Just got a couple of hours into this and already i can see myself putting in many more. Absolutely love the art style and atmosphere. The music is really well done and fits the mood perfectly. The combat was a little tricky to get a hang of, but its really opening up now that i've unlocked more powers. The way you can combine them also should add alot more depth later on. Very happy with my £15 spent.
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Transistor |OT| Super Giant Sword
- Thread starter LiK
- Start date
NullPointer
Member
Good, good. Thanks.
MagnetoWasRight
Member
Yes and it's awful. They used the old control scheme instead of the newer one (as in Infamous, using bubbles at the corner of the screen and NO rear touchpad) and they left the most used button in the game on the back touchpad with no way to change it (while leaving useless buttons assigned to the triggers.) Also, all the of the text for powers in the game is unreadable. I'm very disappointed. Super phoned in.
See that's why I'm of two minds. While I think it was a selfish choice, on the other hand, the world seemed empty by the end, there didn't seem to be any survivors, and there would be no hope to get the population back. Her searching and then doing it may have been a happy medium, but oh well.
Revenge on the people who wronged her? Hope that they could offer a solution to her loss of voice, and the people trapped inside of the transistor? But as I said, I wasn't entirely sold on the ending myself.
Turin Turambar
Member
I'm not feeling the game. I loved Bastion, but here both the gameplay and the story are weaker.
The story seems obscure for obscureness sake, and the little is showing seems clichéd. But for now that's just impressions, I won't judge it until I see the end.
But the gameplay uh... the gameplay is just plain and boring. First, real time combat doesn't work. The way some enemies attack without possibility of avoidance, the way some powers doesn't work in real time combat, and even the ones that work are clunky because slow animations. So you need to use the pause "tactical" system. But it isn't interesting or complex enough to be called tactical. I like tactical turn based games, so that isn't a problem! , but here you only control one character, with limited actions, and without worries like resources like ammo or mana or health (it recharges after each fight), so it isn't really the same as a tactical turn based game, it's more like the VATS system, a recharging powerup that allows you to deal damage fast.
And yeah, you have lots of very interesting customization options thanks to how the powers can be combined, but that's the "character setup", once you are in combat, your actions as I said are very limited (move, and 4 powers). And no, you can't change the setup in battle, hell even outside of battle you can't do it whenever you want, only in the predetermined access points.
So, all together, the core game loop is this:
-combat starts, you pause,
-you queue move and attack orders maximizing the damage you do (like putting yourself in a position to use the line attack in two enemies, or using aoe attack in a group of 2-3 enemies). That basic stuff is most of what you do using your brain. Let's be honest, lots of times in the end you just spam attacks like crazy, and it works mostly.
-The pause ends, you do the attacks at superhuman speed, and then you use the cover and dashes for x seconds of real time wasting time basically until the pause system recharges.
-Repeat again.
So the combat isn't immediate or visceral like an action game, nor deep and thoughtful as a tactical turn based game, it's in the middle of both without having their strong points. And it's also repetitive by nature.
The story seems obscure for obscureness sake, and the little is showing seems clichéd. But for now that's just impressions, I won't judge it until I see the end.
But the gameplay uh... the gameplay is just plain and boring. First, real time combat doesn't work. The way some enemies attack without possibility of avoidance, the way some powers doesn't work in real time combat, and even the ones that work are clunky because slow animations. So you need to use the pause "tactical" system. But it isn't interesting or complex enough to be called tactical. I like tactical turn based games, so that isn't a problem! , but here you only control one character, with limited actions, and without worries like resources like ammo or mana or health (it recharges after each fight), so it isn't really the same as a tactical turn based game, it's more like the VATS system, a recharging powerup that allows you to deal damage fast.
And yeah, you have lots of very interesting customization options thanks to how the powers can be combined, but that's the "character setup", once you are in combat, your actions as I said are very limited (move, and 4 powers). And no, you can't change the setup in battle, hell even outside of battle you can't do it whenever you want, only in the predetermined access points.
So, all together, the core game loop is this:
-combat starts, you pause,
-you queue move and attack orders maximizing the damage you do (like putting yourself in a position to use the line attack in two enemies, or using aoe attack in a group of 2-3 enemies). That basic stuff is most of what you do using your brain. Let's be honest, lots of times in the end you just spam attacks like crazy, and it works mostly.
-The pause ends, you do the attacks at superhuman speed, and then you use the cover and dashes for x seconds of real time wasting time basically until the pause system recharges.
-Repeat again.
So the combat isn't immediate or visceral like an action game, nor deep and thoughtful as a tactical turn based game, it's in the middle of both without having their strong points. And it's also repetitive by nature.
As someone who prefers games to be more non-linear I'll admit not every game HAS to be that way. It'd be nice if this weren't, but it's not as big a disappointment for me as it can be from a higher profile game. Especially as $20 isn't bad for an "experience" when movies commonly cost that much to buy.
Man I'm loving this game.
I love the artstyle and the beautiful dystopian sci-fi setting going on here. The game feels like it has a bit more of a sense of humor too, which I do like a lot.
I wasn't so sure about the combat at first, but after experimenting a lot and switching up the skills like crazy and gaining more skills, it's definitely a very deep system with tons of strategy. It's kind of like making strategic weapon/tonic combos in Bastion.
Also the tests are awesome too. Just like the challenges in Bastion that show you the strengths of your weapons, the tests in this game show the strengths of each and every skill.
This definitely is an improvement over Bastion, and I loved Bastion.
I love the artstyle and the beautiful dystopian sci-fi setting going on here. The game feels like it has a bit more of a sense of humor too, which I do like a lot.
I wasn't so sure about the combat at first, but after experimenting a lot and switching up the skills like crazy and gaining more skills, it's definitely a very deep system with tons of strategy. It's kind of like making strategic weapon/tonic combos in Bastion.
Also the tests are awesome too. Just like the challenges in Bastion that show you the strengths of your weapons, the tests in this game show the strengths of each and every skill.
This definitely is an improvement over Bastion, and I loved Bastion.
Admiral Woofington
Member
I see this as the dividing line between people who want full experiences in an indie title and those that somewhat know what to expect as a whole.
Octodad was like 2-3 hours long and cost 15 originally (a bit cheaper for PS4 with PS+). A game that linear and with that little gameplay some might argue is not worth the price. But I paid it and I don't regret it because it was fun and it has replayability. This game I can already tell will be the same for me, especially with NG+.
Then we have games like Limbo and Gone Home. Games that I personally feel cost way too much for the content they delivered. Heck I bought Gone Home in sale and I still felt like I wasted money. These are games that have a singular purpose and are practically meant for a single playthrough as long as you explore everything.
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is a game that is a mix of the two different styles above. It's a game that entirely depends on each individual. I probably couldn't play it again unless a friend asked me to show them the game because they've heard how sad the story is.
Octodad was like 2-3 hours long and cost 15 originally (a bit cheaper for PS4 with PS+). A game that linear and with that little gameplay some might argue is not worth the price. But I paid it and I don't regret it because it was fun and it has replayability. This game I can already tell will be the same for me, especially with NG+.
Then we have games like Limbo and Gone Home. Games that I personally feel cost way too much for the content they delivered. Heck I bought Gone Home in sale and I still felt like I wasted money. These are games that have a singular purpose and are practically meant for a single playthrough as long as you explore everything.
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is a game that is a mix of the two different styles above. It's a game that entirely depends on each individual. I probably couldn't play it again unless a friend asked me to show them the game because they've heard how sad the story is.
ya i think so
Limiter spoilers?
I have 5 of them on right now, and fuck my life this game is getting hard
I've got: Resilience, Efficiency, Abundance, Initiative, and Priority.
So I just finished a fight again five Snapshots, and I'm only able to use one ability, and I got to an access point to restore things, and I'm only able to use 4 out of my 13 abilities
fml why am i doing this to myself
So I just finished a fight again five Snapshots, and I'm only able to use one ability, and I got to an access point to restore things, and I'm only able to use 4 out of my 13 abilities
K good, cuz I just bought it.
super-famicom
Member
Well, just finished Speed Test 5 after a dozen tries. That one was kinda tough. If you want any tips:
Edit-
And just cleared Stability Test 3 (the final one). This one was tricky because you have 4 Man that infinitely respawn. Again, tips if anyone needs help:
Manually Jaunt to a Man, then use Turn. Queue up a ton of Backstab Pings, finish off with Cull, and you should get the kill. Then you have to Jaunt around to avoid the seeking missiles (which will kill in 2 hits!) while waiting for your Turn to charge back up. Remember, you can use Ping to shoot the missiles down, but beware of the blast radius. Repeat 3 more times and you'll clear it. If you lose Cull, just abort and retry; this happened to me because the missiles got me.
Edit-
And just cleared Stability Test 3 (the final one). This one was tricky because you have 4 Man that infinitely respawn. Again, tips if anyone needs help:
Don't bother trying to kill anything; the purpose of this test is to survive for a minute. Start the timer, then time Help so the dogs spawn in at the same time as the enemies do. then just Jaunt around the perimeter of the arena. When missiles come in close, use Turn and your AOE Function to take them out, then Jaunt Jaunt Jaunt. If you can, try to use Help since the dogs can draw aggro away from you. But the animation for Help is long, and you might get hit. If you're lucky, you can finish the animation then immediately stop time with Turn, AOE, and Jaunt away. When I finally cleared it, I had only called in the dogs twice- once at the beginning, and again about 30-40 seconds on the clock. The rest of the time is just blowing up the missiles and Jaunting. It was very easy once I figured out that I could blow up missiles.
Admiral Woofington
Member
Entirely depends on the person and what you're expecting but the grand majority of opinions state that yes. It is.
Well worth $20.
man, thanks for that lengthy infopost!
RTS with a great soundtrack zl sounds veery intriguing to my veins.
what kind of soundtrack are we taking about here?
Admiral Woofington
Member
For the most part, outside of the game's trailer and arguably 'main' song it's a very relaxed and jazzy/relaxing soundtrack mixed with some electronic songs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ql8K3KJyWgY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4o8zJGNFNo
and of course the titular song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9O2Rjn1azc
I'm buying the soundtrack asap.
As to the strategic gameplay, like I mentioned it's more Bioware pausing and thinking than it is RTS. Look for some combat videos. If that appeals to you then good news the game is for you.
Admiral Woofington
Member
Anybody know if you need the Steam game to buy the soundtrack via Steam? I have it on PS4, not Steam.
shadowstar
Member
Explain Cave Story.
Admiral Woofington
Member
Lol I can't really. I own it because a friend gifted it to me during a summer sale but I have yet to touch it.
Void+Breach: obvious debuff utility, and keeps the Process in place for you to quickly finish them in real time.
super-famicom
Member
Jaunt + Purge is amazing, maybe one of my favorite Jaunt combos. You spawn a seeking missile that does 120 damage in 3.0 sec and slows the target for 70%. You can use this in Turn recovery, and it will also help take out shielded Badcells. Really great for remaining on the offensive while waiting for your Turn to charge back up.
Spark + Flood + Load is great for dumping bombs.
Mask + Switch is a good defensive combo. Gain stealth and charm enemies to your side. Gives you a lot of breathing room when you need it.
Void + Load + Get: 180% bigger blast radius, 500 pull radius. Great crowd control. Set up a Load packet and enjoy the damage.
And I'm typing this as I listen to "Old Friends." Great track.
asthmagasm
Member
For Stability 3
you can totally cheese it by kiting the black things around. Once there are four or five out they won't throw anymore. Run the perimeter and when they're about to hit use Turn() and sprint about half capacity away from them. Rinse repeat until over
super-famicom
Member
I didn't know there was
a maximum limit to the number of missiles. My method of blowing them up in Turn and Jaunting worked well enough. Nice to know there's another method!
Spirit of Jazz
Banned
I've used spoiler because experimenting with builds is one of the most fun parts of the game.
If you're struggling early in the game you can go with:
Spark with Mask and Load
Help with Break and (optional) Breach
Jaunt
Never go into turn mode, summon your dog, then spam your attack. The momentary invis you get when use cluster will cause the enemies to constantly lose focus on you and focus on the summon whilst you tear everything apart. Jaunt is to get out of tricky situations and clucker AoE.
Obviously you can augment this build with different mods and passives and there are stronger combos later in the game. As a whole though I think the free infinite jaunt makes you monstrously op no matter what your build is.
Spark with Mask and Load
Help with Break and (optional) Breach
Jaunt
Never go into turn mode, summon your dog, then spam your attack. The momentary invis you get when use cluster will cause the enemies to constantly lose focus on you and focus on the summon whilst you tear everything apart. Jaunt is to get out of tricky situations and clucker AoE.
Obviously you can augment this build with different mods and passives and there are stronger combos later in the game. As a whole though I think the free infinite jaunt makes you monstrously op no matter what your build is.
So I just finished the game, turns out when I quit last time I was right in front of the final boss door, haha.
I'm afraid I have to say that right now I feel disappointed with what I played. The story is a bit pretentious, and essential plot details are never explained (or maybe unlocked in New Game+, I don't know if that changes anything) so the story didn't really resonate with me. I loved the narrator in Bastion because it was original and meshed well with the gameplay, but in Transistor it just feels like they tried to go for the same effect and it doesn't work as well.
The combat system is awesome. The amount of tactics you can deploy by mixing and matching different mods is amazing to say the least and it was very fun to try different combinations. I also like that using mods in different positions unlocks character bios so the game really pushes you to try out new things instead of sticking with one tactic that works for you.
That's why I'm so disappointed in the actual gameplay. There's a really cool fighting system but actually playing with it felt boring and sometimes frustrating. When you're not freezing time but running around in realtime, there's not much you can do but avoid enemy attacks. Red moves slow and there's no dodge mechanic, unless you spam the stealth move which makes the realtime gameplay even more of a "waste time until bar fills up" part. To me this didn't feel really balanced enough. That said, unleashing your queued moves is cool and if you pull of a cool combo it can be very rewarding. So it's a bit of a mixed bag for me.
Unfortunately the combat is actually the entire game. You have these areas to walk through, but there's actually not much exploring to do. You just go from fighting area 1 to fighting area 2. So if you love the combat, you'll automatically love the entire game, but if you don't like the combat as much, like me, this will get repetitive very soon.
The game feels very RPG-y with lots of text and character bios to read through if you want to understand the "lore" or background info of the story. There are terminals to interact with, and I found these one of the most interesting things in the game. They give you news items from the game world, you can vote on stuff, order food, stuff like that. Really cute.
I will definitely play it again in New Game + and I'll try to beat all the challenges as I feel like I'm not really done with the game yet. It's only like 5 hours long and I was just getting into it when the credits started rolling. Hopefully my next playthrough will be more enjoyable.
It's nowhere near a bad game, but to me it's definitely a step down from Bastion, which I loved very, very dearly. I'm happy to see that my opinion is the exception and that the game gets a lot of praise from everyone here, because I really appreciate Supergiant's unique approach to game design and I want them to make more.
edit: OH. The soundtrack. The soundtrack is GODLY. Buying that asap.
I'm afraid I have to say that right now I feel disappointed with what I played. The story is a bit pretentious, and essential plot details are never explained (or maybe unlocked in New Game+, I don't know if that changes anything) so the story didn't really resonate with me. I loved the narrator in Bastion because it was original and meshed well with the gameplay, but in Transistor it just feels like they tried to go for the same effect and it doesn't work as well.
The combat system is awesome. The amount of tactics you can deploy by mixing and matching different mods is amazing to say the least and it was very fun to try different combinations. I also like that using mods in different positions unlocks character bios so the game really pushes you to try out new things instead of sticking with one tactic that works for you.
That's why I'm so disappointed in the actual gameplay. There's a really cool fighting system but actually playing with it felt boring and sometimes frustrating. When you're not freezing time but running around in realtime, there's not much you can do but avoid enemy attacks. Red moves slow and there's no dodge mechanic, unless you spam the stealth move which makes the realtime gameplay even more of a "waste time until bar fills up" part. To me this didn't feel really balanced enough. That said, unleashing your queued moves is cool and if you pull of a cool combo it can be very rewarding. So it's a bit of a mixed bag for me.
Unfortunately the combat is actually the entire game. You have these areas to walk through, but there's actually not much exploring to do. You just go from fighting area 1 to fighting area 2. So if you love the combat, you'll automatically love the entire game, but if you don't like the combat as much, like me, this will get repetitive very soon.
The game feels very RPG-y with lots of text and character bios to read through if you want to understand the "lore" or background info of the story. There are terminals to interact with, and I found these one of the most interesting things in the game. They give you news items from the game world, you can vote on stuff, order food, stuff like that. Really cute.
I will definitely play it again in New Game + and I'll try to beat all the challenges as I feel like I'm not really done with the game yet. It's only like 5 hours long and I was just getting into it when the credits started rolling. Hopefully my next playthrough will be more enjoyable.
It's nowhere near a bad game, but to me it's definitely a step down from Bastion, which I loved very, very dearly. I'm happy to see that my opinion is the exception and that the game gets a lot of praise from everyone here, because I really appreciate Supergiant's unique approach to game design and I want them to make more
.edit: OH. The soundtrack. The soundtrack is GODLY. Buying that asap.
I loved Bastion (one among the best action games from indies last gen), but I felt they have dropped the ball with transistor in terms of the actual gameplay.
While the music, art and story are more interesting, I can't help but feel how much potential is wasted by the lack of balancing and polishing on making the battle system fun to play itself, which should be the whole meat of the game.
The real time combat while available, quickly become a setback as you basically cannot deal attacks while waiting for the time bar to cool down and ultimately it becomes the part of the combat where you do not want to see at all when the only purpose of it is running away from enemies as best as you can, waiting for the time bar to fill up so you can get into planning mode, as going head to head against the enemies in real time is a complete waste of time that will quite certainly do you more harm than good.
I don't know, I feel the game will be much more enjoyable if Supergiant focuses back into one combat mode alone and get rid of the other that hampers it more than enriching it, or you know, balance both modes properly, start with reducing the skill stunning times after you activate them in real time.
While the music, art and story are more interesting, I can't help but feel how much potential is wasted by the lack of balancing and polishing on making the battle system fun to play itself, which should be the whole meat of the game.
The real time combat while available, quickly become a setback as you basically cannot deal attacks while waiting for the time bar to cool down and ultimately it becomes the part of the combat where you do not want to see at all when the only purpose of it is running away from enemies as best as you can, waiting for the time bar to fill up so you can get into planning mode, as going head to head against the enemies in real time is a complete waste of time that will quite certainly do you more harm than good.
I don't know, I feel the game will be much more enjoyable if Supergiant focuses back into one combat mode alone and get rid of the other that hampers it more than enriching it, or you know, balance both modes properly, start with reducing the skill stunning times after you activate them in real time.
shadowstar
Member
You do yourself a disservice! PLAY IT!
TechnicPuppet
Nothing! I said nothing!
Guess no EU demo for this?
I would recommend buying from their website since you can get the FLAC version and not the .MP3 version.
CheesecakeRecipe
Stormy Grey
I can totally understand this complaint, but you can use at least one attack/skill while in Turn() cooldown and I find myself opening combat with free attacks before entering Turn(), then using my one skill during cooldown to stave off. Not the best solution as there is still some runaway/down time but I feel l like the game does give just enough flexibility for the user to minimize that if they prefer.
Nope :/
shadowstar
Member
That's how I set it up. I put crash (i think that's the default melee skill) with vaunt so I always have my basic attack.
Vire
Member
Purge() as active + Crash() + Load
Stun locks and tracks everything, does great explosive damage. Best used as spam in active play rather than tactical gameplay.
Tap() as active + Void() + Ping() or Load()
Fast and powerful area of effect damage, is good in tactical view.
Most powerful attack in the game is using a active crash backstab, active mask, then Cull() with a void attached as an upgrade. Can kill pretty much every enemy in the game in one hit, and there is a trophy related to doing over 2000 damage in one turn.
Moral Panic
Member
Beaten the first boss. As I feared, I don't think the gameplay is particularly good. The stop start nature of the battles doesn't leave you feeling particularly accomplished when you win because the enemies (so far) can't do anything to you whilst you wail on them in the Turn() mode, and you can't really do much to anyone in the normal mode due to the super long animations. So the entire thing turns into a guerilla warfare where 90% the time you are hiding till the bar recharges and you just quickly poike your head out to kill someone before heading back behind the respawning pillars.
I loved Bastion, but it was a mistake to buy this without looking at the gameplay videos
I loved Bastion, but it was a mistake to buy this without looking at the gameplay videos
Vire
Member
For the people who are complaining that they are running around hoping the bar to fill: You don't have to use the full bar in Load each time you know...
If you only use half of the bar in load, then it will return twice as fast. Giving room for both active and tactical combat. There are moves that are suited for tactical view and then there are moves that are suited for active gameplay. You need to experiment to see what works best for you.
Something like Spark()+ Velocity() + Bounce () is a really great active combination that you could try out.
If you only use half of the bar in load, then it will return twice as fast. Giving room for both active and tactical combat. There are moves that are suited for tactical view and then there are moves that are suited for active gameplay. You need to experiment to see what works best for you.
Something like Spark()+ Velocity() + Bounce () is a really great active combination that you could try out.