Transistor 📽 Through the Lens

We back at it again (with the white Vans? No.) with another Supergiant game article boooiiiiiiii. 😤

Until Hades came out, Transistor was my favorite Supergiant game. Their second release improves and alters the ideas of the first in so many creative ways that it's a joy to experience even after your 10th playthrough. 😅

And with the hype of Bastion behind them, Supergiant were primed to get a bunch of eyeballs on their sequel game. 👀 And as we have said many a times on these - Supergiant Have yet to release a bad game. And as it stands, I doubt they ever will. 😁

Incredible.

Sooooo, it is time to travel to a Cyberpunk universe wholly its own. In this edition of Through the Lens 🎞, we'll be looking at Supergiant's sophomore effort from 2014: Transistor, Roll it! 📽

🚩 UP TOP 🚩

You guys are in for a treat with this one. 😁 I really can't believe I always say this, but this game really has one of the best soundtracks ever made. 😂 I swear every game I've covered recently has a killer OST.

_{My favorite Daniel Korb soundtrack to date.}

I was so enthralled by this game on my first playthrough. The only thing that let me down was its length, and even that is by design as this game is meant to be played over, and over, and over again.

Many would consider it the best Supergiant game, and I wouldn't disagree with them. I fully understand, there's a lot to sink your teeth into with this game. 🤤

As with my last article I highly recommend you guys check out the amazing noClip documentary on this tittle's development. 💯 I will paraphrase the main points of it here, but it a must-watch for anyone curious in the gaming industry. It'a cool sneak peak behind the curtains of the creative process. 🙂

_{Support noClip if you enjoy their content, they are a self-funded organization with no strings attached.}

So let's embark on this cyberpunk 🎶 musical adventure!

🤖 A NEW SETTING 🤖

"Supergiant sure love their apocalyptic settings."
Aristotle, 325 BC.

Granted, this is a different type of apocalypse. It's Cyberpunk! Which automatically makes it better than Bastion. 😁

Of courseeeee, I am just joshing ya (that's the first time I've sued that phrase on Hive, felt good not gonna lie) everyone has their own preference, and if you say Bastion's setting was better realized - I'd buy you a beer. 🍺

ONLY TO THROW IT IN YOUR FACE kidding I'm just kidding.

But yeah, why I think it's a better setting is it's better realized. There's a ton more textual storytelling here that does a lot of the heavy lifting for the world-building. I get that some people like the mystique of a less hands-on approach to the world like Bastion, but they both have their merits and flaws. The biggest merit in this "textbook" style of world-building, is that you get a lot of it. 😃 That is, if you don't mind reading.

I also have a fondness for the Cyberpunk genre in general. And this is a worthy addition to said genre.

The setting also intertwines with the story itself. Bonus points! Like all Supergiant games, everything has a purpose. The setting is mixed in with the story and mechanics, And everything complements the other perfectly. 😭 It is seriously beautiful to witness and play.

And at the same time tragic since so few studios manage to pull it off. 😭😭😭

💋 RED 💋

"Red is one of the two main protagonists of Transistor. A well-known performing artist who has never missed a show, Red lives at Apartment 3, Terrace Apartments, Terrace Plaza, in Cloudbank's Highrise district."

The musical theme in this game is strong. I'd say there are two overarching themes: music and romance. Music, ok, Supergiant used that as a theme in Bastion as well. But romance? That is something wholly new. And both center around our protagonist: RED.

The fact that Red is a singer that lost her voice (cool your jets, you discover this in after the first combat room) is such poignant irony with the game's theme. So, how do you make a mute protagonist compelling? You give her a magical, talking, futuristic sword of course. A tran.sis.tor!

On top of everything, the Transistor's her lover! 😱 Trapped inside an inanimate object, his only interaction with the real world being his voice. While Red is mute, and her only interaction's the sword. This setup is not all that deep, or nuanced, or original. But it's nice touch all the same. 🙂

It's also cool that every boss you fight was at one point a friend of Red's. The entire plot centers around her (which is how it should be) and the sword. I also love that it all stems from jealousy really. Red was Mariah Carry and these lil brats were just jelly over her heavenly voice. 😂

I'd say the main antagonist is the only part of this whole thing that leaves something to e desired. His motivations are not really that clear (unless you do a lot of reading) and his final fight is not all that impressive from a mechanical standpoint. It is amazing from a visual one though, but I felt the final boss left something to be desired. 🤷‍♂

🎴 NUANCES 🎴

Supergiant tries a lot of new things with their gameplay loop. It's so ambitious and out of left field that I'm surprised they managed to pull it off. The madlads. 💪

First off let's talk about that symbiotic relationship between the game's mechanics and lore. Every ability you use is an actual person. (you can carry up to 4, and they are your bog standard cooldown based 'spells') 😲 Or, the soul of one, but you get what I mean. 😄 And not only can they be used as an ability, but as a modifier to an ability as well. 😵 And each ability can have up to two modifiers. So just sit back and think how crazy that is, and how many different combinations for your loadout you can have. 😨

Now, here's another twist, when you die, you are locked out from using one of your abilities. 😳 So you HVE TO switch up your playstyle if you wanna keep going. And you will wanna keep going because this game is the nuts. 🎄 (get it? tree? nuts? squirrel? I'll see myself out now) 👋

The enemies are also nicely carried, although I'd say Supergiant really nailed down their enemy design with Hades. Here... they are still improving. 😅

But you can imagine all these combinations of abilities lend themselves very well into a replayable game. Of course, the patented (not actually but the way things are going in the industry, Supergiant should really think about it) difficulty system is still here. For me, Transistor was always a way harder game than Bastion, so I indulged in this system sparingly. But it's still all there: you make select aspects of the game more difficult in order to receive better rewards. 🤑

You also have cute break rooms and cinematic landscapes which just lets you sigh and take a breather. 😆

Another thing I love about this game is that you have a place to test out all these different nifty combinations of your abilities (and listen to the bomb ass music). Which is always a plus.

🔹SIDE NOTE:🔹
I really disliked how the new game + really doesn't add anything of substance to the experience. Apart from the first line being in Royce's voice (The antagonist) nothing else changes. Seems like a real shame considering this game was made for a new game + experience. A missed opportunity but watchagonnado. 😅

Do I really need a whole section to talk about how amazing Jen Zee and Daniel Korb are? No! I don't! They are the $#!&, through and through. And if you don't believe me then you haven't been paying much attention, so there. 😛

Jokes aside I think they both stepped up their game big time for their sophomore effort. Again, not that Bastion was inferior in any part, but it's obvious that both artists reached out of their comfort zone for this project, and it shows in its execution. Kudos! 👏👏

🏆 LEGACY 🏆

Another in the long line (Does 4 count as a long line? eh, we're going with it) of Supergiant success. 🙌

The soundtrack in itself is gonna be immortalized in gaming history. And judging by the ammmount of plushes Red and the Transistor have sold over the years, I'd say the characters in themselves are gonna me immortalized.

The Legacy of this game is tied to every other game in SG's catalog - because they.do.not.miss.

Shout-out to the 🍕PIZZA🍕 gang, 🤙 gang. 🤙

Another fast fun write-up. I think I'm committed to writing a Pyre column next. 😁 Newsflash, it's my least favorite Supergiant game. Not saying it's bad, oh far from it, just different.

As for this game I, of course, highly recommend it. 😆 It's not even a long game, although be warned, you are going to want to replay it.

Hope everyone enjoyed reading, I always appreciated your feedback. 😌

Cheers! 🍻

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Have a great start to your week! 😉