A Bastion Analysis - Part 2: Structures, Symbols, and Metaphors

Hello everyone, and welcome. This is part 2 of my two part write up of a video game I recently played and completed that goes by the name of Bastion. For the first part, I focused on the ending of Bastion, and how that fit so well with its entire story and video game format. For this part, I wanted to focus on Bastion’s entire story and characters, and point out some theories and key things I noticed about its narrative. I will be discussing its structure and how it might all flow together, and also take a look at each of its characters; seeing what they might represent with respect to the story, and its important choices at the end. So without further ado, let’s dive into Bastion’s magical world again, and explore its many wonderful pieces that I just can’t stop thinking about.

A Bastion Analysis - Part 1: The Power of an Ending

Ending

“The point in a journey in which there appear to be no more ‘directions,’ in which you can move ‘forward’.”

Stories, stories are all around us. Some long, some short, some emotional, some humorous, but all stories have their differences, and likewise, all stories have their similarities. Similarities, that which all stories share, those that are needed to craft a great narrative tale, things that you can find in each and every one of them. As an example of two of these qualities, all stories have a beginning, and all stories have an ending, and today I will be talking about one of those, the ending.

When it comes to stories, while the sum of its pieces and whole is important, and making every part as good as can be is essential, the endings of a story have always been my favorite part. The ending is what you see last, what sticks with you the most, and is what wraps up everything and concludes the entire tale.

But, this article/essay/something isn’t about why I love endings so much, this is about a video game. A game I played recently, that goes by the name of Bastion, and a game with one of the most unexpected endings I’ve ever seen. And as someone who loves endings, Bastion’s ending gave me the best final impression it could have given for the whole product. As a result, despite me not really being into the game, not greatly enjoying it, and somewhat forcing myself to get through for the majority of it, after I beat it, the curiosity and passion in my heart ignited like a fire, and I just had to do something about it, which led to this write up.

Not only that, but after completing the game, I went on to read so much about it online, its world, its characters, and I even went on to play through it a whole 2^nd time, and maybe even a 3^rd. Bastion as a game really represents why I love endings so much, because even if I wasn’t huge on the game before it, the result of that ending being so great had me fall head over heels in love with not just the ending, but the entire tale. When it comes to stories, the ending is always what comes to my mind first, because it is generally the part that the whole story was leading up to. So now, with the perfect example of this in Bastion, I’m going to talk about Bastion, and its entire tale, but more specifically, its ending, and why I loved it so so much, and won’t be forgetting it for a long long time.

As a result, the following is very spoiler heavy. Do not reading the below if you have not played and completed Bastion, as spoilers are everywhere. Part of what made Bastion such a great experience for me was how unexpected the entire narrative was, so I implore you to play through the game before reading the below, you will not regret it.