Transistor. If you have played Bastion by Supergiant Games then you'll have an idea on what you have in store: Fantastic art, gorgeous music, a vague but intense story, isometric gameplay, light RPG elements, a plethora of different attacks and enemies all wrapped up in a lovely package.
You control a singer with red hair, aptly named 'Red'. The city where the game takes place, Cloudbank, is under attack by a robotic force known as The Process. At the start, Red has her voice stolen and is saved by an unamed man, whose consciousness is absorbed into a sword known as the Transistor, so you have the Transistor talking to you as you wollop enemies over the head with it. The Transistor serves as a sort of narrator and is one of the few voices present throughout the game, it certainly gives of vibes reminiscent of the fantastic Bastion, but with a cyberpunk aesthetic.
Combat is a mix of real time and turn-based where you can pause time and map out exactly what you're going to do, then playing it out with super speed. Leave no prisoners, right? I love it as it makes a fast-pased puzzle out of every battle. If you lose all of your life, one of your 'processes' (One of you four attacks you can pick and choose from) gets damaged and is unusable until you reach two or more checkpoints later on to repair it. The abilities/processes are picked up from enemies or other deceased folk which you can either put in a passive slot (Which is ongoing in the background, such as regenerating health or damage resistance) an attack slot (Which you can choose up to four of, such as a laser beam, dash or bomb) or an attack upgrade (You can boost up the damage of an attack or make the attack turn the enemy friendy for example), you can literally choose whatever fight style suits you and experiment without end. I ended up giving my dash an explosive finish and my bombs turned the enemies to my side for 4 seconds, but you could easily completely flip them, giving a bomb more range or make your own small allies.
As said before, the art style is really something special. Cutscenes play out like paintings in a motion-comic and every character stands out and has backstory to find. The robot foes are all vastly different in style and attitude, some running away and attacking from a distance, others zooming after you trying to bite your head off.
The level design leaves little to explore (But what there is looks great anyway) but each combat encounter lays shielded walls around you, creating a smaller arena to battle it out, only deactivating when you forcefully deactivate all the Process that are attacking you, whilst inside the arena, small walls pop up allowing you or your enemy to take cover (unless it gets destroyed) making the battlefield extremely adaptable.
The music is designed around the events and story as well, each ambient track having several layers depending whether you are exploring, fighting or planing out your attacks. As a big fan of Bastion's almost western music, I personally think that Transistor, although more electric, is just as good. The vocal tracks (Which accompany turning points in the story) are also incredible, although nothing here can top Bastion's Setting Sail, Coming Home.
Transistor is a game that keeps you on your toes, gives you hundreds of combinations of abilities (Ripe for replayability) and attacks and lets you figure stuff out at your own pace. I loved it.
JJJJJ
FIVE SMILEY FACES.
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