Rogue Remembers: Bastion

There are very few, if any, studios that consistently put out critical darling after critical darling the way that San Francisco’s Supergiant Games does. It’s got a track record that I don’t think has been matched. But long before Hades and Hades 2, back in 2011, Supergiant was a seven person studio just two years old. 

Their first game, Bastion, came out in the summer of 2011 — almost exactly 15 years ago. I remember that I played it that summer and I remember being blown away by it. I do not remember beating it (having beaten it now, I don’t think I finished the game back then for whatever reason), but I remember absolutely loving every minute I spent with it and thinking that those Supergiant folks were going places.

You can see the seeds that would grow into Hades throughout Bastion. The isometric camera angle, the richly rendered environments, the instantly lovable characters, and even some of the animations. Bastion isn't as refined or as expansive as their later games, but the strength of the studio’s creative vision and tone is evident right from their first outing. And that is already enough to make it a great and replayable game.

But now, having replayed Bastion — and finally beaten it — I have to say: that Bastion isn’t on the list of my all time favorite games says more about my memory than it does about the quality of the game. Because it remains an absolutely outstanding game.