Transistor

1. SeanUlfik86

   Jun 27, 2014

   10

   Very different from other games. Diablo mixed with a little bit of Disgaea mixed with gorgeous art and music. Very saddening story though.Very different from other games. Diablo mixed with a little bit of Disgaea mixed with gorgeous art and music. Very saddening story though. Right in the feels.… Expand

   • 1 of 1 users found this helpful
2. CarrieSnarf

   May 20, 2014

   10

   It's a beautiful game with a haunting soundtrack- I could listen to the soundtrack alone for hours. I found the turn based combat systemIt's a beautiful game with a haunting soundtrack- I could listen to the soundtrack alone for hours. I found the turn based combat system allows the user to get used to the strategy before running head long in to complicated battles- a nice addition. The story is intense and builds slowly over time- there is so much to discover in Cloudbank that I know I will be learning things in the game for weeks to come! It is totally the spiritual successor to Bastion, but I like it so much more. Great job Supergiant!… Expand

   • 17 of 23 users found this helpful
4. can1235

   Nov 11, 2015

   9

   I bought the soundtrack for this game. I never buy the soundtrack for games. That's how good the soundtrack is.
   
   Oh yeah, and the game'sI bought the soundtrack for this game. I never buy the soundtrack for games. That's how good the soundtrack is.
   
   Oh yeah, and the game's good as well.… Expand

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful
5. NoahK

   May 20, 2014

   9

   I won't say this is the best game ever, or even an amazing game. The words I would use to describe this is one of the most solid games I haveI won't say this is the best game ever, or even an amazing game. The words I would use to describe this is one of the most solid games I have ever played. Usually I go through games getting frustrated with some questionable design choices, but I could find no place to criticize this game like that. The developers put a lot of thought into every single detail of this game. The upgrade system is extremely well done. It gives you an insane amount of choices for what you want to do in combat. To build on that, it encourages you to try every combination with the incentive that you unlock more back story by doing so. The amazing upgrade system also makes for an amazing combat system. I do wish fighting in real time was a bit more viable, but the combat always had a lot of depth and a good difficulty curve that made the game just right amount of hard for the first playthrough.
   
   The artwork may be this games best component. Every frame of this game could be a great desktop background. From the background to the foreground to the characters to the effects, everything stays in line with the art style and everything looks absolutely stunning. If this game were nothing more than an interactive art album it would have been worth the 20$.
   
   The music is also very good. I must admit I enjoyed Bastion's soundtrack a bit more, but this game definitely has a great one as well. I particularly like the trailer song, We All Become One. It sounds great and very well compliments the story of the game. I wish more tracks in this game contained vocals.
   
   I'm ambivalent about the story telling in this game. On one hand, it doesn't hold your hand, meaning you must pay attention and put 2 and 2 together in order to understand it. On the other hand, this completely fails as the story gets too complicated and you can't figure everything out. This would be alright if it was just small details you couldn't understand, but there are a few large gaps in the plot that me and a few other people on forums didn't get our first time round.
   
   To sum it all up, this game is why I love good indie developers. There are no corners cut in this game. The developers obviously cared for this project very personally, and it shows. Although I don't think it will go down as one of my favorite games ever, this game is just so well made that I couldn't justify giving it anything less than a 9/10.… Expand

   • 6 of 10 users found this helpful
6. Sparkticle

   Nov 6, 2015

   8

   Very interesting game with very interesting aesthetics. It's fun as a strategy turn-based RPG and also fun as an action game. There isn't anVery interesting game with very interesting aesthetics. It's fun as a strategy turn-based RPG and also fun as an action game. There isn't an overwhelming amount of content, which means you can complete the game relatively fast, but it's a fine experience while it lasts.… Expand

   • 0 of 1 users found this helpful
7. martscht

   Jun 10, 2014

   8

   Overall, I think the game is astoundingly beautiful. Not just the visuals, but the entire composition - most notably the sound design whichOverall, I think the game is astoundingly beautiful. Not just the visuals, but the entire composition - most notably the sound design which allows you to interact with the soundtrack by adding the protagonists humming (always in tune to the current background song) at will.
   
   But, to get this out of the way, I am not big fan of the hack-and-slash RPG and this is probably the first RPG this decade I actually bought for myself (not including stuff that came free with PS+ or stuff my flatmates bought and I played). This game did not break these genre boundaries to a degree where I could just forget about everything I dislike about the genre but it came very close - especially in the early stages of the game where I was occupied with marveling at the audio-visual design. But especially as the game progresses the novelty of the design decreases and the game quickly becomes a progress-to-next-fight-scene-a-thon.
   
   But, to its credit, Transistor's battle system is really quite elegant, sort of reminiscent of Fallout 2. Aside from the standard hack-and-slash most of the combat revolves around a turn based attack planning which allows to string together a wide variety of attacks with various combo, backstab and specials modifiers to maximize damage. Especially in conjunction with a very nice upgrade and skill system it does keep the boredom at bay for quite some time. But especially towards the end it does become somewhat tiresome as the game starts throwing more and more enemies at you.
   
   One more quick word on the upgrade system: It is, like many other things about the game, very elegant. While you can only have four active attacks you will collect multiple possible abilities with XP. Each of these collected abilities can be used as either an active attack, an upgrade to a specific active attack (enabling specific bonuses) or an overall boost (enabling global bonuses). This allows for an extremely flexible skill system which I had great fun experimenting with throughout the game. In addition to upgrades you also earn limiters which allow you to purposefully make the game harder earning you even more XP which I thought was a nice take on allowing for difficulty preferences.
   
   However, the game does have some shortcomings. As I've mentioned it becomes a bit tedious towards the end where it starts to become a run from battle to battle. While there are a lot of story elements scattered throughout the world (and a large portion which only become visible as you experiment with your skill combinations) I found the story to be somewhat nonsensical in an over-the-top anime-like kind of way.
   
   So, my basic recommendation is: buy the game if you're into great aesthetic experiences. I imagine if you don't enjoy games for their art-style and design this game will quickly become tedious and unnerving for you. But, for someone who can enjoy games for their style I can only recommend this game even if, like me, you have not into RPGs.… Expand

   • 2 of 2 users found this helpful
8. faroresdragn

   Apr 10, 2015

   0

   I was really disappointed by this game. I played Bastion because it was on sale, and fell so deeply in love with is that I bought TransistorI was really disappointed by this game. I played Bastion because it was on sale, and fell so deeply in love with is that I bought Transistor at full price even though Im flat broke just because I had so much faith in Super Giant Games. But the two games couldnt be more different. Transistor just doesnt have that exciting feel to it that Bastion had. I found myself in agony wishing the 1000th battle would be over already. A feeling I never once felt during their last game. Theres just to much of the same old thing over and over again. And the combat system is interesting in theory, but is terrible in practice. Freezing time is cool, until its over. For people who are fans of the combat system, please sit down and think about this: The process you (pretty much) have to go through to defeat enemies results in you being completely vulnerable for what seems like an eternity in a field of enemies that are faster than you can run away from. The only options you have to defend yourself at this point are A. Jaunt(), which really cripples you if you have to give it a whole attack slot for the entire game. B. One solitary attack that you can use while recharging if you attach Jaunt to it (which of course often means that attack will be the first one you lose through overload) or C. have a dog with you. Thats it. Doing the thing I basically couldnt win without, the main aspect of the combat system, made me feel like I was being punished. There are many video games that will, for example, give you a powerful machine gun that will over heat and be unusable for a bit if you use it too long in one go. But theres a way to avoid it. always. But theres no way to avoid it in Transistor. The combat system is terrible. The only thing worse than that was losing your attacks. Really? They probably picked the single worst punishment for dying in the history of video games: you get to keep fighting, but were taking your best weapon. And even if you win, youre not getting it back for a long while. I would rather go back to my last save point every time I died. That would have been much less frustrating. And again, maybe this would have been better if they used it better. But with the way the time stop system is set up, you can only win by exposing yourself to long periods of defenselessness, and theres no way to restore health other than some terrible health regenerating abilities. So by doing what the game wants you to do, you will inevitably lose your best weapon, and not even have it for the next battle either. And the battles just got so repetitive and boring. Stop time, run behind, use crash, then spam your strongest thing. then run and take as little damage as you can in the recharge period. Repeat. They added nothing really new. New functions maybe. Although it seemed like they actually came up with the functions in the order you receive them in-game, because they ideas kept becoming less and less creative as it wore on and on. Ugh. In Bastion, almost every level had something totally new. A new enemy that did something no enemy before it had done. A new totally unique weapon that was tailored to that levels challenges. But no. Transistor was the same old cybernetic city that then became even more boring whitewashed cybernetic city. The story was nonexistent. I get being subtle, and I love when games are like that. But on one hand, theres dark souls, where the main aspect of the game is the challenge, and the story is completely inconsequential. If you dont want to go out of your way to find it, no big deal. Then theres transistor. A game that is clearly trying so hard to get me engrossed in the games story and become emotionally attached to the characters, and yet refuses to tell me anything about them. Its infuriating. Bastion was somewhat similar, but it wasnt as bad. Its like between making Bastion and Transistor, SuperGiant Games quite literally got a serious allergy to telling the player anything directly whatsoever. And Bastion was simpler. There was a great disaster. the world is falling apart. we need to gather stuff to power this safe haven so we can be safe/fix this. Did I know everything? No. Did I know enough? Yes. In Transistor there was not one point where I had any idea what was happening. They threw around the word Carmanata every 3 seconds without ever telling me what that meant. Were they a radical group? A group of higherups gone rouge? Did two of the four final bosses really kill themselves before I got to them? Why is the city turning white? is there normally giant bone whale beasts flying around? I dont know enough about this universe to be surprised by that. Why could Red just fix everything so easily at the end? Why didnt she try that earlier? Why were they kidnapping famous people? that was never explained? Not to mention the music was awful. Probably one memorable track in this game. I know Bastions track was hard to live up to but come on. Also Royces voice made me want to kill myself.… Expand

   • 0 of 17 users found this helpful

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