The Supergiant Run | Transistor

''When everything changes, nothing changes.''

The Supergiant Run is a mini-series where I chronologically play through all games made by Supergiant before the official release of Hades II. Some of my favorite games are made by this amazing indie studio, so I want to relive the experience of playing them again and share my thoughts.

---

Play time: A little above 5 hours
Played on: Steam Deck
Difficulty: Normal with limiters (optional difficulty modifiers)

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

For Bastion’s review, check here.

Transistor is the first game from Supergiant that I played. Therefore, it’s my baby. It’s my precious and I will take no criticism against it… Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating, but it really is a special game for me.

It was back in 2014 when someone on Tumblr - yes, I was a Tumblr girlie - shared some gorgeous GIFs from Transistor’s trailer. I remember seeing those GIFs and thinking ‘‘Wow, that looks incredibly pretty’’. So I looked up the game, saw that it just got released, downloaded it on my wonky laptop, and hoped against all hope that it would run well.

It actually did run pretty smoothly.

I was enamoured with the world immediately. The setting, the visuals, the music… And the voice acting. It was phenomenal; I had never experienced anything like it back then.

Transistor starts with a young woman named Red, who pulls out a futuristic-looking sword from a man who is somehow speaking to her through the sword. The singer Red, who lost her voice, and the self-dubbed Mr Nobody, who lost his body, set out on a journey to find out who attacked them and why.

As they travel through the beautiful world of Cloudbank, we get to uncover more and more about the world, and we get to discover the relationship between our main characters.

The game uses real-time combat with a freeze-time planning phase, which is an interesting mix of mechanics. You collect more and more abilities as you make your way through the world, and you can combine them in a lot of ways. Seriously, there are so many combinations, and the game encourages you to experiment by locking some of the lore behind skills. Not to worry, though; they are very easy to unlock and won’t hinder your progress.

It also features a lot of computer-related lingo, so if you are into programming, you might find some things interesting. All the skills (called Functions) have programming-themed names such as Crash(), Breach(), Void() etc.

Let’s start with one of the most prominent aspects of the game: the narration.

Supergiant loves yappers

One thing you’ll notice as you go through Supergiant’s games is that they love making talkative characters. This was apparent with Bastion’s narrator, but it can be seen in full force in Transistor - and it will carry on to Hades with Zagreus. Since Red can’t talk, Mr Nobody has to fill in the gaps, and he does so in a wonderful way. With every interaction, every enemy, he finds a way to commentate.

The way he talks feels real. Logan Cunningham is, as usual, an amazing voice actor and manages to bring Mr Nobody to life. However, Greg Kasavin also deserves a mention here. The writing of the dialogues (or the monologues) in Transistor feels very realistic. Mr Nobody mostly speaks without a filter. He uses many filler words like ‘‘um, uh, you know,’’ etc, sometimes doesn’t complete sentences, and gives silly names to enemies. When he is speaking in a panic, he repeats words and sentences frantically. When he is lost in thought, he trails off. He sarcastically narrates and comments on the world around them.

This is not only the case with Mr Nobody, though. Every character in this game - not that there are many - speaks in a real way. Sentences may feel off; they are sometimes repeated to show the state of mind of the speaker. You can feel the frenzy, the urgency, or the calmness with which the characters speak. It’s just that, as Mr Nobody is the character you spend most of the time with, you get to know him more.

The way he names enemies makes me laugh every single time

A little easter egg is that when you deal damage to enemies on your Turn(), he can comment on it.

If you keep going, he just says ‘‘You are mean’’

One of the best couples in gaming

There, I said it. I cannot believe that I had forgotten how much I adored their relationship. It’s sweet, cute, realistic, and heart-wrenching at the same time. Mr Nobody’s way of expressing himself is very endearing. He doesn’t shy away from complimenting Red on anything, always supports her no matter what, and even though he is constantly cracking jokes about the situation that they’re in, you can tell his true feelings.

‘‘Hey Red. We’re not going to get away with this, are we…’’

And Red, despite being mute the whole game, finds ways to express herself. You get a lot of characterization for Red, even though she doesn’t really have any lines. To achieve this is an incredible narrative feat, if you ask me. I won’t spoil the ways she does this, but it feels amazing to see each time.

‘‘We are magnets from different poles, with no control, we’ll never be apart’’

Maybe I just really love mature, confident depictions of romantic relationships in fiction, where they support each other through thick and thin, through hard times who are comfortable with each other. This is how I felt with Clive and Jill in Final Fantasy XVI as well, though I did have my gripes about Jill’s character.¹

If Harrison Polites ever decides to do a part 2 for Gaming’s Greatest Love Stories, I know who I’m writing about.

Phenomenal music and art, once again

This section will get old quickly, as each Supergiant game has amazing music and art. I don’t want to repeat myself too much, praising the art and music direction of every game, but I will say that Transistor’s vibes are exactly what I enjoy.

The art is the cleanest - I daresay even more than Hades. Maybe it’s because I love Art Nouveau so much, but I absolutely adore the art style of this game. Very fitting with the futuristic world of Cloudbank. It was also, in Jen Zee’s words, an opportunity to improve herself as an artist.

“It represented an opportunity for me to basically evolve what I had done on Bastion into something slightly different – and in what I hoped would be better. I had all these issues [in Bastion] with how I'd made some of the environments too overly detailed and the color was a little too strong here and there. […] Transistor represented where I could improve that stuff, having learned off of Bastion, and it was also basically a fresh start.” -Jen Zee

Jen Zee seems to be remembering the Transistor era more fondly than the others. I understand that the success of Bastion did create incredible pressure on them, but I’m happy that Jen Zee was able to see it as an opportunity to grow as an artist - and boy, did she grow!

Cloudbank concept art by Jen Zee. Note the Art Nouveau influences.

As for the soundtrack, the decision to make Red a singer may have made things harder for Darren Korb², but he pulled through and created something amazing. Ashley Barrett is featured in this soundtrack in a much more prominent way than Bastion, and her voice adds so much to this already great soundtrack. Having her be the singing voice for Red is one of the best decisions they’ve made. When you think of Transistor, of Red, you immediately think of Ashley Barrett and her incredible voice.

Both The Spine and In Circles are songs that I had on loop for DAYS, even back in 2014. The trip-hop influences are there again, this time combined with a more futuristic approach than Bastion. Adding in the heavenly vocals, you get these amazing songs.

But I believe the song that defines Transistor has to be We All Become. The lyrics are a bit more on the spoiler-y side, but I believe that you will not get it until you get to the end-game. And the way that Ashley Barrett showcases her vocals here, you can’t help but be impressed.

Oh and there are times where Mr Nobody sings along to some of these amazing songs! You just have to find out how and when, I’ll leave that part to you ;)

Overall thoughts

It’s kind of impossible for me to be impartial to Transistor, as I played it at a time that changed how I viewed games. I love how well it holds up after so much time. The gameplay is a little gimmicky but unique, and super fun once you get the hang of it and start experimenting.

It is a pretty short game like Bastion, so absolutely recommended for anyone who is looking for a change of pace with a game that has some amazing art and music, with an engaging story.

1. I’m not going to compare Jill and Red, though, for a multitude of reasons. Different genres, different game lengths, different focus, and different character statuses (Red being a main character and Jill being a side character).

2. “[…] Korb struggled to find the sound for Transistor, saying he experimented for six months before he got it, calling it a “hair-pulling, frustrating experience,” due to the added challenges of trying to write from a specific character’s perspective and having main character Red be a famous singer.”