Hello, gentle readers, and welcome to the RPG Reload Play-Along. Each month, we’ll be playing an iOS RPG together, sharing laughs and tears in equal measures. The post on the front page (like this one!) is basically here to announce the game in question and give a few tips on getting started. The real action will be happening in the TouchArcade forums, where you’ll find a thread dedicated to each month’s featured game. Sign up if you haven’t already, post your screenshots, ask for advice, or just chat about your misadventures with others. We’ve got a great community of RPG fans here at TouchArcade, so let’s make the most of it!
August is a busy month for many people, and that is perhaps as good an explanation as any for the somewhat muted reception to the Chrono Trigger Play-Along. We had our lowest turnout for a Play-Along yet, with the thread barely cracking the 50-post mark. Oh well, these things happen! One cool thing is that our very own Eric Ford participated in the Play-Along on Twitch, and he might just finish the game in time for the end of the month. You can do it, Eric! At any rate, it’s high time we moved on to the next game, and since we’ve been doing JRPGs all summer, I thought it might be prudent to mix things up a little this time around. Thanks to everyone for participating in the August Play-Along, and I hope you’ll join in again!
This month, we’re entering the realm of action-RPGs with a Play-Along dedicated to Bastion ($4.99), a stylish effort from Warner Bros. Interactive and Supergiant Games. The game debuted on the Xbox 360’s Xbox Live Arcade service in July of 2011 and made its way to a wide variety of other platforms in the following years. Bastion arrived on iOS in August of 2012, and it proved to be a really good fit for the platform. While it’s not a terribly long game, it is an interesting one. If you want to join in you should expect the game to take not much longer than 10 hours at most and perhaps a few hours less if you’re quick.
Bastion was the debut title from Supergiant Games, a small developer founded by ex-EA employees. The game was a smash hit, ultimately selling over 3 million copies and garnering tons of critical praise and awards. I know we have a large contingent of fans of the game here at TouchArcade, too. While the RPG elements are a little light, I’m hoping this game’s broader appeal might encourage some players who don’t normally participate in the Play-Along to join in. Worry not, die-hard Reloaders, we’ll be back to the heavy math battles next month. For now, let’s enjoy the story-based ride that is Bastion as a way to cleanse the palate after a few months of Square-Enix’s greatest hits.
As for me, I’ll be searching once again to try to find that something special in Bastion that others have found. I’ve played through this game a couple of times before and found it to have a great presentation but not a lot else to recommend it. You might think it’s silly for me to keep coming back to it under such circumstances, but I’ve ended up appreciating quite a few games I would have otherwise dismissed through such methods in the past. Will this be the time? I suppose we’ll see! That said, since I’d hardly call myself an expert at Bastion, I’m not going to pretend to be able to give you a terribly good guide for it. If you have any questions, there will surely be some people in the forum thread that can steer you in the right direction.
In general, though, you’ll want to focus on mastering the combat. It’s pretty much the alpha and the omega of Bastion. Learn how to evade effectively, and make sure you’re hitting attacks with the right timing to maximize your damage. Ranged attacks should be released just as the kid starts flashing for power attacks, and your shield should be raised just before an attack hits you to trigger a counter. Take full advantage of the Proving Grounds and any other special areas you come across to gather up items and beef up your levels in general. Once you feel comfortable with the combat system, try turning on some of the Idols for the greater rewards yielded from the increased difficulty. You can always turn them off if it’s not working out.
As ever, all you need to do to join in is to grab any version of the game and head on in to the September 2017 RPG Reload Play-Along thread in the forums. Don’t have a forum account? That seems awfully suspicious for a TouchArcade reader! I’ll forgive you this time, but you should probably go and get one if you want to get in on this. Once you’ve done that, pop by the thread and say hello. You can share your adventures, get advice, or just chat in general about this month’s game with your fellow Reloaders. If you’ve got screenshots, we want to see those, too. I’ll see you in the thread!
Next week, it’s time for another Classic Reload. I’ve decided to celebrate Simogo’s anniversary and the many updates they’ve issued by replaying Beat Sneak Bandit. What could possibly go wrong? We’ll see you next time, and thanks as always for reading.
Next Week’s Classic Reload: Beat Sneak Bandit ($2.99)
