Genre: Action RPG
Year: 2014
Developed by: Supergiant Games
Published by: Supergiant Games
Platforms: PC, PS4, OS X, Linux, iOS, Switch
#167
Feeling Like: Electric
When it comes to Supergiant, all I can think of is the Bobs from Office Space.
I’ll be honest with you, I love their games. I do. I’m a Supergiant Games fan.
I already gushed in the Bastion post, and here’s another example of them getting better and better with every release. Transistor wasn’t as eye opening or head turning; digital downloads in 2014 were getting to be commonplace compared to 2014, and Supergiant wasn’t coming out of nowhere this time.
They still crushed it. Transistor is a splendid game, with their trademark art style, dedication to lean storytelling, fantastic audio and gameplay that is as tight as anything. I’m going to be hard pressed to say anything negative here.
My pace of postings has gone up dramatically with 67 posts already this year, moreso than any other year. I don’t know if that’s because I made a conscious decision to hurry the hell up, or if quantifying and measuring my activity has given me an internal kick in the brain but I’m finding that doing an entry a day, or even two, is commonplace. The other reason, which I think is the most likely, is that I’m getting closer and closer to my absolute favorite games ever. Each subsequent entry on the 500 is a slightly better experience and therefore easier to talk about, or at least justify.
That doesn’t go for every entry – Contra was under 500 words, whereas Suikoden Tierkreis was more than double that, but I find myself seeking out external research and opinions less and less. I will hardly need a refresher when I get to my all-time favorite, but I’m still more than a year away from that. (Editor’s note – only four months!)
I digress. Transistor seems like another invisible milestone of quality, and looking ahead I can see some real titans of gaming that I’m relishing revisiting. But for the here and now, this is one hell of a time.
Everything worked – the science fiction world was fascinating. Natural to Supergiant games, the storytelling and lore is told sparingly, but effectively. Less is more. I’m confident that I came up with what the civilians of this world would be like, how they lived, what they ate, what their politics were and how they went about their day without the game even telling me. It’s a feeling.
I think it helps that Supergiant tends to include lyrics in their songs. It’s a tricky thing to incorporate, many games don’t or if they do, they do it for comedic purposes. I believe, used sparingly, it can make a good track unforgettable. “We All Become” is Transistor to a t, wistful, sad but with a voice that refuses to give up. I forget if the voice is the character of Red herself, but that’s the way I’m leaning. This song, along with a few from Bastion and an incredible audio switch in Pyre heightened my enjoyment so much that they’ve become permanent fixtures in my memory.
I loved the dynamic of a talking sword since Suikoden , so I was big fan here. Since the protagonist has lost her voice, she has to rely on the consciousness of a dead man’s spirit within the sword, the Transistor. It’s a fresh take on the silent hero and every power, or major story beat, goes through it. This is one of the few games where I will withhold from revealing major plot points – not so much that I don’t want to spoil them, but it’s the kind of story were they don’t really matter. Again, it’s a feeling and you can’t re-create that by just reading my recommendation.
God, just look at the colours! Look the dynamic between sharp and soft. I breezed through Transistor in a few days because I wanted to keep seeing what lay around the corner for Red and her talking, pseudo magic sword. Revealing what happened to Cloudbank, what was Red’s life like, interacting with the larger than life personalities and combining various powers to defend yourself was a gameplay loop I could not get enough of. What a treat to know that from the minute you press START, you know you’re in the hands of a talented, dedicated group. Sometimes you just know.
It’s a feeling.
Unsurprisingly, they nailed the ending too. Here I was, ready to go into detail about how rolling around enemies is crisp and how the challenge is fair and how Supergiant avoided the sophomore slump and how I handled the boss fights, or exploration or waded through the menus, but all I keep coming back to is how I felt playing it; pure happiness. Intrigued by this fallen world, compelled to repair it, aching to hear Red speak again, desperate to know just who the man in the sword is and get to the end as fast as possible. I don’t know how long Supergiant can keep up this streak of quality, but as of Transistor, they’re 2 for 2.
The 500 