I didn't get the hype.
I played the game.
I got the hype.

Simple.

Now, the story is quite deep for a seemingly simple game (to be honest I didn't get it all until I checked it online) but I'll give you a spoiler-free, rough idea of what this game is about.

A city called Cloudbank is attacked by the Camerata which is a group of individuals who intend to change the city using Processes which are basically robotic creatures. You play as Red, a female singer who fights these creatures with the Transistor, a weapon that can also speak to you.

Throughout the game, you will receive new abilities called Functions for the Transistor which can be combined differently to produce different effects on your attack and defence. You will be able to change and combine the Functions together at terminals called Access Points to help you fight different foes with different abilities. There are also Sandbox areas for you to test and experiment with the Functions.

Armed with the Transistor, you will fight your way through beautiful locations, unlocking new Functions and facing new enemies. Your talking, sword-like weapon will keep you company and help you make sense of what is happening.


Gameplay: 9/10

• RPG style.
  
• Countless combinations for attack and defence.
  
• Real-time fighting and planning mode available.
  
• Very fun to play.

Story: 9/10

• Very unique and interesting story.

Graphics: 9/10

• Beautiful atmospheric locations and cutscenes.

Sound Effects & Music: 10/10

• Incredible music. Game comes with optional Soundtrack.

Voice Acting: 8/10

• Good voice acting which adds to the tone of the game

Overall Score: 9/10

Recommendation:

• Very highly recommended.
  
• Play with a controller.
  
• Play at night in a dimly-lit room because... ambience.
  
• Buy the soundtrack.

Transistor has beautifully done artwork, amazing colour contrasts(most likely picked every single colour to create this game tbh) and an Action-RPG game of sci-fi futuristic metropolis that includes the story of gorgeous influential singer, a female protagonist called Red and the remarkable sword, the Transistor.


Game begins as Red wields the sword(transistor) stabbed in deadman and ventures deep into the metropolis to discover and resolve some mysteries. The story reveals in bits and pieces, its our job to put them all together to find out whats really happening and it was a bit difficult to figure that out.
The game is mostly about two characters, the guy trapped in transistor after being stabbed and the girl Red, which is more like romance between these two and to keep each other safe rather than saving the city.
Together they go after the group belongs to Camerata organization which, for no good reason, turns against Red to kill her but failed in process. As the game goes on we discover that the man trapped in transistor was the one who gave up his life to save Red from dying and at the same time Red lost her voice and couldn't communite at all.
The sword talks all the time and is the actual narrator in this game. He/it never stops talking to Red which at times annoyed me because i couln't concentrate on the story during the fight.
The ending is quite emotional and sad nevertheless sort of satisfying.

As for me, i liked the combat and gaining the new functions for the sword on every Level-up. I enjoyed destroying the machines and robots by combining various functions which come out as new combos to deal greater damage to finish them off. I always enjoy stories and hate killing but the phenomena was totally oppoiste in this game(idk if someone agrees with me on this but i must say combat and combos were awesome for me).
The game also has the Planning mode which makes it alot easier to make combos and attack afterwards. Planning mode has always been my fav!

This game is very beautifully designed, capital city, Cloudbank is the major place where the whole story lies. The atmosphere was really pretty! i loved it.

I thoroughly enjoyed the soundtracks and music throughout the game. More music and songs could be unlocked by completing the side actvities and various tests. All of the songs were really amazing, i must say Supergiant put really good effort creating them! Some of the songs were also sung by Red, she had pretty good voice and really nice songs.


To the verdicts! Well the game is masterpiece of artwork! amazing soundtracks, well drawn art characters and a nice story.
Pretty much worthy of 19.99$ but its nice to have it on sale.
I Profoundly recommend it!!!

The first thing I did once I played 10-20 mins was
Tab out → click on store → search for: Transistor Soundtrack → tab back to game → continue playing.
for real, the soundtrack is one of the best things I've ever had the pleasure to listen to in my life.
(you can unlock most of the soundtrack for free inside the game if you beat some optional tests)

The art and textures of the game are just divine, no words.

The combat system is pretty unique since you can do a mix of going for ''turn based'' combat or free combat.
the skills you unlock are also optional and there's an ''unlimited'' combinations since every skill you unlock you can use it as a passive skill or as a passive skill for skill.

and the last thing
The Story, the story is more more deep than it looks like, and I encorage you that once you ''end'' the game, search it up and look it from a different point of view.

It's been a long since a game didnt make me feel like this, being more clear since I end Portal 2 (wich was 2 years ago).
the chills were racing all over me....while playing Transistor.

See you inside the Transistor. -B.

tldr I cant recommend enough both bastion and transistor-they are @ 80% off for the weekend and they re a steal for that price
---

I just finished transistor twice, and i loved it-
fantastic art awesome soundtrack and unique setting--it feels alot like its bastions dark alter ego.
at first mechanics may seem bit strange, but make sense after a while.

sidenote- achievements in both games are very fun and challenging and actually add to the experience- so dont rush these games, do your 2 playthroughs (you retain level and gear for the 2nd) ) and grab them all--

PS i used controller so i have no idea how they play with k/b + mouse

Listen, I loved Bastion to no end and I was extremely hyped for this game.
I'll start with the pros for this game:

- Incredible ost. It's so damn good I bought it here on steam, because I want to listen it again and again

- Great art style. Character design and lighting in particular are fantastic, but even the transition drawings used as cutscenes are a wonder to look at

- Really fun to play around with your skills. There are plenty of different skills and all can be active, passive or secondary, which means lots of combinations and lots of possibilities

- Great sense of atmosphere and overall interesting characters

Now for the cons:

- Even though I've said the characters are interesting, I've completed the game in 3,7 hours (reading the steam stats of what I've played in the past week, when I decided to make a proper run of the game, not knowing I was already halfway through) That's ridicolously short... I mean, not only it ended quite abruptly, but there really wasn't any time for character development or anything else.

- It's fun to play around with skills, but I guess balancing them was really tough. I mean, there are some combos that will make this game so easy it will stop being fun. Example: go to the final boss, select purge as active skill and put the two skills you have from the beginning in its passive slots (breach and pulse I think are the names) Then just spam the skill button. Done.

- There's virtually nothing to do beside the main story. Yeah, there's a "beach" where you can go and have trials (something similar to the trials in Bastion) but you can unlock only songs in here... that you can only listen to if you stay on the beach. I completed three or four trials and then never went back there.

Honestly, if it's on sale, buy it and see by yourself. To me, it was very disappointing

From the makers of Bastion, this is another beautifully illustrated isometric third person game. However, this is a very different game than Bastion, which features real-time combat and a series of upgradable weapons as well as unlockable skills and passive modifiers. Transistor, on the other hand, is semi-turn-based (recharging skill bar is used to plan combat turns with real-time in between) combat and features a series of skills that can be combined with each-other to produce different effects. The same skills can be used as active attacks, modifiers for those attacks, or passive buffs. This leads to a huge variety of strategy and a wealth of build options.

This is a short game designed for replayability. It reminds me of a few other games I've played in that way--the first one that comes to mind is Squaresoft's The Bouncer. It's a short, story-driven game with combat gameplay that gets better the second (or third) time through. You continue to level-up, the challenge continues to escalate, and the depth of strategic options becomes more rewarding. Plus, you might notice some things the second time you didn't see the first... or were they there at all?

Gameplay Notes:

• Short, but designed for re-play (and plenty of it if you enjoy the combat)
  
• Engaging strategic RPG combat system w/ lots of variety
  
• Good sense of progression and unfolding of skill / strategic options
  
• Some actions are purely for atmosphere / character, but gameplay is rich

Style Notes:

• Art Nouveau meets Digital aesthetic
  
• Beautiful soundtrack; music is also a story element
  
• Steady reveal of an intriguing story
  
• Great voice acting and singing talent
  
• Some things are just there for the beauty of it

If the words "beautiful game" sound appealing to you, chances are you're going to enjoy this. If that phrase sounds just a little too effeminate, there might be a couple design decisions in this game that rub you the wrong way. This game is from the perspective of a female singer; and while the gameplay itself is all stragegic RPG combat, the presentation is still from that delicate place. There's a button to jump up in the air for no other reason than it's a stylish, graceful thing to do. It's in the name: "flourish". There's another button to make the character pause and hum to the background music. This serves absolutely no functional purpose in terms of defeating the enemy--but it does serve the purpose of engaging the player with the character they are playing, and contributes to the beautiful, somber, haunting atmosphere of the game.

I loved Bastion, but I might actually love Transistor even more. I know it's usually the other way around, but I found the story and style of this game to be really engaging.

9/10 Highly recommended.

Stunning, visually and musically beautiful, touching story, fun gameplay. Has all the good parts from Bastion and none of the bad.

I'm gonna be honest, I almost never review games. I usually play games and leave feeling as though I had fun, but that nothing was really accomplished. But it is for that exact reason, I am reviewing Transistor.
This game was amazing.
Everything was well thought out, and it really showed in the final product being one of the best most enjoyable games I have ever played. Combat is flawless, the art style is beautiful and the games amazing music actually made me, a person who NEVER has audio on in a game listen throughout the entire game. On top of that, the thing I loved most about Transistor was the story. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOH MA GAWWWWWWD THE STORY.
In conclusion, Transistor was so ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ good. Buy it. And to SuperGiant, make more games that are as flawless as transistor and I will be a happy person.

This game is beautiful! I seriously have no problems with this game. The combat, story, and art are just phenomenal. Do not hesitate on getting this game.