Supergiant Games’ 2011 action RPG, Bastion, garnered wide spread acclaim from critics and gamers alike, and more details on their recently announced title, Transistor, came to light during PAX East. In an interview with Kotaku, Bastion writer and director, Greg Kasavin, spoke on gameplay and story elements that players can expect to find in the upcoming game.
“[Transistor] is a science fiction-themed action RPG in which you discover this weapon of immense power, and use it to defend against forces that are going to try to stop at nothing to get it back from you as you navigate this futuristic city.”
While the game is characterized as an action RPG, Supergiant is not merely copying the gameplay mechanics seen in Bastion. Kasavin said that Transistor will be putting more emphasis on strategic combat, integrating the “feel of turned-based tactical games in a fast-action context.”
Much like Bastion, Kasavin said how he wanted to keep the story moving as players traverse the game.
“It’s got our approach toward weaving together storytelling and gameplay in a seamless manner, and that’s something that’s very important to us,” Kasavin said. “We hope people will enjoy our particular approach to it in this game.”
One of the most unique storytelling aspects in Bastion was the narrator, who would react to players’ actions and loadout as they played. While Kasavin said that they will not be following that exact formula in Transistor, some elements will remain. Rather than a narrator, the game’s “voice” will actually be that of the player’s weapon, the titular Transistor. Throughout the game, the Transistor will speak to the player, presumably to give advice or comment on the current situation. Logan Cunningham, who provided the voice of Bastion’s narrator, will again be lending his talent as the Transistor in the new game, though Kasavin made it clear that they did not want Cunningham to simply reprise the same role.
“We see [the Transistor] as a very different character. […] The whole team that worked on Bastion is back together for this project, but it’s very important to us to develop a unique character that’s specific to this game and this world.”
While a concrete release date for Transistor is not yet nailed down, Kasavin said that they are shooting for an early 2014 release. It is also unknown as of yet whether Transistor will be on current gen or next gen consoles, but we will report new details as they come.
Watch the reveal trailer for Transistor:
