Transistor Out Tuesday, Recursion Mode Revealed

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Transistor Out Tuesday, Recursion Mode Revealed

Update: Watch the launch trailer for Transistor below.

Transistor is less than a week away! Things are eerily calm for us at Supergiant as we await the moment when our new game becomes available worldwide, at which point we’ll find out at long last what everybody really thinks!

It’s been immensely gratifying to have worked on something that so many folks are excited about. Though, knowing full well just how little of the game we’ve shown, I’m eager to see the response to all the many aspects of the game we’ve purposely kept secret. I’d like to talk about one of those aspects here, but first! Let me tell you why we’ve opted to keep so quiet through most of Transistor‘s development.

“The less you know about Transistor, the more likely it is to surprise you.”

We could have shown more. Since you’re reading this on PlayStation.Blog, I’d bet you’re pretty up to date on what’s happening in games in general. You know the typical PR cycle for a big game involves tons of trailers, previews, press releases, and so on, and maybe eventually a round or two of hands-on impressions before the game is finally released. That’s not been our approach, partly because we’re a small team, and partly because we don’t think it makes sense for the kinds of games we’ve made. Our feeling is that the less you know going into a game like Transistor, the more likely it is to surprise you. And we think experiencing genuine surprise is one of the rarest and most pleasurable sensations that games can provide.

Transistor on PS4

Having said that, if you’ve played our first game, Bastion — or even if you haven’t — then you may not be surprised to learn that finishing Transistor won’t necessarily signify the end of the time you’ll want to spend with it. Our philosophy on replayability comes down to this: Our foremost goal is creating a complete-feeling, well paced game that’s respectful of and rewarding of the time you put into it. That means we really want for players to experience a sense of satisfaction at getting to the end of the game. If most players get to the end of Transistor and stop there, we’d be very happy, as they will have completed the story. But then again, there’s more to it than that.

“Enter what we call Recursion mode.”

As part of our goal, we wanted to build rich, deep-feeling game systems for Transistor, such that it’s impossible to experience the full breadth of the gameplay on a single play-through. This helps us ensure that first play-through will be as packed with as much interesting stuff as possible. At the same time, it creates a lot of opportunity to extend the game in ways we think are exciting. Enter what we call Recursion mode.

Transistor on PS4

Recursion mode is unlocked after you finish Transistor’s story. You’ll then have the option to recurse through the experience, retaining your progression data — notably, your User Level and all the Transistor functions you’ve unlocked. This immediately opens up a lot of new gameplay as you’ll be discovering new function combinations all the way through your initial play-through of the game. You’ll also find some new surprises (that word again) in the content itself the second time around. Most notably, the composition of enemy forces you’ll encounter will be different — and it’ll be different just about every time you play. This means you can really sink your teeth into the core gameplay if, as we hope, you’ve taken a liking to it by the end of the game.

The Process, the enemy forces you’ll be dealing with in Transistor, operate as a faction. The different varieties you’ll encounter have complementary roles. As we experimented with fighting against them in different combinations, and in different locations throughout the game, we found a ton of interesting variety. We hope you’ll enjoy it as we have. If you’re familiar with Bastion’s New Game Plus mode, we think Transistor’s Recursion mode pushes some of those ideas even further.

Transistor on PS4

Transistor is foremost a single-player-focused game that we want to feel like a rather intimate and personal experience for players. However, we’re also very excited for the high level of play that’s possible in this game, and all the thousands of different function combinations and viable playstyles players can use to get through it. We can’t wait to see how it all translates with PS4’s built-in content sharing and live streaming, and to see what folks have to say about what are all the best, most interesting function combinations. For sure we’ll be there on launch day, watching people’s reactions in real time. You know, it’s a very special time for games these days, that we can do a thing like that. Until next week!

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62 Comments

3 Author Replies

  • So NG+? Awsome!

  • Loved Bastion and cannot wait for Transistor! It’s great that you’ve been keeping things underwrap and not spoiling the later parts of the game. Any chance that Bastion would ever make it to the Vita? Seems like a perfect fit for it.

  • Really looking forward to this game! I am enjoying a lot of the “smaller” titles that have been coming out lately delivering excellent experiences!

  • Got my pre-order in and looking forward to playing this. :)
    Vita would obviously be secondary, so my question nis will Bastion ever make it to PS4?

  • Just pump this directly into my veins please.

  • Great news.

    Every game should have a New Game Plus mode.

    No exceptions!!!

  • Just tell me when I can download my pre order

  • Can’t wait, I always love NG+ features.

    Any plans on adding interactive streaming features (particularly for Recursion Mode?) It would be a perfect fit for the game world.

    • Hey not sure what you mean by interactive streaming features but of course you can use the Share button to stream your gameplay if you want…!

  • so i can’t play this at midnight? no preload? oh well still gonna get it but it sucks

  • Game is awesome, but That’s terrible that even with a pre order the game is not getting a midnight release. Every other digital distribution I can think of has an early update, Audible, Xbox, itunes and more. On the east coast we have to wait until 5 pm to play a game.

  • Oh yeah! This is the number 1 indie game I’ve been looking forward to! Can’t with to play it!

  • *ItsHappening.gif*

  • Preordered. Please Bring Bastion to PS4. It’s one of the few places that game hasn’t been.

  • Can’t wait for this! :D
    And, it’d definitely be awesome to see Bastion on the PS platform in the future! :)

  • Pre-ordered. Can’t wait!

  • I tried the Demo at PAX East 14, So awesome! It left me wanting more!

  • I’ve been excited for this game since it’s reveal last year, and preordered the day it was possible on the PS Store. The addition of Recursion Mode has me intrigued. I loved Bastion, but could only play it through Steam, and only wished Bastion was included as a secret surprise within Transistor on PS4. I can only dream. Very excited for it. Thanks so much, SuperGiant!

  • Ok, I’m in the extreme minority but I hate to replay games. As much as I love Souls games, I stop when I beat main game so very doubtful I will stick around for NG+ in Transistor. But definitely buying day 1 to support your beautiful work.

    • Yeah, we totally respect and appreciate this mindset as a team. You shouldn’t feel like you’re not getting a complete experience if you don’t play the NG+ style mode. Our attitude is we want that kind of “endgame” content to be there for players who want to stick around after the show, but that’s not going to be everyone. The way our games conclude is very important to us.

  • Fancy way of saying New Game +!! :)

    Really looking forward to this. This is a D1P!

    Any chance you could release Bastion on the PS4 next?

  • Just curious… Why do people pre-order a digital title? Its not like it may be sold out on release! Plus the closer you get to release, reviews may change your mind!

  • Im interested in this game but whats the price? Im guessing $20 in which case ill wait for a sale.

  • I want this on Vita :)

  • @20 – The same reason people pre-order physical titles the day they’re announced – Excitement! And if you do change your mind, I’ve never seen anywhere that a pre-order is not able to be canceled!

  • Bastion on PS4, PS3, or Vita please.

  • Literally could not be more excited.

  • So cannot wait for this game. I’ve been waiting on another Supergiant title since I finished Bastion. Keep up the great work guys.

  • @20 If I know it’s something I’m going to buy anyway, might as well do it now as later. Preordering for digital titles just kind of helps me earmark money for a game before I have the chance to blow it on something else later.

  • Thanks for the reply, Greg! I meant options for viewers to affect gameplay (a la Daylight, Dead Nation.) Would be cool if people watching the stream could trigger enemy spawns or otherwise alter the experience.

  • @20, stock we’ll, that’s a good question. I don’t pre-order digital, except for TLoU because of the play-while-downloading feature which didn’t even work for me anyway.

  • *stockwell. Didn’t notice the dang autocrazycorrect till too late.

  • Folklore_Legendz

    so who do I have to convince to port transistor to the vita, where’s the love you guys?! :'(

  • Day one purchase for me…I have no knowledge of Bastion, but the art looks OUTSTANDING and considering the price, I don’t even have to think twice! I can’t wait to be “surprised”!

  • Already preordered can not wait for this, developers take note, this is how you extend a games life. I think every game should have new game +. Awesome job Supergiant

  • make it to the vita plssssssssssssssssssssss

  • So pumped for this game already pre-ordered the game like yesterday. I never played bastion but heard great things about the game hopefully it can make it’s way over to PS3 like the other 360 games are doing.

  • I’m really excited about this game. Transistor was one of the many reasons I opted for the PS4 over the option. Games like this make Playstation special and I hope Sony continues to support indies. Congrats on this wonderful gem and I can’t wait to play it! One question: will the sound track be available for download? I love the song from the trailer!

  • You already got a sale from me.

    I still wish you guys had plans in the works for Bastion PS4. C’mon DO IT!!!

    I need to hear that narrator’s deep voice on my PS4!!!!

  • After completing the story, can you continue to play in the game world WITHOUT starting Recursion mode/NG+?

  • This looks awesome. Can’t wait for this title!!!

  • 20 dollar price tag

    Comeeee on now

  • @23 as far as i know, you CAN NOT cancel a psn preorder. Once you do it, thats it.

  • @41

    The only way is to call Playstation Support and ask for a refund.

  • @ Greg Kasavin

    The interactive streaming the other person mentioned is a relatively unknown feature that some PS4 titles have taken advantage of.

    When broadcasting the gameplay via Twitch, the users watching the gamer can alter the difficulty of the game in some manner.

    For example, in Dead Nation there is a difficulty setting called Broadcast+ and you can only play on that when you broadcast your gameplay live via the Share button.

    The users watching you play Dead Nation on can type something into the chat box and it for example makes the zombies harder or gives you more health packs.

    That is the idea behind interactive streaming anyways. The users watching the gamer on the streaming service can alter the gamers game and make it more challenging or more easier.

  • I need to exchange my blood for this.

  • Transistor is the Bastion of Playstation! Can’t wait it ;)

  • This is honestly my most anticipated game this month. Bastion was entertaining (even though I had to play it on Steam since it never got a PS3 release), so I don’t think Transistor will let me down.

  • would of preferred a release for the vita instead of the ps4, indies like this should point ofr the vita.

  • Is there any reason to preorder? Like a bonus or something?

  • TAKE MY MONEY!! :D

  • I know that it’s been said a million times before, but I’d so love for Transistor (and Bastion) to come to my beloved Vita!

    @Greg – are there any chances of this actually happening at some point in the future? A ‘yes’, ‘maybe’ or flat out ‘no’ would be very much appreciated :-)

    Ps, good luck with the release next week!!!

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