One of my top action games of all time.

Here you find what Arkham/God of War/Darksiders type action games are all trying to accomplish but as much as I love the genre, I feel only Bayonetta really got right: the combat system is fluid, and maintains vast variation without requiring a steep technical mastery curve. In other words, she can flow endlessly through waves of enemies, varying her combos and techniques as much as the player desires without requiring much more than a minimal level of skill to keep up "the dance".

What do you get for your hard earned Steam bucks, you ask?

Screwball story? Oh yeah. There are angels and demons and witches and Italians.... Sometimes it's interesting and thought-provoking; sometimes it's goofy and inane.

Crazy alt-axis combat? You'll be dancing on the ceiling! (Oh what a feeling)

Guns? Oh yeah. She strapped a pair on her stilettos for good measure. She's probably got prehensile toes...ew...or something sexier than that.... You could almost spend the entire game shooting things if you wanted.

Witch Fu? Or would it be Dom Fu? The line is blurry. Anyway, angel butt is adequately slapped around. This is the game's bread and butter. Try stuff.

Weapons? Yeah, she can either buy them for halos (i.e. Sonic's rings-- trademark ring noise included) or she can actually pick them up off angel corpses-- even when they are 4 times her size!

Crafting? No "boot making dance party" here. The crafting is simple enough to keep from being a distracting component that would kill the pacing of the game, but provides options to suit player preferences. (Well, crafted items are a little disincentivized if you like achievements)

Ridiculous jokes and references? If you aren't groaning and rolling your eyes (maybe a facepalm or two) within minutes, then this must be your very first video game. How weird of you.

Cheesecake galore? Isn't F12 wonderful?

Be prepared to have classic Sinatra tunes completely ruined for you for the rest of your life! Be prepared for the next wave of Bayonettas at every con (and Scarborough Fair replicas on eBay)!


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THANK YOU PLATINUM GAMES! I am so very grateful that you took our requests to heart and gave this whimsically and masterfully crafted game back to us on the PC.

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Now, everyone-- let's start haranguing them about Bayonetta 2. ;)

This game has done what so many games try to do, but so few succeed. It has introduced new ideas in storytelling, artistic elements, and gameplay all at the same time without resulting in a convoluted mess.

The adaptive narrator in Bastion (Logan Cunningham as "Rucks") contributes so much to the immersion and enjoyment of the story that the player finds himself doing things just to see what Rucks will say about it. His deep tones and modern vernacular differ from the stiff prose of traditional narrators, connecting the player with him.

Seriously, the narrator is such a huge contributor to this game's successful implementation that one couple had him narrate their wedding in real life and the deluxe versions of this game had ringtones and notification tones with his voice narrating your every day life. (My favorite was "Sorry to interrupt", raising eyebrows in many situations at my exceedingly polite phone).

The post-apocalyptic world with the techno-pseudo-western soundtrack brings a familiarity of cult classic sci-fi such as Firefly. The player gets a sense of bleakness, but also one of hope (that feeling of pioneering and a new world with new rules).

The mechanics blend role-playing with a mostly action-based hack n' slash. There is crafting. There is town building. There is skill tree branching. There are challenge zones to allow for additional power-leveling and skill access (sort of like Bayonetta).

The main character, "The Kid", is loosely defined and a little mysterious for reasons explained in the game. This allows the player to feel curious about finding out more while also allowing some flexibility for player choice.

Other characters are similarly guarded and mysterious. Throughout most of the game, other characters are no more clear in their roles or intentions than the protagonist. However, this is not a lack of direction as much as an open door to possibilities. The player's mind may wander while considering the motives or actions of those he meets. Multiple playthroughs will have different results, but certain characters may become clearer across multiple meetings. There is depth here, but it feels as if it holds the player at arms length until a certain amount of involvement is met.

The iso-3/4 view with a floating land mass look for all of the generated maps has a painted look, somewhat similar to Squaresoft's gorgeous Legend of Mana-- and evokes a similar sense of whimsy and fantasy. So much of this game is innovative that it is easy to undersell the tremendously beautiful graphics.

If you have not played this game, you have missed out on a game that supports the notion of video games as interactive art. I invite you to rectify this wrong and let Rucks narrate your life for a little while.