![]() You slowly unravel new information about each character by mixing and matching abilities, giving you a new incentive to vary things up even after you've settled into a comfortable, possibly boring plan of attack. The latter is especially interesting, as it's one of the smarter marriages of story and gameplay I've ever seen in what is essentially an action-RPG.Įach ability is four things: an active attack, an upgrade for other abilities, a passive ability that augments Red's base stats, and a character. It's an enormous world - if not physically, then from a lore perspective - diced up and squeezed into exchanges, terminals, and abilities. Transistor's overall story, too, is a rather traditional tale given power and life through exceedingly smart storytelling techniques and deceptive depth. I KNOW, RIGHT." We will do this while sitting on a bed and consuming ice cream. We can talk about it again later, and be all like, "And then that one part.! And he said. I could write multiple articles dedicated to how Red and Transistor's interactions are handled. Transistor composed masterful folktronica melodies on my heartstrings. As I watched these characters do their thing, my smiles were sweet, my frowns bitter. Humanity that drips and gushes between the cracks of a cold, sterile world. And there's a warmth underlying their interactions. A mind and voice without a body, and a body and mind without a voice. Both are, in their own ways, equally empowered. Transistor and Red really are a duo, though. The only thing left when everyone else is long gone. Professionally she's a singer, but that's not her identity. Quiet moments that reverberate like a Viking shout. Red is a complex, interesting character whose personality is painted in thin, precise strokes. Body language involving the sword, ultra-clever use of message-board-style terminals, split-second decisions she makes. The way they communicate is really what makes it - how Red expresses herself despite her total inability to speak, especially. Without spoiling too much, the relationship between Transistor and Red (and no, I won't say what sort of relationship it is) is the core of the game's story, but it's nothing terribly revolutionary. ![]() A weapon meant to pierce and kill, not falter and babble out heartbroken confessions in what it thinks are its final moments. One of the more powerfully, subtly vulnerable characters I've come across in games in quite some time is a sword, of all things. overtly emotionally involved in the proceedings. The game's early goings gave me that impression, but Transistor is much more. ![]() He's part-character, part-narrator, and your only weapon of choice.Īs in Bastion, Cunningham turns in an amazing performance, but Transistor (the character) isn't Rucks. The Transistor, then, really is the heart of this game. ![]() The blade hums to life at her touch, and her not-exactly-deceased friend speaks to her. Main character and voiceless (for spoilery reasons) singer Red retrieves the electrically rippling blade from the body of a very close friend after the two were kinda almost (but not completely) murdered by mysterious forces. It all begins with an introduction to the titular Transistor. To see this content please enable targeting cookies. More untapped potential humming along almost silently, hoping that someone, anyone, will hear. I will unreservedly say that I really liked Transistor, but there's more rough on this diamond than I was expecting. After a somewhat slow start, the game breaks into a full-on sprint to the finish, and while there are some incredibly strong moments all throughout, the final third or so ends up a bit weak as a result. Hurried and, as a result, less than the sum of its parts on paper, but - thanks to Supergiant's knack for nailing little details - also more. At many points it seems like this gentle walk through a cyberdystopian rose-gilded paradise, but it also feels rather rushed in places. Transistor's dual nature is a strange one. It is, however, also a more natural progression from the latter's painterly walk on sunshine than its dusky cyberpunk setting might suggest.Īll that said, Transistor is a strong tale and a very good game. This is a very different story from Bastion, arguably a much more personal one. It had me on the verge of tears from both laughter and a creeping, ever-constricting stranglehold on my heart, and a talking sword (given life by the sultry tones of Bastion narrator Logan Cunningham) was responsible for most of it. Sometimes overwhelming in its cleverness and subtlety. Transistor is a phenomenal thing in places.
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