Honestly, just trying to figure out what, how, and when to explain every mechanic of Cloudbank and how it fits into the general plot was enormously challenging and rewarding. Every time I tried to write about one tiny aspect of the game, I had to go back and write about five more things to put the original item in context or fit it into the larger narrative and world-building structures. I didn’t set out to make this work so long, but the piece just kept extending itself. I’m not sure there is a narratively-based game out there which packs so much content into such little space. You could freeze any single frame in the entire game and spend an hour talking about the implications of every detail, from the architectural designs to the characters’ clothing. So an experienced Transistor player should be able to play through the game again in less time then it takes to read my analysis of its world, plot, and themes. For one thing, I managed to write 29,580 words about a game that takes about six hours to play through. One of the things I love most about Transistor is that it is maybe the densest game I have ever played. It looks like nothing else, sounds like nothing else, feels like nothing else, and therefore stands out as the type of singularly-envisioned creation that the characters of Cloudbank would be proud of. There simply is nothing like Transistor 1. It blows my mind that a group of people actually conceived this idea, sketched out every component of its otherworldly presentation and utterly unique combat, raised money from investors, and then made a full-fledged video game product out of it. I not only love it for the aforementioned atmosphere, visuals, soundtrack, characters, and bewildering narrative, I love it for the vision. This world is populated by quite strange individuals who not only never react with as much shock as one would expect from, say, having one’s soul become trapped in a giant sword, but also never bother to just sit down explain whatever insane event happened two minutes ago, like, say, being attacked by a sentient, semi-organic building. Its story is presented in a manner that’s somewhere between “avant-garde” and “infuriatingly vague.” The game shows a world dramatically different from our own based on unexplained rules that defy all physical and metaphysical rules. Transistor is clearly not meant to be easily understood. Upon completing my first playthrough I was enraptured by the atmosphere, visuals, soundtrack, characters… and that I understood next to nothing of what happened over the preceding six hours. Transistor is one of my favorite games of all time.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |