Until this game, I never really thought developers were like bands and their games like albums. But I guess it makes sense with the rise of indie games being so similar to the rise of the indie music. Both were a reaction against the emptiness of the mainstream. Both are artsy and weird. And both became really popular.

Transistor is Supergiant Games' second album, and just like many great albums, it doesn’t immediately grab you. But the more you listen to it, the better it gets.

This game is an exercise in atmosphere and emotion. The story is never told in a straightforward manner, but released slowly and piecemeal. All you know is you’re a woman in a strange (and beautiful!) futuristic city, there’s a dead guy and a talking sword. Oh, and everybody’s gone missing and bizarre robots are trying to kill you.

Luckily, you have the power to “stop time” and plan out your attacks. This is the meat of the battle system and a fun feature to play with. While time is stopped, you can not only plan out your attacks and see how much damage they’ll do, but you can also get away to avoid retaliation. Of course, you have a limited amount of moves you can perform, so you have to budget them wisely before releasing time’s flow.

And if you flub it all up, you can take your moves back and try a different approach. But once time’s released, you’re committed to your attacks. Afterwards, there’s a cooldown meter that must run down before you can stop time or do any offensive moves. You can also just run around and hit stuff in real time if you don't want to fiddle with the fancy stuff. However, as the fights get tougher, you’re going to need to plan attacks and escapes.

Speaking of attacks, there are a whole bunch of them! And you can attach modifiers to various attacks that work automatically. Some are offensive, and allow you to hit multiple enemies at once, some are defensive and make you immune to attacks for a little while. You can even summon a dog to help you fight or charm robots and make them fight for you. There’s a lot of variety, so you can mix and match until you find the combo that works best.

The graphics in the game are gorgeous. Bastion was lauded for it’s superb art direction and intriguing world. This game ups the ante and presents a more sophisticated overall package. From the design elements to the color palettes, visually, this is an outstanding game.

It’s also got a lot of style in the audio department. The game’s soundtrack is excellent, and the songs will move you emotionally. Like Bastion, there’s an ever-present narrator who talks to you throughout the game. And like Bastion, it adds a personal touch, almost as if he’s talking directly to you at times. It works especially well in this game, because it’s a very lonely game. All the people in the mysterious city Cloudbank have disappeared. So having the narration, or talking sword in this case, eases the tension.

The game will make you work to understand the story. You’ll get it bit by bit and have to put it all together for yourself. There’s plenty of mystery, but very little exposition. I didn’t mind it, but if you’re looking to sit a spell and listen to an old country yarn, you’re not going to find it here.

In the end, this game really is like an indie album. I have lots of albums that when it comes down to it, I really have no idea what the singer’s saying or even what half the songs are about. I just know they resonate with me, and I have an emotional reaction to them. And that’s exactly how I felt playing this game.

Hint: This game is very forgiving when it comes to fights. If you mess up, just retry it and you’ll start from the nearest save point. Which are usually pretty close.  

by Urian Brown