I’m only a couple hours into Transistor, but I thought it was interesting how many similarities it shares with Final Fantasy XIII.
Both games…
Feature a female protagonist with a big sword.
Take place in a futuristic dystopia.
Have a unique battle system that combines action with traditional turn-based RPG elements in a fun way.
Tell their stories primarily through datalogs and flashbacks.
Have impressive visuals & soundtracks.
Lack traditional RPG towns & exploration (i.e. very linear maps).
I’ll write more about Transistor after I’ve played more. Early impressions are that the combat is great (like a much improved Parasite Eve 1) and I love all the customization options that the game gives the player with the skills, enhancers, and passives, but I’m not a fan of the story or characters. Of course, this could change by the time I finish it.
At first I found the story to be a bit basic, in that I was wondering what was going on. I’m about half way through my second play through and although it didn’t take this long for me to find out the details as the story unfolded to completion I found it quite good. The relationship Red has with the sword and the further flashbacks that explain the history and what the Process is doing and who is behind it. I, of course, won’t ruin anything but I very much enjoyed it.
I also love, much like Bastion, the second play through is actually quite challenging and very cool when it comes to additional challenges, keeping your skills, achievements and still running into beefy encounters amp’d for the second play through.
All in all, I enjoyed this just as much as I liked Bastion and the soundtracks for both were great. I’d likely give it 8.5/10 myself.
The combat almost seems like L’ Returns combat if you could pause.
The equipping skills to buttons is very similar.