Transistor

Excellent Action RPG that incorporates a tactical system

If you're familiar with Bastion, you'll likely enjoy Transistor as well. Both are isometric action RPGs with an arcade-like feel and modular difficulty, and both play best with a controller.

Transistor introduces a tactical combat mechanic in which you stop time and program your actions. This is technically optional, but a lot of the mobs are tough to handle in real-time unless you're using very specific builds. That said, the combat feels great, with smooth animations and a satisfying rhythm.

The soundtrack is good, the atmosphere is rich, and the dialogues and narration add a charm. It's fun to experiment with the different builds and tackle the minigames. There's a New Game Plus mode but without excessive difficulty spike. Some achievements can be very challenging but guides help out with those.

All in all, an excellent little game that’s given me a lot of enjoyment over the past few weeks.

Beautiful and fun

I really liked the final boss and the ending. You can create some OP builds towards the end. Really wish I had played it without the limiter that reduces your MEM.

Is good

Really polished, excellent, story and combat driven game. Combat was great, so many ways to approach things, can do it real time or in turn time. You start with crash & jaunt and they can be your bread and butter to the end (pro tip, when you can, put jaunt as a mod to crash and it will work out of turn and you can stun lock elites all day with it, it's amazing to make fights easier towards the end). Mask is amazing, stealth is so useful. Great voice overs. Great music. Gorgeous rendering. What a 50's looking vibe too.

I really wanted to like this game but just couldn't... didn't enjoy the game play and fighting mechanism at all, which was actually quite annoying. I read that it was innovative when it came out with both real time and turn based fighting, but I found it to be not very enjoyable and confusing. Ended up not enjoying neither aspects. Fights are too fast-paced for turn based, but the fighting itself in real time is too slow and annoying.
Graphic and design is nice but gets quite repetitive, and at least for the first few hours I played it all looked and felt the same.
I read that you should give it some time before 'giving up' on this game, but I just couldn't. It was boring and tedious. It's a shame as I LOVE Hades and I can see how this game is in a way a 'pre-Hades' game for the developer. It's just not for me.

Transistor is a well-made game that includes beautiful screens, background music, and unique game systems.
When using a keyboard/mouse, however, stuttering and freezing were severe. I don't find the reason but when I stopped moving mouse and used WASD to move character, the screen stuttered and freezed. This makes the game very uncomfortable to play.
I recommend using a controller for this game, which has no issues like above.

Achievements not functional

One of the most beautiful and memorable games I've ever played.... this is one fun game, no doubt about it.

Probably my favorite of the Supergiant games. Considering Hades that says A LOT.

Look, it's well made, the gameplay is pretty decent, but I could for the life of me not get into this one.

Bawled my eyes out at the ending. Twice.

One of those game that you have to play for an hour for it to start being really good.
The amount of combinations you can do is great, the story on the simpler side, but with a lot of things to say.
Really fun for a couple of hours.

Cringe game, not very interesting and pretty bland.

Short and sweet! Needs more boss fights. Cool and recomended

The music in this game moves me still

Smart, wonderful, simply awesome.

Just realised I never reviewed this classic! It’s been years, but this game still feels impactful in my mind.

Great gameplay, great art, great soundtrack.


Like all Supergiant games, it’s a masterpiece with no reason not to try it!
Easily a 10/10.

not a fun game. but simply among the best of games. feel the dire vibes of the end of the world, amplified by dire need to make space and complex plans in VATS-style combat gauntlets. prepare your mind for all other thoughts and worlds.

for bad girls only :tbpgloomy: supergiant the GOAT in narrative action adventure

10 years later it is still an amazing game.

Visuals and music are really good but the fighting is clumsy and repetitive which just kills an interest for the game

immaculate. sublime. supergiants best work, ever, bar none, hands down. from the OST to the art direction to the small-in-size yet huge-in-impact alterations to a classic isometric action game.

doesn't overstay its welcome. provides a compelling, surreal, and engaging setting, delivered as close to perfect as any narrative could be given.

you owe it to yourself to play this.

I really disliked the game play loop. Combat is not fun. What else is there? Art direction is OK - too geometrical. Story is nonsense.

Amazing soundtrack + innovative action/turn-based gameplay

It's SO PRETTY!!! I *love* the vibes and the art and the music, the style feels slightly cyberpunky but abandoned and also prettier.
I also especially love the idea of merging real time with turn-based tactics. The skills are really diverse and you can mix and match them to create very unique skill sets. The enemies also become stronger at a good pace that feels challenging but manageable, and the fights don't become boring.
The story is beautiful. You get it in bits and pieces and I haven't finished it yet and so I can't really tell you what's going on.
Definitely a strong recommendation from me.

Transistor left such a profound impact on me when I first played it. The story, the characters and, by god, the music were unforgettable. For years I had "Paper Boats" as my alarm song, and I never got sick of it. The relationship between Red and The Boxer (Transistor) was beautiful and they were written perfectly. You would think that only having one of the two being able to talk would make things awkward to listen to, but instead I found it to be the complete opposite. It was endearing to hear The Boxer speak to Red with such incredible fondness, while Red showed her love for him through her actions and determination. The ending of this game is unforgettable.

I am a huge fan of Supergiant Games, and I always will be, and while I love Hades and Hades II, Transistor will always have a special place in my heart. For anyone reading this, even if you don't end up playing the game, please listen to the soundtrack. I promise you will not be disappointed.

This game is beautiful in terms of art, music and story. The gameplay mechanic is fairly unique as well, and it is a TON of fun trying out different builds and finding the ones you like. I definitely recommend it^^

Love the art style, soundtrack and story.

Combat is quite fun for me: you have to mix and match abilities (you may augment one ability with another to "pass on" its characteristics) to figure out your playstyle, which is quite rewarding and satisfying when you nail it down.

And did I mention the soundtrack?

Nice and story, but re-playable.

Typically don't like "cyber-ish" games, but this one was great. really enjoyed it.

so much fun. puzzles, good music, great story

Unique art and combat system (Action RPG with a special stop time planned-move).
The combat system encourages players to try out different combinations.

Like in Bastion, the difficulty is adjusted similarly to the Skulls of HALO series(in the Transistor, it is called the Limiters, which would provide the player more challenge(like increasing enemies' damage), but give more XP in return), and can be modified to each player's liking in each Access point (checkpoint)

Sometimes the enemies are stuck in places the player can't reach, which forces the player to press the restart button.

The music and vibe are on point.
About 10 hours per run (can be completed in much less time if you do not turn any limiters on and do not complete any backdoor challenge. Trying out different combos also takes time, but if you can find effective combos and stick to them early on, it can shrinks the playtime by quite a lot), it takes a little more than 20 hours to 100% complete. (note: most of the segment was completed with all the limiters available turned on(except one part for the 1st run) at that time)
100% achievements.

Wish the story to be a little bit longer to explore the depth of the interesting world setting.

Its an okay action game, at the time I could see how this got awards but playing it now I was entertained for a bit until I got bored. The main gimmick is that the combat uses a combination of turn based combat and real time. It seemed cool at first but the game often devolved into activating your turn then instantly blowing up the enemies without any strategy then you have no option but to run away since you can't do anything after your turn.

The story is okay just like the rest of the game, my main gripe is that you have a character that talks and a character that never says anything, it just lead to dialogue that filled dead air. The rest of the characters you meet are either dead or not interesting in the slightest.

A true diamond in the rough. Great art, beautiful and captivating music, intriguing and subtle story, and the gameplay is surprisingly addictive, with loads of experimentation available. Don’t be deceived into thinking that just because it is one of the old games the developers of Hades made that it won’t be as good. It is a pretty different experience and just as wonderful.

pretty cool!

the good:
- vibes. art, music, world design create a really cool atmosphere.
- the voice acting is really good
- the combat system is conceptually really cool
- nice and snappy, doesn't overstay its welcome. absolutely worth it on sale.

the eh:
- in practice, kind of frustrating to play through. not that it's impossible to use your abilities in interesting ways, but the enemies and bosses kind of encourage a vanilla hit and run playstyle.
- story and worldbuilding weren't bad per se but didn't really stand out to me, i guess.

This game is a mixed bag for me. On one hand, the story and visuals are truly one of a kind and I am so glad I was able to experience it. On the other hand, I found the gameplay frustrating at times. That being said, the gameplay is very rewarding to master. If you pay attention and manage to put together a good build, you can steam roll through all the enemies in the game. I highly recommend this game.

Will remind you of Bastion in its narrative style, but with an innovative combat style. Incredible OST.

Transistor is a very good game, however I don't think it's a masterpiece, nor it impacted me as much as Bastion did. Game mechanics-wise, I feel Transistor is very underrated, as both the mix and match of abilities and the turn planning combat was super fun. Setting, sound design and visuals also top notch,

Thematically and interactively innovative. Optional choices for increasing difficulty leave complete control of the player to enjoy the game in formats catered to you, from casual, to seeing how you perform against the most daunting of enemies. Combat system and how it's applied made theory crafting builds one of the most en. All at the same time, the world you traverse keeps you invested in the environment and the role of your character in the story. If you want to see how Supergiant expanded and continued creating wonderful games across all facets, Transistor is a staple to what they would eventually create. Daniel Korb yet again COOKS with the music and how it's applied.

A história e o visual do jogo são todos muito bonitos, com uma trilha sonora que dá para ficar ouvindo por horas.
As possibilidades de customização permitem uma boa rejogabilidade, que é inclusive incentivada pelo próprio jogo. A campanha principal pode ser feita em oito horas ou menos, sendo possível revisitá-lo para testar diferentes combinações de poderes.
A desenvolvedora de Transistor tem muito carinho pelo que faz e tudo nesse jogo te dá essa sensação.

The asthetics of this game are absolutely outstanding! Super fun gameplay too with very creative mechanics

Amazing history and gameplay. Worth ever single moment !

Kinda wish this one got a sequel, it has a really unique turn based combat system

Art on a dystopian world & engaging game play mechanic is engrossing. This dimension also gives replay ability.

My absolute favorite game from Supergiant Games. An absolute masterpiece that aimed high and shot nothing less than a bulls-eye. From the music, to the art, to the art and unique flavor of gameplay, the game won't disappoint at any stage.

A must buy for anyone that has played any of their other games.

It's fun. The game mechanics are really interesting and original! And the art and music are fantastic. I downloaded the soundtrack and added some of the songs to my playlists.

Honestly one of my favorite games of all time. I obviously and very biased, but I think every aspect of this game is amazing. If you like games, you should at least give this a try, especially with how it goes on sale!

Short but enjoyable. Gameplay feels like you're going too fast or too slow with no in between but the function combinations is the best part of it. I have no idea what the story was but artistically it was pleasing to look at.

Isometric action RPG centered around locking in your actions while time is paused, then watching it execute. The sci-fi setting is exactly vague enough to be intriguing, and the narration is very good

Not feeling it. The combat itself isn't difficult and rather easy with the right combos. Most of the difficulty lies within the various "challenge rooms" but just feel like a chore to complete. The nearly incessant talking by the sword AI/consciousness is also pretty annoying. It is quite nice to look at, but I'm not enjoying it nearly as much as Bastion.

Visual eye candy, but the story did not grip me at all. The combat is unique in that it is a mix of real time and turn based, but most of the enemies feel like big HP sacks. I found big fights quickly devolved into me using my turn based attack - and then running away or hiding behind an obstacle waiting for my meter to refill. I didn't feel like it mattered what skill I used - they all killed the enemies fairly evenly - which made all of them feel the same. Bonus complaint: When out of combat, can we get the character to move just a little bit faster?