10. Bastion. 10. Bastion. 25 best hack'n'slash hames of all time (2023)

October 19, 2023

10. Bastion

While we've already listed quite a few games that have been labeled as "innovative" or "original," each of them feels cliché when compared to Bastion. Because Bastion isn't a classic hack'n'slash, focused on slaughtering monsters, earning experience points, and managing equipment. The main difference is the fact that this title wasn't created by a big developer - as is usually the case with the giants of the discussed genre - but by the independent several-person team of Supergiant Games.

Another thing is the presented world and the plot. Let's start with the fact that the plot is the foundation of the game and the driving force of the gameplay. The action takes place in a world of which we know only that it was once affected by an unknown calamity, causing it to become what it is now - a complex of platforms levitating high above the surface of the earth.

The main character, named Kidd, traverses this dangerous world, searching for survivors and striving to gather them in one, safe place - the titular Bastion. Yet the most interesting (and perhaps the best) thing about this story is that there's only one voice participating – that of the narrator. A man with a tone and demeanor reminiscent of Western saloon gunslingers, who comments on all our actions and even... quotes the dialogue between characters visible on the screen. Despite the beautiful, fairy-tale style that's closer to our reality, the presented world is recalled by the guitar soundtrack and the presence of firearms, for instance.

What about the gameplay? Combat - which makes up a significant part of the game - has a slightly more arcade-like feel than in most hack'n'slash games. We don't only attack (using two types of weapons, like machetes and bows), but we also have to worry about active dodging.... well, and about not falling off platforms, which are often narrow and pothole-like. The equipment has been limited to a few models of weapons, which we upgrade to a maximum of three levels and to which we match special attacks. The development of the character is slightly more complicated. Nevertheless, the mechanics aren't simple at all - the player more than once has to think carefully about what equipment and what attacks will be best for a given expedition. Especially since the difficulty level, unlike the visuals, doesn't seem to be fairytale-like at all. It's just a shame that the production in question is unusually short by genre standards.

Anyway, Bastion is pure magic - the magic of indie games. Luckily, after the release of this game (in 2011), Supergiant Games didn't rest on its laurels. In 2014, Transistor was released - another isometric action RPG, this time set in a cyberpunk-like setting and more distant from the philosophy of the hack'n'slash genre, but equally stylish and unique, and at the same time incredibly playable.