Transistor

Before you bury this review for not being 5-star hear me out. First of all: presentation in this game is superb. Voice acting, music and art are equaly amazing, many AAA titles don't even come close to Transistor in terms of presentation. Combat system is also very nice, even if not balanced. My biggest problem with this game: it expects me to care without any incentive to do so. It is impossible to talk about Transistor's story without spoiling anythig because there's that little of it. You are thrown in the middle of events without any explenation - and that's cool, games often do that and explain it by amnesia. But here you don't even have the slightest idea of the world you're in, even though main character shoud. You can collect some backstory on characters by using different combination of skills but again, what's the point? The characters you will be gathering info about don't really exist in game world - you can't interact with them in any way, so why should you care? Even the ending dosen't really explain anything. Storytelling in Transistor is EXTREMELY vague. If "games are art" is something that you can imagine saying, then you should play this game. Otherwise, play Bastion instead. Transistor is not a bad game, but if you remove (amazing, non the less) presentation there is almost nothing left.

Transistor is one of the best games I've played in the last few years. The music, art style and gameplay provided a better experience than most big budget AAA games even attempt. The game is presented in a beautiful hand drawn style, the range of colours and imaginative background and enemy designs makes any screenshot a work of art. The music is Transistor's greatest strength and the first thing I did on completing the game was to my the soundtrack. Each track fits the situation perfectly and creates an incredible atmosphere. The combat is another strength with a very interesting mechanic that allows the player to pause the action, plan out your next moves, unpause and then watch it all unfold. The combat also has a surprisingly deep upgrade mechanic that allows you to slot "functions" (weapons) into primary or secondary slots with their effects on combat changing depending on where they are slotted. The different combinations this allows means you are always experimenting, trying to see what the best combination for your combat style is. Transistor is not perfect as the story can be a little confusing if you don't pay attention. The game does not hold your hand as far as the narrative is concerned and this may leave you a little confused if you don't take the time to explore and find story details. Overall Transistor is an exceptional game and considering the price I would recommend it to anyone.

Transistor does more of what you want from a product offered by Supergiant Games: deep world-building within a short period of time, unique and visceral combat, minimalist storytelling that gives you everything you want to know, and music that immerses you deeper into that world they've built. The game does have its few issues, but those are not nearly enough to stop you from being able to enjoy this package. In Transistor, you play as Red, a 1930s-styled lounge singer who has lost her voice. As you wake up in the streets of Cloudbank with a mysterious sword that can talk to you, you set out to understand what has happened after the terrorist faction Camerata lays waste to the city. Along the way, you will acquire different "functions" as combat abilities to defeat all foes that stand in your way. Combining these functions in multiple different ways offers new and unique properties, essentially customizing how you want to do battle. You can also stop time and queue up moves, adding a bit of strategic depth to the combat. Thanks to the art design of Jen Zee, Camilo Vanegas, and Josh Barnett, Transistor continues the basic look we saw in Bastion (light, colorful, fantastical) while pushing it into a more technological direction. The pulsing of circuitry and the creeping, looming virus that is infecting it all has both an elegance and griminess that leaves a lasting impression visually. The soundtrack is killer, but at this point, it is to be expected from a Supergiant Games product. Darren Korb hits another homerun with each and every song, setting a fantastic tone of electronic mayhem and 1930s-esque smoothness throughout the entire game. The only issue with the game? A slow burn story for the first two hours of a five hour game gives it less immediacy than what you found in Bastion. Nonetheless, great game overall.

The style, the sound, and the setting of Transistor are flawless. The water colored art pops out of the digital landscape and the voice acting of your companion in the transition is somber and heavy. The soundtrack is good enough that I listen to it on its own. I really like the idea of being immersed in a digital world and modeling the attacks and abilities after computer function calls really appealed to me. Each of these abilities can be used one of three ways: as an active ability, as an upgrade to another ability, or passively providing a constant bonus that does not need to be activated. This scheme provides for a great deal of customization alloying the player to invent his own builds employing different strategies.. The player may use these attacks and abilities in real-time against his foes, which take the form of rogue processes. Alternatively, the player can freeze time and execute a limited number of abilities on enemies. This powerful ability to freeze time is balanced by a cooldown, but unfortunately the other abilities are locked out during this interval as well. The battles are frenzied enough with the number of enemies that engage the player at the same time, making having to run and hide during cooldowns that much more stressful. Although some combat scenarios will take some trial and error to overcome, they aren't impossible, just frustrating. Even so, I never felt that I really got the hang of the combat. Transistor kept me busy for about 13 hours. I recommend it.