![]() Over time, this façade fades away and these locales become deserted, the lights dim. Cloudbank is a dark city with bright neon lights. When done correctly, like in Transistor, these elements aren’t just beautiful but evocative. The other main pull is how the art style and sound design convey that story. ![]() Elements of classic storytelling are also present here, which reveals a certain level of predictability that’s at odds with the wonder found in the art style. When characters end up so predictable, it can detract from the story. Despite the remarkable storytelling, these predictable characters are one of the biggest flaws in the game. It’s hard to not get attached and root for these two to the end. The exploration of their relationship and how they fit into this world is one of the main pulls of the game. Other characters, such as Red or the man in the sword, are a little deeper. Perhaps it would benefit from a second playthrough sometime to properly appreciate it.The small cast of core characters has their own motivations that drive the story, though in some cases, they tend to be archetypal. I even considered abandoning it after defeating the first boss, but I pushed on knowing it has a short duration. Transistor certainly has a lot of love, and I can appreciate why it has a high aggregated review score but I personally didn't connect with it and left me with a lukewarm opinion. After falling in love with Hades I was curious in the studio's back catalogue. Once I found a build that seemed to despatch the enemies quickly I maintained it until the end of the game. As a result it felt like randomised experimentation to discover what each Function does in their active, upgrade and passive roles. There could have been some high-level guidance provided in the menus considering its short gameplay of 6-8 hours to avoid having to resort to an online walkthrough guide. I'm writing this as there is no tutorial (which I'm okay with) but I felt it detracted from the potential enjoyment of the gameplay in figuring this out. And all this is wrapped up in a peculiar real-time and turn-based combat hybrid. Also, there are limiters that can be applied for faster levelling up. The enemy are these robots (?) referred to as The Process which are taking over the city and you pick up abilities and boons called Functions as you level up. For me the story started to feel cohesive about midway though the game, after around 3 hours, and the ending somewhat anticlimactic. Given the potential of this set-up, I thought there would be a greater sense of urgency in locating the killer but I felt that the character Red coasts through the empty cityscape dragging the weapon, the titular transistor, behind her. ![]() The game starts with little context but at the first scene a murder has occurred, and the key to understanding the events leading up to this mystery is spread across disparate pieces of lore revealed in checkpoints and character background information that you progressively unlock. I've read quite a few discussions on video games as an art form in many online fora and **Transistor** is sometimes listed as an example given its stellar art direction and visual presentation, which players have learned to expect from Supergiant Games.
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