Transistor is one of a handful of games I've played that has no qualms thrusting you into the game without any explanation as to what's going on, what you're meant to be doing or indeed what has happened. Transistor starts you out bluntly, with a protagonist called Red, who you play the game as, pulling a sword-like object known as a Transistor out of a dead man's chest. Why it's embedded deep in his chest and why Red's pulling it out of his chest isn't answered, at least not right away. All we know is that the sword is talking, and something is very wrong about this whole situation. After walking on a short distance, you're soon attacked by a single enemy known only as The Process. This is where you introduced to the main portion of the gameplay, the combat system.
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The combat system is a very interesting one, as it pauses the combat and allows you to plan out your movement and attacks before you execute them, showing you the exact route you've taken, from an isometric view, a view from which the entirety of Transistor is played from. It's one part strategy, one part action and they blend together nicely. You can attack the enemies head one, using devastating attacks to take them all out, flank around behind one to take him out of the fight before focusing on the rest of the group or you can hit all enemies for a bit of damage before teleporting away to safety and recharging your abilities before going back in for the kill and anything else in between. The freedom of choice Transistor allows you to use in combat is nice and helps keep things fresh and interesting, allowing you to try various different tactics. You can also change your abilities when you unlock them, so you can customise how you play during the combat and even customise the abilities themselves with other abilities at the various checkpoints in the game, making them do more damage or have a quicker cooldown, to name just two of many various examples. If you so desire, you can even add 'limiters' to your sword as the game progresses, which boost experience gained by a small percentage in exchange for a handicap, such as more enemies spawning or harder to kill enemies.
While the combat in Transistor is incredibly enjoyable and satisfying, that isn't the only thing Transistor has going in its favour. The story is very well done and it isn't just dumped on to you in one giant info dump at specific segments. Instead, it's trickled to you through the sword, the various fights you'll have and terminals you can find scattered all around the many areas you'll visit, which also gives you a fantastic excuse to go and explore all the areas you visit thoroughly. Unlocking abilities and combining them as well also offer you little bits of information and backstory as well, so this encourages you to mix and match the abilities to not only find what works for you but to also unlock all the secrets Transistor has to offer you. To fully tell you about the story wouldn't do it justice, but the keypoints to note is that the city of Cloudbank, where Transistor takes place, is slowly but surely being wiped out by an enemy called The Process. It's unknown as to why The Process is wiping the city out and killing all off the civilians at the beginning and it's up to Red to find out why and put a stop to it. It's a fantastic ride as you find out about what the city used to be like, about the major power players of the city and what life used to be like before it was attacked by The Process.
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Transistor seems to actively encourage the player to take a look around its incredibly gorgeous world as well. The art style is simply gorgeous and it really adds to the charm of Transistor. It really does make you think this was once a fantastic city, home to the rich and famous, before things turned sour and it started to crumble thanks to The Process. I found myself a few times just simply stopping and staring at the art when times where quiet, holding down a button that makes Red hum a tune. The ability to stop and hum is an incredibly small, inconsequential thing the developers of Transistor added but it just feels natural to do, fits the character of Red perfectly and adds to the charm Transistor has. Add to the gorgeous art style an equally gorgeous soundtrack and playing Transistor is a fantastic and incredibly enjoyable experience. The soundtrack always matches the moment you're in, changing from a jaunty relaxing tune when you're exploring the game, to a more intense tune when there's combat going on. It never once felt like a song was out of place and it always suited the moment, regardless of what was happening.
To me, Transistor doesn't really do a whole lot wrong. It has a fantastic story, with a gorgeous art style, an equally gorgeous soundtrack and some very interesting characters as you progress. I guess it is a bit short, with my play time of it clocking in at around 3 to 4 hours from start to finish with some exploring of Transistor's beautiful locations, and the combat could be a bit a little bit overwhelming for some people. I'll admit, at first I was struggling with the combat before I finally clicked with it and really started to enjoy it. Overall however, I would have no hesitation in recommending Transistor to any one, regardless of what games they play or don't play, if they're an old or new gamer or if they're simply looking for a new game to play for a while. It's a truly fantastic game and one that fully deserves a place in your gaming library, be it on the PS4 or PC.