Soundtrack Saturday: Transistor

In this weekly feature, I recommend game soundtracks. I share a few of my favorite tracks, talk about why everyone should listen to the soundtrack, and a little bit about the composer. This week's choice is Transistor by Supergiant Games.

THE STATS

Name: Transistor
Developer: Supergiant Games
Publisher: Supergiant Games
Release Date: May 21, 2014
Genres: Action Role-playing, Turn-based Strategy
Composer(s): Darren Korb

MY FAVORITE TRACKS

(The titles link to YouTube videos... and I highly recommend some good headphones to best enjoy all of the subtle elements of the music!)

• Paper Boats
  "We are paper boats floating on a stream/ And it would seem/ We'll never be apart"This is my favorite song from the soundtrack. I never get tired of listening to it. Potentially spoilery if you think too hard about the lyrics, but it's a beautiful track.
• The Spine
  "I see the spine of the world/ Sparkle and shine, light the inside"My second favorite track, this one reminds me a lot of the Hellsing anime's soundtrack. It's got electric guitar and a melodic bass, but it's slow and sultry. The vocals carry the rest of the parts through a moving modulation (sorry, am I getting too technical?), and it's very easy to zone out while listening to it.
• In Circles
  "Never be sorry for your little time/ It's not when you get there, it's always the climb"This one is a reference to a specific character in the game, but it's pretty safe to listen to if you don't know the story. Metaphors are the best! The build-up to 2:20 and the part that follows is always my favorite. But the song really shines once you know what it's talking about, so you'll probably need to give the game a play sometime.
• Signals
  "And we all are sending smoke signals/ Keep pretending we're one"
  Metaphors again. This one just kind of... strikes a chord within me, you know?
• Heightmap
  This is a fully instrumental track, and between the percussion and the guitar melody it's just an absolute joy to listen to. There is an optional track version where Ashley Barrett hums through it, which adds another layer of enjoyment. There are a few tracks like that in the extended soundtrack.
• Water Wall
  Another instrumental track, this is one song until 1:30, it goes back to the first song at the 2-minute mark and then adds another layer at 2:27 just to see if you're paying attention. The build of layers in this song is well worth listening to. I also have to agree with YouTube commenter TimmCosplay: "Somehow, it sounds so very... French. XD"
• Apex Beat
  Most people agree that this one sounds like the NES Legend of Zelda dungeon theme because of the moving piano line in the beginning. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that! For added flair, there's the optional track version with the humming.
• We All Become
  "When you speak I hear silence/ Every word a defiance"This is the song we all knew before the game was released. A clip of it was used as part of a teaser, and it was instantly popular. It is also the song that best explains the overall plot going on in the game, so don't think too hard about it if you've yet to play the game. It'll all make sense eventually. Until then, just keep this song on repeat.

You can listen to the full soundtrack on YouTube by clicking here: 

Transistor OST
and
Extended OST

WHY I RECOMMEND IT

You'll notice, first of all, that I have EIGHT tracks shared above instead of the usual five I have been sticking to. That is because this soundtrack is just that phenomenal! This was the second game soundtrack Darren Korb composed for Supergiant Games, and clearly shows growth, developed finesse, and balance in comparison to the first. There are a variety of sampled musical genres in this soundtrack, yet they all share a similar sound that's hard to put your finger on. Another soundtrack for another dystopian world, the soundtrack can easily spoil the story of the game if you aren't careful! That said, I had 2-3 hour work stints a few years ago before the workplace opened to the public, and I left this soundtrack on repeat as I worked. It's that good.

THE COMPOSER: DARREN KORB

Darren is known for the soundtracks he has composed for the four game titles released by Supergiant Games: Bastion, Transistor, Pyre, and Hades (newly out on Steam's Early Access after an exclusive stint in the Epic Games store). He is a childhood friend of the Supergiant co-founder, Amir Rao, so it was lucky for him that he was chosen to do the soundtrack for Bastion. He tapped his own friend, Ashley Barrett, to assist with vocals on that soundtrack -- and the duo have returned for all of the following games because of their well-received tracks. Darren and Ashley regularly appear at various gaming and comic conventions.

April Feature Entry: PixelJunk Eden

Guys, I don't think this is how gardens work. 

And I'm pretty sure I'm still very terrible at platforming.

April is Garden Month, and thanks to a handy little poll I whipped up and shared everywhere (special thanks to Skin Deep comic's Discord Avalon members)... the masses voted for PixelJunk Eden as the game for the theme. (The other games in the poll are listed at the end of this entry!)

To start, this was my first PixelJunk game. PixelJunk is developed by Q-Games and began in 2007. PixelJunk Eden is the third in their first series of games, which are all described by Q-Games president Dylan Cuthbert as having "simplicity, familiarity, and originality" in common. Other titles in the series include: PixelJunk Racers, PixelJunk Monsters, PixelJunk Shooter, PixelJunk Shooter 2, PixelJunk SideScroller, PixelJunk 4am (formerly PixelJunk Lifelike), and Nom Nom Galaxy (formerly PixelJunk Inc.).

The premise of PixelJunk Eden is pretty simple: You play as a little creature called a Grimp, and you use various platforming skills to 'grow' the garden around you, collect Spectra, destroy Pollen Prowlers, and make a lot of chaos on your screen. The chillaxing soundtrack and endless playability (you can 'die'... but that doesn't stop you from picking up where you left off) make this a casual experience and less of the stressful gauntlet that most platformers can be. (And boy howdy am I thankful for THAT.)

Above is a screenshot of the start screen. It shows that I have played previously and collected exactly 2 Spectra of 75, and that I'm only 20% done with the first garden. I don't know if I'll ever complete any of these gardens because I have limited patience for platforming-type games. I've never really had a knack for precision in games, at least not without the game's help.

Back in the day, when the original NES was the console to have, I would eagerly beg cousins and friends to let me have a turn at being Mario or Link. Because I didn't have a console of my own, the only playtime I had was when these so-called friends and family members would share and hand me a controller. Often their condition for giving me time to play was that my time ended when I died. As you can imagine, I really didn't get to do much aside from being laughed at for being so bad.

   

Fast forward to when I was able to start getting into my own games by my own means, and you can easily see why I would gravitate towards point-and-click adventure games or puzzles or turn-based strategy. Even now, the number of games in my Steam library that boast the tag 'platforming' is very limited, and nearly all of them were part of some bundle and not a direct purchase.

Now back to PixelJunk Eden. ... I'd have an easier time growing an actual garden because that's something I have actual experience with. Sure, I could practice and try to get better at it, but I'm at the age where I have figured out what I enjoy when I play a game and that's what I want to do. Flinging my Grimp-self into open spaces and hoping to land on a plant or grow a new seed is not it.

For me, the biggest flaw in this game is that open space because there is so little that is actually grown or available when you enter a garden, you have no idea which way to fling yourself. I'm not a fan of haphazard moves in a game -- I like them to count and help me make progress! Unlike the way that each move counts in games like Transistor, your moves in PixelJunk Eden are often as reliable as RNG loot rolls in that MMO you love and have been grinding the one raid endlessly to get the last piece of gear to complete a set. 

We all know that feel. That's the feel PixelJunk Eden gives me.

However, it is not a bad game by any stretch. I have played worse (and keep meaning to blog about those experiences, except I keep blocking out the memories...), and this game is quite a few tiers above some other games I have enjoyed passing the time with. The graphics are clean and modern, and being 2D they are easy to look at for an extended period of time. Factor in the unique soundtrack and you've got yourself something that warrants re-releases on newer consoles and platforms. (This started out on the PS3 and they reworked the controls for a PC release.)

I would recommend this game, without conditions. Anyone can play it, and everyone else's mileage will probably be better than my own!

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Those Other Games I Mentioned...

The Botanist

The Botanist -- An optimistic game about growing plants and becoming independent, where every word in the world is a seed that grows a unique plant. (Released Oct 2017, Positive reviews)

Viridi

Viridi -- Nurture a small pot of succulents that grow in real time. (Released Aug 2015, Very Positive reviews)   [I actually picked this one up because it's free to play with a cash shop for extras. It's so casual you'd be better off watching paint dry or, hey, go plant an actual garden.]

Voodoo Garden

Voodoo Garden -- You're owner of a little hut in a bustling swamp. With the help of little spirits you can earn powers and gold by producing various voodoo supplies. (Released Aug 2016, Mostly Positive reviews)

Reus

Reus -- You control powerful giants to shape the planet to your will. You can create mountains, oceans, forests and more. Enrich your planet with plants, minerals and animal life. There is only one thing on the planet that you do not control: mankind, with all their virtues and and all their vices. (Released May 2013, Very Positive reviews)