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Nemoide
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Re: Together Retro January 2021 - 2011 games!

by Nemoide Mon Jan 18, 2021 12:33 am

I finished Bastion tonight! It lives up to its reputation as being a really good game!

I feel like when it came out, I heard a lot of folks saying "watch out for spoilers!" and because of that I ended up missing out on bits of information that would have made me more interested in playing it a decade ago.
First, like I mentioned before, it's an action RPG! I saw the isometric perspective and read about how the world grows around you in squares and was assuming some sort of slow-paced or tactical thing. Instead, it's action and it's plenty of fun! It's never too hard but you can ramp up the challenge with something you unlock somewhat early in the game.
Second, that the narrator is closer to Tom Waits than John Hurt. I heard that everything in the game was narrated, but I was assuming someone who sounds like a proper British gentleman reading a bedtime story or something. Instead the narrator sounds like a grizzled old cowboy telling the story in between shots of whiskey, chainsmoking the whole time. Definitely creates a different sort of atmosphere!
Third, that the setting is post-apocalyptic fantasy, but pretty different from most post-apocalyptic OR fantasy settings. There are some interesting political implications about the world before "the calamity" which is never explored in too much depth but involves an empire in decline that relies on large walls and the exploitation of people. The game's setting feels like its aged quite well.

As for where this fits in gaming history, I feel like it's definitely a noteworthy title of 2011. At the time, a lot of big games were starting to get bloated and padded out. Bastion is a part of the early wave of indie games that stood out on Xbox Live Arcade as offering an excellent experience that stands far apart from the AAA titles of the day *and* most of the junk that was out there on XBLA. Bastion is short and sweet but offers multiple endings and a New Game+ mode for folks who are hungry for more.
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PretentiousHipster
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Re: Together Retro January 2021 - 2011 games!

by PretentiousHipster Tue Jan 19, 2021 6:26 pm

Getting the water from the spring in Skyward Sword :lol:

If I didn't know any better, I would have called this game a piece of performance art meant to show the flaws of games from this era.
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Note
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Re: Together Retro January 2021 - 2011 games!

by Note Thu Jan 21, 2021 12:59 pm

A bit late in the month, but my copy of Rayman Origins finally arrived! I managed to find a local seller that had a copy of the game, but it still took a bit of time to get it in the mail.

I've only played through about the first four levels but my impression of the game so far is ... it's great! The graphics are excellent, Ubisoft did an amazing job with the 2D graphics and animation. The cutscenes at the beginning of the game look like a Saturday morning cartoon. Also, the controls feel tight and the level designs are really well done so far.

I totally missed out on this game back in 2011, but glad that it was recommended by a few people here on RB. Look forward to playing more of it later tonight and throughout the weekend.
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PretentiousHipster
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Re: Together Retro January 2021 - 2011 games!

by PretentiousHipster Thu Jan 21, 2021 5:00 pm

There is so much potential for this. I went through some of the side quests, like giving the love letter to the hand in the toilet instead, the rattle for the baby, or Peatrice falling in love with you. I am completely enamored by the personality of this game. The Ancient Cistern was slightly better too. There was actually more than 1 floor this time :shock: and a decent boss battle. Still, if the gameplay was actually good then this could have ruled.

Funny, I loved Wind Waker for its personality, but despised the gameplay of it as well.
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Note
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Re: Together Retro January 2021 - 2011 games!

by Note Fri Jan 22, 2021 12:29 am

Nemoide wrote:I finished Bastion tonight! It lives up to its reputation as being a really good game!

As for where this fits in gaming history, I feel like it's definitely a noteworthy title of 2011. At the time, a lot of big games were starting to get bloated and padded out. Bastion is a part of the early wave of indie games that stood out on Xbox Live Arcade as offering an excellent experience that stands far apart from the AAA titles of the day *and* most of the junk that was out there on XBLA. Bastion is short and sweet but offers multiple endings and a New Game+ mode for folks who are hungry for more.


Glad to hear you liked Bastion! It was a contender for me to play this month, as the trailer and footage I glanced at looked great. I still might end up playing it later on in the year.

Did you play it on Xbox 360? Just curious, since it's available on a lot of different platforms.
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Nemoide
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Re: Together Retro January 2021 - 2011 games!

by Nemoide Fri Jan 22, 2021 12:41 am

Nope, I played it on Vita. I picked it up last year when Supergiant was clearing out remaining stock from the Limited Run Games release. It's really good on the Vita, though there were times when I feel like I'd have appreciated a larger screen
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Note
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Re: Together Retro January 2021 - 2011 games!

by Note Mon Feb 01, 2021 12:01 am

Just an update on my progress with Rayman Origins, I finished the four worlds that unlock and I believe I'm on the last few stages of the game, however, I haven't checked out a walkthrough, as I don't want to spoil anything for myself.

This game has been a pleasant surprise for me, as I realized I've only played a select few platformers from around this time. If anyone has any other recommendations for great platformers from 2011, or within this generation of gaming I would appreciate it as I totally missed out.
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PretentiousHipster
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Re: Together Retro January 2021 - 2011 games!

by PretentiousHipster Thu Feb 04, 2021 4:54 pm

I'll still post my Skyward Sword progress here if that's ok.

There are moments where I think "Oh this is great. I can overlook some of the flaws of this"... and then pull off some huge bullshit that completely ruins that though.

This time I had to fight the imprisoned twice within like an hour and a half, and now I gotta repeat the 3 hubs for THE THIRD TIME! This is just inexcusable.
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Re: Together Retro January 2021 - 2011 games!

by PartridgeSenpai Thu Feb 04, 2021 6:20 pm

PretentiousHipster wrote:I'll still post my Skyward Sword progress here if that's ok.

There are moments where I think "Oh this is great. I can overlook some of the flaws of this"... and then pull off some huge bullshit that completely ruins that though.

This time I had to fight the imprisoned twice within like an hour and a half, and now I gotta repeat the 3 hubs for THE THIRD TIME! This is just inexcusable.


I found that Skyward Sword really didn't justify like a third of its content. It took me like 30-ish hours to beat it and that last ten hours really felt like just spinning wheels for the sake of content rather than actual fun.
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Re: Together Retro January 2021 - 2011 games!

by prfsnl_gmr Thu Feb 04, 2021 8:35 pm

PartridgeSenpai wrote:
PretentiousHipster wrote:I'll still post my Skyward Sword progress here if that's ok.

There are moments where I think "Oh this is great. I can overlook some of the flaws of this"... and then pull off some huge bullshit that completely ruins that though.

This time I had to fight the imprisoned twice within like an hour and a half, and now I gotta repeat the 3 hubs for THE THIRD TIME! This is just inexcusable.


I found that Skyward Sword really didn't justify like a third of its content. It took me like 30-ish hours to beat it and that last ten hours really felt like just spinning wheels for the sake of content rather than actual fun.


Yep. Skyward Sword is fine by video game standards, but pretty bad by LoZ standards. Very, very mediocre, and way too long.
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