epic and intimate, familiar yet unexpected.

30.09.2014

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is a open world third-person action role-playing video game developed by Monolith Productions and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, which takes place in the world of J.R.R. Tolkien's Legendarium. The game takes place in the 60-year gap between the events of Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of The Rings. It is a story of revenge, slaughter, and mystery set entirely in Mordor, the Land of Shadows. At its center is Talion, an ordinary man who loses everything, including his mortal life. The game is set in a fully open world, and features various role-playing game elements such as experience points and skills. There are various ways the player can complete their main objective. Aside from the main storyline, there are various side quests and random events the player can complete within Mordor. The melee system is inspired by that of the Batman Arkham series. Getting into a good fighting rhythm, using both regular attacks and counter-attacks will improve the player's combo multiplier. A unique feature of Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is the Nemesis system. Every enemy in the game has their own name, rank, and memory. These enemies will continue to do their own jobs and tasks even when they're off screen. If the player does not kill an enemy in an encounter, this enemy will remember the player and change their tactics and conversations based on the encounter.

20.05.2014

Transistor is an action role-playing game presented from an isometric perspective. Players control Red, a singer in the city of Cloudbank, as she wields a greatsword-like weapon called the Transistor against robotic enemies known as the Process. Combat can be played in real-time or paused using a planning mode called Turn(), which allows queuing actions for execution in a burst. Powers called Functions can be equipped in active slots, used as upgrades to augment other Functions, or placed in passive slots for persistent effects. With 16 total Functions available, the system encourages experimentation with different combinations across multiple playthroughs.