Transistor
Released: May 20, 2014
Game Length: 6 Hours
Grade: C
Expectations: A lot of people have recommended the four games from the small team of Supergiant Games. I played their first game Bastion way back in 2011 with mixed results. I enjoyed the gameplay but was utterly confused to the overarching world and story. That ending really didn't help matters. I tried Transistor for a brief period over someone's house, but I quickly grew bored of it within the first 20 minutes. Now here in 2020, I decided to go into it with a more civil approach. Maybe things will go better this time around?
Reality: After playing it to the end, it did not get better. The game sets up this really robust world around you without really telling you what is happening. You barely find anyone that isn't already "dead" and for some reason your weapon is the only one that can talk between the two of you. Every now and then you will come across a terminal where you type something down in order to "converse" with your weapon before commenting on the current affairs. It is too bad that I never really figured out what was going on. How did everyone disappear? Where are you? Why is the world disappearing? Are we in a simulation? You fight off a bunch of robots that pop out of the ground with your "sword" made up of a list of functions that in reality are people who died during some sort of massive purge. You can mix up these functions in any fashion you choose as you juggle around freezing time and attacking.
Rules: I actually liked the battle system. The problem is that it took me two-thirds through the game to figure everything out. There are a bunch of "exceptions to the rule" that had me shaking my head. Ironically, I'm not 100% sure on anything I say here. Purge() adds a poison to the enemy which doesn't stack if fired multiple times. When firing multiple projectiles with Purge() and Spark(), they all seem to follow the same target! Switch() makes an enemy become your ally and cannot be harmed by you during its process. I don't think there is a way to take control of them or refresh its cooldown once applied. Using Bounce() and Spark() with Switch() was more trouble than its worth as you turn every enemy to your side, meaning you're sitting there for a few seconds without a means to hurt anyone. After freezing time, the only ability you can use while recovering is whatever Jaunt() function is attached to. Firing while recovering will not slow down your timed bar.
The most confusing of all the functions had to be the Help() function. Summoning Help() when there are no enemies causes him to despawn. You cannot summon Help() while using your Turn() freeze-time ability. The dog AI is terrible and will wander off into corners unknown. Make sure you assign your character some attacks when manipulating your dog in battle since expending his actions somehow automatically expends your actions whether or not you actually do anything. At least Control made it so your allies slowly died while on your side. Ultimately, the planning phase with your freeze ability is unreliable since your enemies will move, react, bounce, or teleport when being hit with a function. This means that even if it shows your target dying after being hit four times with a Breach(), one strike could cause them to move a hair to the left thereby causing you to waste three strikes without hitting a thing. Just because your three Ping() functions kills a "Cheerleader" protecting a target during your planning phase doesn't mean the shield will go down once it is destroyed. This poses the question: is time "frozen" where everything on the screen happens at once or is time "dilated" where you simply move faster than everyone around you? Whatever the case, I ended up mostly using stun-locks on enemies from a distance with the combination functions of Crash(), Breach(), and Jaunt().
Challenges: There is this little "backdoor" area you visit where you gradually unlock challenges with your new abilities. Some are very informative when they show you effective ways to use or combine your functions. While other doors infuriated me to no end. There is one door where you must take a Performance Test with several waves of enemies. The problem? The enemies and functions they provide are random. Try a few rounds without extending your Crash() with Breach() or face-off against six cloaking dogs barking your head off and see if you survive. Succeeding in these levels unlocks music that... can only be played within the recreational area? Winning does boost your level, and it does take into consideration limiters at least (extra layers of difficulty you apply that provides you with additional points to level up).
Miscellaneous: If you do run out of health, the game sometimes instantly provides you with one last emergency Turn(). Otherwise you will lose one function at a time until you completely run out. These functions will gradually repair themselves after reaching a save point. The voice from the Transistor actually got on my nerves, reacting to everything you do. Other than Red humming and Transistor rambling, the only dialogue in the game is from a couple of the dullest voice actors I've ever heard for Asher Kendrell and Royce Bracket.
Opinion: I understand why people enjoyed playing this game. The combat system allows you to try out a large number of combinations with all the abilities at your fingertips. Sadly, the wonderful setting and crisp enemy encounters does not make up for the confusing story, short campaign, and inconsistent game mechanics. Unless you really liked Bastion, I would not recommend playing this game.
12-6-2020