Transistor Previews

We have rounded up a batch of previews for Supergiant Games’ upcoming action-RPG Transistor, fresh off this year’s PAX Prime.

Indie Game Insider:

The demo I played slowly introduced four powers over the approximately 20 minutes of playtime I was graced with: Crash, Breach, Spark, and Jaunt. The first power I learned how to use, Crash, causes a heavy amount of damage in a small radius. Breach allows Red to hit any amount of enemies that are lined up in her attack’s path for minimal damage. Spark hurts adversaries in a wide area-of-effect, and Jaunt is an evasive move. After learning how to attack, I used Crash to destroy the first robot-like target I was tasked with taking down and moved on.

The game quickly presented me with an awesome option that added a whole new twist to combat: Red has the ability to pause time with a tap of the R2 button. After doing so, she has a limited amount of movement and attacks to play with to plan an assault. In my first experience with this mechanic, with time perpetually frozen, I planned a Breach on two weaker enemies then bee-lined it to a bigger guy and threw a Crash on him. When I hit R2 again, time resumed and Red dashed and carried out my assault at a lightning-quick speed. The Transistor commented on my efficient tactic as I smiled at how satisfying it was to fight in that manner. Pausing combat comes with a significant drawback, however: After launching one of these assaults, Red loses the ability to attack at all even in real time for a few moments, restricting players from abusing the system.

Gameranx:

While the PAX Prime demo is much the same as the PAX East demo, a few notable additions were made for the new build. After every battle experience points were awarded, which is a small but significant change from the last build of the game. Upon level up, I was able to select a plug-in to add to the Transistor. The one I chose allowed me to equip extra damage to one of my four abilities when I attacked from behind. It’s clear with this new build Transistor will have a significant amount of customization for abilities to gain through experience, and the idea that unlocked abilities can be equipped to most skills hints at promising depth and accessibility.

The demo climaxed with a fight with a giant Process cutely labelled JERK. I had to make liberal use of my Sprint ability, which allowed me to flash across the map away from JERK’s pounding fists. After the JERK went down, I was treated to Red riding a motorbike along a highway towards Cloudbank. The Transistor tells Red to flee away from the city, but instead she drives towards trouble. As the demo ends, a mural of the Process comes into view, and behind the red-and-white robots silhouettes of some shadowy people appear a tantalizing hint of the narrative to come, no doubt. Here, the Transistor asks Red not to let go.

PlayStation Blog (understandably positive given Sony is pushing it as one of the indie console exclusives they have, but still worth it due to the information it contains):

Combat in Transistor initially plays like a standard action RPG: attack enemies to gain experience points and level up your character. Things get interesting, though, when the (Turn) system is introduced. At any point during a battle, you can pull the R2 trigger to stop time around Red, Transistor’s protagonist. While her foes are frozen, Red can reposition herself and plan a series of attacks, all of which will be executed in quick succession when you press R2 again.

Each movement and attack depletes a meter at the top of the screen, so you need to think your assault through carefully wiping out a field of monsters (The Process, as they’re called here) in one meticulously-planned onslaught is intensely satisfying. After time resumes and your attack is finished, your Turn meter takes a few seconds to recharge, leaving you vulnerable while your enemies seek to retaliate. This prevents battles from becoming too one-sided, which is quite a feat in a game where you can freeze time.

Four attacks were available in the demo I played: Crash, a standard, close-range attack; Breach, which is especially effective for enemies lined up in front of Red; Jaunt, a quick dash that will get her out of harm’s way quickly; and Spark, a cluster of bombs that will make short work of a crowd of smaller enemies. Mix these different attacks up after activating a Turn, and The Process will know not to mess with Red.

Finally, Shacknews reports that Supergiant Games experimented with various perspectives before settling with the same isometric camera that Bastion used:

“You’d be surprised by what we tried and went through before we finally arrived back at that decision,” Kasavin explained. “We don’t take those kind of decisions for granted. We try to do what’s right for the game we’re thinking of.”

“Bastion was an exploration of the action RPG genre, but we didn’t want to make Diablo because it wouldn’t be as good. We’d have to find something off to the side to create our own identity,” Kasavin said. With Transistor, the studio is exploring turn-based tactics.