What is it: Transistor is a sci-fi adventure using an isometric perspective. If you've played Supergiant's previous work Bastion, then it's the same perspective. If you haven't played Bastion, stop reading this now, and go buy it. In Transistor, you take on the role of Red, a singer in the futuristic city of Cloudbank. Things quickly start going bad, and you set off through the city to make them right. The ending of the story is beautifully bittersweet, and had me in tears. I don't remember the last time that happened. It took me about 7 hours to complete the story, and I loved just about every moment of it.
Pros
Graphics: Holy shit, this game is beautiful. The design of Cloudband is breathtaking, even where things are going horribly wrong. The colors are rich, and the style is unique. There are a few points where you use elevators to move to another part of the city, and the rides there are gorgeous too. The still scenes for the cuts are very nice as well, and only add to the game.
Music: Once again, Supergiant has wowed me with the music. I have the Bastion soundtrack on my mp3 player, and the Transistor soundtrack will be joining it shortly. I cannot listen to the final track (Paper Boats) without getting teary eyed. The tracks fit the city and situations beautifully,
Characters: You only run across a few characters. Red, the Transistor, and the members of the Camerata. But each is distinct. Red is a singer who has lost her voice, and is trying to get some revenge. The main voice of the Transistor obvious cares for her, and you find out just how much as you go further into the game. Now, the fun part comes in the various abilities that you find. Each of them is based on a person that the Transistor absorbs. As you use the abilities in each of the three different ways, you learn more about that person. It's a really cool system of adding lore into the game that doesn't complicate the game any.
Gameplay: I used the mouse and keyboard to play this, and had no issues what so ever. The Processes you gain through leveling are very unique. Every new ability you gain can serve three purposes. It can be a direct attack, it can augment a direct attack, or it can give a passive bonus. As you earn experience, you can unlock upgrade slots, and memory to build ever more complex Processes. If you take too much damage though, you lose the use of the direct attack until you visit a certain number of access points. I really like this idea, as it makes you pick and choose the abilities and try them out. If you get locked out of one thing, you can try something else.
There are two ways of dealing with combat. You can run around and smack things about, or you can use strategy. You can actually pause the battlefield and plan your moves. Which I love, it's really neat being able to plan out what you're wanting to do, and to take on multiple enemies.
Cons
Gameplay: The Processes isn't exactly an intuitive thing to learn. I had to play around a bit with it before I figured it out. Is it game breaking? Not really. A tutorial wouldn't go amiss though. Some of the functions act a little weird at times. Jaunt (an ability that lets you dash around the map) can be hard to aim, depending on what obstacles are in the way.
There's also something of a lack of replay value. You can go back and play it through again, but there are no choices to make, as with Bastion. It's the same story again. You can go back for achievements, more lore about the Processed characters, and to make your character more powerful, but that's about it.
Length: It's a bit short. It could have used another act, I think. Another member of the Camerata to fight perhaps, and there are a few questions I still have to resolve.
Overall Opinion: If you like sci-fi games, get this. If you like isometric games with gorgeous art, get this. If you like a good quality game, GET THIS. It was totally worth the $20, and I went ahead and purchased the soundtrack as well. Even with the criticisms, I loved this game, even with the bittersweet ending.
