I'm not going to mince words here, Transistor is a masterpiece and it's my current front-runner for game of the year. Rare is the game that makes you feel both clever AND badass, and it's precisely this dichotomy that makes this game and it's ingenious combat so very satisfying. That's not to say that there aren't plenty of other wonderful things going on here as well. The gorgeous future-noir setting and the compelling characters also add to Trasistor's rich tapestry, but it's the brilliant combat that truly makes this game a must play.
In general terms, Transistor is an action/strategy RPG. At regular intervals, players can equip a handful of abilities and attacks that are acquired as you level up and progress through the story. These abilities can either be set in primary or secondary/support slots, and with over a dozen to choose from, there are literally hundreds of possible combinations to suit your playing style. In battle, you technically CAN use your abilities one after another in real time with no cooldown, but you won't survive for long playing this way. The most effective way to fight is by utilizing a built-in time stop feature to plan your moves in advance. The process of freezing time, moving around the battlefield while selecting your attacks, and then unleashing them all at once is incredibly fun and satisfying, and a well executed turn can leave you feeling like nothing short of a genius! And the combat only gets more intriguing as you gain more and more abilities and begin experimenting with their various combinations. It's stylish, thoughtful, and truly exhilarating!
No game is without flaws and Transistor has its share. For one thing, the story, while fairly interesting, is obscure and mostly buried within menus, and lot of the nuance and character development must be read in fits and starts as you make your way through the game. Another issue I encountered was the problem of everything being a little too small on screen. Everything from the character sprites to the text seems scaled to be viewed on a computer monitor from two feet away. I know that this game is also available on Steam, so I guess it's possible that the PC market might have been the developers' first priority, but often I found myself straining to see the detail in the magnificent attack animations or read the on screen text. Another potential drawback has to do with the general lack of direction that the game gives you. Not that you're ever going to have much problem figuring out where to go next, as the game is very linear in that respect. No, I mean that Transistor just generally does very little to explain itself story-wise or ever really go out of its way to give you much insight into its complex (yet highly entertaining) combat system. Thing is, I think that was the plan all along. The gorgeous setting and finely tuned combat are meant to draw you in and motivate you to unravel the game's many mysteries. It's kind of a gutsy move on the part of the developer; leaving players to feel their way through such traditionally important aspects as plot and gameplay mechanics, but when your game and its aesthetic are this expertly crafted it's a safer bet that players will persevere and eventually allow themselves to be carried away, as I did.
Fair warning: the main storyline only takes about 5-6 hours of play time to clear, and at $20, some might find Transistor to be somewhat slight given its current price tag. I personally enjoyed the game's relatively short length, as it allowed me to get my bearings during my first playthrough, and really do some damage during the new game +. I loved Transistor. It's an incredible game that has stayed in my thoughts...even after I nabbed the platinum trophy!
Grade: A
Super Mario 3D World - Wii U
I've had this game for several months now, but I've had some real trouble working up the mojo to write about it. It's a fine game, really, but nothing about it stands out as truly groundbreaking. It essentially expands upon the template set down by Super Mario 3D Land for 3DS. You can play as Mario, Luigi, Toad, or Peach (with each having their own unique advantages), and there's a new (and relatively uninspired) cat suit powerup. Actually, I might go as far to say that I kind of HATE the cat suit, as I find the sound of Mario saying "meeooowww" rather cloying. I'm enjoying it well enough, but it feels like a stopgap between the Super Mario Galaxy series and whatever might be coming next. Worth a play, but no great shakes.
Grade: B-
StarTropics - NES
If a disputed Wikipedia article is to be believed, this latter day NES release from Nintendo was released specifically for the North American and European markets and never saw the light of day in Japan. That's an interesting bit of trivia, sure, but after playing this action/adventure for myself I think it must be true because so much of the story feels like it was thrown together by foreigners attempting to emulate the "raditude" of late 80's/early 90's US culture. In any event, Startropics is a solid little game. It has drawn obvious comparisons to the original Legend of Zelda, but I also feel a bit of Dragon Warrior and maybe some Bomberman for the exploration and puzzle solving elements, respectively. Though it never became one of Nintendo's iconic franchises, it's still worth a play. The gameplay is solid and it has a bit of the same goofy charm that may remind some of the sort of silliness seen in the much more beloved Earthbound.
Grade: B-
No comments:
Post a Comment