Current version:Xbox 360
Bastion

Bastion

Bastion is a Xbox 360 role-playing game released in 2011 developed by Supergiant Games. It centers on area and route exploration, character or equipment growth, and resource or business management, with controls and information arranged around the Xbox 360 wired or wireless controller's twin sticks, analog triggers, directional pad, and face buttons.

AI score · out of 10
7.9 / 10
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About this game

Bastion is a Xbox 360 role-playing game centered on area and route exploration, character or equipment growth, and resource or business management. Story beats, exploration, and progression resources support a longer campaign, with progress divided into stages, tasks, matches, or growth milestones that make immediate goals understandable. Its value depends on whether these rules continue to create judgment and room for mastery rather than on length, sales, or series recognition. Short campaigns are judged by repeat-challenge value, while longer ones are judged by variety, pacing, and recovery after failure. Characters, world building, environments, and music carry most of the atmosphere, while HD video, DVD streaming, surround audio, HDD installs, and television-distance interfaces need to keep action, state, and text readable. The genre-specific limitation is that dense text, menu layers, repeated battles, loading, or language dependence can slow progress. Platform conditions also include disc and HDD installation, storage devices, controller batteries, video connections, resolution and frame rate, Kinect space and calibration, and retired online services affect the current release. This description covers only this platform release and does not import features or conveniences from remasters, emulators, or other console editions.

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Xbox 360

AI review

AI reviews are subjective assessments, not player ratings. See each review for its evidence and limitations.Published date:

7.9 / 10Xbox 360

Accessible XBLA combat is elevated by reactive narration.

The original Xbox Live Arcade release of Bastion begins with the Kid waking in a fragmented world after the Calamity. Ground appears as he travels, and Rucks responds to combat or a change of weapons in his narration. Illustrated ruins, music and carefully spaced voices give the story a melancholy fairy-tale texture. The Kid equips two weapons along with a shield, dodge and special attack. Forge choices can change range, spread or knockback, so a preferred pair need not always play the same way. Most story stages are linear and cannot be revisited, but weapon proving grounds, a twenty-wave arena, optional shrine curses and New Game Plus add structured reasons to keep playing. The direct XBLA review describes an immediate controller layout using face buttons for weapons and triggers for defensive and special functions. It also observes basic sprite motion and reused palettes, while powerful spirit bonuses can make ordinary encounters easy. This is a good fit for players who want concise controller-led action married to responsive storytelling. Launch-era leaderboards are not a promise of current online access.

Strengths

  • Weapon branches and optional difficulty provide choices.

Weaknesses

  • Linear stages, uneven difficulty and visual reuse limit depth.

Who it is for: Players seeking controller action with narrative atmosphere.

Play notes: 2011 XBLA release; current leaderboard access unverified.

View scoring basis
DimensionReview stateScoreWeight
Dimension

Optional challenges offset a linear campaign.

Reviewed7.4 / 10Not provided
Dimension

Weapon pairings add variety despite uneven difficulty balance.

Reviewed8.0 / 10Not provided
Dimension

Reactive voice and audiovisual restraint deepen the world.

Reviewed8.8 / 10Not provided
Dimension

Controller mapping is clear, though presentation reuse shows.

Reviewed7.5 / 10Not provided

Review sources

Not provided

Core information

Release date
2011
Platforms
Xbox 360
Content kind
Game
Release state
Released
Region
Worldwide
Official website
Not provided
Offline minimum players
Not provided
Offline maximum players
Not provided
Online minimum players
Not provided
Online maximum players
Not provided
Tags
FantasyResource ManagementLong-term ProgressionTurn-based CombatExplorationMain Story 20–50 HoursLevel ProgressionStory-driven3D GraphicsThird PersonSolo-friendly
Supported game languages
Not provided
Requires base game
Not provided
Standalone
Not provided
Age ratings
Not provided
Play modes
Single player
Perspectives
Top-down

Release editions

Sources

  • www.supergiantgames.com