Bastion tells the tale of The Kid, whose world has disappeared overnight and must be put back together again. The game features twenty levels in the story mode that are all on the short side: each clock in at around ten minutes each (you can do the math for total game time). While the game does give you the occasional choice regarding which level to do next and which building to construct, eventually you’ll have all the levels completed (hopefully) and all of the buildings constructed, so it really does not matter. The levels are very linear: there is little side exploration to be found, and triggered events occur at the same time every time. Bastion also lacks lowered difficulty settings: while you can increase the enemy skill through the shrine (which grants an experience bonus), you can’t decrease it below what the developers have considered to be the entry-level skill level. This isn’t a problem most of the time, but some of the boss fights are tough as you are learning the game. You are given one chance per level to continue when you die; otherwise, you must go back to the beginning of the level and tediously completely everything all over again. Bastion also lacks the ability of saving your game at any time: it only preserves your progress when you enter the bastion (your home base), but if you’d like to save and pick up the game later at any other point, you are out of luck. Thanks for dictating when I can quit your game, developer: sorry, the fire alarm must wait, as I am in the middle of a level. Aaaaaaaaahhhhh it burns!

Out of eight? Huh?

8/8: Buy it now (A)
7/8: Buy it (B)
6/8: Buy it if you like the genre (C+)
5/8: Buy it if you really like the genre (C-)
4/8: Don't buy it (D)
3/8: Send a concerned letter to your representative (F-)