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Transistor |OT| Super Giant Sword

commish

Jason Kidd murdered my dog in cold blood!
I finished it in 12 hours in the first game and took my time. 5 hours seems pretty damn quick!

For anyone else who loved this game - really give Shadowrun Returns/Dragonfall a go. Both are really good games.

I just started this and it's fantastic. Really impressed. Interestingly enough, Shadowrun Returns is next on my list after this.
 

yatesl

Member
That was enjoyable. 6 hours, and I did all the challenges I could do and got to level 14 or so. Like Bastion, it was fun - but I'm not sure why, as the combat is an odd blend.

I think I'll jump back in to get the rest of the achievements.
 
That was enjoyable. 6 hours, and I did all the challenges I could do and got to level 14 or so. Like Bastion, it was fun - but I'm not sure why, as the combat is an odd blend.

I think I'll jump back in to get the rest of the achievements.

What do you think about the story? I loved it and the VO made it even better.
 

yatesl

Member
I prefer Rust (Rusk? Russ?) to the sword, but apart from that the voice acting was good. The story itself felt like it lasted about 5 minutes (which it obviously didn't). The fact that, really, there's only
two bosses
makes it seem super short, but sweet I guess.
 

Cronox

Banned
Finished this the other day and now have all the achievements except for the one for going through the game a second time. Great game, great combat system (hard to show in trailers, but it's really cool, gives you so many options), cool world and open-to-interpretation story. Great soundtrack too.

For anyone that says they got through the game in 5 hours or less, you're missing out. There are many terminals to access, different combinations to be tried, limiters used, descriptions unlocked... Most importantly, I guarantee that with 5 or less hours you didn't do the sandbox challenges, which really make the combat system shine by forcing you to work with combinations of skills you often wouldn't think to use. And it's surprising how well they work when you're forced to use them. Really gives an appreciation of the combat system, even if the late-game combo of void->mask->cull will always win for pure damage.

Also, try playing this game with all limiters on and it becomes kinda tough. I'm glad I waited until NG+ to attempt such a thing.

One last note for anyone who thinks they're stuck on a boss fight with limiters on: let yourself die (let all your powers get taken away) and the "game over" style screen will give you two options - retry with limiters or retry with limiters off. You're not stuck with them if you don't want to be. I didn't find this out until I turned all 10 limiters on and died for the first time. Usually I'd pause and restart from a checkpoint on losing a skill, but this time I waded through it cause I really wanted to kill a Fetch (died anyway) and found this out.
 

Number45

Member
I can't convince myself I'm enjoying this, after a good few hours playing. I really want to like it - it looks and sounds great and I don't mind the combat even. Can't quite put my finger on why I don't like it. :-/
 
I can't convince myself I'm enjoying this, after a good few hours playing. I really want to like it - it looks and sounds great and I don't mind the combat even. Can't quite put my finger on why I don't like it. :-/

I enjoyed it overall but my issue I generally had is that I didn't like how the story was told so I found myself largely not caring about what was going on for most the game which made it so that I had fun with the combat but I almost didn't care about playing because I didn't feel much reason to keep going.

So perhaps that's what you've got going on?
 

Number45

Member
I enjoyed it overall but my issue I generally had is that I didn't like how the story was told so I found myself largely not caring about what was going on for most the game which made it so that I had fun with the combat but I almost didn't care about playing because I didn't feel much reason to keep going.

So perhaps that's what you've got going on?
You might very well be right, I don't find the narrative particularly engaging.
 
Both this game and Bastion have some of the best combat systems used in a game. Not once did battles feel like a chore or arduous - i really enjoyed the different combinations available and how the system worked.

Also, both games had fantastic graphics, gorgeous music and great narration.

If these guys put out a new game every year i'd be happy.
 

Bronetta

Ask me about the moon landing or the temperature at which jet fuel burns. You may be surprised at what you learn.
Hey everyone. I picked up Transistor last week and finally got hooked on it this weekend. Really enjoyed what I played until this happened. Does anyone know any fixes? Thanks in advance.

8PYSjP2.jpg


Edit: Native resolution is 1080p but it looks like that no matter which resolution I change it to.

2nd edit: I fixed it by exiting Big Picture Mode and relaunching the game.
 

Slixshot

Banned
What a game this was. I beat it a week or two after launch, but I just went back for the Platinum. The artstyle is unmatched by any other indie developer I've seen. Voice acting is minimal but what's there is fantastic. PS4 dualshock really added to the experience. Made me feel like I had a companion with me throughout the entire game. Content wise, there was a ton of shit to do. All of those challenge maps were tough as hell but fair. I must say, the mixing and matching of all the moves was something I'll miss when playing other games.

Once again, these guys hit a home run. Bravo, Supergiant. Bravo.
 
It's a shame the story is so bonkers hard to follow or understand. Nice battle system and the visuals are incredible.

Glad I played it, but hard to recommend.
 
I'm finally giving the game the time it deserves and I love it.

The way you can mix'n'match functions in various roles gives the game a Living Card Game (LCG) type vibe as you, as the player, are Red and the various functions and how you sort them are your "deck", so to speak; It actually reminded me of when I used to play Netrunner with my friends when I was in High School.

I look forward to playing a lot more of this and platting it. I also hope some other devs or publishers take note of Transistor and perhaps adapt its model to other IPs that could really flourish with this type of neo-LCG setup; Call of Cthulhu immediately comes to mind.

Anyways, great game. Hats off to Supergiant for their awesome work. San Francisco has some ridiculously talented studious creating amazing things these days.
 

Khayam

Banned
Hey, just started the game today.

I think I figured most of the mechanics but one : when you finish a fight, you get experience but you also get other "stuff", in various quantities (I want to call it "loot" but so far I haven't seen any kind of itemization in the game).

So what is that ?
 

Trey

Member
Hey, just started the game today.

I think I figured most of the mechanics but one : when you finish a fight, you get experience but you also get other "stuff", in various quantities (I want to call it "loot" but so far I haven't seen any kind of itemization in the game).

So what is that ?

A census of all the enemies you destroyed in the encounter.
 
Finally got round to getting my Platinum trophy for this a couple of days ago, such an amazing game.

Loved the minimal story telling style, the music, the visuals, the narration, the customisation of attacks, the battles themselves. Just a great game in all departments really.
 
Finally got round to getting my Platinum trophy for this a couple of days ago, such an amazing game.

Loved the minimal story telling style, the music, the visuals, the narration, the customisation of attacks, the battles themselves. Just a great game in all departments really.

Just began my Recursion playthrough and I look forward to platting it soon as well. The game just plays incredibly tight (for me) and I enjoy the different combos available with the functions. Even though the Process comes out swinging right from the get go now I still feel like spamming Bounce(Switch, Purge) is playing on easy mode sometimes... but I ain't complaining because fuck the Process :)
 
Has this gone on sale on PSN since release? Hoping to get it cheap (or free through PS Plus) at some point.

Not to my knowledge. Was worth every penny though to me, tbh.

If you are determined to wait for a price drop then I'd say November is your best bet with Black Friday sales. I also think Transistor will definitely be on many "Best of 2014" lists so expect to see it in a similarly themed sale as well.
 
Platted this yesterday. I can't recommend this game enough if you're the type that likes lite strategy RPGs that can be completed fairly quickly with little grind.

Playing with all the limiters locked in definitely increased the challenge but I think that one that overloads functions if you swap them out at an access point makes encounters somewhat stale as you'll lock in your preferred setup and won't be touching anything until you've leveled up as much as you want to; after I hit lvl 24 and popped that trophy I dumped the limiters and messed around with all sorts of function combos and breezed through the rest of my Recursion (NG+) playthrough and I was pretty OP by that point; my favorite "fuck you, Process!" part being
the small room with those 6 Youngladies and a load of cells.
First playthrough, I got out of there asap. NG+? Owned it. Felt so satisfying.

I might go for a third playthrough in a month or two to see where that level cap is. OST is fantastic. I really enjoyed the narration. Redheads are hot. Great game.
 
^^^

That's very's cool that they released those alternate hummed versions. Ms. Barrett hums better than I could ever hope to sing. Very lovely.

Between playing things like Sound Shapes, TLoU, Transistor, Proteus, Hohokum, Hotline Miami-- hell even mucking about with Surgeon Simulator AE last night-- the credibility of "video game music" (even if it's just a curated list) has shot through the roof with my friends and family. So much great stuff is out there.
 

zewone

Member
Just beat the game last night after having bought it at launch.

The combat never really clicked with me until the end, which is too bad. I may play through NG+ just to try out the combat some more.

The only downside to me (which may be a high point for others) was how overly dramatic all the voice acting was in this game.
 
Just beat the game last night after having bought it at launch.

The combat never really clicked with me until the end, which is too bad. I may play through NG+ just to try out the combat some more.

The only downside to me (which may be a high point for others) was how overly dramatic all the voice acting was in this game.

I'd say if the combat clicked for you eventually that a Recursion run is in order. You will find it as easy or difficult as you'd like w/ the Limiters. I also enjoyed finishing out all the Tests.

As for the narration, I liked it. As the story progresses
it goes from clear-cut "we're on the run from these people that want to kill us" to "wait, who is trying to kill us?" to "is the Process really trying to "kill" us?" And the fact that the only side we hear for quite some time is that of the Transistor. Makes your trust in the narrator (for me, at least) shaky at best. I enjoyed it.

Also, OT but I love your avatar. That was the emblem I used for my Hunter for the duration of the Destiny Alpha. One of my favorites that I've seen.
 

GavinUK86

Member
Anyone know how many OVC terminals there are in total?

Only information I can find online talk about enough to get an achievement/trophy.
 

CorvoSol

Member
I beat The Spine! Man that was a rough fight, haha. It kinda reminded me of Lavos from Chrono Trigger in that you blow its face off and then go inside it to finish it. Also stopped by my apartment for some Junction Pizza.

I love the way this game goes about telling its story. I'm kinda lost, but at the same time, I don't mind it. Like I'm like, "Is all of this inside of a computer?" since so much of the city's administration terminology seems computer based. And I feel like "Moving out to the Country" is a euphemism for execution, since I keep picking up power ups from people who were supposed to have done that, and I'm pretty sure you only get power ups from dead folk.

As to the plot, I assume that
Grant is the Sword (I've been calling him Transistor thus far, just 'cuz). I also suppose there's a connection between the Sword and the Process, since as we got closer to The Spine the Sword sorta behaved like he was drunk, but when I fled through the Backdoor his head cleared. As to what's going on I can only guess that the lady who was a sky-artist was going to paint the sky and the Camerata hated that, so things started to go down. Also they wanted to recruit Red, and when that went south they tried to put her into the Sword, but Grant saved her.

Not sure at all, yet, but that's what it seems like. Mostly just drinking in the game as I go.
 
I beat The Spine! Man that was a rough fight, haha. It kinda reminded me of Lavos from Chrono Trigger in that you blow its face off and then go inside it to finish it. Also stopped by my apartment for some Junction Pizza.

I love the way this game goes about telling its story. I'm kinda lost, but at the same time, I don't mind it. Like I'm like, "Is all of this inside of a computer?"

Not sure at all, yet, but that's what it seems like. Mostly just drinking in the game as I go.

Platted it last weekend. It's definitely one of my top games of the year so far. Great atmosphere and music, purposefully opaque but still (to me) engaging story; fun, strategic combat, a sliding difficulty scale (via Limiters), and a load of attack combinations to suit a wide variety of playstyles.

I'm interested to here what your thoughts are on the plot, etc... after you've finished it up. Also, if you plan on playing through NG+ then I recommend you start equipping limiters asap in order to boost your xp gain and level up faster so NG+ won't be so much of a grind.
 

CorvoSol

Member
I've been equipping Limiters but I've gotta admit that they're making fights something of a wrestle to get through. I routinely lose at least one function a fight right now.
 
I've been equipping Limiters but I've gotta admit that they're making fights something of a wrestle to get through. I routinely lose at least one function a fight right now.

The key I found to using limiters effectively was two-fold:

1) find a combination of functions that at the very least lets you damage opponents while draining/leeching them (i.e. HP refill) as well as a function combo that turns enemies into allies for a period of time.

2) Get in the habit of touching every access point you see since that's where the game will save your state. If a battle is going poorly then just bring up the menu -> retry -> start again from that recent access point. I think this will help you find the most efficient function layout for the way you like to play. Youtube is great for seeing different builds in action as well.

Additionally, Void() is great as a Passive function by raising the damage of everything you do, Jaunt() is great when coupled with Spark() so as to put some distance between you and an enemy will taking some jabs at them, and Ping() increases your Turn amount when put in the Passive slot.
 

CorvoSol

Member
Oh man, that Jaunt and Spark combo works great! For the most part, though, I've been combining Breach and whatever the Charm function is. It works wonders on those irritating dog Processes.
 
Can't remember when you get Tap() but having Bouce(Tap, Purge) or Bounce(Switch, Purge) has been a mainstay for me. The second one is great if your having trouble managing a number of enemies at once: Get a few jabs in with your main attack and then fire off your Bounce(Switch, [something else]) and it'll hit + charm multiple enemies at once. Bounce(Tap, Purge) is great because every enemy it hits will heal you a bit as well and you can fire it multiple times as oppose to anything with Switch() in it since enemies can't be harmed once they've been charmed.

Glad you're having fun! There are a lot of great function possibilities out there.
 
Yikes, these Man-type enemies and their flaming hairdos and Stealth modes are sort of kind of rough to take down.

The Man enemies only move to attack you when you get in range, so keep your distance until you're Turn meter has filled up. Then get close enough that they create those Haircut enemies and immediately fire a round or two (especially if using Bounce(Tap, [something]) ) at the haircut, run away, end your movement and let the haircut explosion damage the enemies. Wait until your turn replenishes. Rinse, repeat. Takes a few tries to get their rhythm but they're not that rough afterwards.
 

CorvoSol

Member
The Man enemies only move to attack you when you get in range, so keep your distance until you're Turn meter has filled up. Then get close enough that they create those Haircut enemies and immediately fire a round or two (especially if using Bounce(Tap, [something]) ) at the haircut, run away, end your movement and let the haircut explosion damage the enemies. Wait until your turn replenishes. Rinse, repeat. Takes a few tries to get their rhythm but they're not that rough afterwards.

The Haircut's explosion damages The Man, too? Didn't know that. I haven't actually gotten any Tap functions yet, though. Maybe I need to go through the Back Door and grind a bit next chance I have.
 
Finished the game! Loved the ending. Got all choked up, but in a good way. Movin' out to the country . . .

'Grats!

I'd like to hear your thoughts on how the story elements were presented in the game, especially given your post a few days ago where you speculated what you thought everything was about vs. what actually ended up panning out.
 

CorvoSol

Member
So first off, I was pretty damn wrong about Grant being the Transistor's name!

So I have a sort of overarching theory that I'm kinda flinging around in my head right now, which is that they really are inside of a computer and that in the end they're not
inside the Transistor, but actually back in the real world.
Names are often spelled in gibberish in the OVC terminals, and computer terminology is used fairly frequently. As software performing their duties inside of a machine or as people living inside of a machine it makes a lot more sense that they're able to so completely manipulate their world than if they were humans with insanely advanced technology.

"Moving out to the country" is obviously a euphemism for death. That gets ever more apparent over the course of the game. Adding to the above theory, I think there's a sort of lack of talk about the world without that makes it all kinda suspect. As in, everyone has this idealized view of the world outside of Cloudbank, the way you see in other apocalyptic works. Royce mentions the Process spreading to the rest of the world in an off-hand and apathetic manner, and the confrontation against him takes place on a farm with cylinders which contain people, all of whom are represented with the same icon as the Transistor. So this could either be the world inside of the Transistor, or the world outside of Cloudbank. The sword assuming the shape of the monoliths in the distance because it's a symbol of the facility they are sleeping in/near.

But this is mostly just an idea at the moment and not like, 100% concrete or anything.

Assuming that the above is untrue, here is what I understood to have happened:

The city of CloudBank was in the middle of some political unrest over the decision of how to best use public funds. As in, I think the district where Royce is holed up is some manner of exclusive area and people wanted a bridge built to grant access. I can't recall now whether or not this is related to the Sky Art that was underway in the city. The Camerata, Sybill, Grant, Asher and Royce, were at the time already making moves to gain control of the city and put its constant changes and its ever-growing mastery of the world around it for the sake of amusement to an end. "When everything changes, nothing changes." The ideology expressed a belief, I think, that people were so bent upon these strange, constant changes that they failed to make the social changes the Camerata wanted.

To that end, Royce apparently either discovered or invented The Process, a series of artificially intelligent, self-replicating machines which would put the entire city under the control of the Transistor and allow the Camerata exclusive control over change within the city.

I assume the Camerata then attended a party being hosted by Sybill near the location of the proposed bridge. A party at which Red was to sing. During her song, the Camerata made their move, and attempted to attack her with the Transistor, presumably for the sake of uploading her into it, and using her voice and consciousness as the means to control the Process and therefore the entire city (or world, given Royce seemed to think the Process could leave town.)

When Mr. Voice stepped in and protected Red, though, things went wrong. The Process got out of control, immediately began their attack, and the Camerata fled. They didn't have even enough time to pick up the Transistor as they did. Red's voice was lost (somehow) in this incident. It's also possible that Mr. Voice wasn't the cause of the Process getting out of hand, as it seems that Grant wasn't all there, though Asher doesn't make it clear for how long.

Anyway, the Process quickly assimilated the entire city, generating types that I expect the Camerata never intended for, like The Spine.
By the time Red reached Royce, he had discovered a second Transistor. For whatever reason, Royce's Transistor was inferior to Red's ("only one of these is good enough for the trip back"), though it granted him similar capabilities, and hers was necessary to activate the Cradle and shut down the Process.

After his defeat, Red discovered the power to rebuild, but since that exact power was what had driven the Camerata and the Process to do what they did, she abandoned it to be with Mr. Voice instead, rejecting her rather implicit promotion to Godhood if it meant she couldn't be reunited with the man she loved.
At least, that's what I think went down.
 
Royce mentions the Process spreading to the rest of the world in an off-hand and apathetic manner, and the confrontation against him takes place on a farm with cylinders which contain people, all of whom are represented with the same icon as the Transistor. So this could either be the world inside of the Transistor, or the world outside of Cloudbank. The sword assuming the shape of the monoliths in the distance because it's a symbol of the facility they are sleeping in/near.
IIRC, the people inside the cylinders are in fact the people who "generated" the various functions you can use in the game; so that would definitely prove that it all happens inside the Transistor.
I assume the Camerata then attended a party being hosted by Sybill near the location of the proposed bridge. A party at which Red was to sing. During her song, the Camerata made their move, and attempted to attack her with the Transistor, presumably for the sake of uploading her into it, and using her voice and consciousness as the means to control the Process and therefore the entire city (or world, given Royce seemed to think the Process could leave town.)
I'm pretty sure (anyone correct if I'm wrong, it's been a while since I played it) that Red was at first invited to the Camerata like many, if not all, of the people who ended up in the Transistor. But she refused, and so the Camerata tried to "absorb" her.
Red's voice was lost (somehow) in this incident.
I remember reading that her voice actually became the first function you unlock, not completely sure on this though.
By the time Red reached Royce, he had discovered a second Transistor. For whatever reason, Royce's Transistor was inferior to Red's ("only one of these is good enough for the trip back"), though it granted him similar capabilities, and hers was necessary to activate the Cradle and shut down the Process.
Like I said above, I'm pretty sure their fight happened inside the transistor, so there aren't actually two different transistors. It was like they fought to see whose intent or will was strong enough to handle the Transistor; the one who won got to go back to the real world.
I read a lot of people think that it all happens inside some sort of computer, but I don't think that's the case. There's not really any proof of either, so everyone can have his own opinion on that.
Also, I think you should spoiler more in your post, considering this is the spoiler-free thread.
EDIT: Obviously after saying that, I forgot to spoiler my own post.
 
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