Transistor

If you can believe it, Transistor surpasses the quality of Bastion in nearly every respect, making it a near perfect game. Easily the best game of the year so far.

90%Game Brain Score

story, music

grinding, stability

96% User Score Based on 17,782 reviews

Critic Score 85%Based on 34 reviews

Platforms

Buy Nowfrom $15.99

Buy NowGet on Steam€19.50

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About

Transistor is a sci-fi action RPG from the creators of Bastion, where you wield a mysterious weapon while fighting through a stunning futuristic city. The game features real-time combat with strategic gameplay, thousands of function combinations, and vibrant hand-painted artwork. With a deep and atmospheric story, original soundtrack, and replayable procedural battles, Transistor offers a rich and immersive gaming experience.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

96%

Audience ScoreBased on 17,816 reviews

story5.3k positive mentions

grinding134 negative mentions

Transistor features a unique blend of real-time action and turn-based strategy, allowing for engaging and innovative gameplay with deep customization options.
The game is visually stunning, with a beautiful art style that combines art deco and cyberpunk aesthetics, complemented by a hauntingly beautiful soundtrack.
The emotional narrative centered around themes of love and loss resonates deeply with players, creating a memorable and heartfelt experience.

Many players find the combat repetitive and lacking in variety, with limited enemy types leading to tedious battles.
The fragmented storytelling can lead to confusion, with some players feeling the narrative lacks depth and coherence.
The game has mixed optimization feedback, with some experiencing performance issues such as stuttering and lag, detracting from the overall experience.

story
12,123 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
44%
52%
4%
The story of *Transistor* is a poignant and abstract narrative centered around Red, a singer whose voice has been stolen, as she navigates a dystopian city while accompanied by her sentient sword, the Transistor. Players experience the story through fragmented pieces revealed via gameplay mechanics, environmental storytelling, and character interactions, which can lead to confusion but also encourages exploration and deeper engagement with the lore. While the visuals and soundtrack are universally praised, opinions on the story's clarity and emotional impact vary, with some finding it deeply moving and others feeling it lacks depth and coherence.
- “The solid combat, touching story, and striking art style keep the game moving, and the game only takes the time it needs to tell the story it is trying to tell.”
- “And throughout it all, a story of devotion and love amidst a city falling to its knees spins itself around you.”
- “The story is beautiful and personal, the gameplay fun and challenging, with limiters and the worldbuilding really interesting.”
- “The fragmented storytelling makes it hard to invest in the plot or understand the stakes, and by the time the credits rolled, I felt more confused than engaged.”
- “The story is vague and abstract, relying heavily on atmosphere and cryptic narration.”
- “The story is not very compelling and the gameplay wasn't all that interesting despite some notable efforts, but because your decisions don't really have that much impact in battles, it didn't feel meaningful.”
music
10,548 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
63%
36%
1%
The music in *Transistor* has been widely praised for its haunting beauty and emotional depth, with many players highlighting the exceptional soundtrack composed by Darren Korb and featuring vocals by Ashley Barrett. The integration of music into gameplay, such as the protagonist Red humming along to the background tracks, enhances the immersive experience and complements the game's narrative. Overall, the soundtrack is considered one of the standout features of the game, often described as a masterpiece that resonates with players long after they finish the game.
- “The soundtrack is absolutely stunning, and I would recommend listening to it even if you don't play the game.”
- “The music, the environments, the gameplay, the story—all of it hit so hard; I loved it so much I'm replaying it a bunch every time it crosses my mind again.”
- “The music is hauntingly beautiful, like someone bottled up all the melancholy in the world and turned it into a soundtrack.”
- “The music, fucking hell, the music.”
- “The soundtrack is a massive part of the experience as well - i don't really know my genres, but i do know that it's good.”
gameplay
7,423 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
49%
48%
3%
The gameplay of *Transistor* is characterized by its unique blend of real-time action and turn-based strategy, allowing players to pause the action and plan their moves strategically. While many players appreciate the depth and customization options available through the game's function system, which lets them mix and match abilities, some find the combat repetitive and the learning curve steep. Overall, the gameplay is engaging and innovative, though opinions vary on its execution and pacing, with some players feeling it lacks the fluidity and excitement found in *Bastion*, the developer's previous title.
- “Game mechanics-wise, I feel Transistor is very underrated, as both the mix and match of abilities and the turn planning combat was super fun.”
- “The gameplay itself is quite innovative as well, with the ability to mix up your builds and tinker with skills.”
- “The gameplay is a unique blend of turn-based tactical and action RPG, allowing for interesting dynamics and tactics that allow the player to decide how to make the best use of their limited energy and resources to defeat the current threats.”
- “Transistor is a game that prioritizes style over substance, offering stunning visuals and a beautiful soundtrack but ultimately falling short in terms of gameplay and storytelling.”
- “The combination of real-time and turn-based mechanics has potential, but the limited variety in enemy types and lack of meaningful progression make fights feel tedious rather than tactical.”
- “The gameplay is straightforward, the world is interesting, and the music is nice.”
graphics
4,932 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
32%
1%
The graphics of *Transistor* are widely praised for their stunning, hand-painted art style that combines elements of art deco and cyberpunk aesthetics, creating a visually captivating experience. Players appreciate the vibrant color palette and intricate details that enhance the game's atmosphere, alongside a hauntingly beautiful soundtrack that complements the visuals perfectly. Overall, the game's artistic direction is considered a significant highlight, making it a must-play for fans of visually rich and immersive storytelling.
- “The visuals and music are undeniably gorgeous—Supergiant Games excels in creating unique art styles and soundtracks.”
- “Transistor boasts beautiful art design, with visuals that combine art deco with a vibrant color palette.”
- “With its gorgeous visuals, captivating audio design, and immersive gameplay, it’s a true work of art.”
- “The visuals are lush and bold, but perhaps overly so, with background and foreground blending together at times and characters looking more like colored sketches instead of finalized artworks.”
- “The aesthetic doesn’t appeal to me, the lore feels strange, and overall, I find the gameplay vague and obscure.”
- “The graphics are hardly cutting edge, but I always say that a strong visual design is more important.”
atmosphere
1,065 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
65%
34%
1%
The atmosphere of "Transistor" is widely praised for its stunning visuals, haunting soundtrack, and immersive storytelling, creating a unique blend of cyberpunk and art nouveau aesthetics. Players appreciate the game's ability to evoke deep emotions through its atmospheric design, which is complemented by exceptional voice acting and a rich, engaging world. While some critiques mention the gameplay may not match the depth of the atmosphere, the overall experience is often described as captivating and memorable, making it a standout title in the indie gaming scene.
- “The atmosphere, the visual art, the voice acting, and my god, the music.”
- “From the very start, it captivated me with its stunning graphics and mesmerizing music, creating a breathtaking atmosphere that made every moment unforgettable.”
- “The atmosphere is so perfect, and the gameplay never lost its interest for me.”
- “The plot is incomprehensible, and the atmosphere is pretentious.”
- “The atmosphere was okay, which is really not great when you consider that that's what this game is so famous for.”
- “You could replicate the atmosphere of this game by just browsing Pinterest for 'sad rainy cyberpunk.' The music was okay too.”
emotional
887 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of "Transistor" is widely praised, with many players highlighting its touching narrative, beautiful art style, and haunting soundtrack that collectively evoke strong feelings. The story, centered around themes of love and loss, resonates deeply, often leading players to tears, particularly during the impactful ending. Overall, the game is described as a heartfelt journey that masterfully combines gameplay with emotional storytelling, making it a memorable experience for many.
- “Transistor is a beautiful, atmospheric, and touching game.”
- “The story is heart-wrenching and gorgeous, the writing is glorious, and the world that supergiant has built with cloudbank is stunning.”
- “The music, dialogue, and visuals meshed seamlessly and beautifully together to deliver a rich and heartbreaking story from beginning to end.”
- “Boring story and no attachment to any of the characters.”
- “Boring combat, boring story, recycled narrator voice following me around.”
replayability
695 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
61%
6%
The game's replayability is a mixed bag, with many players noting its short length (around 5-10 hours) but highlighting the potential for multiple playthroughs through a "new game plus" mode and various combat customization options. While some players found the combat system and ability combinations to offer significant replay value, others felt that the linear story and lack of varied content limited the overall replayability. Overall, the game is seen as enjoyable for a few runs, especially for those who appreciate experimenting with different strategies and challenges.
- “The way you can mix and match main abilities with other abilities is very well done, which opens up a lot of replayability.”
- “With its cryptic narrative and diverse function combinations, Transistor offers high replayability.”
- “The combat system is surprisingly deep as well and gives the game an even higher replay value.”
- “Not a long game and not a lot of replay value.”
- “I'll admit to not being a fan of the repeated playthrough approach and there's not much replayability beyond that, so I would get this on sale if you can.”
- “The lack of replayability and the requirement of grinding for achievements is disgusting, but beside the point.”
grinding
145 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
5%
3%
92%
Overall, reviews indicate that the grinding aspect of the game is a mixed experience. While some players appreciate the lack of traditional grinding and find the combat system engaging, many others describe the gameplay as tedious and repetitive, particularly due to limited enemy variety and clunky mechanics. The narrative and art style are praised, but the combat often feels unchallenging and can detract from the overall enjoyment, leading to a sense of monotony in battles.
- “Challenging but not tedious, lots of attack combos for you to make a style of play out of.”
- “There are no fillers, no grinding as the game presents new features or enemies on each encounter.”
- “You level up through gaining experience points, but since the individual game levels are pretty much straightforward corridors, there's no grinding involved and the experience points come sort of naturally, without any big effort.”
- “The combat is clunky, tedious, and uninteresting.”
- “My biggest complaint, however, is the gameplay itself, which is simply boring, uninteresting, tedious, and ultimately not very rewarding.”
- “The gameplay is a somewhat fun fusion between strategy and action RPG, albeit very repetitive since the enemy types aren't mixed up that much - in the final area you almost exclusively fight a single enemy type in every battle which gets tedious.”
character development
137 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
45%
46%
9%
Character development in the game has received mixed reviews, with many players noting a lack of depth and progression for the characters, particularly due to the mute protagonist and a short storyline. While some appreciate the unique character designs and the emotional resonance of the narrative, others criticize the minimal backstory and predictable arcs, leading to a perception that character development is either shallow or non-existent. Overall, the game's focus on aesthetics and gameplay mechanics often overshadows its narrative and character growth.
- “The character development is really well crafted, working with a mute character can be difficult in terms of developing personality and quirks, but you really get Red's wit and cleverness just through her written comments.”
- “Amazing character designs, each with its own background story that you keep playing to unlock, outstanding details all over it.”
- “The character development feels deeper and more satisfying, and the combat is much more about tactics and positioning than about timing your input.”
- “My main issues with the game were the lack of character development and story.”
- “There's absolutely no character development; you are mute the entire game and only in some parts you type words to your sword, always the 'I'll get you out' or 'We'll win', nothing of value.”
- “Unfortunately, the character development was weak, probably because the game revolves around our main character Red.”
optimization
116 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
61%
9%
Overall, the optimization of the game has received mixed feedback from users. While many players report smooth performance and minimal technical issues, some have experienced stuttering, lag, and a lack of graphics settings beyond resolution, indicating potential optimization shortcomings. Despite these concerns, the game is generally well-received for its engaging gameplay and artistic elements, with many players enjoying the variety of combat options and the overall experience.
- “I wouldn't worry too much about any technical issues detracting from that experience as the game is very well optimized.”
- “In spite of having a ton of particle effects, this game is very well optimized; the artwork, music, and story complement the game mechanics.”
- “It's a game that you can play all the way through relatively quickly, and there's a lot of optimization that you can do with your skillset.”
- “It's poorly optimized as well.”
- “The game appears to be extremely unoptimized and runs with such stutter I can barely enjoy the game itself.”
- “Praises aside, the game has some performance issues that will hopefully be ironed out in future updates and I feel like the experience was missing something.”
stability
77 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
6%
2%
92%
The game's stability is a mixed bag, with many players reporting minor glitches and bugs that can disrupt gameplay, such as freezing during combat or when switching controls. While some users experienced significant issues, including crashes and unresponsive menus, others found the game to run smoothly without major problems. Overall, the game's unique mechanics, like the time-freezing "turn()" system, are appreciated, but the presence of bugs can detract from the experience for some players.
- “Runs great on Linux.”
- “Awesome RPG that runs great on Linux!”
- “The game is very well made as a whole with little to no glitches.”
- “A lot of inconsistencies and minor glitches which will reveal themselves throughout the game.”
- “On those specs, the game is jittery, freezes and is totally unplayable.”
- “This game is having a buggy launch; some people have no problems with it, some people can't launch the game (including myself), some people can play the game but it's laggy or stuttering and randomly freezes.”
humor
74 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
99%
4%
The humor in the game is a mixed bag, with some players finding it charming and entertaining, particularly through witty one-liners and quirky character interactions, while others feel it falls flat or is overshadowed by darker themes. The narrative features moments of lightheartedness, but the overall tone can be inconsistent, blending humor with more serious elements. Despite some criticisms, many appreciate the unique comedic style and clever writing that adds depth to the gameplay experience.
- “The art style is beautiful, the story is touching, the humor is spot on, and the characters have such personality to them!”
- “Never a dull moment, especially with those humorous one-liners from your transistor companion.”
- “Every so often, the game presents you with touching, humorous visual vignettes of red and the transistor taking a break from the action; they make quite a pair, and these brief cut-scenes allow you to appreciate the artwork a little more.”
- “I don't find the game funny at all.”
- “The humor in this game falls flat.”
- “The jokes just don't land; it's not amusing.”
monetization
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The monetization aspect of the game is praised for its absence of microtransactions, offering a refreshing alternative to the prevalent cash-grab models seen in many mainstream titles. Players appreciate the thoughtful design and unique experience without the pressure of additional costs, contrasting it with the overwhelming presence of pay-to-win mechanics in other games.
- “Don't waste your time on AAA trash and microtransactions.”
- “In the river of mainstream games during this decade, you will drown in shooters and all the free-to-play games that will squeeze every bit of your patience to get you to pay for them on DLCs and in-game purchases.”
- “No microtransactions the way it should be!”

85%Critics’ scoreBased on 34 critic reviews

Buy Transistor

9h Median play time

10h Average play time

6h Main story

16h Completionist

6-12h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 125 analyzed playthroughs

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Transistor Review

Transistor Review

a girl and her sword

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