Transistor

I don't love it, but I really, really like it. It's gorgeous, and the soundtrack is even (generally) more enjoyable than Bastion's. It does get a bit mechanically dense, and it can be finished in about 5 hours if you aren't taking your time, but there is a New Game+ mode ("Recusrion"). I got it on sale, and I don't regret it one bit.

If you've played Bastion, you can clearly spot the handwriting of Supergiant, it's all over the game. Transistor follows an interesting premise in terms of story, the design is beautiful and is complemented by an amazing soundtrack. Combat system is a refreshing mix of tactical thinking and live combat, but I got bored much faster than I expected even though they kept introducing new characteristics and skills to enemies. However, I was left dissatisfied. After finishing the game and reading most of the in-game text, I still know next to nothing about Cloudbank, the Camerata and other story elements. I have the feeling that the game just keeps that to itself. Initially disliking the ending, after reading up on some explanations given by players, I changed my mind -- but a game should be able to convey its message on its own. Even though it only lasts about 5 hours, I would't have wanted it to be longer. For me, it doesn't really have a replay value. It's by no means a bad game, but rather than giving me that feeling of having finished a good game, all I could muster was a "Meh".

An absolutely amazing game. Generally, I assume most smaller companies can only get lightning to strike twice - the best way I've found to avoid this is to not go for duplicating your previous game. Transistor has a few gameplay similarities to Bastion, but that's it. The story, art direction, sound, music, and voice - all of them create an incredibly melancholic experience. I've heard some people say that the game is empty, but I'd argue /strongly/ that's part of the point. As you work your way through Cloudbank, the crushing and oppressive feeling of just what's happening is something else. Combat gameplay is cool and interesting, too, and whether you like winning battles in one stroke of a well-executed plan, or slugging it out real-time, you'l have a blast. Given the price, you should definitely pick up Transistor if you're interested in narrative games with strong action gameplay elements - it'd be nice to encourage Supergiant that they've got a strong fanbase over here, too. ;) Reasons to avoid it would be if you're less interested in narrative games, action, or melancholic stories. But seriously, I'd give it a chance even then. A great experience, still thinking about it even now.

Transistor is a cute looking action RPG with a decent story and great music/sound effects. The basics are: you run around a city on a fairly linear path, learning about the city itself, revealing the story and engaging in regular combat with the enemy. But there are two aspects that, I think, will make or break the game for others. 1. Combat is turn-based for you. This feature is actually something I like since I can rarely concentrate on a game 100%, but I know plenty of others who would hate it. Actually in Transistor you do not need to activate the turn-based mode as the battles can also be done in real-time, which makes the game significantly tougher. 2. Game is actually pretty easy, mainly due to the abovementioned feature. I am usually pretty bad at these kind of games, but in Transistor I only died twice (mid-level boss, first Spine and the final boss). Any veterans of action RPGs will probably find it so easy it would be simply boring. Overall, for me the game ended up being an easy, fun experience, which I moderately enjoyed, but would not bother with again. If you have spare time and the game is below 10 EUR, it may well be worth your time.

I'll start by saying that like most I love the art style and narrative. Oh and the soundtrack is pretty cool too. The gameplay is where, for me, this game falls apart. This game gives you so much choice in how to play it, so many combinations of abilities which sounds great until it throws a few enemies at you that pretty much require specific ones. The dog cunts for example, if you don't have the dash move you're basically done for, they chase you around all over the shop and you can't outrun them. The photobastards are annoying too, they just slap a big picture of you in front of the screen so you can't see anything for a bit and now something has stopped me from being able to see during the "Turn" thing. There's just nothing but progressive hindrances in the gameplay and it's not fun. I have never known a game to try so hard to prevent me from having fun while playing it. So in short, I want to like this game but it's just annoying after a while. There are so many things I like about it which makes it thrice as annoying than a regular bad game. If you like strategy games disguised as a hack'n'slash then this is for you.