Why Transistor was king among indies in 2014

I’ve just finished Transistor, and feel strongly (as in: my hands are sweaty and I have a fever which I assume is the result of this game’s purity of will in delivering a heartfelt, intriguing narrative and in complimenting it with challenging, thoughtful gameplay) that it warrants your time, money, and money. Of course, Transistor is also free for NA PS4 PlayStation Plus subscribers in February 2015. If you fall into this category, then your past self was wise enough to understand that PS+’s worth can near singularly be weighed by its inclusion of Transistor.

Kyle’s rather eloquent detailing of Transistor can be read here, so I won’t bother to re-summarize it to you, the reader. Instead, I’ll simply spend the time we share now re-summarizing that it is good, and well worth playing.


Transistor’s crowning achievement is easily its assuredness as a great game. At times, the game presents itself as intellectual entertainment, positing philosophical ideals of freedom, love and futurism. In these moments, Transistor is pretentious. Thankfully, this certainty in tone does not detract from what developers Supergiant Games do right: they present a compact story which is emotional and thought-provoking, they liven up their combat with a neat ability to stop time, and they wholeheartedly play up their cyberpunk themes.

Transistor’s story is actually rather smart and inventive, occasionally teetering on the brink of collapsing into psychobabble like Bastion did, without ever doing so. What results is an initially confusing narrative about a woman who’s lost her voice and a sword which can talk, and what results in a sensible tale about love and the horrors of public service. I kid you not. Guess government work isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Overall, much of the minute-to-minute world building reminded me a great deal of BioShock Infinite. Both present a circular narrative through the lens of a dystopic setting nicely, and both manage to overcome any literary tropes by conveying heart and soul.

Judged on its gameplay, Transistor again succeeds. The game’s mechanical scope (measured by me in the game’s length as well as its complexity of combat) feels just right. During the 6 or so hours that it takes to get through the game once, I never once grew tired of combat, which is initially lackluster (similarly to Bastion), but opens up nicely before long. Additionally, being able to pause time and chain together moves (each of which takes up a portion of protagonist Red’s Turn gauge) is a fantastic addition, and many of the game’s enemies play to this ability nicely.

Lastly, Transistor’s music and aesthetic are splendid. The game’s cyberpunk setting is handled nicely, and the audio is consistently fantastic. I seldom comment on the voice acting in games, but to me (one of the) villain(s) Royce is utterly brilliantly realized. The VA’s distant, almost lazy recanting of his motives is delivered masterfully.

Final Thoughts: “…ce I will say this twice”

Transistor exceeded my expectations in every way. It is a game offering its players heaps of multi-faceted entertainment: not only is the game’s story focused and heartfelt, its gameplay is fun and challenging, and its world is rich and vibrant. Also, I dare you to play the game just once. Upon beating Transistor the first time, I felt the immediate urge to play the game a second time. Its replay value, similar to Bastion, is quite high, and well worth your time. Before starting the game, remember, “I will say this twi…”