Bastion ending (obvious spoilers)

[Gabanuka]

Right so I just finished Bastion

and not only is it now on my top ten list of favrite games it is also on there for ending. I was wondering what options Escapists took. Save Zulf/Let him die and Evacuation/Timemagicalness

Personally I saved Zulf and reversed time. You?

 

[fdbluth]

Same here, except I played through a second time and made things right. There was just something so damn satisfying about moving on when you actually made the conscious choice to break the cycle that you repeated only a moment ago.

Also, had to save Zulf on both times. Thought about leaving him behind to do new stuff, but... damn, I just couldn't. I still do not know to this day what happens if you leave him to die.

Seriously, more people should be commenting about Bastion! It deserves all the love everyone can spare. I'm crazy about Skyrim too, but I'm making time!

 

[BeerTent]

With all the shit that happens, I just can't leave Zulf behind.

That's what I call a good story.

I planned on going back and breaking the cycle, but something came up and I forgot about the game. :<

 

[Hellz_Barz]

I saved zulf then set sail for somewhere else cause zia said the happiest she'd ever been was after calamity.

like I'd refuse that singing voice.

 

[lumenadducere]

Save Zulf and set sail for elsewhere.

Spoiler

If you do a New Game+ there are lots of hints that re-setting time just makes the same events happen again.

Because of that, to me there really is only one true choice as far as that's concerned. But still, it's a really emotional ending and the use of music throughout the game was phenomenal. Definitely looking forward to seeing what SuperGiant comes up with next.

 

[Guardian of Nekops]

I did both endings... giving the world another chance first, then moving forward to make something new.

On my second time around, I made sure to save all of the old world I could... finding all the animal eggs I could save and being sure to keep them alive. Of course, that always carried over to Zulf. The poor guy had every right to be angry, though of course his anger was misdirected when all we had left was the dregs.

That, and the ending sequence to saving him was just so damn cool... a few attackers at first, with legions of reinforcements beyond, making you think for SURE you're just going to die as you plod slowly, helplessly along, but the attacks trickle down to nothing until everyone just stares at you, unable to BELIEVE the noble stupidity of what you're doing.

Amazing.

 

[Kingme18]

Isn't there DLC for the game coming out this week?

 

[Khada]

Saved Zulf and reset the events of the calamity. Got half way through a second play through but got bored. I LOVED the ending... a great game.

 

[Hellz_Barz]

Isn't there DLC for the game coming out this week?

There was a patch recently but I would like to know if there's any truth in this?
Cause I haven't heard anything about dlc.

 

[Cenzton]

I saved zulf then set sail for somewhere else cause zia said the happiest she'd ever been was after calamity.

like I'd refuse that singing voice.

This. All sorts of this.

Actually started playing through it again today, streaming it this time

 

[ThaBenMan]

The first time, I saved Zulf and reset the world to before the Calamity. Luckily, you can just reload the last level to check out the alternatives. I did just that, leaving Zulf and evacuating the Bastion.

After seeing all the choices, I have to say the most satisfying ones are saving Zulf and Evacuating. It just feels wrong to leave Zulf there, despite what he did. And Evacuating feels great - finally breaking the stagnating cycle of Calamity, Reset, Calamity, Reset, ad infinitum, that's implied. Going on to create a new world from the ashes of the old.

 

[Rainforce]

I saved zulf then set sail for somewhere else cause zia said the happiest she'd ever been was after calamity.

like I'd refuse that singing voice.

same here!
there's no need to relive all this, so off we go without looking back.

 

[godofallu]

I saved Zulf, and tried saving the world.

Of course saving the world doesn't do anything, so I had to go through again and set sail. A bittersweet ending.

I still don't completely understand the story and Zulf's role in everything. The world exploded for some reason, and Zulf decided to destroy the Bastion and run away to his homeland. We then find him beaten in his homeland for some reason. Anyone want to explain it to me ahgain it's been a while.

 

[Guardian of Nekops]

I saved Zulf, and tried saving the world.

Of course saving the world doesn't do anything, so I had to go through again and set sail. A bittersweet ending.

I still don't completely understand the story and Zulf's role in everything. The world exploded for some reason, and Zulf decided to destroy the Bastion and run away to his homeland. We then find him beaten in his homeland for some reason. Anyone want to explain it to me ahgain it's been a while.

SPOILERS! SERIOUSLY! EVERYTHING SPOILED!

The society behind the Bastion created a superweapon, a reality bomb that was meant to utterly destroy Zulf's people and only his people. This bomb was made as a weapon of last resort, in order to protect the Bastion society against attacks that resulted, largely, from religious and traditional differences between the two cultures.

Foolishly, the society of the Bastion used a scientist from Zulf's homeland (Zia's father, as it turns out) to create this bomb. The father understood what this weapon was for, so he understandably wired it backwards... centering the destruction on the Bastion's city rather than his own people if the Bastion was ever bloodthirsty enough to fire it off. They were. Hence, the Calamity.

Due to the Kid's actions, Zulf got his hands on the diary of Zia's father, learned of the whole horrid scheme, and was understandably angry. He went home to his people, who largely escaped the Calamity, and let them know, bringing their wrath down upon the Bastion.

When, in his final attempt to fix the Bastion, the Kid came to Zulf's people and beat through their defenses, his people blamed Zulf for bringing ruin down upon their heads and turned on him, which is why he was lying there in a pool of his own blood.

 

[BreakfastMan]

I saved Zulf (did anyone not save him the first time around?) and embraced the new world. It was fairly obvious that if you reset time, the calamity would happen again, so I thought it would be best to avoid that.

Also, did anyone else get the feeling that this was all the narrators head, and he was making this up as he goes along? And that was why the world was slowly being recreated around the kid because the old guy was imagining it? Just me? Okay...

EDIT: Also, that ending was a hell of a clever way to spice up the themes of loss that were present in the game. Choosing to either to live in the past, or move on with your life? Tip of my hat to the designers.

 

[Zyxx]

First time, I left Zulf and reset time - mostly because I consider both of those the "wrong" thing to do. Then I did them right the next time 'round.

Zulf is in an incredibly bad situation - really, he seems to have lost more in the Calamity than any of the other characters. The Kid had no family, Zia had already been betrayed, Rucks was old. Zulf got to watch his fiancee disintegrate.
I can't blame him for not thinking clearly.
It's too bad he didn't have a little bit of voiceover at the end.

While I can certainly accept a few rounds of time resetting as "canon", eventually the future has to be allowed to unfold.

While I understand and respect the decision to not make a sequel or extensive DLC for Bastion, I really would like to opportunity to explore the setting some more. A largely unrelated game set in the same world (with maybe a vague mention of a little band of weirdos who sail around on a giant flying rock) or even just an artbook or something would be nice.

 

[Nikolaz72]

I did both endings... giving the world another chance first, then moving forward to make something new.

On my second time around, I made sure to save all of the old world I could... finding all the animal eggs I could save and being sure to keep them alive. Of course, that always carried over to Zulf. The poor guy had every right to be angry, though of course his anger was misdirected when all we had left was the dregs.

That, and the ending sequence to saving him was just so damn cool... a few attackers at first, with legions of reinforcements beyond, making you think for SURE you're just going to die as you plod slowly, helplessly along, but the attacks trickle down to nothing until everyone just stares at you, unable to BELIEVE the noble stupidity of what you're doing.

Amazing.

What I like is that one guy that keeps shooting when you go all the way up, and then he just gets slapped in the face by his commanding officer.

 

[Cenzton]

Honestly I didn't like the giant tree trunk being used at the end by The Kid though. You go through the entire game, leveling up your weapons, and then in the last area the game says nah, you're going to use this one instead!

 

[Guardian of Nekops]

I did both endings... giving the world another chance first, then moving forward to make something new.

On my second time around, I made sure to save all of the old world I could... finding all the animal eggs I could save and being sure to keep them alive. Of course, that always carried over to Zulf. The poor guy had every right to be angry, though of course his anger was misdirected when all we had left was the dregs.

That, and the ending sequence to saving him was just so damn cool... a few attackers at first, with legions of reinforcements beyond, making you think for SURE you're just going to die as you plod slowly, helplessly along, but the attacks trickle down to nothing until everyone just stares at you, unable to BELIEVE the noble stupidity of what you're doing.

Amazing.

What I like is that one guy that keeps shooting when you go all the way up, and then he just gets slapped in the face by his commanding officer.

Yep, loved that bit. ^^

 

[NeutralDrow]

Ah, Bastion's ending. The only part of the story I actually enjoyed, partly because it was just that damned awesome, and partly because the game stopped trying to force me to consider Rucks' narration relevant. As for my decisions...

I saved Zulf. Why wouldn't I? He was the only character I liked, the one character besides Rucks with a voice (sort of) and discernible motivation, and the one needed a good ending the most. His getting the crap beaten out of him by the other Ura was just the clincher, the final time he was betrayed, and I refused to stand for it...even though I honestly expected to die for that action.

And after deliberately ignoring Rucks' and Zia's advice (which were untrustworthy and unhelpful, respectively), I chose to evacuate. I'd caused too much damage to that part of the world already, and resetting was not only a doubtful strategy, it stuck me as downright irresponsible. I'd caused widespread death and destruction in the wake of the Calamity, but I wasn't about to run away from the responsibility. I accepted the consequences of my actions and left, figuring the world would recover on its own without me being a monkey-wrench in the works.

It's too bad he didn't have a little bit of voiceover at the end.

That would have been awesome if he had. Or if the Kid had.

Though, it probably would have diluted Rucks narration a bit. I don't consider that a downside in the slightest, but I suspect everyone who loved the "meshing of story and gameplay" it apparently entailed would.

Honestly I didn't like the giant tree trunk being used at the end by The Kid though. You go through the entire game, leveling up your weapons, and then in the last area the game says nah, you're going to use this one instead!

I did love how at the very least they made it humongously powerful. Especially since the spirits that boosted your shield also applied to it, and I never went anywhere without the "shield counter restores health" upgrade...