Just finished the Game

So I just finished Transistor. I was a huge fan of Bastion. I actually think the combat in Transistor is better and more interesting than Bastion. However, I think most people who aren't digging it may be put off by the tone. It's kind of somber and strange, I don't know exactly how to articulate it. But, there really is no way they can create another character as great as Rucks. Still, I think the game is fantastic. I feel like I know less about this world than I did about the world of Bastion now that I am finished. The writing is still super sharp. What do you guys think?

Also, I finished the game only having 14 of the 16 functions, did I miss something? Or do you think leveling up in new game plus will fill this out I guess?

@songwriter1987: You continue to unlock stuff as you level up in New Game+.

I haven't started the game but I want to just point out that having the title be "Transistor" is really rad. It doesn't come off sounding cliched or weird.

I think the presentation on all fronts was outstanding, but found the story telling too murky for my own tastes. I couldn't tell you a characters motives to save my life after finishing it. I need to do some reading to put together what and why events occurred. I enjoy me some subversion of the " Here are these boss characters, now go get em!", but the way it is handled in the game yanked away a focused antagonist from me. I'm sure I didn't do my full diligence on my first play through reading every scrap I could, but most of it seemed like background on random prominent citizens of Cloudbank rather than telling me what the Camaratta's(?) actual plan was and so on. I would still recommend this game on the art and gameplay systems alone though.

I feel that at some point heading into the last act of the game I was able to tug on the string and all of the kind of weird and disjointed plot elements snapped into place pretty well. I ended up thoroughly enjoying that aspect of it, especially the ending.

Once they subverted the whole "here are the bosses" thing by killing of two of the Camarata, I was really bummed out as a player since I actually liked the boss encounters in the game. Narratively it made sense, but at that point it kinda clued me in that Royce was probably going to be the last boss. I couldn't help feel as a player, the narrative at that point got in the way of making a better game.

EDIT: Grammar

@c2c: I agree.

@songwriter1987:

I went through the game immediately activating limiters and keeping them on the moment I got them, as well as doing all of the challenges in the 'backroom', and I found that you don't get enough experience to unlock everything on the first playthrough. Some of the limiters I feel are overly harsh, especially the one that Overloads functions if you uninstall them.

Was I the only one that loved Royce's voice acting? I think it, together with the writing, made for a pretty believable villain. Him using Turn() was a neat little end-game twist.

Did anyone else double check that they didn't accidentally skip an intro when starting the game for the first time?

@efesell Yep, the story is doing it for me and I can understand why someone dislike it. I think if I do not know about the Japanese concept of shinchu and not presume that the mysterious figure who saved Red is her love interest, the ending would be super off-putting to me.

@infantpipoc: sorry, shinchu? Google turns with nothing relevant seeming.

So about the story. I was a bit confused about how they escaped the Camareta before the very start of the game. The Camareta just stabbed the dude and ran off? The transistor was very valuable to them so how did Red fend them off / managed to escape with the Sword/body?

Haven't unlocked every bio at this point so maybe I missed some info.

@toschi2222: I think that is intentionally unexplained. It could be that they thought red was alone and wasn't expecting her bf to be there. The transistor is powerful and when he became the user when he was inadvertently stabbed, he used it to teleport to safety, since that was his last thought before impact.

@ychorst Sorry, misspell on my part, try "shinju", which basically mean a gentleman and a lady love each other so much that they commit suicide together, not unlike what Red did by the end of Transistor though clearly the death of gentleman is the result of a homicide.

@tankintheair315: They do actually explain this, or rather, they make strong hints towards the fact that Camerata believed Red was supposed to be alone that evening. Sheila Reiz, the first boss, apparently was aware that her lover (aka SWORD GUY), would be there, but chose not to share this information with the rest of the Camerata. Considering the state you find her in, she likely had ulterior motivations for why she meant to sabotage their work. Perhaps this catastrophy was what she was looking for all along, they do hint towards how she grew to despise all around her. As for Red, they opted to stab her specifically with the transistor because they needed her voice as a means to control and shape the Process so that it might construct a utopia for them. They also must've had similar intentions for all the people they kidnapped, all incredibly talented individuals in their own fields, ranging from architechts to artists, they would become the catalyst for the Transistor, and you get to see that through it's functions.

Overall, I loved this game. I understand why some people might find it bothersome to try to piece the story together, but I think it's a far more compelling one than in Bastion when all is said and done. The gameplay is and remains superb throughout, and the relationship between Red and "SWORD GUY" is believable, tragic and ultimately beautiful.

I also want to go out of my way to curse Kasavin for that ending. It's terrific, but god damn it..

On the ending: The bridge you cross on your way out of town / the one you repair in the end bears a strong resemblance to Red and her Boyfriend. Has me wondering if this all has happened before in some crazy time loop. You repair / build the bridge before you die and then come back (on your next play through?) to cross over it.

I may be crazy but did anyone else think the story of transistor was about, a hard drive being reformatted and the transistor is a thumbdrive?

@dizzyhippos: Hah, that might actually be the original inspiration for the story now that you mention it. I mean, there's too much to the story, the city, the process and the characters for that to just be the case, but it really might have played a part in creating the story.

Just finished it. Like a bunch of us, I was left slightly confused about things, but apparently unlike some of us, I don't really care. That was five hours of fun and beauty, every minute a joy to watch and listen to. So I don't understand exactly what the villain's motivations were, they off'd themselves before I was able to get that info. I'm satisfied.

@dizzyhippos: I didn't exactly think of a hard drive, but it's definitely some kind of digital world in which the game takes place rather than a physical one.