transistor title cover of the video game

Transistor was easily one of the most anticipated games of the year.  Supergiant Games’ previous game Bastion (what one could call an ode to James Joyce’s Ulysseswas a huge success and people couldn’t wait to see what else they had coming. While I never played Bastion, I was still eagerly awaiting Transistor. I wasn’t sure if the studio was all hype or if they really did make a masterpiece. Needless to say, I played Transistor as soon as I could, and Supergiant Games certainly proves lightning strikes twice.

Transistor starts immediately. The game shows a beautiful rendered image of a woman kneeling in front of a man with a strange-looking sword in his chest—the Transistor. The sword speaks, calling the woman Red, and saying how they won’t get away with this. Red takes the sword and begins her adventure. The sharp start grabs your interest right away as you immediately try to figure out what the hell is going on. There’s a pretty woman, a weird sword, a dead guy, oh and now thing are attacking them. Everyone’s so sad, why are they sad? What just happened that I don’t know? The game doesn’t have long drawn out cut-scenes to answer these questions either. There are small snippets of dialog that will enlighten you to what’s going on, and lots of text to read that will break down some of the confusion.

The main character of transistor and red and the sword transistor

Not surprisingly, Transistor takes the ambiguous approach for much of its storytelling. Many aspects of the game you will determine for yourself. Either coming up with scenarios or adapting conclusions to make sense of what happens. You learn just enough to get by and you are able to fill in the rest. That isn’t a flaw by any means. It allows for your own creative process to deepen the story and the setting instead of sitting through a cut-scene where a character tells you how you are supposed to feel at a given moment. The whole story isn’t left entirely up to you; of course, there are predetermined story elements that come to light when you search around to keep the story focused. Those elements, and the ones you piece together in your head, work well together to really create a memorable story.

Playing through the game would reveal a little more of the world with each step. The setting is futuristic, and the immediate locations give off that vibe, but the real setting is enriched by reading everything it has to offer. There are multiple ways in the game to learn more about your surroundings and I jumped at every chance to do so. Transistor is bursting forth with all sorts of extras to make the world come alive in your mind. Sky Painters, weather control, genius detectives, famous motorbike racers, and many other little details that make the city of Cloudbank feel like a real place that had people living in it, and not just the battle ground that it is now.

Transistor gameplay Setting Cloudbank

Cloudbank isn’t experiencing the best of times currently, and as the story goes on you see the futuristic world isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. The façade of a perfect future fades away as the dystopian elements are discovered and the conspiracies all come to light. The story struck me in a deep way, which I was somewhat surprised by, because I didn’t feel all that attached at first. I don’t know when it happened, but at some point throughout Transistor I was deeply hooked, and when it ended I was unbearably sad it was over.

The presentation of Transistor is remarkable. The view is from the top to the side and never changes. There are never any close-ups and all cut-scenes are told with elegantly drawn still images. The world is detailed and creatively made to really bring out the desired atmosphere. There is also a majestic flow to everything in this game. The dialog, movements, battle, and even the “still” images glide gracefully across the screen. Everything about Transistor is done in tandem with the rest of the game. It all fits and matches so perfectly that there was never a breaking moment in the game. The immersion was expertly crafted to keep you wrapped up from start to finish and really present you with a very original experience.

There is nothing that brings the presentation together better than the music and Transistor’s soundtrack is the best one I’ve heard this year by far. Not only does the music play creatively into the story, but on its own it is still extraordinary. It sets the mood perfectly at every point in the game. The ominous intensity filled with a beautiful voice is a perfect balance when it strikes at just the right moment. It’s deep and haunting but immensely powerful as well. The soundtrack is so impressive that I’m still listening to it weeks after I started the game.

transistor gameplay and combat against an enemy

The actual gameplay follows a very simple premise and the complexities come in later with all the possible combinations. You can select up to four actions that are paired with the main four buttons on the controller. The actions are basic at first: quick attack, powerful attack, long-range attack, etc. I wasn’t impressed until the game deepened and I was given more actions to play with like status changing abilities, for example. The same holds true for the enemies. In the beginning they were all basic – as one would expect in the learning phase of the game – but later on they became far more intelligent and posed a tougher challenge.

Not only do you equip four abilities to use as your main actions, but the extra abilities you have leftover can stack onto one of your main actions to give a secondary trait. One may increase the attack power, or it could decrease the charge time. There are also passive slots where abilities can be equipped that will always be active as you play. When you take too much damage, one of your action slots is destroyed and you can no longer use that action until you reach a save point. That makes battle even more hectic and you have to readjust your strategy on the fly. It’s rewarding when your strategies pay off, but there is also lots of fun in the entropy of it all.

You can see how the core mechanic is basic, but the possible combination between all the abilities makes for some vastly different playing styles. Some battles I put all my power into one action that could leave a devastating bomb, and then I had another quick action to trigger the bomb. By doing that, I put everything I had into that particular attack so I was vulnerable afterwards. Sometimes that didn’t work and I had to reevaluate my strategy by rebuilding my layout from scratch. Some battles would utilize long-range and speed over power. I would equip passive abilities that made me recover from my actions more quickly.

When I say recover from my actions I don’t mean this is turn-based combat. Once you enter an arena, you cannot leave until all the enemies are destroyed, but you can freely move within that space. You can hack-and-slash your way to victory, or take small shots at your targets for some of the weaker battles. When the big players come out you need to utilize something called Turn(). The power of Transistor freezes time and allows you to plan out your moves that will all be performed at super speed without enemy interruption. There is a bar at the top that depletes with every step you take and action you make. Once you complete your Turn(), you cannot perform an action until your Turn() bar recovers. This puts a lot of importance on strategy and it is rewarding when your strategy pays off. It is a very fair counter-balance system that will make for some very hectic gameplay if you don’t plan properly.

transistor turn combat special move

Transistor may not be turn-based combat like a JRPG but it does follow suit with level progression. Every battle earns you experience and when you level up you unlock a number of things. You can unlock a new ability to use, new slots for passive abilities, and something called Limiters. They are exactly as they sound. Limiters hinder you in battle in creative ways, but will reward you with more experience at the end of battle. Again, there is a great counter-balance system in play here.

There are several problems with Transistor that prevent it from being as great as it could be. First and foremost, it costs 20 USD, and even though I’m only arguing five dollars here, that difference is enough to push a few people away. Naturally, some would argue the game is well worth the extra money, and I am inclined to agree. Still, the normal price of 15 USD would seem more accurate for an indie title like this. Especially since Transistor isn’t crazy long (about five to six hours), but there is a challenging new game plus mode that is worth experiencing.

That issue is the smallest, and the biggest has to be the repetitive aspects that come to light throughout the game. While some battles are fun and rewarding, others can feel very similar so they grow tiring after a while. When you learn a strategy that works, a confrontation can feel more of a hassle than fun. Some battles are made tougher by giving an enemy more health, and that doesn’t reinvent anything. It only makes the battle last long as your know your strategy will work, it might just take a little more time. Towards the end of the game I was starting to get tired of the battles, and the only thing pushing me forward was the story.

Transistor Red Art

When it comes right down to it, I loved Transistor. I was expecting a huge success from Supergiant Games and I got it. I was a little cautious in the beginning, but as the game developed so did my feelings for it. The combat deepened as I became a master tactician in the arena, and I was absorbed into the colorfully crafted world. Nothing hit me more than the alluring melodies and majestic but powerful vocals. This isn’t a game to buy, beat, and toss aside. When you play Transistor you need to take your time and become immersed with the world being presented to you, and in doing so, you will take something powerful away from it.

This review is based off a retail copy of the Playstation 4 version of Transistor developed and distributed by Supergiant Games. 

Electrifying | Transistor Review
Overall Score9
Positives
  • Incredible Soundtrack
  • Addicting Strategic Gameplay
  • Beautiful Presentation
Negatives
  • Some Combat Can Feel Repetative
  • Costs 20 USD
9Overall Score
Reader Rating: (1 Vote)
10.0

About The Author

Neil has had a passion for video games ever since the Atari entered his life so many years ago. He's been writing about them for over two years and sees no end in sight. Reach out to him on twitter @nconnors13