Transistor

 PC
User Score
8.3

Generally favorable reviews- based on 921 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 736 out of 921
  2. Mixed: 121 out of 921
  3. Negative: 64 out of 921

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  1. j4ck_fl4sh_3k
    May 22, 2022
    7
    Its a 5-6 hour game which I don't mind (I actually like short games), but in all that time the sword does not SHUT UP!

    Never in a vidoegame has someone spoke so much and said so little, and it really gets to me, his nasally sounding voice commenting on everything, even when I'm try to read messages he'll be there with "Oh no, this can't be right..." I'm there like, "I've not even read    Its a 5-6 hour game which I don't mind (I actually like short games), but in all that time the sword does not SHUT UP!

    Never in a vidoegame has someone spoke so much and said so little, and it really gets to me, his nasally sounding voice commenting on everything, even when I'm try to read messages he'll be there with "Oh no, this can't be right..." I'm there like, "I've not even read the first line you donkey".

    Graphics and gameplay are all fine, combat can be a little hard and I'm not sure if I even want to finish it.    … Expand
  2. Wrathzo
    Mar 22, 2022
    7
    Transistor is an action role-playing video game developed and published by Supergiant Games. Transistor utilizes an isometric point of view. The player controls the main character, Red, as she travels through a series of locations, battling enemies known collectively as the Process in both real-time combat and a frozen planning mode referred to as "Turn()".
  3. Dco326
    Aug 10, 2021
    7
    Svidela mi se igrica dobra je, ali me glas onaj iz maca smara u pizdu materinu mnogo je naporan xD a i inace okej je da se predje jednom, ali ne bih je igrao opet, ima nekih napornih delova ali je sve u svemu kul bas.
  4. Fallconex
    Dec 17, 2020
    7
    Just a good game. Music, colors, atmosphere. Everything is at a high level, except for the narrative.
  5. ErayTellezi
    Nov 29, 2020
    6
    İster sıra tabanlı ister düz aksiyon şeklinde oynayabiliyorsunuz. Çok fazla fonksiyon olduğundan, herhangi bir skill'i bir başkasının yardımcısı veya pasif olarak kullanabiliyorsunuz. Bunlar da combat kısmında çok fazla çeşitlilik sunuyor. Ancak bunlara rağmen başkalarının aksine o kadar da beğenmedim oyunu. Hikayesinin ne anlattığı çok açık değil. Bir şeyler bir şeyler işte. Yeteri kadarİster sıra tabanlı ister düz aksiyon şeklinde oynayabiliyorsunuz. Çok fazla fonksiyon olduğundan, herhangi bir skill'i bir başkasının yardımcısı veya pasif olarak kullanabiliyorsunuz. Bunlar da combat kısmında çok fazla çeşitlilik sunuyor. Ancak bunlara rağmen başkalarının aksine o kadar da beğenmedim oyunu. Hikayesinin ne anlattığı çok açık değil. Bir şeyler bir şeyler işte. Yeteri kadar zorlayıcı değil. Sıra tabanlı oyunlar az çok keşfedecek dünya, dakika başı düşen item'lar ile dünyasını zenginleştirir. Bu düz ilerlemeli olunca saniye başı sıra tabanlı aksiyona girmek bir yerden sonra sıkıyor. Ancak en azından süresi kısa. Müzikleri güzel.… Expand
  6. Wweald
    Jun 29, 2020
    7
    Amazing aesthetics, story it pretty good. The characters aren't that interesting though. The gameplay is cool but it kinda gets stale even with all the different potential upgrades. Still a really good game though.
  7. jtma7ster
    Jun 4, 2020
    5
    Not as good as Bastion. Gameplay is fluid, but the upgrades are just confusing after a while. You can select an ability as a passive, upgrade, or main slot. So the number of algorithms is pretty crazy. Didn't find the game that challenging.
  8. PeakZach
    May 21, 2020
    7
    This game looks as good as it plays. The mechanics are seamless and no real tutorial is necessary as everything just sort of makes sense. The plot has depth, regardless of how short, and the combat mechanics are intriguing, as well as creative. However, the combat lacks for me to an extent. With a game so heavily focused on the turn basis for our character Red, the enemies do not followThis game looks as good as it plays. The mechanics are seamless and no real tutorial is necessary as everything just sort of makes sense. The plot has depth, regardless of how short, and the combat mechanics are intriguing, as well as creative. However, the combat lacks for me to an extent. With a game so heavily focused on the turn basis for our character Red, the enemies do not follow this, leading to overcrowding and seemingly pointless decisions as all strategies are thrown out the door when you get rushed. Not that this cannot be prevented, but a more tactical approach from the enemy would make this combat more seamless, rather than trying to mash turn-style combat with enemies that don't care and blindly rush towards you.… Expand
  9. nitorita
    Feb 15, 2020
    6
    Unlike others, I found Transistor to be incredibly polarizing. The world is really bizarre and the story is even more confusing. The narration is done by a creepy monotone voice that sounds like a stalker breathing down your neck.

    As you can tell, I didn't enjoy the game all that much, and I'm quite the open-minded gamer. I knew within the first five minutes that it was a game I'd want    Unlike others, I found Transistor to be incredibly polarizing. The world is really bizarre and the story is even more confusing. The narration is done by a creepy monotone voice that sounds like a stalker breathing down your neck.

    As you can tell, I didn't enjoy the game all that much, and I'm quite the open-minded gamer. I knew within the first five minutes that it was a game I'd want to quickly finish off. My overall displeasure stemmed from the narrator's voice (yes, it's that bad).

    The controls are not great. The graphic options are behind the times and the game lags in fullscreen. Load times are slow even with an SSD. The game itself, if rushed, only lasts a few hours at most.

    Overall, 8.4 is overrated for this game that has a weak and uninteresting story with fighting that just for the sake of progression. I highly suggest previewing the game first before buying, since it's vastly different from the games you typically play. Plus, it's not at all a hard game either.    … Expand
  10. auditbadger
    Jul 30, 2017
    7
    I think that this is truly a unique game and I would recommend that if you are a fan of this type of genre then I think you should give this game a try.
  11. GolovA
    Nov 11, 2016
    6
    I loved Bastion.

    However, Transistor is not the kind of game that can use the same type of narrative as Bastion did. While visually interesting (although generic and lacking in detailing), Transistor seems to reflect its very core of gameplay and narrative with its artistic styling - it seems to be all colors but no substance. The narrating manhattanesque voice is irritating in tone    I loved Bastion.

    However, Transistor is not the kind of game that can use the same type of narrative as Bastion did.
    While visually interesting (although generic and lacking in detailing), Transistor seems to reflect its very core of gameplay and narrative with its artistic styling - it seems to be all colors but no substance.

    The narrating manhattanesque voice is irritating in tone and frequency - it is annoying and never pauses, keeping the story superficially and evenhandedly driven on. The story itself so far (i did not finish the game and do not intend to continue playing it) is, well - flat and one-dimensional, never trying hard to reveal characters, emotions, motivations.

    Was really looking forward to playing it but in the end:

    Meh.    … Expand
  12. HSuke
    Jun 27, 2015
    5
    I bought this game because I loved Bastion. Its witty narrator and gorgeous soundtrack were simply amazing. So I was quite surprised that none of the things that made Bastion a great game are present in Transistor.

    - The narrator came off as a bland and diatribe. In fact, the voice acting of all characters was really lifeless. I realize the city is rotten and dying, but having a    I bought this game because I loved Bastion. Its witty narrator and gorgeous soundtrack were simply amazing. So I was quite surprised that none of the things that made Bastion a great game are present in Transistor.

    - The narrator came off as a bland and diatribe. In fact, the voice acting of all characters was really lifeless. I realize the city is rotten and dying, but having a lifeless narrator destroys the game.

    - Red's singing doesn't match the background music. More importantly, the soundtrack doesn't match the gameplay.

    - The gameplay and combat system were also tedious. I absolutely hated how slow my character walked around. Combat was very random and simply not enjoyable.

    - There's not much of a story. Whatever barebones tale Transistor attempt to tell didn't make much sense. By the end of the game, I didn't care for a single character. It wasn't like the ending of Bastion, where I was nearly heartbroken when character X dropped everything to save character Y.    … Expand
  13. Klewer
    Mar 26, 2015
    7
    This game is beautiful, wonderful art direction and a great soundtrack. The story while not overly gripping, is quite interesting and slowly draws you in and has a good ending. Only slight downfall is the game play, which at first is fresh but relatively quickly gets slightly repetitive against fairly similar enemies.

    Fans of Bastion should definitely take a look, a great game to grab    This game is beautiful, wonderful art direction and a great soundtrack. The story while not overly gripping, is quite interesting and slowly draws you in and has a good ending. Only slight downfall is the game play, which at first is fresh but relatively quickly gets slightly repetitive against fairly similar enemies.

    Fans of Bastion should definitely take a look, a great game to grab on special.    … Expand
  14. Zen-Zinxe
    Jan 17, 2015
    7
    I like this game. Not as much as I liked Bastion, but I enjoyed this quite a bit. I didn't even particularly like the setting or story. The music and art style is very nice, but if anything the story was lackluster, and felt like it tried way too **** hard to appeal to "artsy" ****

    I still don't quite understand what was happening in this game, despite being almost at the end on my    I like this game. Not as much as I liked Bastion, but I enjoyed this quite a bit. I didn't even particularly like the setting or story. The music and art style is very nice, but if anything the story was lackluster, and felt like it tried way too **** hard to appeal to "artsy" ****

    I still don't quite understand what was happening in this game, despite being almost at the end on my second play through. When someone other than the "sword" speaks it is typically a boring monotone speech. It's almost emotionless, I haven't been so bored by voice acting in a while. On the plus side, the narrater "sword" voice is far more interesting and pretty much saves the whole story. The antagonists are boring emotionless **** while the enemies are colorless drones, but fortunately the major speaking character has emotion, there's something to get invested in.

    However like I said, I don't care much about the story. I enjoyed this game for the combat. This game gives you the ability to pause time and plan out a set of actions (this is called a ()turn), then when you unpause you get to watch your plan unfold. The way the soundtrack syncs up with the ()turn as you plan everything out then watch it unfold is awesome. This is one of the first games where I've felt I could control time. For that alone I can say I've never played anything like this. I wish there was a bit more to do in the game, but I enjoyed it for what it was.    … Expand
  15. A_R0Z
    Jan 1, 2015
    5
    Just finished this game, dloaded it because I enjoyed bastion and IGN nominated for GOTY... I must say I am sorely disappointed.

    First, the game does a lot of things right. Music: 10/10 Amazing tracks, the girl's vocals (when you hear them) is perfect. From the drum n' bass track to the jazzier stuff.. all very atmospheric and enjoyable. Art: 10/10 This game is freaking    Just finished this game, dloaded it because I enjoyed bastion and IGN nominated for GOTY... I must say I am sorely disappointed.

    First, the game does a lot of things right.
    Music: 10/10 Amazing tracks, the girl's vocals (when you hear them) is perfect. From the drum n' bass track to the jazzier stuff.. all very atmospheric and enjoyable.
    Art: 10/10 This game is freaking beautiful. The watercolor effect looks so good.

    Gameplay: 6/10 I wanted to like it more than i did. So they describe it as an innovative part action/ part turn based game. I thought it was cool that they tried to integrate both styles. But when playing the game, I found using your "turn()" was pretty necessary, as attacks have a significant start-up time and allowing you to freeze and plan out your actions not only works around that but you can set yourself up for backstabs or line up multiple enemies. When you use your turn(), there is a cooldown till your next turn where you can use any attacks. So time unfreezes and you're basically in runaway mode (i usually just spam jaunt() ) till your next turn() is up. I like and appreciate that all the functions can be interchangeable between primary, upgrade, and passive, but I usually found a few that outclassed the others. Once I got cull(), I just spammed that for offense. It got dull within the 6 hours of play time for me.

    Story: 3/10 I didn't get the story the first time playing through, looked it up on wikipedia.... anndd it still doesn't make sense. You don't know who the final villain is until the last hour, and their motives/objectives are still pretty unclear.

    Characters: 3/10 They started with a great premise, and just didn't get much out of it. The main character, Red, is a girl who is a famous singer who gets the ability to speak taken from her. Her sword, is a companion of hers who can talk, but no longer has his body. Too bad thats about as much as you learn about them. The sword, who acts as the narrator is pretty dry, and even annoying at times. There isn't that much chemistry between red, and the sword. Red, who is now mute, could have been given so much more personality through body language but nope. The villains/ other npc's are even more unclear.

    I can't believe people are saying this was a beautiful love story. I get that some stories can leave space for the reader/gamer to fill in the details, but in this case, I think the story was downright confusing nonsense, without memorable characters to boot. The art+music in this game are seriously unmatched, and should be praised and appreciated, but its layered on top of a story that is utterly flat.    … Expand
  16. feuersturm
    Jan 1, 2015
    5
    Could have been a masterpiece, but alas, some minor details make it rather unplayable.

    Positive: First thing you notice is the graphics/art style : beautifully done cyberpunk with very fluid motions. Mixed: The gameplay is also very interesting as an idea, but the implementation of it is somewhat shallow. Although Red has lots of abilities, named after supposed computer commands    Could have been a masterpiece, but alas, some minor details make it rather unplayable.

    Positive: First thing you notice is the graphics/art style : beautifully done cyberpunk with very fluid motions.

    Mixed: The gameplay is also very interesting as an idea, but the implementation of it is somewhat shallow. Although Red has lots of abilities, named after supposed computer commands which can be combined as active commands or supporting other commands, the actual fights get really, really boring really fast, mainly because of the battle style. Very small amount of enemy types with the game being focused around constant battles make it very repetitive.

    Bad: The story. For an indie RPG of such minor length (5 hours until completion) to have a positive impact to the gamer, it has to at least have a mildly interesting setting/characters/scenario, something for immersion to this fictional universe. Sadly, this never happens. The whole setting almost makes zero sense, overall it seems like something that was wholly conceived over an evening, and this comes from a sci-fi fan, Red is extremely uninteresting as a character, and the style of narration doesn't help either...as for the narrator.....

    Hideous: My god, this is probably the worst narrator I'll ever encounter, in any medium/irl. The narrator (transistor / the sword) has an EXTREMELY PRETENTIOUS voice and constantly makes these godawful irrelevant remarks about everything, made me mute him the first 20 minutes in the game. Trying to be a "badass" by force leads to a very aesthetically unpleasant result. So, this, combined with the lackluster story makes the game seem like it's targeted to retarded 10 year-olds, which is sadly not the case at all.

    All in all, I wanted this to be a great game, and it indeed could have been, IF it had a decent story, more work into battles/gameplay/gameflow and of course a totally different narrator and narration style. Anything, even the voice of Goofy would be better. Jesus christ how could they release the game as it is.    … Expand
  17. leventguller
    Aug 9, 2014
    7
    I like
    The story (Which is not a mind-blowing one but a naive and well-written one)
    Artwork ( Not very special but have style) Music (Very good. Music 101 lesson for %95 of the game developers) Turn based fight mechanics (Have fun and some sort of strategic depth) I dislike: The lack of variety in combat ( There are just 5-6 creatures-robots in whole game. You just fight with    I like
    The story (Which is not a mind-blowing one but a naive and well-written one)
    Artwork ( Not very special but have style)
    Music (Very good. Music 101 lesson for %95 of the game developers)
    Turn based fight mechanics (Have fun and some sort of strategic depth)

    I dislike:
    The lack of variety in combat ( There are just 5-6 creatures-robots in whole game. You just fight with updated versions of these creatures which makes fights very repetitive and boring after some time)
    Short game-play time (3-4 hours max)
    Shallow character development (Well, you do not have a chance to randomize-choose the character because of the scenario. This is something understandable from my side and do not disturb me much. But level development and character development are awful. After each level, you have to choose a power from 2-3 alternatives that was given by game. There are powerful and necessary skills in the game like "MASK", so your only customization chance is by using powers as upgrades. I think that %90 people that finished the game, more or less use same powers and have %90 similar end-game characters. If you use limitations your alternatives will be less.

    A good game but needs development. I will gladly wait and play future games of SUPERGIANT:    … Expand
  18. ZoomZoom
    Jul 17, 2014
    7
    It's a pretty fun game and I really enjoy it and the music that comes with it, however the controls are a little wonky at times and really demands the use of a gamepad. My biggest issue is that there are a few game breaking bugs present. In my first playthrough I found myself stuck because the camera refuses to pan.
  19. StaticSpine
    Jul 5, 2014
    7
    The game tries to look like it's something more than it is. The visuals are stunning, the soundtrack is decent too. The battle system is pretty fun, but becomes tedious in the second half. And overall, the gameplay is very straight forward and shallow: all you can do is running forward and fighting.
  20. ryanshowseason2
    Jun 26, 2014
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. It wasn't bad, it was good but this wasn't a great game by any means.

    Artistic direction: Beautiful
    Soundtrack: Sublime

    Story: Lacking
    Explanation....
    From the get go you are dropped into a world you don't understand and that doesn't change at any point of the narrative. It was like reading a Greg Bear sci-fi novel. Nothing is explained. I don't know if we were all living in a computer or if the process invaded the "real" world. I'm a programmer by trade and all the references and terminology were endearing but by no means coherent. It is baffling, and downright depressing at times, which I suppose is good, it got an emotional reaction out of me so that's not a complete loss...

    Gameplay: Lacking
    Explanation...
    Missed the boat here... Hate to compare, but bastion had it all. A dodge and block mechanic made enemy offense avoidable but not balance breakingly so. In transistor there are issues... I'll elaborate

    Enemies with tractor beams make it impossible to stay in the regular action mode, you will just be pulled in and forced to take hits to the face. Planning mode is forced on you. Which wouldn't be so bad if it didn't preclude you from your attacks or dodge mechanics until it recharged again.

    Jerks and Fetchs are faster than you and you are guaranteed to take damage from them if they target you. Planning mode is your way out but once again you are precluded from attacks and dodge mechanics.

    That is to say if you've CHOSEN to have a dodge mechanic in your lineup which takes an attack slot.

    Another thing is that some combinations that you can make are woefully lacking compared to others, I don't know how I'd complete the endgame with my original choices, I likely would've quit the game. Comparatively running around jaunting and voiding enemies before mask backstabbing them makes planning mode a guaranteed kill in one turn even on Jerks!

    After all this the length is rather disagreeable with what my wallet spent. I've gotten more bang for my buck out of FPS games with single player only. 4 hours is not satisfying.

    I'm tempted to rate a 1 just to try and bring the user score down. But it is not a 1 just a flawed experience. Balance could be better, but length is the biggest upsetting factor. I don't feel it is worth $20 unless I get the soundtrack :P That is worth $20 alone.    … Expand
  21. mckw
    Jun 6, 2014
    7
    Supergiant triumphs again with an art masterpiece in Transistor with an eye catching art design. Drawing comparisons to Bastion may seem unfair, though it is warranted in some sense that they do draw some similarities.
    One big difference however is the combat system, which I quite thoroughly enjoyed, though sceptical about the turn base mode at first. Trying out different combinations of    Supergiant triumphs again with an art masterpiece in Transistor with an eye catching art design. Drawing comparisons to Bastion may seem unfair, though it is warranted in some sense that they do draw some similarities.
    One big difference however is the combat system, which I quite thoroughly enjoyed, though sceptical about the turn base mode at first. Trying out different combinations of skills and using them in various ways was something I really enjoyed. The story was just okay, and you're mostly left in the dark until late in the game.
    The thing that bugged me the most was the narration in this game just wasn't as good, sometimes even a bit annoying. One liners here and there wasn't welcomed at all. Furthermore the challenges in this game just wasnt rewarding as it was in Bastion. That said, it is still a good game and a worth while experience.    … Expand
  22. kckkryptonite
    May 24, 2014
    7
    Transistor is a very stylish game with a really interesting combat system I wish they would've fleshed out more, which I suppose would've been tough given the short length of the game. I thought it was quite innovative and fun enough to entertain me until the end. The art and soundtrack are also both great, but the level design was sort of bland and the random things you could find or doTransistor is a very stylish game with a really interesting combat system I wish they would've fleshed out more, which I suppose would've been tough given the short length of the game. I thought it was quite innovative and fun enough to entertain me until the end. The art and soundtrack are also both great, but the level design was sort of bland and the random things you could find or do didn't make the game feel any less like a really long dungeon-crawl. The story is convoluted and disjointed at times, presented through extraneous terminals scattered throughout the map and a voiceover that feels like he's talking to himself, rather than the narration given in Bastion. After a while, I found myself not caring altogether; Transistor's simple story is full of rhetoric and style that is novel and cool to behold at first, but quickly grows weary when you realize its lack of substance.… Expand
  23. GenuineOpinion
    May 24, 2014
    7
    Transistor was better than okay. It was good. I hate comparing games to other games in reviews, but this one begs for it. I liked it a lot less than Bastion for many reasons, most of these are opinion based. For example, I preferred the music score in Bastion, the art style, the game play. As I was going through, never once did I feel like Transistor had anything blatantly better thanTransistor was better than okay. It was good. I hate comparing games to other games in reviews, but this one begs for it. I liked it a lot less than Bastion for many reasons, most of these are opinion based. For example, I preferred the music score in Bastion, the art style, the game play. As I was going through, never once did I feel like Transistor had anything blatantly better than Bastion.

    On its own, it has a lot of charm. It is pretty to look at, but no matter how you package it, at the end of the day, it was a love story with sort of cool fighting mechanics. That's about it. The one thing I felt was messy about this game was its menu system. It never really explained a whole lot, so it didn't insult the intelligence of the average player, but because of this, I didn't want to bother figuring out what sorts of move combinations worked optimally.

    In the end, I know the makers of this game could have put more effort into things. More abilities, more end-game content, more hidden dialogue. Maybe I'm just a complainer, but I felt let down after waiting so long for this game to come out.    … Expand
  24. Chiinatso
    May 23, 2014
    5
    I never did play Bastion but i heard it was good so when transistor came along i thought that i might as well play it since the praise for Bastion was huge, sadly it didn't live up to the hype.
    While everything looked very nice, the combat system was kinda cool,the characters were likable and i really liked that all your abilities were people(?) and that you learned more about them as you    I never did play Bastion but i heard it was good so when transistor came along i thought that i might as well play it since the praise for Bastion was huge, sadly it didn't live up to the hype.
    While everything looked very nice, the combat system was kinda cool,the characters were likable and i really liked that all your abilities were people(?) and that you learned more about them as you used that ability there were some flaws that were kinda hard to look past.

    First some of the minor ones:
    The controls felt kinda clumsy on PC, everything was controlled with your left hand,all the keys you used were grouped very close to each other and moving and trying to use attacks in real-time(as opposed to the pause everything wail away mode) was really clunky making it almost completely worthless.
    The story was really vague for the most part, I had no idea what was going on sometimes like that spine thing that was attacking you in one part, why did it affect the transistor guy? why did the Spine reappear for like one area and then went away again? Stuff like that, it felt to compressed most of the time.

    But the the biggest problem was by far the length of the game, I finished it in 4 hours not dying once and i did maybe half of the challenge missions on the beach.

    So in the end the game was nice i liked to listen to the Transistor guy talk about the world, i liked that there wasn't really a bad guy, I liked the art style and characters but in the end the game was so short and sometimes just plain confusing that it didn't really leave you with that sense of wonder when it was done

    It's worth playing it for the story telling but i would still say wait for it to go on sale    … Expand
  25. MohJ
    May 21, 2014
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. From the confusing beginning, all the way until the creepy chick-flick ending, this game never felt "right", not like Bastion did. By the time "Red" decided to suicide, an outcome I cherished since I never felt connected to her like I did with the "Kid", I couldn't wait until the weird pictures stopped rolling, and then in turn, the credits, to see if there is something else; something else that was coming that could salvage what little hope I had by that point in this production. Alas, there was not. Merely a game-plus mode that would put me through the whole ordeal again. However, all is not lost. The production did contain certain aspects that made me feel my $20 wasn't a complete wash down the toilet, such as beautiful art-work, mesmerizing music, and a some-what interesting combat system. Nothing much else beside that I'm afraid. The list of the things I found lacking follows below:

    - Extremely easy and casual that it even makes games such as Child of Light feel hardcore in comparison. I haven't died once throughout the entire game, which is a huge contrast coming from Dark Souls 2, as one can imagine. I did get over-loaded a couple of times at least. I remember Bastion becoming challenging with all Idols enabled, requiring a change in strategy to survive, not so with Transistor. Enabling 5 out of the 6 "limiters" I acquired through-out the game did nothing in terms of adding any meaningful challenge. It seems, to me at least, that the game was heavily tailored towards the female and casual players demographic.

    - Extremely short. Not the game as whole only, but even the battles in-between. One could literally finish most battles in under a minute, and often times without getting as much as a scratch in the process.

    - Lackluster enemies/bosses. I could swear there were only around 7-8 enemy types in the entire game, which gets "leveled-up" with time, instead of the game giving us new enemy types, which I must, with apologies, attribute to lazy development. If I'm not mistaken, I believe there was a total of only three bosses thought-out the entire game, each being a complete cake-walk. If there was a fourth one, my bad, but they're just so forgettable. I do remember there being some sort of an umbrella in the mix somewhere.

    - Meaningless optional additions. The beach where you go to do challenges and practice is so meaningless and boring that I decided to skip it entirely after the third-one. The terminals you encounter throughout the game serve nothing; they could literally be completely gone and nothing would be lost or gained in terms of substance. The cut scenes where you are riding a bike, a boat and finally what I'm assuming to be some sort of cloud made out from Processes, does nothing but extend the game-length for a couple of minutes. Then, there's the button that you press to make the girl hum a song and the button you press to make her jump and catch her weird, glowing sword; I'm yet scratching my head to try and fathom what the point of adding all this non-sense was.

    - Very Interesting upgrade system, where each acquired skill could be used as an active skill, a supplement skill or a passive skill, but it is too simplistic. Bastion's upgrade system was much more cohesive. Each gun you acquired had its strengths and weaknesses against certain enemy types. In Transistor, I beat the game with the same 4 active slots I acquired at the beginning, and without giving much thought to what I put as supplements or passives.

    Finally, I must complement Supergiant for another artistic achievement; you have clearly put your soul and heart into this, although I feel it was transferred through the wrong medium. It might serve better if someone transfers it as a romantic sci-fi book or movie than it ever does as a game.    … Expand
  26. Ayreos
    May 21, 2014
    6
    While Bastion wasn't perfect, it offered a solid gameplay and an immediate story, neither of which definition can be applied to Transistor. I can only appreciate that the developers wanted to push their previous results and achieve something even greater. Unfortunately, while Transistor delivers a level of artistry that is equal to Bastion, it loses in every other regard.
    The story is too    While Bastion wasn't perfect, it offered a solid gameplay and an immediate story, neither of which definition can be applied to Transistor. I can only appreciate that the developers wanted to push their previous results and achieve something even greater. Unfortunately, while Transistor delivers a level of artistry that is equal to Bastion, it loses in every other regard.
    The story is too subtle and inconsistent to truly intrigue players from the get go. This despite the super soundtrack to give it life, which instead steals the spotlight entirely. Furthermore, the narration that made Bastion famous is back, but with no story to narrate. This time the narrator is part of the story, and since said story is holding itself back to create a sense of wonder, the narration has truly little to narrate, quickly becoming a nuisance to the action.
    Finally, the gameplay (combat), a hybrid of turn-based battle and real time action, doesn't coalesce into a unified whole because of a lack of coherence to its mechanics. While the player can control the main character freely, he usually cannot efficiently escape the enemies because of their superior range and speed. This forces the player to make use of the "planning" stage, which allows to perform a multitude of moves virtually instantaneously, while the enemy is helpless to react. While this mechanic balances encounters, it renders the action part of the game often futile, and misses the obvious gameplay potential of allowing players to plot and stack moves while anticipating enemy movement, since enemies are virtually stationary during its execution. Worst of all, this mechanic translates to a simple and obligatory bite&run tactic for inexperienced players and, given the limited length of the game, requires a second and a third playthrough to be exploited more creatively. At that point the game has already lost most of its difficulty, however.
    Ultimately, all the extravagant and ambitious choices of the game turn out to be shallow, despite the developers'' obvious quest for depth. There is still a remarkable game to play in Transistor, but a number of frustrating flaws as well.    … Expand
  27. gun661
    May 21, 2014
    7
    Let me say I'm really fond of Bastion and the developers' design philosohpy - the team really seems to mean it, i.e. it's not just marketing. So please keep on making games, Supergiant Games! "Transistor" though, alas, feels like a mixed bag. The game's composition of visuals and audio is great (you can see that in the trailers), but for me the narrative and gameplay, while havingLet me say I'm really fond of Bastion and the developers' design philosohpy - the team really seems to mean it, i.e. it's not just marketing. So please keep on making games, Supergiant Games! "Transistor" though, alas, feels like a mixed bag. The game's composition of visuals and audio is great (you can see that in the trailers), but for me the narrative and gameplay, while having potential, don't add up to something larger.

    Transistor's gameplay focuses heavily on combat, other aspects (e.g. a hub/haven where you can rest and do some challenges) fall short, granting you access to them only sporadically at rest houses along the road of battles. The combat itself gives you many skills and combinations thereof to play with, the option to pause the action and plan your moves is awesome, but tactically the encounters don't really inspire you to use all the combinations, since default attacks are just as good to prevail most of the time against the few mobs Transistor throws at you. Instead you're kinda forced to switch and use different skill-combinations because that unlocks bits of the story... yes, just like that, yes, sounds strange... it makes sense story-wise but doesn't feel fun: makes trying out different combinations a tedious work like crossing off a check list to get all them story bits. Although those story bits then only come in form of written text, i.e. entrys in an encyclopedia..

    Speaking of the story, you really need those bits because occurrences of "true" story feel rare and are convoluted. While this has worked for me before (hello, Planescape Torment) Transistor's story is so incoherent (especially in the beginning) that for me it failed to build up enough mystery and wonder to get me involved. I.e. often it felt like running along beautiful drawn levels with just as beautiful music, doing kinda casual battles, now and then encountering a boss that should mean something to you, but somehow doesn't, and on you go... These aspects of the game ultimately made me want to finish it fast instead of taking my time to take it in.    … Expand
  28. vreynauld
    May 20, 2014
    5
    After the disappointment that was Wolfenstein, I figured at least I had Transistor to look forward to. Unfortunately I was wrong there too. Three hours in and the story behind this world makes little sense. The combat system is frustrating since it gives you bare minimum information on how to manipulate your skills (and even less information about switching skills). The top down viewAfter the disappointment that was Wolfenstein, I figured at least I had Transistor to look forward to. Unfortunately I was wrong there too. Three hours in and the story behind this world makes little sense. The combat system is frustrating since it gives you bare minimum information on how to manipulate your skills (and even less information about switching skills). The top down view reminds the player of classic Shadowrun... without anywhere near the quality of the story. Speaking of story, when it feels like telling one at all, it's disjointed and lacks any kind of cohesion. Frankly this game feels like indie BS that's too trendy to try to tell a cohesive story or provide solid gameplay, certainly not in the same league as its predecessor, Bastion.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

34
#34 Best PC Game of 2014
41
#41 Most Discussed PC Game of 2014
68
#68 Most Shared PC Game of 2014

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
83

Generally favorable reviews - based on 35 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 29 out of 35
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 35
  3. Negative: 1 out of 35
  1. Riot Pixels
    Aug 4, 2014
    70
    Besides killing enemies, there is not much to do; the entire game is a linear path from one small arena to the next one. Yes, there is a story, but in Bastion it was seamlessly integrated into gameplay, and here it only breaks the pace.
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  2. CD-Action
    Jul 25, 2014
    80
    After completing the game I almost instantly returned to it for another 9 hours of New Game+ and after I’m done with it I’ll do 9 more. Or maybe twice as much. [07/2014, p.52]
  3. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Jul 8, 2014
    100
    Breathtaking presentation plus creative combat plus a metaverse of metaphors equals a romance that is brief, but oh so captivating.
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