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From the IGN Review of Bastion:

"Bastion is one of the best downloadable games this year, but I didn't believe it right away. From the first time I saw it, I knew that the game was witty -- as evident from the narrator who literally narrates just about everything you do as you do it -- but Bastion was still just an action role-playing game. I moved through an area with my two weapons, shield, and special attack. No big deal. However, then Bastion started revealing itself to me, and I couldn't stop playing.

...

When I beat Bastion for the first time, I reloaded my save and played through for the second ending. When that was done, I started my new game plus. I'm not the repeat type of gamer, but Bastion's leveling, weapon upgrades, and difficulty tweaks are just too gosh-darn addictive. The story could've been better, but it doesn't matter. This game is amazing and you owe it to yourself to download it."

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From 1UP.Com's Bastion Review:

"Though Bastion focuses mainly on combat, it provides a surprising amount of choices for dispatching the waves upon waves of enemies sent your way. Nearly every level introduces a new weapon or skill, allowing you to optimize your character for any situation; and since any weapon can be assigned to either of the main attack buttons, your Kid can play the role of a melee-focused berserker, a sniper that prefers projectiles, or a happy medium between the two. The game's progression system adds even more customization, as you can upgrade each of Bastion's many weapons through multiple tiers of interchangeable effects, and level up your Kid to equip various stat bonuses -- which can also be swapped around at will. Bastion's action may seem somewhat simple, but the game gives players enough options to make experimentation both worthwhile and rewarding.

This experimentation extends to the Bastion itself; as the Kid brings back crystals from ruined lands, you can build (and later, upgrade) various structures that yield stat and weapon enhancements, an Achievement system that rewards you with in-game currency, and further ways to shape the action in a way that suits you best. While each player's Bastion will look identical by the game's end, the building priority is up to you; and if you're wondering about alternative possibilities for your home hub, there's always the New Game + mode -- though one playthrough of Bastion is fulfilling, you're not going to see everything without giving it a second go.

Truthfully, Bastion could be sold on its presentation alone; the game's hyper-detailed 2D graphics along with its eclectic and moving soundtrack perfectly match the well-told and understated story. But beneath this pretty packaging, there's a real game here -- and a good one at that. Supergiant Games seems to have done the seemingly impossible by creating the perfect mesh of game and story, all while preventing each of these elements from overpowering one another. Other developers, take note: this is how it's done."

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From the Gamespot Bastion Review:

"Bastion is a wonderfully diverse game that offers up a great deal of flexibility in how you approach its many challenges."

"The world of Bastion is brought to life with some truly exceptional hand-painted environments. Every stylish bit of scenery is filled with tiny touches that add to the game's fairytale vibe. While the world may be filled with color, its muted tones help underscore a somber tale that grows darker and darker as you progress. It's a wonderfully crafted adventure that presents a fun and focused challenge you can customize in all sorts of ways. Once you finish, a new game-plus feature opens up that lets you carry over all your weapons and experience from the previous game. Even though it may be the end of the world in Bastion, it's still an amazingly good time."

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Bastion is officially my favorite DL'able game of all time now and is up there amongst my favorite disc based games too!

Don't just take my word for it:

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“By wrapping every gameplay element around story conceits, Bastion becomes something new and exciting.” – Game Informer (9.25 / 10)

“Bastion isn’t just one of the year’s best titles. It’s also one of the best stories you’ll see in an indie game.” – GamePro (5 / 5)

“This game is amazing and you owe it to yourself to download it.” – IGN.com (9.0 / 10)

“It’s frightening to think how much the human voice has done to distance Bastion from the crowd.” – Edge (9 / 10)

“The entire game drips with passionate artistry from the gorgeous watercolor aesthetics to the stirring soundtrack.” – Wired (9 / 10)

“Bastion…wishes to persist, as a living artwork that may be revisited forever.” –Kill Screen (9 / 10)

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I hate to say this Robio, because the game hasn't been announced for PS3 (yet), but the game that Bastion keeps on calling up in my mind is Legend of Mana! The ruined world you are piecing back together, the watercolor graphics, the way you choose Gods to invoke during game-play, the varied weapons and skills you can choose and equip. It's not adventure like Zelda after all, it is a blending of genres. It tried to be many things, like Mana did, but this is the ultimate evolution of the concept. I'm not even going to get into the absolutely MASTERFUL, real-time Narration! EVERYONE AND ANYONE THAT HAS THE MEANS ---HAS TO--- PLAY THIS GAME ! ! !

Okay after listening to the podcast I was reminded that I didn't complain about Limbo in this thread. Game sucks. It'll leave you sad and disappointed. Don't buy it!!

travo said:

More Outland impressions:  The color scheme is a nice change from the usual browns and the animations are superb. I especially like the Tron like electric suit which is just amazing.  Each section is colorful, but not overdone.  The environments are lush jungle areas, mostly covered in shadows.  I really want a 2D sidescrolling HD Metroid for Wii U now.

Gameplay and control are note perfect.   I've always loved exploration type games ever since the first Metroid and that style was perfected with Super Metroid and Metroid Prime.  Outland adds nothing new to this genre.  In fact, everything is borrowed (inspired) from other series.  But why reinvent the wheel?  The Dark and Light powers make for interesting puzzles and powers.

Bosses? Well, I've only battled one, but it was a blast and I eagerly anticipate others.  I just hope there's more than just a couple bosses here.  I also hope that this is a lengthy game (eight hours or more.)

I would be in heaven if an exploration game was released like this for download every year.  We had Shadow Complex two years ago, now Outland, bring on the rest!

I have a confession to make.  I've never played Symphony of the Night.  I plan to fix that by the end of the year.

Moved this from the News Forums so it doesn't get lost in the daily comments! There's too many INCREDIBLE DLC games coming to --NOT-- keep this topic alive and thriving!

Or, I can get it and just not play it yet!

ITSP is only for 360 though, so it limits who can be in on this club.  

travo said:

I played the demo of From Dust today.  I've never played a Populous type game, except the SNES Sim City,  so this experience is new to me.  You're basically helping your tribe of men to populate the land by creating villages, vegetation and moving to distant lands to build on.  Each time you bring your men to a totem, a new village emerges.  You play as the Breath, which is a magical force that can manipulate the elements to help your tribe.   I guess it plays somewhat like Sim City because you have to maintain a balance between your villages, the animal population and the vegetation.  You can pick up the  earth to create a bridge, use lava to build, water for life.

The demo is a lot of fun, but I'm not sure I could recommend it because of the steep price (1200 points).  If it was about 800 points, then it would be an instant buy.

phantom_leo said:

The game gets to be a lot more intricate than you would think. You gain powers to evaporate water, jellify water, put out fires, amplify the breath, etc... You start to encounter Trees that burst into Flames and Trees that retain and release Water. The flame trees dry out wet areas and evaporate water. The water trees release a huge amount of water when they encounter fire. Putting a fire tree next to a village to dry the stream that is constantly flooding it, may seem like a good idea... until the fire tree starts to burn the village's vegitation. Putting a water tree barrier between a village and some fire trees may seem like a good idea, until they all burst at once, flooding your village. Everything needs to be kept in perfect balance, as it is in Nature... 'cept YOU'RE playing as the Deity that controls nature!

You get explosive trees later to break formerly unbreakable earth. You need to manage the repel water spells to counter the floods of the Water Trees... and just wait until you reach the "Breathing" Earth! Yeah, there are areas where the earth expands and contracts as if it were built on the giant chest of a god or beast... Tides come and go... where you place your water trees is vital. At one point they may be below a village, protecting its crops from fire, the next moment, they may be above the village, waiting to pop and flood the people below!

I'm about half way thru the story (I think) and it introduces new concepts every chapter. The game is totally intriguing! As you do better and better on the story maps, the game gives you Challange Maps to play on, increasing the playability 100-fold! Yes, there's even a map called Xuaenylom, as a tribute to their source of inspiration, which I thought was rather cool!

I guess that's why i got confused and put my reply in the 360 thread.