Game

Transistor

2014 · PlayStation 4 · Linux · PC (Microsoft Windows) · iOS · Mac · Nintendo Switch · Role-playing (RPG) · Strategy · Turn-based strategy (TBS)

84IGDB player score
498 ratings

Previously Take

An 84 average from its 498 true believers. This is an RPG first and everything else second, from the studio behind Hades. Come for the builds, stay for the science fiction. A single-player game with no interest in being anything else. Respect.

About this game

Transistor is an action role-playing game presented from an isometric perspective. Players control Red, a singer in the city of Cloudbank, as she wields a greatsword-like weapon called the Transistor against robotic enemies known as the Process. Combat can be played in real-time or paused using a planning mode called Turn(), which allows queuing actions for execution in a burst. Powers called Functions can be equipped in active slots, used as upgrades to augment other Functions, or placed in passive slots for persistent effects. With 16 total Functions available, the system encourages experimentation with different combinations across multiple playthroughs.

Red, a popular singer in the city of Cloudbank, kneels by the body of a man who has been killed with a glowing greatsword called the Transistor. The attack, carried out by a group of high-ranking officials called the Camerata, took away her voice, sealing it inside the weapon. The sword also absorbed the man's consciousness, allowing him to speak to Red and guide her. As Red moves through the city in pursuit of the Camerata, a robotic force called the Process attacks Cloudbank indiscriminately, and it becomes apparent that the Camerata have lost control of it.