Transistor (Playstation 4: 2014)

This week for a change of pace I take a look at a game I recently got from Playstation Plus, Transistor. Transistor is Sci-Fi based Action RPG from Supergiant Games, a studio created in 2009 who are well known for their work on the similar game, Bastion. Transistor was released in May of 2014 for both Playstation 4 and the PC, it met with pretty favourable reviews online and was even nominated in a few categories at the Game Awards and IGN's best of 2014 awards. At the time of writing this I have just completed the game myself. I truly enjoyed myself with this title and I can see why it was nominated for a number of awards. So let's try and explain exactly what it is I enjoy about this game and why.

It would be best to start with the plot, now I don't really want to spoil the plot for this game but the general outline of it is that you wake up as a woman who goes by the name of Red in a city called Cloudbank, Red was a famous singer within the city who had been a victim of the 'process', a machine like enemy controlled by a group named the Camerata. Red wakes up within the city unable to speak and soon comes into the possession of a giant sword like weapon called a transistor.

The transistor is embedded into the corpse of an unknown man who seems to have been close to Red, as Red begins to use the sword she comes to realise the soul of this man is now a part of the weapon and does the talking for her while the Camerata begin to hunt them down for an unknown purpose. I really enjoyed the setting for this game as it kept with the post 'end of the world' type scenario we've seen in Bastion but updated it to a industrial almost cyberpunk style future, full of sky scrapers and more.

The setting almost feels like a more cyberpunk styled Coruscant from Starwars, but it does not always stick to this theme, there are certain areas within the game that are almost like a mini hub world for the player where you can practice your skills and take part in challenges, this Hub takes the form of a small personal island complete with hammock and beach ball. I think this works really well as it really does juxtapose the tall buildings to a more relaxing area that makes you as the player feel like you can just chill out for a few moments before heading back to the action.

There are only about four or so characters in this game with two of them being the main focus, those are the protagonists Red, who as you may of guessed is the red headed women we play as and her sword the transistor, although we never hear Red speak until the end of the game her characterisation works really well, what I particularly enjoyed was the only way we can actually see what she is thinking is when she comes across a terminal and uses the response feature to type out what she would like to say to the transistor.

The transistor itself is what really steals the show however, just by having an inanimate object be your main point of contact for the entire game worked really well for me as you slowly begin to piece together who he may be in relation to Red and how and why he became stuck within the transistor itself. I feel as though this game used these characters well in the short space of time in which it takes to finish the game.

In terms of gameplay the game actually starts out quite simply and slowly becomes more complex as you begins to unlock new abilities. The main focus of the game is to battle small waves of enemies as you progress. To do this you primarily use your transistor, however the battle system allows for you not only to slow down time which depletes with the more moves you use but also to customise your move set as you begin to level up.

This is done by using functions which come every time you level up, a function can be an ability that will harm the enemy or in rare cases be one that helps the player for example one function allows the player to use a short dash in order to escape combat. The complexity comes when you add a function as an enhancer to another, with one example being the Spark function which is a wide area attack on its own, but if you were to add that to another function it would enhance that functions area of attack without changing how that attack works.

For those who like an added challenge there are also functions known as limiters which unlock in the same way but are optional. These work as a limit on you as the player in a multitude of ways such as your ability to recover you action bar after depleting it, but while doing this is multiplies your experience thus allowing you to level up quicker. What I like about these is they are not necessary if you just want to breeze through the game. I believe this system puts a nice complex spin on the system we're perhaps used to in games like Bastion and really defines the genre.

A quite neat feature I enjoyed on the Playstation 4 version of the game was the use of the controllers light source on the back flashing in unison with the transistor when it spoke to you, although it was not really a necessary edition to the game overall it was quite interesting for me as a player as it was almost like 'yeah the transistor is my tool as is the controller, so they are one in the same'. It may have been more interesting to those viewing the player however as my mum, who hasn't played a video game since Columns on the Sega Megadrive (Genesis) kept commenting on it say how cool it looked to her.

The art style of this game is truly amazing, if you're familiar with Bastion you'll know the style in the Supergiant Games tends to follow a colourful almost painting like ascetic where both the player and the scenery look at though they belong together at all time's much like that of a painting. Transistor continues this aesthetic but rather than the vibrant colours of greens and reds, this game focus' more on lighting with darker shades of yellows, golds and browns to show the lower areas of the city, such as alley ways etc.

The game also makes use of harsh whites and blues in order to present the more open areas that have not had their light sources engulfed by the huge buildings of the city, this is what I mean by the cyberpunk style, in that although it doesn't really focus on too much neon like purples or greens it uses the blue to almost make it seem like a natural light source on things like windows and signs. Whatever it is I think it works really well and kind of gives off this cyberpunk vibe while at the same time by using golds and browns on the lower sections it makes it seem as though the city is a miss mash of a lot of different elements, making it have a quite original feel to it.

The interesting thing about Supergiant Games is that they have a huge focus on voice acting yet at the same time there is only a minuscule amount of characters or entities that do actually talk. In Bastion it was the Narrator who would pretty much describe what the player was doing as they did it as well as give us the plot of the game. In Transistor it works very much in the same way, as Red has lost her voice it is down to the Transistor itself to talk for her.

This works not by describing what she is doing or thinking but just by commenting on the world around you and what the transistor personally thinks, for example if you were to constantly use the same attack to beat an enemy the transistor would comment something akin to 'well... that works'. I feel like this worked really well as it didn't need to give us the story it kind of left us in the dark a little just like how the characters would feel at the time.

The voice actor for the Transistor, Logan Cunningham is fantastic, he has worked with Supergiant Games previously as he actually voiced the narrator of Bastion, yet he brings something new to the table with his often franc and sarcastic character, rather than give an old town prospector sort of vibe that we're used to in Bastion. I believe he was chosen again in this game as his voice talents practically lead the "cast" of Bastion. Again his role in this title is very similar to the former but his ability to lead the game in a different tone is note worthy.

Music is also a huge factor in their games and this title is no different, Darren Korb returns to compose the soundtrack as well as vocalist Ashley Lynn Barrett for a number of songs. Korb described the genre as "Old-world Electronic Post-rock", which really seems to fit the style and setting of the game, I'm not a musician myself but the use of the pianos and electric guitars really seemed to work both when inside and outside of combat. The entire soundtrack was uploaded to Youtube by the developers so if you're interested I would really suggest giving some tracks a listen.

In terms of length this game is not particularly long, it should not take you any longer than around 3 to 4 hours depending on if you're the type to do the challenge missions or not. In that respect it makes for a great game to get in to as you wait for bigger longer titles to come out, it also works out great for someone like me who does not really have the time to sit down and be super invested in a game anymore.

It does have a replayability aspect however in that the original ending is sort of left open and the games trophies entice you to replay with a gold trophy for doing so, I don't believe this adds anything to the game story wise, but it will definitely be something I get around to eventually, if only just to try out a few more of the huge variety of weapon combinations and perhaps eventually platinum the game.

Throughout this review I've mentioned Bastion and the similarities it shares with this game, I really enjoyed both titles and look forward to what Supergiant Games comes up with next, but the question remains which titles do I prefer? This is a pretty tough question as each title has aspects I enjoy more than the other and vice versa. Overall I think I enjoyed Bastion more, because if was the first title I played and had a more interesting story than Transistor did, I felt the use of the narrator telling this story to the player also worked much better than in this title.

However I think in terms of gameplay, replayability and score, this title works much better. The ability to customise your moveset to such a degree keeps what could be classed as repetitive gameplay fresher, it also entices the player to come back for a second playthrough by unlocking new abilities and therefore new customisations. I feel like the music made this title perfectly mixed the feelings of loneliness in a post catastrophe hit world with the sort of cyberpunk theme and felt sombre at times while quickly picking up the pace to make the player ready for a battle.

This is not to say that Bastion should be skipped out by any means, in fact I would suggest playing that title first before moving on to this one as you can really see where gameplay wise they improved a great system.

Overall Transistor is a fantastic short game that really is worth your time, if you have Playstation plus I would seriously suggest downloading this as soon as possible. Even if you're not the type who enjoys replaying titles or even challenges I do not think you will be disappointed with this game, it would be the perfect title to play if even for an hour every other day just while you're between games.

As always thanks for reading this review, let me know what you thought on Twitter @ScatmanBegins

Dragonball: Episode Of Bardock (OVA: 2011)

 
This week I take a look at another obscurity within the Dragonball franchise titled Episode of Bardock which was originally a spin-off Manga published in 2011 issues of V-Jump by Naho Ooishi who was relatively new to the franchise with only being hired in 2009 and having experience from producing the Manga adaptations of Yo! Son Goku and friends return as well as the Dragon Ball Heroes card game. The original reason for this Mangas creation was actually due to DB Heroes which is a card based arcade game in exclusive to Japan which primarily features a lot of 'what-if' scenarios with one of them being Bardock becoming a Super Saiyan. This Manga set out to explain this 'what-if' scenario in more detail, perhaps as a way to have more people be interested in the game.

In 2011 Bandai along with V-Jump decided to create an animated adaptation of this Manga along with the re-release of The plan to eradicate the Super Saiyans as a part of the SSSS Project, which has been described as a way "to take the first step towards new developments and further expansions of Dragonball titles." This was originally released for streaming online and then later in March 2012 on a disc that came with an issue of V-Jump. Finally it was made avalible to fans worldwide with the release of the Dragonball Z game for Kinect on the Xbox 360, which I'm sure nobody picked up because it was terrible.

As Bardock was such a popular character within the franchise thanks to the TV special featuring him the studio decided it was time for this expansion on his character and his story after his 'death' at the hands of Freeza. The general outline of this story is that after being killed during the destruction of Planet Vegeta Bardock wakes up on a mysterious planet that looks similar to that of Planet Vegeta. As he awakens he soon realises he is being nursed back to health by two small aliens named Ipana and Berry with medicine similar to that used by the Saiyans and Planet Trade organisation.

Shortly after two Space Pirates arrive and claim they are to conquer Planet Plant, cementing that this is indeed Planet Vegeta in the past, Bardock makes short work of them and decides to take off alone. In the next scene a Freeza like being named Chilled (HAH) arrives to the planet and pretends to be the Galactic Police in order to get close to the inhabitants of the planet, he soon finds out his underlings were killed by Bardock and decides to seek him out. Berry begins to suspect that something is amiss here and warns Bardock, however Chilled has already begun to start terrorising the planet, which sends Bardock in to a rage as he remembers the death of his comrades.

Bardock then attacks Chilled after mistaking him for Freeza, Chilled overpowers him at this point and begins to gain the upper hand while stating he is the 'strongest in the Universe' much like Freeza was known to do. As Chilled is about to deliver the finishing blow Berry jumps in the way and takes the hit, causing Bardock to remember the destruction of the Saiyans and thus become a Super Saiyan.
Naturally Bardock lays the smack down on Chilled much to the appreciation of the Plant people and does a typical heroic walk off into the sunset.

We then see Chilled just moments away from death on his ship informing his underlings of the transformed warrior he had just faced known as a Super Saiyan, he then informs them to warn his descendants of this warrior, suggesting that this is how Freeza came to fear the Saiyans and also that Bardock may have been the original Super Saiyan of legend.

Like most of the Dragonball OVA's Toriyama did not have much involvement at all especially in terms of the story, which he was totally absent from, it seems he was only really involved with the design for Chilled as around the time of the Mangas release some concept art was shown in V-jump. Although he was not very involved with the project it would be interesting to see what he thinks of the project as he is a known fan of Bardock and did use him again shortly afterwards in the Jaco Manga.

I really liked the design for Chilled and naturally it followed the style of Freezas first form as it was designed by Toriyama himself, but it also put a spin on it having him be much shorter in appearance than Freeza, yet much more menacing looking thanks to the Orange colour scheme and the twisted almost Devil like horns. Chilled seems to be much more demonic and impish looking when putting him next to his descendent, he also reminds me of Freezas son Kurieza from the Neko Majin Z Manga with his short stature.

I thought Chilled was a pretty decent addition to the DB universe as a way to explain how Freeza came to learn of the legend of the Super Saiyans and why he feared them so much, but I feel like it would have been just as good to have the original Super Saiyan take the role of defeating him rather than Bardock, I just feel the entire use of Bardock in this special is kind of silly. This is partly because It's quite ambiguous as to why Bardock has suddenly woken up in the past.

Time travel is not really a new concept to the franchise with the Android saga featuring it prominently and I think it can work well but it is a tricky subject to work around and to just have it thrown out there that Bardock has suddenly gone back in time with no real explanation really did annoy me, not that this is something they studio have come out and said is 'canon' or is part of the time-line but to have a character who is afflicted with the ability to see the future you would think that they could have worked that in to the OVA as something to do with his sudden time travelling.

I feel as though this story could have just been made to introduce an entirely new Saiyan to us who started off the legend itself by defeating Chilled and it would have had the same effect. I understand that Bardock is a popular character and I'd be lying if I said I did not want to see more of him but I feel that having him suddenly become a 'good guy' in saving a bunch of aliens from a Freeza lookalike and doing some heroic walk off into the sunset is just a little strange for his character. We've always seen Bardock act like a typical Saiyan in that he loves to fight, to kill and to win.

We have seen some examples of him caring with his sending Goku to earth and his love for his wife in Jaco, but I just don't feel like he is the type to care enough about third parties in his battles. It is fair to say he was just acting on his hatred for Freeza at that point but still it is a little strange.

I generally feel pretty mixed on this OVA in that I really love that they are doing all these new projects with the franchise but I feel as though they are creeping closer and closer to fan fiction territory in some cases, especially with the DB Heroes game where everyone can suddenly go Super Saiyan 3 or 4, which is fine in the 'what if' scenarios the games follow  but need to stay away unless explained well in the Manga or Anime format. This is where this OVA fails for me more than anything, it doesn't try to explain anything it just seems to be there for the sake of it being there, for the sake of pleasing some fans who just want to see Bardock go Super Saiyan and just to keep the franchise going.

That is not to say I did not find enjoyment in it at all, I generally liked the fight scene between Bardock and Chilled because it gave us an unhinged Super Saiyan using as much anger as possible to throw Chilled around like a rag doll rather than use any martial arts techniques or constantly use beam attacks, It really did show how Bardocks hatred for Freeza had sent him to a boiling point where he would just explode. It does end in your typical beam struggle fashion but I do like that it didn't actually kill Chilled outright, it let him linger on much like the fight between Goku and Freeza.

I felt Chilled really was the strongest part of this OVA, but I think that may be down to the performance of his Voice Actor Ryūsei Nakao who also voiced Freeza and Cooler, I feel he brings such a menacing and evil portrayal to any villain he plays within the franchise and it really works, especially when you consider that without a voice you're just looking at a small goofy looking imp of a character who really does not look as though he could be the most powerful being in the universe with the command of thousands of underlings and more.

I feel like Chilled did come in to his own slightly too rather than being a copy and paste of  Freeza, yes the same characteristics and motives were there but we almost get this look at a character who has not yet reached the infamy of his descendent and has to resort to much more sneaky and shady tactics in order to get what he wants, such as pretending to be Galactic Police officers in order to get information, rather than just killing civilians outright much like Freeza did on Namek. Overall I believe he was a great addition.

I also enjoyed the animation style used within the OVA, it seemed to be slightly better than Plan to eradicate the Super Saiyans as it used a brighter colour palette and did focus much more on details such as battle damage and backgrounds as well as the fight scenes use of decent choreography involving spins, grabs and throws. I'm clearly no expect on animation but I feel that with every piece of animated media from the franchise from Yo! Son Goku onwards has constantly improved and reached the quality we see in Battle of Gods.

Overall I did find some enjoyment in this OVA with it being a nice excuse to see Bardock again and seeing someone else from Freezas race getting the shit beat out of them. I also enjoyed that it kept to a small 20 minute time frame as the Manga was quite short itself and while I am happy that the franchise during this period did decide to branch out and create a few more animated features I feel as though this is the worst of the bunch, not to say that this is a terrible stain on the franchise but I just personally do not enjoy it anywhere near as much as the other features I've reviewed recently.

I see a lot of people online argue about this being 'canon' to the franchise because it got a Manga adaptation but then again so did DB Heroes but I think the beauty with this franchise is is that there are a bunch of things that are perhaps questionable but it's really up to you if you want to take this as what actually happened or not, personally I just like to keep this as a 'what if' story, but I feel like this franchise has such a wealth of those kind of stories that it just works to have one of them animated, I would even be open to more myself, who wouldn't like to see the return of Tiencha from Budokai 2 right?

I'm still on a huge DB hype at the moment and I will not apologise for it, but thanks for checking this review out, let me know what you thought of it on twitter @Scatmanbegins I'm all for constructive criticism or any feedback at all. See ya next week.