Story Beats: Bastion

[@flibbernodgets7018]

I struggled with the decision to take or leave Zulf for so long, but once I made it, I felt good about it. And then I saw the corridor I was meant to walk down. "Huh boy," I thought. "Well, I have five healing tonics, I might be able to make it." But as I got maybe a third of the way down the path I realized even that wasn't enough. I felt an overwhelming sadness as I thought "I made the wrong choice. All the good I was trying to do won't matter anymore, because I tried to save someone who really didn't deserve it." But then to my amazement, the Ura stopped firing. I stood where I was and looked around at the stoic warriors hemming me in on all sides. I was struck, not with my own bravery, but with their nobleness in being able to look past their own hate and forgive me for what I had done. I was not proud for my own accomplishment, but proud to have enabled understanding between two races. It was a magical moment and I hope I never forget it. I want to tell stories that have this much impact on people.

[@nekochiyu5060]

And then that one Ura starts shooting again, but gets taken out by another Ura behind them.

[@Bidmartinlo]

I remember well when I first played this game. I choose to save Zulf, because I knew that's what a hero would do... and that's what a friend would do. I even sort of knew that they would let me go, because they weren't monsters in the end. Then I choose to restore the world in an attempt to save it, because it's worth saving... for the ones who had died in the Calamity... even if there was a chance that everything would repeat.

[@Shireke01]

When I played Bastion the first time and chose to save Zulf, I was 12. I cried my damn eyes out as I heard "Mother I'm Here" and the moment I walked between the Ura and they stopped firing got cemented into my soul as the moment I really started loving video games. They were... not just toys for me anymore.

[@DarkestMirrored]

This is one of those videogame moments that really stuck with me. I never got the chance to play Bastion myself, but even having only seen it through an LP, seeing the climactic scene again brought tears to my eyes. The bit right towards the end where the one soldier shoots you and is promptly cut down by their commanding officer really sold the sequence.

[@DM_Dad]

I loved it. I'd still recommend picking it up.

[@Ryan-hb1lp]

Think I picked it up for $2 on the last Steam sale. Well worth it.

[@Soma2710]

I know this is 2 years late, but I hope you picked up the game. It has so much replay value, being that you have so many different weapon loadouts. Oddly enough, I’m watching this vid today bc the wifey and I just had a daughter a month ago, and she really likes when I sing Zia’s song to her, which made me want to replay the game and beat it for the zillionth time.

[@jeremysaklad6703]

I have a slightly different interpretation of Bastion, but that by no means makes yours less valid. I see the actions of the Mancers of Caelondia as the secret atrocities of the few, not representative of the greater whole of the city. In fact, I think Caelondians might have rebelled entirely if the attempt to wipe out the Ura was brought to light. Unfortunately, that never had a chance to happen. I think the real question of the game is this: is it better to try to fix problems, even if you may fail, or to cope with them and give up any chance of fully fixing them? If the Bastion is used to rewind the world, it may just throw the universe into a stable time loop forever. However, detonating the Cores and flying off would leave the dead… dead. There isn’t a good answer, and the different world-views of the Ura and the Caelondians play a big role in the surviving Ura’s decision to mount an assault: they don’t believe the Bastion can change things for the better. Moreover, they have no reason to trust Rucks and The Kid. As far as they can tell, Caelondia just tried to commit genocide during peacetime. Are they even telling the truth about the Bastion’s function? Bastion is a game about cycles. Revenge follows revenge, Calamity follows Calamity, transgression follows transgression. The points of contention between the City and the Tazal Terminals are moot, but tension remains. Until both sides truly agree to bury the hatchet, to break the cycle, that tension can never leave.

[@dstarr3]

You're like the "Every Frame a Painting" of video games.

[@debodatta7398]

He's nowhere near as skilled or versed on the subject as "Every Frame a Painting" is.

[@jonathansalvador5037]

@@debodatta7398 I think that's unfair. They use different forms of analysis, with Innuendo dwelling mostly on the subtext and Every Frame a Painting focused almost entirely on text.

[@DM_Dad]

I forgot about the choice with Zulf and only remembered the end choice, which was great. I like how they made Zulf's actions understandable.The beautiful music really adds to the scene. I never felt bad for killing or breaking because everything was hostile. Except once when I accidentally destroyed on of the "statues" of a person and the Narrator commented on it. I WANTED to wreck stuff when the base was attacked and the Narrator told me my pets "didn't make it." I became furious. The only time I've been angrier at an enemy in a game was when the tribe kills the doctor and kidnaps your friends in FarCry 3. I was mad I didn't get my roaring rampage of revenge. However, I did like how the Narrator tells you that the "monsters" were really just wild animals or other creatures that actually had a part in society before the Calamity. This is a good video. I really liked the part about story telling generally. However, I didn't feel guilty with the Companion Cube. I hadn't formed a bond with it, but was told I had one.

[@theunholyadventurer2376]

W8, ur pets can die? I guess I was quick to defeat the Ura before they could kill my pets.

[@zoegaia1745]

"Hiroshima level assault" That's exactly what I thought of while finishing my first playthrough last night.

[@hrnekbezucha]

I found this channel when I was searching for the meaning of Dear Esther. And every video since then was great. Thank you for what you do.

[@johngaete2413]

i always loved the final decision of this game, i just sit in my couch for half an hour thinking what to do, and started crying when i decided what to do

[@himethisisme]

Clutch "unforeseen circumstances" pun at the 10 minute mark. Also I love this series.

[@Davesknd]

That moment in Bastion was what made the game stand out to me. The moment when you stop your rampage, pick up your betrayed friend and walk through the fire, all while the background music basically tells us how he meets the goddess of loss and longing, the lorn mother from where all come.

[@scrustle]

A narrative-heavy game can totally be mechanically pure. It's an example I bring up all the time, but that's only because it does this kind of thing so well, but I would argue Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is the perfect example of that. Neither story nor mechanics are compromised to serve the other. In fact the opposite it true, they strengthen each other, and form a brilliantly cohesive whole. The problem with games being a "bad" medium for storytelling is that so often it attempts to tell stories in a way that is not suited to it. They don't do stuff like what Bastion or Brothers do, and take inspiration from other mediums which work with different rules, which can't really be applied to games. They're not meant for games, so it doesn't work. While I'm fine for games focusing on gameplay over story, or vice versa (although personally I usually prefer the former), that doesn't mean that those things have to be opposed to each other. You can have both, and both of them can be deep and involving, and both contribute to a cohesive whole. It can be done. Games aren't "bad" at telling stories, people are just generally bad at using games to tell stories. I'd also argue that a lot of the people who say games aren't good at telling stories simply don't understand what games are. I mean people who don't play games and don't really have an interest in them. Who don't know that games have a potential to tell stories in a way that other mediums cannot. They'll judge games as a storytelling method through the lens of other mediums, because they don't understand that games require their own, or what that lens would be.

[@stationshelter]

+Scrustle And like how in Papers Please the narrative and mechanics are inextricably linked, so that all of your actions in the game are contextualized in the narrative and bear consequences to both the narrative and gameplay.

[@jsonstache]

This is one of those endings that can consistently make me cry whenever I think about it. Greg Kasavin has been such an amazing lead writer for Supergiant Games. I watched the No Clip documentary about the making of Hades and he talked about how during the COVID lockdown, their office got looted, and his response was compassion. For the people who robbed him. Storytellers are the best of us, god damn...

[@LithiumThiefMusic]

just seeing that last scene play out in the intro gave me chills hardcore. I set my sail; Clouds are making way for me. I'm coming home, sweet home....

[@Undlark]

These were so great! You've no idea how much I want to hear people reviewing a game based on categories like these.

[@jakandem]

"...they're too good not to use" I've been waiting to hear that sentence for some time. Thank you :)

[@JimmytLeafy]

I think what really did it for me about saving Zulf in Bastion was this idea of guilt. Like you said, the Kid is tasked with essentially destroying everything in order to get the Bastion running and reset all your damage. But this includes destroying the Ura, regardless if you choose to reset or move on. By saving Zulf, you have a way to redeem yourself, at least a little bit, for all of the destruction you are responsible for. That's the one feeling that made that moment so powerful for me, and the one thing I feel like this video didn't quite do justice to. Other than that, it was a really awesome video. Keep up the good work!

[@CraparellaSmorrebrod]

Easily the most insightful video I've seen in the past 4 weeks. A big round of applause and thanks! :-D

[@lagmion4061]

This essay is amazing. I came here for a story summary to catch all the details and interpretations after finishing the game, but goddamn, I struck gold. I know I'm 4 years too late, but please keep doing this kind of videos. They speak to the true heart of game and storytelling.

[@EVacStation]

I love Bastion and it's a seriously under-appreciated game as most people I know never heard of it or don't care about it. For me, I chose to save Zulf because, if I recall, it seemed like his people had turned on him to and I figured if I could get him out of there, I could get more information and maybe better understand what was going on. And for the final choice, I had to go with leaving the old world behind and staying in the Bastion. When presented with the choice of going back in time to before it all took place or going forward with the current timeline, I knew going back to me meant nothing was really learned and nothing will ever truly change from it. And it's a game that I go back to all the time when a bad breakup happens or when an unfortunate event occurs. Going back and dwelling in the past doesn't solve the issue, but just allows it to happen again or for those feelings to linger endlessly. It's a game that opened my eyes to moving on and moving forward with life rather than going back to the past. If you haven't played it, seriously check it out. I may put too much into it. But came along at the right time for me to feel really profound and it is an absolute favorite of mine.

[@Jiroxys25]

The entire Story Beats series has been absolutely masterful. I can't wait to see what new concepts will be explored on this channel next!

[@pookage]

LONELINESS OF THE TOWER CRANE DRIVER!! Incredible analysis and, for what it's worth, I think that games have been (for me at least) the most effective delivery system of story-telling and emotional empathy that I've experienced. You used Half-Life 2 as an anti-example, but that was actually the first game that made me believe that a game was capable of delivering a story; I'd played Myst and Command & Conquer but it had always felt...contrived somehow. Like it was being squeezed in or could better be served by being a film or book. HL2 made me feel powerless and scared at the start; haunted and nervous in ravenholm, and that it was my duty to care for and lead the rebellion in city 17. From what I've experienced since then - games are the most efficient medium for ~empathetic~ storytelling that we currently have. And I'm so glad that you used Bastion as an example for this, because (as you pointed out) the emotional impact of acting out this final heroic behaviour had a profound impact on me. Being shot at for ages; using your last health potion; the shots slowly dying off and then one stray shot being fired and the shooter being knocked to the ground by their kin - it felt how the storytellers were, no doubt, trying to make me feel - and made the final decision of whether to rebuild or move on all the more poignant. I've never replayed that game - I've never wanted to rewrite that story.

[@jorge2060shake]

That moment in bastion as I think with many other stuck with me in a way very few video games ever been able to. I will always remember it. It was a pure unadulterated holy moment that brought me to tears! Everything works so well from the music, and story to the gameplay to brings us this magical moment that only a interactive medium could achieve! Bravo!!

[@MrHandsomeHippo]

Your point about sympathetic emotions and the power of gaming, interactive, storytelling done right is exactly what I mean to articulate and never can, thank you this is awesome. Found you earlier today so I know what I'm binging. Seriously your analysis of my favourite medium is always completely spot on.

[@josephcorridon9314]

An interesting thing I think you forgot to mention is that reversing the calamity is implied to cause it to happen again. If you replay the game then you hear the last words from the time rewrite ending at the start of your new play through.

[@davidlindsey5051]

Joseph Corridon I fucking know!!!! Man I shouldn't have reset it. :(

[@d1scordia]

the narrator says stuff like "this seems familiar too"

[@Himiko_Void]

I feel like the one thing you forgot to mention on this video is that in Bastion the caveat is that even if you do rewind time and fix the problems of society you do so with the issue in that you will completely forget everything that happened at the time. Bastion poses the question of do you want to go back to a society that will, absolutely ignorant of the future, repeat its mistake due to the lack of knowledge and guilt that weighs heavy on the player themself but not the player character? When I played Bastion, I was absolutely floored by the reveal to me and my emotions towards Caelondia and the narrator became extremely muddled, and I did genuinely cry when I decided to experiment with not saving Zulf [on my first playthrough, I saved Zulf and did not reset the world back to before the calamity]. The game tells you, clearly, that the reset takes you back before this all happens, yes, and it does fix everything, yes, but you cannot stop the Caelondian government from doing what they are planning to do because you have absolutely no knowledge of what has happened, nor does anyone else. You have no knowledge of the attempted genocide, no knowledge of the backfire of that genocide, and no knowledge that you have already done this even if the NG+ mode actually does hint that the initial thing the Kid did was reset the world, and the second playthrough is him deciding to live with the mistakes his society has made. Though the NG+ hint is quickly forgotten and moved on and never referenced again. It's my opinion that saving Zulf and not resetting the world is... not the best, nor really the better, but the most acceptable. You will force the one man who helped in the aiding of creating the mass-murder machine to live with the mistakes he has made and the fact that he, essentially, betrayed the trust of the citizens [because the citizens themselves were not guilty of this, the government was] and the Ura that he tried to wipe out by virtue of just being a technician on the machine, it allows Zulf to live on with a part of Caelondia that did not genuinely want to do this [the Kid after all saved him] and gave hope, and it allowed Zia to live and grow Uran with Zulf because in Caelondia she never really got to be an Uran. I don't really know where I am going with this because my feelings towards Bastion is complicated [in a good way, it's one of my favourite games], but the tldr is that I think allowing Zulf a second chance at life shows the Kid's growth as a person, his extreme newfound sense of self after being militaristic for so long [he served in the worst part of the military to get money for his mother and then again because he had no other life but of violence to go back to], allows Zia the chance to connect with a culture she was isolated from despite it being her father culture, and allows Rucks to repent for being a technician and the cause of this. I think it's a story of growing better in spite of [society-built] prejudice, and being able to live peacefully after so long. Sorry for this mess of a comment.

[@seto235]

This is an awesome conclusion to the amazing Story Beats series. I loved every little bit of it, and still can't help but frequently think about it all. I'm really proud to be your patreon :-)

[@Shadowreaper5]

Found you through Dan Recommends on Extra Credits. This video was great! 5:44 man that start up of the song gets me every time. I do wish you had talked about the significance of the big sword dude chopping down the crossbowman attacking you (around 8:27 ish). To me it gave a sense of, without words, acceptance of your act of heroism. Not only that, they know what you *could* do with that shard, but because of your willingness to lay down arms to carry one of their own to safety, they accept your choice for the future.

[@Cybershell13]

All your vids are good but I really liked this one, great job.

[@LexFloyd]

I need more of this. You make me aware of why I love immersive empathy-imposing gaming. We developers and designers must focus on providing humanizing experiences. Less entertainment, more storytelling.

[@DrMecha]

Undertale may prove to be more of a critique of wrecking shit than "Spec ops: the Line".

[@LvLupXD]

+DrMecha Hell, Undertale also did some really good mechanics as joke moments too ("You're blue now. That's my attack!")

[@thedeviantguy]

Undertale was far better of a critique, and would still be even if it's only for the fact that it's message wasn't "stop playing the game"

[@trickygriffongaming3473]

The whole video is a tangent and I love it

[@FeamT]

Fantastic work. I always enjoy getting a new perspective on one of my favorite games, and I particularly loved the way you connected the other story beats to this one, and really showed the broader lesson to be seen from this series, and from games in general.

[@Stallnig]

You have an amazing ability to explain concepts and inexpressable thoughts and feelings so one can understand them. Please never stop creating content.

[@youknowinhindsight]

The second half of this video is probably the most meaningful and interesting analysis you've ever created, which is saying A LOT. Your videos keep getting better and better and I can't wait to see what you do in the future :D

[@bassmastervan9391]

Huh, was not expecting a Mars Volta reference on this channel of all places lmao. That aside, great vid!

[@michaelpowell3204]

The microwave corridor in Metal Gear Solid 4.

[@sterlingpratt4901]

I came here for Bastion content and found something I truly didn't expect, thanks so much for the breakdown! 🖤

[@theFengchui]

extra credits brought me to your channel and i've been munching you videos, they are so so good! finally a channel that treat games as they should really be treated as, art form that differs from every other one, thank you for that :)

[@wildoesthings]

Will we get one of these for Transister (please)? Specifically, I'd love to hear you discuss Transsitor's use of the PS4 controller. I don't know if you use PS4--I'm a very new fan--but the controller has the Transistor speak through it versus just have the audio piped on the TV and plays with the backlight thematically, which I think is just a brilliant way of using a mechanic to make an already intimate game even more intimate. I'd also just love to hear you discuss the story overall! Thanks for you amazing content so far. Your content is some of the most impressive and thought-provoking I've seen in a good long time.

[@DivineSoB]

You are incredible. Errant Signal, Noah Caldwell-Gervais, SuperBunnyHop, and now you. Thank you for existing.

[@xintract]

this is the video that finally convinced me to play bastion, I had previously played transistor and wasn't that into it. Bastion is one of my favourite games now, I am so happy I gave it a try.

[@BurnBluefireK]

I really like the zero escape series for utilizing the format it's in that VN or VN style games usually don't. The most use of interactivity is usually player choice hence dating sims and the like. And while it's definitely more streamlined in a game, that could still be done in a book. But ZE utilizes it's choice and then pushes it by bringing in the context of its different endings. They're not superfluous and going through the game again is an integral part of the story and it's ideas. Something that makes you realize you've been playing through one whole narrative the entire time under the pretense of the genres proclivity to separate and debatably canon endings. VLR also has one particular reveal that wouldn't work without player POV too that's really neat.

[@awesomecat26]

I'd just like to say I have enjoyed this series immensely. Thank you for making it.

[@antiggames]

I've just finished the game, and with my lack of attention and perception, I didn't get the Bastion would make us go back on track and restart everything again, I'll replay the final section and make the right decision, because it's what I wanna do, when I saved Zulf. Since that at some parts of gameplay I was feeling that Narrator was talking with a strict mind knowing only 2 sides of, Black in the White and stuff and I didn't want to do that. However at the end I fucked all up and made the mistake of going back on track. I didn't expecting such point of view of the story and detailed as you counted, great job man, even being a 4 years ago it's still go for today, congratulations. This game worthed the hours and deaths and a little bit of smoothly at gameplay, but after seeing your video, made me thinks more about the story that SuperGiant wanted to count, and that's a big deal.

[@feldspar1000]

"The Conscience: We haven't lost everything, long as we have that."

[@TrowaVidel]

This Choice is what elevated this game from a very interesting but straightforward action game... To a game I reflect on years later. I was in love with the narrative and the world, but the act of saving zulf stuck with me beyond anything else...

[@alexburn4014]

if interesting to look at bastion now and how it effects the players compared to games like, undertale, oneshot and OFF. In bastion the Kid is you so you get angry when the ura invade and kill your pets and you feel sorry or resentful for zulf that influences your action to save him. The stories method of undertale makes the players into characters themselves in the fictional world and then makes you feel the weight of your actions even outside the game. the characters are design to make you like them in some way shape or form. Their flaws reflect your in a way so it hurts to kill them knowing there is no going back.

[@benjoe1993]

Very stong and emotional scene. I haven't felt stronger in a game than during carrying Zulf through the arrows.

[@PhilosophicalStorytime]

Fantastic video. Well written and edited as a video essay, and in terms of content, it was a fine exploration of that narrative/mechanics nexus which forms the core question of video game criticism today (much as it was at the core of explorations of "pure" cinema a hundred years ago, in the Eisenstein vs. Vertov, Kino-Fist vs. Kino-Eye debates)...

[@AdobadoFantastico]

12:25 I think this is a good point. A lot of people get focused on the fact that many stories are horribly mismatched to their game system and just assume it can never be a thing. But I think that it's also important to differentiate *story* from *narrative*. Because a story is basically a sequence of events. Games have tons of these. They're inherent. a A narrative is architected and directed. A narrative is not inherent. I think the large difference is that the exploration of game systems is fundamentally at odds with any kind of pre-determined path. There are systems that work with paths, but further constraining it to a specific pacing and framing introduces too many problems for most games. Stories are great. But it's really hard to maintain a designed *narrative*, because it tends to demand those things like pacing and framing. It's really hard to pace and frame something when someone else's whims are at play. Sometimes it's sort of cheated in, like with Spec Ops. Where they basically recognized the narrative is at odds with the gameplay, and then shove that in your face. Then you have the awesome *story* of how you went through the experience and slowly(or maybe suddenly, at the very end) realized what it was that was going on. It's like the "story" of me realizing how to play BloodBorne(never played DS series). It's very interesting and captivating and it impactful. It does have a specific sequence, pacing, and framing....when it's *retold*. But the story of the odds I'm against as a player and my response to the given challenges or opportunities can be designed agnostically to narrative devices. Quake has *many* a story. But that's not the same as the narrative of how a given character got themselves involved in this deathmatch. Narratives are often highly intrusive specifically *because* they are so often interfering with the player's story.

[@bensomeone]

I literally just beat Bastion today, and this is so good. Thank you!

[@MilitaryToilet]

was expecting a recap of bastion's story, got something much more in-depth, bravo

[@Artcaneon]

I rescued Zulf and didn't reset in my very first run...

[@LLAAPPSSEE]

+León Arcano Same. Heh.

[@MissPoplarLeaf]

Same. I didn't feel like I could, in good conscience, reverse all the horrible things and just have it happen all over again. I felt it was better to move on and change.

[@cuddlytitan4623]

This was great! I saved this video in watch later for after I finished Bastion myself, and I chose to save Zulf and activate the escape protocol ,or whatever it's called. It almost brought tears to my eyes and I loved the game!

[@Robhockey146]

You should make more videos man i really liked this one despite never playing the game and the smash video is one of my favorite videos of all time

[@Arcae95]

man seen that scene in Bastian I started tearing up I've never played the game nor had I heard of it but geez I teared up. thats was so climatic and will Illustrated

[@Winnders]

Your taste in music is so goooooodddd! Refused and elbow and Venetian snares I've heard so far through my binging 👍👍👌👌🙌🙌

[@coldDrive]

The recap at the end gives the impression you won't do any more of these. It'd be a shame.

[@InnuendoStudios]

+Generic Username I'll still be talking plenty about games and narrative, just not in this series specifically. :)

[@coldDrive]

+Innuendo Studios Neat! Again, thank you for your work.

[@BornFlunky]

+Innuendo Studios I admit I'm somewhat saddened by the prospect of this series going away, but I look forward to your future work and discussion, regardless.

[@kienesel7]

Well, both a player in a narrative game, you could argue any game, and an actor in a play have a responsibility to deliver a narrative. If either decides to neglect it in favor of jumping on heads, the story would break in either case so it doesn't seem like anything is off in my opinion. As players we can't just sit back and adsorb it, to get the full effect we are meant to engage with the fiction and serve it as much as it serves us.

[@kienesel7]

+SvennoB You could, if you wanted to make enemies, say its easier for an actor to act in a movie than it is for a writer to write it, but that wouldn't speak to the importance of their job within the work. Effort isn't and has never been directly proportional to merit.

[@Zackapo]

The game Save the Date by Paper Dino deals with guilt and player responsibility in an incredible way. It's free to download.

[@alexh1687]

That is the most interesting video i've seen on story in video games. Thank you so much for making this !

[@phil1530]

these videos are so good

[@trevorratchford3768]

Never stop this channel IS.

[@scottadamgordon1625]

What the hell did I just watch?!?! THIS IS WONDERFUL!!!!

[@Snackery24]

Who would’ve known I’d watch this four years later and hear the best description for last of us 2

[@The-Magnus]

That's pretty good point. I'll say that I never caught that on my first playthrough of Bastion, but now I'll keep that in mind on future playthroughes.

[@minch333]

Couldn't agree more. I've been thinking a lot about this stuff recently and come to the same conclusions. I'm currently making a tiny free browser game but my main aim of it is to have the narrative and mechanic completely connected whilst expressing a certain puzzle design philosophy.

[@nofxd52]

What do people think of "walking simulators" as a pure form of narrative and mechanics? Specifically Gone Home. When mechanics are really simple, and don't really offer violent means, it makes it pretty simple to never have to compromise either mechanics or gameplay. And it also sets up the type of experiences explained that games have unique to themselves, like the feeling of personally exploring a space (as opposed to a lifeless camera guiding you through)

[@stationshelter]

+Michael Indiano cohesively combining narrative and mechanics so that they work together properly is very difficult, most games don't bother, either because they intentionally aren't narrative focused, or because adding mechanics in the traditional sense will distract from the narrative. I don't want to say that walking simulators are a cop-out, because video games are a new medium and we haven't figured out how to do everything super well yet, but you don't need less mechanics to make a better narrative.

[@SoulGameStudio]

I very much like that kind of story telling that comes through play, with barely a few lines of text. I think it's really powerful and there is plenty to explore in that direction.

[@nonnayabuzzness1364]

u really love your videos, my by far favorite is we don't talk about kenny, not to say that your other videos aren't amazing too. I mean, you've made me interested in ELA. Keep up the awsome videos

[@nonnayabuzzness1364]

i* really love ur vids

[@d0gbug]

the idea that there is no such thing as a story telling medium fundamentally changed the way i view art

[@martinmiguez5677]

I dont give 10/10 scores lightly and they are a rarity of mine, This video story beats, deserve it, it was AMAZINGly good, i feel a lot wiser now, and i agree 100% with the video

[@jefrouner]

Loved this. Sorry to see the series end.

[@dandundun]

Bastion has always been my favorite game. There's no doubt that the method in which a story is told is just as/more important as the story itself. That final scene hurts me. It makes me feel as though I'm selfish even though I'm saving Zulf. And even more if I don't...

[@Apollo9898LP]

The final choice was harder for me to make, but i think choosing to save or leave Zulf is a close second in its impactfulness. All in all, the game is amazing

[@Adaleste]

This series is excellent. Thank you!

[@IAmTheFreakshow]

Holy crap, I watched the Phil Fish video forever ago, and recognized the voice. Randomly coming back to your channel, with some quality content again. Have a like., thanks for really good video.

[@duke86fan]

definitely agree with your point about mechanics and agency interfering with narrative. i love HL2 but i gotta admit narratively gordon freeman would just jump around all the time while people talk.. i like games that more just give you a ton of gameplay while the story is in the area.. like bastion, or portal. even the beginners guide to an extent. games that give you smart storylines, while giving me enough ludonic entertainment to satisfy my need to do something that my autism gives me

[@EgorTimatkov]

There are also games like Rimworld, where the whole goal is to build your own story instead of following the narrative. Although this has its own drawbacks, I think that it avoids both the problems of "narrative without agency" or "agency without narrative" because no matter what you do, that's what happens

[@sheehwayou]

Story Beats is definitely my favorite series. Hurts for it to have to end so soon...

[@Cubics_Rube]

Didn't expect an Elbow song at the end. Nice ending to an interesting topic :)

[@icecreambone]

this is really interesting, since i remember extra credits saying that the mechanics of bastion as a brawler doesnt add anything to the story, but through the lens of being complicit in imperialism and xenophobia, maybe it does

[@SoulGameStudio]

Nice to watch this video because the famous conflict between system and narative stroke me recentely in The Witcher 3. After 60 hours of play, I realized I was not playing a fun game, but was experimenting a great story. Spam X to kill, spam A to collect, in a unremarkable and barely tensed way. Follow the yellow arrow, go through infinite lands that are, no matter how beautiful, irrelevant from a level design perspective. So why was I playing for? For story and characters. The Witcher 3 is a graceful exercice of pulling you from one story to another, luring you on the way with shiny things and an occasional boobs. It's definitely not, a fun system to play. Not sure why I'm rambling here anyway! Great video.

[@NathanielJordan85]

Glad you did this video. The game was fun, but forgettable right up to this scene. This was the segment that made me love the game.

[@owenmacdonald7428]

Honestly you should publish books or something, seriously educational and quality content in these videos! Phenomenal video yet again, I'm so glad I subscribed to this channel after the Anita Sarkeesian stuff you did last year.

[@heyitsmort7744]

This would make a great starting point for a video on Beholder. That game had emotional impact on me as I played it.

[@TCDriftingLeaf]

fantastic series - thanks

[@singlikeyoumeanit3261]

Wow, very deep and thought provoking! Excellent

[@MisterNohbdy]

"There doesn't seem to be any good reason NOT to save Zulf and I don't know anyone who didn't on the first try." Having to drop your new OP weapon moments before being able to achieve your ultimate goal seems like a preeetttty good reason.

[@YayapLives]

Still tear up to bastions final couple songs.

[@eggnogninja0]

Oh man this video is so good.

[@Kelthret]

Wow. This was really good, thanks for making it.

[@PanEtRosa]

Two points to add, one con and one pro. Other media certainly had their periods of morally-toned reaction to not just the particular content but the new tools the content introduced. When Latin evolved into the Romance languages, scholars warned that shifting usage eroded the dignity of the Empire. When the printing press spread, there was more than a century of handwringing about scholars no longer having exclusive rights to interpret the written word. And then more recently, film, radio and television were derided as frivolous distraction. It's really just a maturing period every new communication tool goes through. That said, none of the past's apocalyptic predictions about new media came true and I would ~hope~ society at large would have learned by now but here we are.......... Second, it was incredibly timely for me to see this video today. Earlier, I read "How to get your mind to read" in NYT Opinion from Nov 25. It raised a point I've been thinking about but didn't quite know how to express, that storytelling requires shorthand. Pure expression, if it's even possible, is......... unwieldy. The author must decide to leave things out, and this involves gambling on what their audience knows. Which goes back to the first part of my comment. The criticism only lasts as long as it takes for a new media's tools and tropes to spread throughout society.

[@Chthonic_Tonic]

Man, I love your videos. If only you had the opportunity/desire to make them more often, that would be awesome.

[@Slitheringpeanut]

I would like to point out a minor point: Everything is out to kill The Kid. No matter what you do, you get attacked. So the destruction is more or less forced on you.

[@BeliakYT]

I wish you would make more story beats they are so good :(

[@TheCyberwoman]

Anyone else not play this game but choked up at that song because of the emotional association with Dice Funk?

[@fugitiveunknown7806]

I chose to save him, and flee. I had no reason to believe that repeating the exact same actions wouldn't result in the same thing happening. You could be locking the entire universe into a closed loop.

[@lumpofcoal2437]

This analysis was much, much more interesting than the game itself. I played it through to the end but by the middle of it I was only doing out of a sense of "duty", so to speak. It's a damn good-looking game, but mechanically it feels repetitive, lackluster and inconsistent, as if it is trying too hard to be multiple things at the same time while not being particularly good at any of them. Still, one can't deny the sheer talent that was involved in the making of it, and I look forward to eventually giving Transistor and Pyre a good try so I can see how Supergiant has evolved since then.

[@BvrrT80]

Beautifully insightful. Love your work.