Transistor

Transistor
83
Metacritic
94
Steam
90.456
xDR
Our rating is calculated based on the reviews and popularity of the game.
Price
$3.99
Release date
20 May 2014
Developers
Publishers
Steam reviews score
Total
94 (26 500 votes)
Recent
89 (74 votes)

Discover the world of Transistor, a sci-fi-themed action RPG from the creators of Bastion.

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Transistor system requirements

Minimum:

  • OS: Windows 7 32-bit
  • Processor: Dual Core CPU - 2.6ghz
  • Memory: 4 GB RAM
  • Graphics: 1GB of VRAM: Intel HD 3000 GPU / AMD HD 5450 / Nvidia 9400 GT
  • Storage: 3 GB available space

Recommended:

Recommended requirements are not yet specified.
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Cattaneo
Cattaneo

Good, and worth playing, but definitely Supergiant's weakest game.

This game has a lot of almost excellents. The narrative is interesting and it almost reaches it's full potential, the gameplay is interesting and has a lot of ideas that almost work almost beautifully, the world is deep and we almost get fully immersed in it. That isn't to say that any of these aspects are bad, but rather to say that all of them will leave you wanting just a smidge more than the game can provide. Like a wonderful three course meal without a desert to finish it off.

I think in many ways though, the failures of this game are consequences of ambition, and I have to respect that. It's the kind of game that I think you should play. Just go in being aware that while the salad, steak and potatoes are wonderful, there's no trifle afterwards.

hiptr
hiptr

- a very fun and short game, great to kill some time
- I would suggest getting it on sale
- works very good on steam deck with long battery life
- 2 playthroughs needed for all achievements
- if you want a lot of challange use all limiters and don't use Turn() otherwise Turn() is your best friend ;)
- kinda slow movement in my opinion but yes you are indeed dragging a huge sword thing
- a lot of options to customize abilities
- you need to think and plan the stategy a bit but once you figure it out it is easy
- IMO easier on controller

Scribble
Scribble

Transistor is one of my faves. it has a unique gameplay and allows you to think about your moves and allows you to play in your own unique way by giving you a big amount of skills to mix and match. it has lovely music, some of the best soundtracks in games ever and i even still listen to the songs on spotify in my day to day life. The art is amazing, the story is amazing. Theres not a single bad thing i could say about this game. The story felt like a love letter written to me personally and me oh my was i flattered. If in the future some weird science freak finds a way for humankind to date games then Transistor is the one i'd ask out for a drink because i genuinely wanna get to know her better.

copperwheel
copperwheel

Can't figure out the game at all. The skill assignments are weird and not very clear. Encounters are difficult and i can't figure out what's going on. Camera flashes ? WTF ? I get completely stopped on progress because i can't figure out what the next step is.

But it's really cool to look at and i love the story. well i love the story in so far as i've been able to progress.

cghellfire
cghellfire

First thing: It's a relatively short game, and damn is it sweet.

Music and art is fabulous, definitely another one of those Supergiant games where you get lost into the game environment, and kinda get pulled into a world you know very little about. Story is not its strongest moment, but the exploration and world building is enough to get me interested about the backstory and what is going on.

With that being said, the gameplay is just as fun. IMHO it is probably not the most amazing gameplay mechanic to get into early on into the game, the mostly "turn" based system feels both new and old. While you can do "turns" to make moves, the cool-down with enemies can be weird to embrace. The more you progress (and the more you unlock), the game system will make more sense and be more enjoyable. By the time you head to the boss (or maybe even NG+), the system is one fun one to dive into, especially if you have a combo up.

Love the game, genuine great experience, and not the worst thing to 100% (for the completionists out there). For those who aren't a fan of the gaming mechanics, I'd say give it a shot.

TrashOpossum
TrashOpossum

Beautiful art style, gripping story and amazing music! once I started playing I physically couldn't stop and loved every minute.

Kongming
Kongming

Short, artistic game with fairly interesting combat mechanics, but completely disintegrating story that's a bit hard to get into or get you hooked. Worth its few hours of good gameplay if bought in a discount.

teej
teej

This game is a work of art. It's literally beautiful, but the mechanics and gameplay are artistic as well. All the "functions" you unlock can be used as weapons, modifiers, or buffs. All of them. The combinations are virtually limitless, and truly modular. You can set one function as an attack and another as a modifier to change that attack's behavior, or switch them such that the latter is the attack, and the former is the modifier. Look, it's really hard to explain, but this game is worth a try, trust me. If you like real time strategy OR turn-based strategy, this game has both. Check it out, you won't regret it.

randomrenthegreat
randomrenthegreat

Short and Sweet. If you're really worried about playtime, get it on sale I guess but otherwise this really is one of the best indie games I've ever played. Absolutely drenched in style and with a great story and unique gameplay, all paired with an insanely good OST, Transistor is definitely a game you'd be a fool not to try at some point if you're into indies.

Petrichor
Petrichor

Fairly short, but every moment of this game is art. The gameplay is fairly unique and certainly fun, gut you're here for the visuals, the sounds, and a fascinating and original story.

Locktor Seuss
Locktor Seuss

Classic Supergiant game, and the one that got me into turn-based tactics games. I'm a big fan of the pseudo turn-based combat with a ton of customizability to your builds. Visuals and soundtrack are great as usual. This game is pretty short and sweet and narratively driven, so don't expect Hades level of replayability.

I really recommend this game for anyone that enjoys the aesthetic, wants a nice and relatively short audio/visual experience, or is interested in a less orthodox style of turn-based tactics.

Gubstep
Gubstep

Story is not as good as Bastion, but gameplay is much much better.
Soundtrack is naturally top tier. The dynamic switching between normal and hummed versions is great.
Def worth checking out.

Hoon
Hoon

The music and narration are top notch. Gameplay is unique and I enjoyed it! What are you waiting for, Red?

Enraged
Enraged

Music, Gameplay and Story, all these shine here. The story itself is something that makes me think and although I do not agree with it's premise, i can't deny it must exist somewhere out there.
Once you play it, you'll know what i'm talking about.

I just can't spoil the theme, or say anything more about it.

I would most likely recommend it, especially for those looking to make a very likeable and strong female character I would have loved to have in my life.

Hafark
Hafark

Least favorite Supergiant game I played but still excellent work with lots of ideas, great graphics and superb music. Just wasn't that big of a fan of the story/characters. Still definitely worth trying tho.

Explosive_Regeneration
Explosive_Rege…

Very good story with interesting mechanics interactions throughout. If you are a fan of Hades, you can see
how Supergiant came up with some of the gameplay concepts, which were later modified for their latest game.

knoww_el
knoww_el

Really great music and great gameplay! definitely recommend!!

LuciusVonStart
LuciusVonStart

I SEE THE SPIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINE OOOOF THE WOOOORLD

Snowscoran
Snowscoran

Fun while it lasted until I got stuck due to a bug.

sfrrzz
sfrrzz

superb combat, art design and music + sound design
cried almost as much as I did when I first played it 5 years ago

Birdmaster
Birdmaster

You cannot stop me from jumping

I will jump whether you like it or not

rewbz
rewbz

An absolutely fantastic experience from the fluid and satisfying combat system to the artwork and gorgeous soundtrack from beginning to end.

Surly Duff
Surly Duff

I bought this game after having played Hades (a game that was absolutely amazing top to bottom), thinking that because it's from the same studio, I'd love it. So far...I just can't get into this game. I found the pacing to be very slow, and the turn based combat system to be very hard to understand.

The music is wonderful and the characters and story looked like it had potential to be super cool, but the pacing and confusing nature of the combat system just killed it for me. To those saying to look up a guide on YT or whatever, I shouldn't have to go to YT immediately after starting a brand new game, to learn how your game works...😞

Maybe I'm just not one for turn based games. This game would probably appeal to you a lot if you're into games like the XCOM or Civ series.

LordApollo474
LordApollo474

Probably in my top 5 favorite games of all time! Such a heart wrenching story, and super fun combat. Red is a silent protagonist and the narration just like SGG's first game "Bastion" is all done by someone else (your lover trapped in the sword). My absolute favorite Super Giant game, and I will always come back for another playthrough!

Xendra
Xendra

As much as I can appreciate this game and would love to love it, I can't say I'd actually recommend Transistor.

TL;DR: Well put together game with great aesthetics and interesting ideas, but the gameplay design takes most of the ideas in the wrong direction, fighting against the player instead of working with them.

Supergiant went on to fix pretty much all of these issues in Hades though, so I'd love to see them take another shot at this game's combat system with their new approach!

---

I'd probably have given this a strong positive review if I finished it back when i purchased it in 2014, or if i was a story-first gamer, but after playing Hades & a replay of Bastion I feel that Transistor's gameplay is constantly fighting against the player by comparison. This game's 2nd boss has a lower completion rate than the FINAL boss of any other Supergiant game, and after playing this through today I can see why nearly 70% of people decided to put this game down less than halfway through.

- Picking up enemy "Cells" to finish them off feels like a mechanic that was put in place as a bandaid to keep long range builds in-check. It's not a bad idea, but nothing is done with it so it adds nothing to the game. Hades does this much better with its "Cast" system. Not a huge fault on its own, but this is the first of many mechanics that feel designed to work against the player instead of for them.

- The game has a habit of disabling its own systems, rather than leaning into them like Hades does. The Cells mentioned above are a good example. It would be great to have more synergies like perk that makes Cells explode, giving you some extra bonuses on being picked up, but instead we have a perk that gives skills a chance to disable the Cell system. Waste of potential.

- Other good examples of this are the crowd control mechanics used by enemies:

One disables your ability to use Turn() while standing in the area, completely disrupting the flow of combat and getting you killed if you tried to enter Turn() without realizing and end up standing there. Why does it not just apply a penalty to the amount of time skills consume while in Turn() mode instead of disabling your inputs? This enemy ability makes me feel stupid as a player for whiffing a bunch of Turn() attempts, rather than feeling like I used or failed to use my strategies to overcome an obstacle.

Another blocks out random chunks of the screen. The goal is to memorize the enemy locations, either by spamming Move & Undo to scout the area, or spamming Pause & Unpause to view a snapshot of it. I'm not sure which one of these was the "intended" one because both are so obnoxious to do that whichever one you stumble upon first is probably going to have you react with "that's probably not how you are supposed to do that, but it works".

Another blocks out your camera with a snapshot. I'm okay with a game having a only a few different types of enemies, but that smaller number comes with an expectation of better and more meaningful mechanics than this, not filling 20% of the very limited slots with different variations of "now you can't see the game".

These enemy designs are annoying, not engaging. They would probably draw a lot more criticism if this game was released today instead of in 2014.

- Another point on disabling its own systems; Losing abilities to save you from death sounds like a neat way to force players to change their setup on paper, but in practice it just encourages a bunch of unfun gameplay patterns to try and circumvent it. Restarting combat encounters, using expensive scapegoat abilities to burn first, or accepting your fate and wasting 5 minutes in a menu re-allocating a slightly weaker version of your existing build are all poor outcomes.

- Despite this, the game balance completely breaks in half against the power of the status effect that turns enemies into allies. You can permanently lock down every single non-boss encounter in the game like this with such a low amount of investment and effort that it feels more like cheating than coming up with a clever combo. Encounters with large single enemies may as well not exist because of this, because they are unable to take any actions for the entire battle.

- Having nothing available to do between Turns() by default really hurts the pace of combat. While you are not truly 'forced' to use Jaunt() or a Jaunt() supported skill, the game design feels like it was built with a mindset of "of course they are using Jaunt()". This game is begging for a default attack that you can use to recharge your turn faster, like in Final Fantasy 7 Remake.

- Interfaces are clunky and information is spread across multiple screens in ways that force you to have to flick back and forth in menus. Information is not present when you need it, like being given a pre-made loadout for a trial with seemingly no way to check what the loadout's skills actually do.

- Skills frequently do less damage than they say they will due to things like enemies changing position or orientation. I personally think the game should have fudged the hitboxes behind the scenes in order to keep the damage reports honest and adjust the balance accordingly, instead of surprising the player with a lethal attack from an enemy that was expected to die.

- Enemy attacks are extremely unforgiving in their timing, but not in an engaging way like Sekiro or Devil May Cry. The way this game is balanced leads to one of the more extreme cases of "abuse or be abused" that I've seen in a game, but not in an exciting way.

- Limiters rewarding extra EXP while including a limiter that reduces your Memory feels like another wasted opportunity, and seems like it is designed backwards. I would rather gain increased Memory instead of EXP, giving me increased customization options to handle the increased threat.

- I don't have a problem with any of the individual effects from the Limiters, but the way they combine ends up encouraging you to use builds that are truly balance shattering. This would be fine if these builds were still interesting to use, but instead enemies are either deleted instantly or permanently disabled from status effects.

- Annoying environmental damage sometimes happens before combat, adding nothing to the game except a click of the reset button so you can climb the staircase properly this time. This is another thing that makes me feel like a stupid gamer being punished for taking a hit from a random non-combat wall-tentacle. I'm not sure where they were finding the fun when designing these sections. It's a relatively minor thing, but when you experience it alongside everything previously listed it sticks out as another moment that makes you ask "Why did they design it like this?"

- The final boss is extremely polarizing towards different builds. Many builds suffer horribly due to the "mechanic". 4x Defense passives with Cull() + Mask() backstab walks through the fight like it's a tutorial. Not very engaging regardless of which side you end up on here. As cool as the idea of these types of fights are, this one is all style and no substance when it comes to being an engaging boss fight.

This boss mechanic mechanic needs to be thought out in a more interactive way in order to work properly, rather than giving up on the idea of being an action hybrid game. This boss design goes fully into the turn based aspect of this game, but it is a very poorly designed turn based battle. Action gamers will be disappointed that the game has given up on one half of its promise, and turn based gamers will be disappointed at the lackluster mechanics.

With all of these things combined together into the same game, the gameplay systems feel like they have been kneecapped by a design approach that asks "How do we make sure this isn't too strong" instead of the Hades approach of "how do we make sure this is fun to use, and works with other systems". I love Supergiant, but I can't bring myself to love Transistor.

Sarantula
Sarantula

I wish steam had a middle of the road option again

Overall, I do like this game, but I voted it down because if you're reading through negative reviews your probably wanting to find a more rounded opinion of the game. It's a pretty middle of the road game gameplay and story wise, and is worth getting on sale perhaps to kill a day or weekend.

PROS:
- as always, the aesthetics are nailed by supergiant. Music, art, tone, everything is so beautiful
- highly customizable combat system which is fun to tinker with, but..
CONS:
- the combat system, though in theory should be fun, in actual execution, is a bit tedious and dull. You get to have 4 attacks mapped to ABXY. You slot in your attacks. Each attack also functions as an upgrade to another attack, or as a passive buff (for example a cloak functions as a toggle ability when mapped to ABXY, but when used as an upgrade provides cloak to be triggered with the attack). This sounds awesome, but the combat system relies on a freeze frame, queue up attacks, and then hit execute method. You will wish you were running around button mashing and enjoying your cool customizable arsenal, but instead you just wind up watching it do it for you. Is is satisfying to plan out your stuff ahead of time? Maybe, but the drawback is that you basically watch it do the fun stuff for you.
- despite how much people love the story, I will argue the story here is very dull, cliche, and predictable. You follow the story of two lovers with no context as to why they are lovers. You just are supposed to root for them I guess? There's an ending I won't spoil, but I found that to be trite as well. I will give the story credit in one way, which is the tone of it is really nailed. The universe seems really interesting. There's a lot of lore going on here. But the characters themselves were begging me to relate to them, when they gave me no real reason to. Still, some people may love the story and the ending and really care for the protagonists; I just am not one of them and I'm sure others will feel the same way that it's a bit hamfisted.

And this may be a pro or a con depending on your perspective, but the game is short. You can finish it in 6 hours without really trying to speedrun or anything. I personally like this in a sea of 20+ hour games in my backlog, as I'm more likely to play a game these days if it's shorter. However, it may not be worth the price.

So the verdict? I doubt anyone buying this will regret it, as there's obviously a lot of care that went into this game, and it's not unplayable or anything like that. Most people will like it, others will love it, and a few will just kinda go "eh" at it. If anyone does hate it, no doubt it's the combat system.

(my play time doesn't reflect the game, I have it on switch and finished it there)

Spoonter
Spoonter

Very cyberpunk. Much story. Many feels.

Reapy
Reapy

I thought I had a review of this already. Well, better late than never. To put into perspective how good this game is, I bought a whole new computer back in the day just so I could run it.

Transistor has an exceptionally good atmosphere and story, told through subtle details and narration, buoyed by its incredible music and unique hybrid of real-time and turn-based elements.

The combat contains incredible depth, with limitless build options and extremely clever enemy designs that interact with each other to create new experiences each time (especially with the pseudo random enemy placements in NG+ and customizable difficulty in the form of the Limiter system). The result is a game that can be comfortably completed in six hours, yet leaves you wanting to play it over and over. I ended up putting over 140 hours into it.

Come for the depth of story, stay for the depth of gameplay.

VDahrul
VDahrul

I've played this game on a variety of platforms and always go back. Supergiant games have a sense of melancholy and their ability to weave innovative gameplay and story-telling together always astounds me.

Transistor is short compared to Hades or Pyre, but it's a serene experience in its own right.

Chubbykins
Chubbykins

This is my favorite game from Supergiant Games. Each of their project carries tremendous weight in how the developer has grown over the last decade. Transistor is their sophomore project and it took a considerable feat of dedication for them to achieve a project that surpassed Bastion.

Every part of this game is perfect especially in terms of art design, music, and pacing of the combat. There is a nice ebb and flow that loops the player in wanting to engage with Transistor's "Functions and Limiters" mechanic. The Cyberpunk/Deus Ex: Human Revolution-esque aesthetic is perfect especially in the hands of Jen Zee's artstyle. Every character just oozes sex appeal especially with the classy/operatic design. The sleek/minimalist design of "The Process" is the cherry on top of this game's aesthetic. Darren Korb's work continues to excel and his collaborative work with Ashley Barrett is always a delightful treat. I still listen to this soundtrack during my commutes and it perfectly captures the Electronic/Post-rock sound.

Honestly, this is my perfect game and I still have a hard time with properly articulating why it is for me. Everything just clicks and Supergiant Games will always be one of my favorite independent developers.

The Loathsome Dung Eater
The Loathsome …

Incredible game, great storyline, was legit crying during the ending. Could not recommend more

Wawe
Wawe

Interesting game with mix of turn based combat and real time. Amazing story and fun combat.

Garbage Gobbler
Garbage Gobbler

Bastion is better, but this one is still pretty good

jmei2
jmei2

awesome yet challenging gameplay with beautiful music and visuals

ccjesper
ccjesper

I only played through this game once, but I think about it like every day.

FidelCashflo
FidelCashflo

Despite its incredible visuals and soundtrack, Transistor's style was not met with a level of substance that could keep me playing through it entirely. I believe its shortcomings stem from its incomplete turn-based mechanics and a story that not only loses me in the first 30 minutes but fails to really explain anything worth pursuing for another 6 hours.

Combat was made janky through its mix of real-time and turn-based combat. Few games are able to fuse both styles well, and its process of plan-execute-survive for a period of time felt very clunky. Your ability to survive depends on if you have the dash feature on hand, if there is sufficient regenerative cover, and if you're able to walk away from your enemy fast enough (there are no sprinting features). You're also unable to use abilities while you are on a cool down before your next execution phase. These limited means of defending yourself before going back into turn-based modes just sucks the life out of combat.

You can lose your evasive abilities that you gain as you lose lives/die. There was an instance early on in the game where you can lose your ability to dodge and not gain it back in important battles. When you treat that mechanic like any other ability that you can lose, it feels like you're kicking the player while they're down.

It eventually got to the point where I thought about what I was really trying to fight for in this game, even though stunning isometric city vistas and other watercolor dreamscapes from their art department did their best to prevent me from thinking that I'm some singer/city planner hybrid that somehow found herself with a giant sword and a vengeance for taking down some quasi-Illuminati group. The narrator isn't explained, or charismatic - the main character only seemed to sing on cue, which felt like a missed opportunity to develop some characters early on to sustain engagement. Perhaps these story questions are better explained if I continued, but I couldn't rationalise the struggle. Stick with Bastion or Hades for a game that balances both art and gameplay mechanics.

Aimbot
Aimbot

Bastion was awesome and made me really care about what had happened and what was happening. Here, the voice actor for the excellent narrator in Bastion is a talking sword that won't shut up. I have no idea what's going on and don't care. He keeps babbling and it isn't nearly as interesting as before. It's about the boring world, not what I'm doing or what is happening. I have no reason to care. The gameplay is boring too. Blech. Give me more Bastion.

Marble City
Marble City

The underated middle child of Supergiants isometric action games. Deserves a lot more recognition and notoriety

Anonymous
Anonymous

Why did I run all the ciry around just to end up dead in the starting point, Pretty, but I don't get it.

Electric Fruit
Electric Fruit

Nice story, visuals, sound design, and (especially) music. 100% completion under 20 hours and provides a complete experience with a good end point.

Sauron Bane
Sauron Bane

Yes, yes, one hundred times, yes. Play this game.
If you haven't yet? Do it.
It's an amazing masterwork from SuperGiant, and just... So compelling.
The story is fantastic. Just be prepared to be an emotional wreck.

jass83
jass83

Transistor (2014), 88/100

- You will hum.

PLUS

- Outstanding and unforgettable soundtrack, sustains all the game.
- Great storytelling through a fantastic voiceover.
- Beautiful and sophisticated art style.
- Fantastic personalization of skills, with hundreds of combinations.
- Unique blend of real time and turn based combat, albeit both styles fall a bit short.
- Often on sale.

MINUS

- Too short.
- Small and linear maps.
- No replayability, other than changing combat difficulty.

RECOMMENDATIONS

- Crash() upgraded with Breach() + Bounce(), real time one button spam. Bouncing ranged stun.
- Tap() upgraded with Crash(), real time one button spam. AOE heal + stun.
- Jaunt() upgraded with Spark() and one of Purge()/Help()/Load()/Cull()/Get(). Teleport around with unexpected side effects.
- Void() upgraded with Crash() + Get(). Attract, stun lock and move the enemies around, then finish them with one Cull() hit.
- Switch() upgraded with Spark() + Help(), for laughs.
- Activate turn: position yourself to backstab, Void() + Void() + Void() + Crash() + Mask() + Cull() = overkill anything (including bosses).
- Some good passives: Bounce() = regenerative shield. Get() = easy cell collection. Spark() = auto creates decoys. Jaunt() = faster turn recovery, useful in bosses.

Played Build ID 3905350, July 2022, Windows 10, Lenovo Legion.
- Stable: not a single problem.

Phoenix
Phoenix

This one is hard to recommend due to the rough combat. I love Supergiant as a studio so I still believe it is worth a playthough simply for some of the greatest art and music games can achieve. I also enjoyed the story quite a bit, but those coming from Hades or even pyre should expect a story more similar to Bastion, with more vague plot elements than strictly spelled out ones. Supergiant has learned so much about good combat since this game, to the point where it is quite jarring to play transistor in 2022. What makes it even more puzzling is that Bastion, their debut game, has much better combat than this. I understand they were trying new ideas, and you can clearly see how Hades was influenced by Transistor, but it just does not work for me. Nevertheless I think it is worth putting up with it for everything else.

Lokihano
Lokihano

A LITERAL work of art, belongs in a museum.
10/10

RogueRhythm
RogueRhythm

It's a fairly short romp and doesn't really hold up as Supergiant has progressed as a company, but you can really see them lay down some foundation for their future titles here. I wish that there was a little more lore fleshed out for the players to find because honestly the world here is fascinating but it's not always engaging to pick up on. Amazing art direction and the gameplay is fun, if a bit repetitive at times.

Pseudo
Pseudo

A game where you play a lady with a sword. Great art and music and narration. I just couldn't stay interested in the gameplay. It's a real time/turn based fusion that generally just led to me spamming attacks, then running away until my cooldown was over, then spamming attacks again.

feli.jones42
feli.jones42

every supergiant game is a masterpiece, but this is is simply the BEST!!! gameplay is a perfect blend of on the fly turnbased and live action. the gameplay alone could sell this game, but what really sets it apart is the gorgeous visual styles and the incredible soundtrack. i play through this game every couple months becasue of how awesome it is. this is a top notch game and i couldnt recommend this any more.
in other words buy and play this game NOW!!

Pulchritude
Pulchritude

I didn't like it, but it was compelling enough.

Sirozha
Sirozha

Introduction

 
Transistor is an action adventure with unique combat mechanics set in a cyberpunk-ish world.

Pros & Cons

Pros:
+ Engaging story with charismatic characters
+ Amazing soundtrack
+ Addictive gameplay
+ Beautiful graphics

Cons:
- Minor technical issues
- Certain abilities feel too overpowered

Story

The game takes place in a futuristic world, where people can decide the color of the sky and vote for tomorrow’s weather. But one night everything changes, after an unsuccessful assassination attempt on a popular singer, Red, the whole world goes to hell. A woman in question loses her voice, but gains a powerful ally, the titular Transistor, a talking sword that looks like it was cut out of a computer chip. Together they will take revenge on these villains while also saving the world from a mysterious power called The Process. The story isn’t particularly complicated, but the charismatic companion makes the adventure interesting to follow. The game doesn’t explain everything that happens, but it has lots of subtle details and hidden pieces of info that will provide insight into the world’s inner workings while also leaving a room for interpretation. There aren’t any unpredictable twists, but there are a lot of dramatic moments and the ending is sure to make your eyes wet.

Gameplay

Even if you weren’t caught by the story, you would probably be sucked into this game by its combat mechanics. It features a unique mix of action mechanics and turn based tactics. The game is played like a regular hack and slash, but you have an ability to stop time and plan your actions. After exiting the planning phase, your character will execute those actions almost instantaneously. However, there’s a drawback: this ability has a cooldown and while it’s charging, you can’t use any of your other abilities with a few exceptions, which leaves you vulnerable and makes you think about how you want to approach things. Sometimes it might be better not to use a planning phase at all, and the game actually encourages you by providing an enormous set of abilities to fit your playstyle. There are 16 abilities in total, which you will unlock during the course of game. Each ability can be used in three capacities: as a weapon, as an upgrade, or as a passive ability. I’m not going to count how many possibilities for a character build it gives you, but it’s easy to see that it’s quite a lot. The game also encourages you to experiment with your abilities by unlocking pieces of information after you use an ability in all of its capacities. 

There’s one problem I’ve noticed with this system, that becomes really obvious on a second playthrough. Certain abilities are much stronger than others, which limits your choice of build to a couple of most powerful ones. Although it’s not that big of a deal, since the game allows you to tweak the difficulty with Limiters, they’re unlocked one by one like abilities, but instead of giving you the advantage, they will buff enemies making them stronger, more resilient or enhancing their abilities. And enemies in this game aren’t killed that easily, they spawn white cells after death, that you have to collect, or the enemy will respawn. The enemy variety is great, while 10 enemy types might not seem like much, each of them requires a unique approach and each enemy has a level from 1 to 3. It doesn’t mean their health bar grows with the level, instead they usually gain new abilities, forcing you to switch tactics and surprising you with unexpected challenges that will keep you on your toes most of the time.

Graphics & Audio

The game’s visuals are breathtaking, there are lots of little details in each location. Enemy design is top-notch, you can guess their strengths and weaknesses just by looking at them. The animation looks smooth and watching the protagonist perform her attacks is very satisfying. The voice acting and the music are complementing the visuals nicely. Your helpful companion will never miss an opportunity to comment on the things you see around you, and the music always fits with what’s happening on screen. 

Performance

Specs: AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU 8GB, 32GB RAM.

At 1080p resolution, the game runs at 60 FPS without any drops. There are, however, some issues with the game. If you use Alt-Tab to change between windows, the game would reset its resolution to the lowest minimum one, and after you reset it, it will run with a noticeable input lag. I’ve also experienced a crash one time when the short cutscene was supposed to start. Thankfully, autosave checkpoints aren’t that far from each other.

Conclusion

Transistor is an interesting adventure with charismatic characters that you will probably come to miss after finishing the game. And what’s more, the combat mechanics are a great fun, with a vast variety of possible character builds and enemies that require unique approaches. Totally recommended to everyone who knows how to hold a controller. 

Effie
Effie

Refunded cuz confusing and repetitive battles. Tutorials aren’t good. Not in a mood for chores.

fantac.cro
fantac.cro

Man this game. The only game that made me curse because some encounters are tough really tough. But man oh man after 6 hours of this game man the ending got me in tears. I wasn't prepared for it just wow. The whole game is beautiful the visual style is a A+++ from me but the ending scene... it's like a watercolor painting with saturated colors just beautiful to look at. If you haven't played this game give it a chance 6h isn't long to get to the ending and experience it. This ending will be a core memory for me.

Σ𝙭1𝙡𝙚
Σ𝙭1𝙡𝙚

--{Graphics}---
☐ Immersive
☐ Excellent
☐ Good
☐ Decent
☑Works for the game
☐ Eyes start hurting
☐ Better to play with your eyes closed

---{Game-play}---
☑Well Crafted and polished
☐ Attention paid to details
☐ Average
☐ Bordering on boredom
☐ Better to do all the work you've been delaying
☐ Stay away for your own sake

---{Music and Effects}---
☑ Heart and Soul touching
☐ Attuned to the game and moments
☐ Good
☐ Bordering on bad
☐ Bad..very bad
☐ Better to play without sound

---{Audience}---
☑ Casual Gamer's
☑ Experienced Gamer's
☑ Achievement Hoarders
☑ New to Gaming

---{PC Requirements}---
☐ Check if your system will switch on
☑ Potato Build
☑ Decent
☐ Recent Generation build ( For best experience )
☐ Woah now that's a lot of money!
☐ Did you sell your house?

---{Difficulty}---
☐ Just press any key
☐ Casual
☐ Might have to use your brain here...
☑ Easy to learn / Hard to perfect
☐ Difficult
☐ Dark Souls

---{Grind}---
☑ None (Easy chapter replay option for achievement hunting)
☐ Doesn't affect any game progress (required for achievement hunting)
☐ Required for Achievement Hunting
☐ Exist's
☐ Way to much grind!
☐ Do you have nothing else to do?

---{Story}---
☑ Immersive
☐ Well crafted and executed
☐ Average
☐ Bit vague
☐ There was a story?!?

---{Content}---
☐ Tremendous amount of base content with multiple DLC's (150+hrs)
☐ Worth your money(50-100hrs)
☐ Enjoyable (50-70hrs)
☐ As Advertised (Around 30-50hrs)
☑ Short but immensely immersive (10-20hrs)
☐ Yeah nah you got scammed

---{Price}---
☐ It’s free!
☑ Worth the price
☐ An option if you have some extra savings
☐ Only during sale's
☐ Might as well just burn your savings

---{Bugs}---
☑ None
☐ Minor bugs
☐ Can get annoying
☐ There might be game in the midst of all these bugs

Note: The starting of the game is a little slow, however once you get past the initial learning curve the entire game changes and becomes this epic and emotional journey which you view as a spectator...for a game not developed by some big AAA game dev this is one of the best games i have played with amazing mechanics and amazing story

kittycat
kittycat

I can't be bothered to finish it.
The game follows the poor design of "explain nothing, go read the logs you dumb nerd"-style.
The planning stage of combat is neat and new, but you then spend five seconds waiting to act.

SONFOKU
SONFOKU

It's a supergiant classic with one of my favorite cyberpunk settings and stories featuring a genuinely well thought-out female protagonist with their classic 20/10 score, why would I not recommend it?

Mangouou
Mangouou

I like the pretty red-haired lady's voice

Syclya
Syclya

This game looks gorgeous.

I love the way this game tells its story through a character that the player can only hear and the messages that the protagonist can find.

The only criticism I have is that I don’t like the mechanic of losing a power when you die, the game makes me feel like it’s kicking me while I’m down.

It’s a beautiful and bittersweet love story that made me tear up by the end.

100% recommended

CustomCheese.Com
CustomCheese.Com

Wow, once again Supergiant Games makes a interesting and fun fighting mechanic, something that really allows the story and asthetic to take place. And wow the music and art style really drag you into this world, the game is a bit short which i liked allowed me to get through the story in 1 sitting

Berkeley Time
Berkeley Time

I got clapped because I was too stubborn to take off limiters on my first playthrough LOL I finally beat the game after playing it on and off and it's been an enjoyable experience throughout. Good music, really awesome combat with so many different combinations of attacks and strategy. I'll probably mess around in Recursion when I'm bored, but the challenge doors were fun :3

Lord Goat
Lord Goat

Engaging and unique gameplay, beautiful visuals and an amazing soundtrack. Near perfect for me. 9/10

Enik
Enik

Play this game. It might make you cry.

erik.vale
erik.vale

Gotten into a soft lock with no way out due to a bad save system in a surprise combat. Looking online, turns out this happens easily.

Slumdog scammer
Slumdog scammer

Simple, short, melodic, romantic.

Big man
Big man

I have no damn clue what to call this aesthetic but its my favorite aesthetic now

Game is good too i guess

Lachstein
Lachstein

Supergiant Games have a knack for intertwining storytelling and environment in an incredibly compelling way, and for the first hour or so I was pushing through the combat to experience this. But as I kept playing I worked out my strategy, and by the end I was so engaged with the whole experience that I had to replay it almost immediately to experience all the challenges this game had to offer. To top it all off, the art style is beautiful and the soundtrack is excellent – an all-round brilliant game.

Blascid
Blascid

The Hades of 2014*. Better then, but still great now.

For a streamlined experience, skip the optional combat trails, and get the game under your belt in a weekend--given its run time of about 8 hours.

Save for some fuzziness in terms of the game addressing the "why" of the story, I find Transistor an excellent title.

-

*Insofar as Supergiant's achievements in gaming (core concept, combat, customization, characters, music, V.O. ... ) at the time.

renegade_sock
renegade_sock

Not much replayability but its quite a fun game, worth its price

LorsCarbonFerrite
LorsCarbonFerrite

If I were to ever designate a single game as my favorite of all time, it would be Transistor. From world building, to art direction, story, UX, sound design, music, gameplay, so much of this game is executed just masterfully.

It's such a good game that's hard to even explain why it's good. It's just kind of one of those things you need to experience to understand.

Jawn
Jawn

You know a great studio when you see it can achieve so many amazing games while doing something different every single time. This one is a soul-caressing cyberpunk/art nouveau aesthetic game with a very unusual yet deeply satisfying combat system and an active narration that never lets you go. A thousand times yes

Godnarok
Godnarok

I'd give it an overall 6/10

It's beautiful and well made, but the "stylish design" is laid on way too thick, to the point it comes across as gaudy and ostentatious.

The creepy "voice" of the silly sword thing you drag around got so annoying so quickly I had to mute it about 15 minutes in.

The general theme is highly confusing and after 3 hours of play, I haven't a clue what I am doing, what is going on, or what any of the stupid "hacker" terms that everything is written and described with even mean.

Maybe I'm just too dumb and casual, but I shouldn't be going "What? Huh? What does that even mean!?" continuously while trying to play.

Generally it is far too difficult for me to enjoy playing, and I barely scratched the surface.

Meh.

Tomgoroth
Tomgoroth

Great visuals; love the cyberpunk meets art deco style! Beautiful soundtrack (as was the case with Bastion (previous Supergiant game) as well)!

I very(!) rarely play through a game twice (or the new game+ mode), but I did in this case. Which I think says a lot about the quality and the fun of this game. (Although I admit I did it a little bit for the achievements as well.)

Love the combination of real time and turn based combat. And I love the sheer amount of different functions (skills/weapons) the game offers and how gently/subtly it "forces" the player to try them and their combinations all out even more!

Flared
Flared

This game is simply brilliant. It turns real time strategy into a puzzle and organically makes you change up your gameplay on your first run through to get as much lore as you can. As of writing I have 100%d this game and gotten all achievements. No easy feat mind you. The second run through or as the game calls it recursion allows for new game plus and remains challenging for the most part even though you have everything unlocked already. Admittedly it is easier the 2nd time through but you can easily put on limiters to increase the difficulty. A good part of that however is knowing what combinations work nicely for your preferred playstyle. Oh and don't even get me started on the music. By far the best soundtrack these guys have put out to this day in my mind. Still blowing Bastion, Pyre, and Hades out of the water by a landslide on the OST. I highly highly recommend this game. There are community guides if you're struggling to grasp mechanics that are unique to this game but I promise you everything is available to try out and the game is satisfying to play. Hell I've 100%d it in about 24 hours including 2 empty hours! Of course this kind of game plays to my personal strengths and what I enjoy in games. Keep hard at work super giant. Looking forward to the next hit.

Killakan
Killakan

The story is superior - love it.

Kokushibou_Quill
Kokushibou_Quill

I'm biased as all hell when it comes to Supergiant Games. I love them to death. I own all their games, from Bastion to Hades. Everything they make, they make it with so much love and care and it shows. From the gameplay, to the voice acting, the artstyle, the music (don't get me started on the music, Darren Korb my beloved). In general, every little thing in those games shows the love the put into giving life to each of the worlds in their games. Whether it's the teared and broken world of Bastion, the cyberpunk dystopia of Transistor or the hellish landscapes of Hades, you can feel the love in every single game they make.

Redeagle47
Redeagle47

It's a joy to play on Steam deck!

Nulagem
Nulagem

Nice visuals with a cool combat but not very funny.

Marmalade
Marmalade

Games have to be good as games. I love every single track, screenshot, and piece of fanart of this game.

But it's bad. I earnestly think this would be more successful as a web-comic, or a shorter game with less combat.

Piccolo at a burger king
Piccolo at a b…

for the love of god, play this game.

Featheredfrogs
Featheredfrogs

is good play video game : )))))

king-edoo
king-edoo

Such a wonderful voice for the main character. This game made me fall in love with SuperGiant studio and overall, great narrative with a remarkable story.

razzledazzle
razzledazzle

adjective noun, indirect object transitive verb -- play this game

Millzius
Millzius

I couldn't get into this one. It looks great and the music is superb but the story/characters didn't grab me at all. Also the gameplay wasn't my cup of tea.

I mostly felt bored which is odd for a game from this developer.

Arken
Arken

Ordered Seafood Flatbread from J.J. on a whim and 08 Minutes later it was delivered to my doorstep!

Amazing customer service (even though half the city was gone).

Strikehounder
Strikehounder

A great game with a great soundtrack. Combat was a bit tough at first, but I got better at it midway through the game. My only gripe is I wish there were multiple endings, as I found the ending for this game quite sad.

Chris Christie ate my son
Chris Christie…

Very gripping story, awesome concepts, great soundtrack, well acted, beautiful art, and innovative gameplay.

Limey Boy
Limey Boy

Much like bastion, this game tells an interesting story with fun gameplay and a great artstyle. Also much like bastion, it has the mechanics to flesh out much more content with great experimentation potential, but it runs out of story content to fill it with too. They really fix this problem with Hades.

elmpants
elmpants

I SEE THE SPIIIIIIIIIIIIIINE OF THE WORRRRRRRRLD

SPARKLE AND SHIIIIIIIIIINE, LIGHT THE INSIIIIIIIDE

(But seriously play the game, it’s so good.)

DoggoDoggo
DoggoDoggo

"Now I carry around my boyfriend wherever I desire...And whaddaya know, the perfect shape!"

gab
gab

my hair is wet from crying so much

Draken42
Draken42

A beautiful game in every sense. The art, the music, the story, the combat, everything. I wish it was longer, but then it might not work as well. Highly recommended.

Razzamatter
Razzamatter

This is incredibly fun to play! The game can be pretty tough but with good planning you can probably get through it without dying. It's a wonderful story with some nice enticing gameplay. The core mechanic of the game is being able to stop time and 'plan' your attacks, unleashing them all in one go! It's incredibly satisfying facing massive bullet sponge enemies and coming up with the right plan to just sink their health pool.

There's a number of enemies that are outright faster than you and if you're caught on cooldown with them chasing you expect to get hit. you need to use these time stops not only to attack but to also distance yourself from enemies that are getting too close. it's sort of like an rts in the style of Hades.

la mano derecha de Scioli
la mano derech…

i waited so long to finally play this game, and its more than i expected the visual are amazing, and the story telling is really good, if you can play it i really recomend giving it a try

Arthenan
Arthenan

I remember roughly nothing, even though I finished it. This is not the case with most games.

Poutine
Poutine

In a game whose mechanics are later applied in full, for the game Hades, this 4-hour story truly accomplishes what it sets out to do, within the relatively small scope it occupies. It is worth your time to play.

Edelweiss09
Edelweiss09

Revisiting this game after 5 years has been nothing short of a xenial joy in this intramundane life. Transistor has to be one of the most addictive games I've ever played. The artwork, the OST, the narrator's voice, the beautiful protagonist, the atmosphere, and the gameplay.
I can't seem to get enough of the permutation combination of the functions.
And of Red's humming too. 🥀

Anonymous
Anonymous

Great look, great sound, great gameplay. Challenging but not tedious, lots of attack combos for you to make a style of play out of. Didn't think I'd be interested in this type of game but now I might be.

Green_Phoenix
Green_Phoenix

A little masterpiece. Sure, you can break the combat with the right function combinations/compositions, but the story and music are sublime.

Shoot! There it is!
Shoot! There it is!

You can so easily see the building blocks that make up Hades in this predecessor. Solid game with fascinating time-slowing mechanics. Ambiguous story that rewards the player when they explore its super intricate mechanics. Definitely recommend this game!

OdinsWrath
OdinsWrath

There is a lot of modification in the game which is awesome. No real issues, as you can change the difficulty as you play>

Wisdoms
Wisdoms

Beautiful soundtrack
Compelling story
Mediocre ending, but still interesting

Kingsfoil
Kingsfoil

Incredible visuals and soundtrack as always from Supergiant. Story was subtle but well told. Ending is a real stab in the heart.

Nimbus
Nimbus

Worst game by Supergiant, by far. How TF they even came up with this shit gameplay??

4pm
4pm

Great music, dialogue, and voices.

ItsJustTurk
ItsJustTurk

Completely different concept that came out perfectly!
The Story follows Red, a singer in the city of Cloudbank and her journey to find the Camerata and put a stop to their on goings while exacting revenge on them trying to assassinate her with the neon sword by the name of the Transistor. The characters in this game are all intriguing with their voice acting coming across as very ominous and mysterious making the player think about their motives. The other way of learning about characters is through gameplay (which i will talk about later in this review) and i think that this works really well in both experimenting with gameplay and advancing the backstory. The story itself can be very basic and easy to follow for those who prefer a less complicated story, however there is enough in here that allows players to explore and learn more about the world and narrative and it makes for a really engaging experience. It manages to take a simple story and tells it in a more impressive way.
The setting of Cloudbank is just gorgeous with it being this cyberpunk utopia that soon becomes more and more corrupted. I also really like how each area you go to has its own look and the game takes its moments to show off the world that you the player traverse within and allows for their to be commentary on it.
Visually it looks stunning. Graphically, it ran perfectly with a smooth, constant frame rate and never had a single crash or bug. The Art Direction is truly beautiful and is definitely an improvement on what Bastion had layed down with animations being more smooth and backgrounds having a lot more flow to them. I really love the colour pallet that the game uses as it never shy's away from showing off its neon lights.
Sound and Audio are also a major improvement and are some of the best parts of the game. The soundtrack is this mix of industrial, drum and bass, beutiful singer songwriter melodies, guitar riffs etc. and with all of this and the inclusion of the beautiful vocals of Ashley Barrett, it really makes for a memorable experience. The sound for things such as the process, transistor abilities and even booting up an OVC terminal all have their own character to them and really adds to the experience.
In terms of gameplay, I really loved it but i can understand why some people may not. This game takes on a different approach in terms of combat as it goes for a turn based style instead of a hack n slash kind of style that games such as Hades and Bastion are known for. I must say though that the combat system is very fleshed out with there being multiple abilities to mix and match with, giving the player the opportunity to play they want to. There is a wide variety of enemies and offer the player many challenges to overcome. There is a system that pretty much all Supergiant games that i played have that allows the player to make the game harder but offer larger rewards and this game also implements this too which I think is great with there being different challenges and de-buffs that really make the experience that much more intense. The only think i wish this game had was a longer run time because its truly amazing, however there is a new game + mode for those who want more.
Overall, Transistor was another bold step from Supergiant Games that paid off in the best way possible and had me hook from start to finish.

Tacalla
Tacalla

The story is short (I've completed it twice, including the NG+ style of rerun for each playthrough, within the 25 hours of playtime I have) but it's a very good game.

The story begins with you being attacked by a group of people for reasons you don't understand, your partner saves you but becomes trapped inside the sword (transistor), and you lose your voice, ...and now the world is ending. You can hear your partner from inside the sword and he narrates the story as you play. The narrator tries to guide you to safety, but Red (the girl you're playing as) has a better idea.

The gameplay is fun, it's isometric and you don't target enemies to attack them, rather you just face the right direction and use the skill. The skills you use are earned through defeating bosses or levelling up, though some are from story. You can equip your skills as active, passive or upgrade, changing how they work, leading to endless ways to murder your enemies.

The story is fairly emotional, and has a happy/sad ending that'll make you want to play again. The NG+ (called recurse in the game) lets you start the story over but with everything you gained before. The soundtrack is fantastic.

There are a few side challenges you can do for some extra exp and limiters you can enable to make the game harder.

I believe my original playthrough was 11 hours, so it's an ideal game to just smash through if you fancy a change from what you normally play.

lookin like a chug jug
lookin like a …

Great core combat system if you really want to push it to it's limits. Really enjoyable world and story, Cloudbank is a rare cyberpunk Utopia instead of dystopia and the game honestly raises some pretty interesting questions on character vs player agency, the limits of democracy and what constitutes a human. The man in the transistor is very interesting as your narrator and gives you entertainment in between combat, helping immerse you in the world.

Visually breathtaking, one of the GOAT gaming OSTs (not hyperbole, seriously it is unreal how good most of these tracks fit the game) and it's audio design in general is just incredibly enjoyable: Red seamlessly humming the current song when pausing for turn based combat always impresses and immerses me no matter how many times I play the game.

Go in blind, experiment with the combat system and immerse yourself in a world. You'll really enjoy it!

antivansheart
antivansheart

I played this on a whim and had my heart stolen in the process. If you had a free day i would 100% recommend. The controls are a little wonky at first but they are quick to get used to.

DangerousOnii-Chan
DangerousOnii-Chan

I recommend the game if not for the great ambitious story, for the dynamically strategic game play.

Zimy0
Zimy0

Well worth the soundtrack alone