Bitmob: What were some of the strategies you used to try and keep the narration engaging for when players got to the later parts of the game?

GK: This is hard to answer without spoiling the game, so suffice it to say we always intended to push the narration technique to its full extent when we decided to pursue it. Our goal was to use the narration to add depth and context to the player's actions, to reveal information that the player could not discern on his own. We felt that as long as we stayed true to this goal, the narration would continue to be engaging all the way through the game, in the same way that a good story should be engaging all the way to the end.

The structure of the game's story is heavily influenced by various successful uses of narration in literature that I've read, old stuff like the novel Frankenstein to Henry James' The Turn of the Screw. In literature the use of narration is well understood, but in games, it hasn't been done very much – and when combined with the reactive nature of it, where our narrator would unravel the story at the player's own pace and often remark on specific actions made by the player, it felt like something that could be pretty special. For as much narration as we put in the game, we never felt like we were running out of ideas.

Bitmob: What would a fight between Bastion's the Kid and The Legend of Zelda's Link look like?

GK: I would love to see some sort of YouTube video resolve this question in a conclusive way, similar to the one about Street Fighter versus Mortal Kombat. Because clearly this is the next classic rivalry in the making. Though on second thought, I don't think the Kid and Link would ever fight under any circumstances. It's just not their style. Though I guess it depends on which version of Link we're talking about....

Next question!

Bitmob: Bastion features multiple weapons that are all upgradeable, upgradeable buildings, passive buffs, passive enemy buffs you can activate for XP bonuses, special movies you can purchase, and an in-game economy to buy these things. Did you forget anything?

GK: We wanted Bastion to feel complete, like a grand adventure. So I'll take this as a compliment.

As far as I'm concerned, we didn't leave anything out that should have been a part of this game, though I'll leave that up to the public to decide. I guess there's always going to be the guy who asks "but but but multiplayer", which we don't have, though we did prototype, consider, and ultimately cut it. It just didn't fit with the experience we wanted to deliver and threatened to distract our focus. There are a lot of great co-op action RPGs out there already, besides. Beyond that, we considered a lot of ideas for the game that we implemented, explored, and then decided to cut, because they didn't feel like they were central to the game we were making.

Bitmob: You spent a lot of years reporting on and reviewing video games, most famously for GameSpot. Stepping over into game development, what did you say to yourself that you were absolutely going to do -- and not do -- based on that experience?

GK: When I stepped into game development from game editorial, I told myself I was going to work as hard I could in order to help make games that lived up to my standards. It's all I could do. I've wanted to make games since I was a little kid, and they've meant so much to me over the years, that I'm compelled to do everything in my ability to contribute back to gaming in some sort of positive way. I don't yet know what the public consensus will be about Bastion, but I do feel it's the best work I've ever done. Of course I owe so much of that to this very talented team I'm lucky to be a part of. If people end up liking it, then I'd like nothing better than to keep going.

The thing I told myself I would never do is betray my own values, that I would never knowingly, willingly work on a game that I did not believe in my heart had the potential to be great. I'm very happy to be working at an independent studio now, with people who have my trust and for whom I'd do anything in my power to help under any circumstances. That is a great and inspiring feeling to have when you go to work every day, and if Bastion is any good, that's no small part of the reason.

Bitmob Writer Rus McLaughlin contributed questions to this interview, and Writer Samir Torres produced the cover image.