14 DAY TRIAL // Supergiant Games, the independent developer behind cult classic Bastion, has talked a bit more about its upcoming Transistor title and how it won't use a dynamic narrator like the previous game but will still rely on voiceover.
Bastion amazed lots of players with its tight gameplay, sharp visuals, but most of all with the dynamic narrator that commented on the player actions as they happened, no matter the choices or wacky things the protagonist did in a situation.
For its next game, Transistor, Supergiant tried to branch off from the core Bastion experience, offering a more strategic take on the action role-playing game and eliminating the dynamic narrator.
However, there still is a main voiceover, in the form of the actual Transistor weapon, which talks to the protagonist, Red, throughout the story.
"There is no narrator in Transistor, so from our point of view the methods of storytelling here are rather different," Supergiant's Greg Kasavin told VG247. "Of course there are similarities in that voiceover is used extensively in both games. We came around to using voiceover as a primary method of storytelling in Transistor for a couple of reasons."
There are plenty of advantages for using a voiceover, according to Kasavin, including the fact that it allowed the studio to bring back Logan Cunningham, the narrator from Bastion, while adding to the story in various ways.
"We really like the immediacy it provides, as it lets players go through the game at their own pace without getting interrupted by cutscenes or other non-interactive forms of storytelling," he added.
"We like the reactivity it provides, as we love those moments when you feel like the game you’re playing is responding to the way in which you’re playing it, and we love working with Logan Cunningham, who was the voice of Bastion’s narrator and plays a principal character in Transistor as well. We hope the way we’re using voice in this game feels distinct to Transistor."
Transistor is set to debut later today, May 20, worldwide for the PC and PS4 platforms. The indie title was made and published by Supergiant using the profit from Bastion, which came out several years ago with the help of Warner Bros.
The studio has mentioned that it focused on PC and PS4 due to its small size but, considering Bastion's track record, you can expect to see Transistor reach more platforms soon enough in the following years.