Transistor

First off, Transistor is gorgeous. Like, properly gorgeous. Not your typical shoot-em-up with explosions everywhere – it's got this watercolor art style that makes it look like someone's spilled their fancy paint set all over your screen, but in a good way. Cloud Bank, this mad futuristic city they've created, looks like what would happen if you let an art student loose after they've had too many Red Bulls.

Now, the combat – Christ, the combat. You've got this massive sword that talks to you, which sounds absolutely ridiculous when you say it out loud. Like something you'd come up with after a night down the pub. "You know what games need? Chatty weapons!" But here's the thing – it actually works. You can freeze time like some pretentious Matrix wannabe, plan out these ridiculously complex moves, and then watch it all unfold like you're some tactical genius. Meanwhile, you're just sitting there thinking, "I can't believe I just pulled that off without dying.

The music, fucking hell, the music. It's got this singer that sounds like she's performing a jazz funeral in space. Should be pretentious garbage, right? But it's not. It's hauntingly beautiful, like someone bottled up all the melancholy in the world and turned it into a soundtrack. I found myself just standing still in the game sometimes, letting the music wash over me like some proper art house wanker – and loving every second of it.

Now, there are some bits that'll drive you round the bend. The UI's about as user-friendly as an angry badger – especially when you're trying to sort out your Functions (that's what they call abilities, trying to be clever). And it's shorter than my patience at a vegan restaurant – about 8-12 hours if you're not arsing about.

But here's the thing that gets me: they've made dying fun. Yeah, you heard that right. When you mess up – which you will, 'cause some of us aren't teenage gaming prodigies – it's not game over. It's more like, "Have another go, mate, see if you can work it out this time." No permanent punishment. Like a really forgiving teacher who actually wants you to learn something.

The customization's brilliant too – starts off simple enough but then goes proper mental. You can turn your basic attacks into something that looks like a physics experiment gone wrong. Want to make your death beam split in three directions and bounce off enemies like a drunk pinball? Go for it. Want to turn your sword into a black hole generator? Why not? It's like they've given you all these toys and said, "Go on then, see what you can break."

Look, here's the thing: I paid 5 euros for this. FIVE EUROS! I've spent more on terrible coffee that tasted like it was filtered through someone's sock. Sure, the combat areas are more repetitive than my ex-wife's complaints, and it's all over quicker than a Premier League diving controversy, but who cares when it's this good?

Should you buy it? Well, if you don't, you're either skint or stupid. And if you're skint, fair enough.

Still to this day remains my favorite game. I've replayed this game and honestly bought it multiple times on different platforms, Steam being my latest.

This game is nothing short of a masterpiece. To talk on specific points:

-Art and music alone are god tier, the art still catches me off guard even after playing it so many times.

-The story and writing is beautiful, with a very small cast of characters but a lot of information available about different important figures in this world. It has a deceptively high amount of worldbuilding for a seemingly very simple story. The game is narrated in a very interesting way, where the man stuck in the PC's sword commentates on the MC and the world in a way that is oddly effective at establishing the nature of his and the MC's relationship, despite her being mute from -story events-.

-The gameplay. The freakin' gameplay. As someone who likes turn-based and tactical type things, this game scratches that itch with the ability to either play more fast-paced RTS or use a "Turn" feature where you line up and quickly execute your skills in a long combo, then have a cooldown where you avoid the enemy onslaught. It's nice because it both appeals to two kinds of players and also provides two approaches for enemies.

The skill system is extremely cool, giving you a decent lineup of abilities that can be used actively or installed into other abilities to modify them, giving a very potent mix-and-match feel with high amounts of customization. I can't really think of another game that offers the degree of modification to abilities that this one does.

-The only "downside", if you consider it such, is it's not a super long game. It has great replay value, due to the customization of difficulty and your skills, you can approach it differently every time. But you're gonna get through the story relatively quickly. Imo, they REALLY just went for quality over quantity with this game, and it doesn't get nearly enough love.

I'm writing this just after I got the ending.
Buy this game. Now. It is worth the full price.
The gameplay is unique and fun. The combinations of different modules all feel fun and fresh. For even the last boss, I still had want to mix and match different moves. The game also rewards you for using modules in different slots with lore, which is a plus.
The story is pretty simple, but it there are several cool moments, and the ending is fantastic. There is also a lot of lore to discover in the modules and in terminals, But to be real, the Narration is what carries the whole thing with two giant buff arms.
Like in Bastion and Hades, narration in this story is really charming, and kept my attention. In this game though unlike the other two, the narrator is constantly talking to you, and they are really sweet and supportive. The narration also gives lot of depth to the world, as they casually commentate about different aspects of the world. It manages to dumb a lot of lore on you without feeling like a exposition. Also, the man is great and sweet and wonderful and light in what otherwise can be rather bleak circumstances.
I still feel a little bit of the high from finishing the game, but right now it is one of the best video game experiences I know of. I played the game through in 9 hours, and although I would have been really glad if there had been more, I also was very satisfied with what I got.
It was an unique experience, that I shall savor for a good while.

Transistor is a stunning game that paved the way for Hades. With its gorgeous visuals, captivating audio design, and immersive gameplay, it’s a true work of art. Though short enough to be completed in one sitting, its depth, beauty and unique gameplay mechanics left a positive impact on me.

Immaculate art direction, good music, stellar voice acting, and a pleasantly short runtime. I kept flipping back and forth from really liking the combat to not liking it so much. I think I've landed on liking it, but something about it feels like it's missing that "special sauce." The challenge rooms eventually became significantly more difficult than the regular encounters and I just skipped them. I enjoyed the buildcrafting aspects, but I ended up just sticking with the basic Crash() + Breach() backstab combo throughout the entire game because it was just too good to not use. (And that's probably why I was unprepared for the harder challenge rooms in which you're forced to use different functions.)
6/10

When I first tried playing Transistor I didn't really vibe with it, but I returned to it this year and loved it. As usual the Supergiant team has an extremely high level of polish. The art and music are unforgettable. The combat system is unique, and is the game is built around it - those who play through the game multiple times will be rewarded. Transistor is a short, but brilliantly made game that has aged extremely well because of how well written and stylish it is.
Recommended
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Can't believe that this game is almost 10 years old. It's just ok though. The combat is not fun. It gives you lost of different combos and customization you can do but in the end it's just not fun. I can't imagine this game in new game plus.. The music is great, the atmosphere and voice acting is awesome. Gameplay is not that great and maybe that's why it took me almost 10 years to finish this.