Despite knowing that she has no control over her actions or the world she inhabits, she still defiantly declares that she does have choice and wants no part of the system she is trapped in. The part that makes Red’s realization chilling comes later in the song. If I should choose to rise I’m still descending If there was any question left that Red knew she was without actual agency look no further than the very next stanza. She was already conscious of the fact that nothing can change this world anyway, and that she was destined to return to her lover from the start. This idea comes to its ultimate fruition in the ending as Red appears to take her own life despite the fact that she is granted the power to remake Cloudbank. Red actively calls out the audience, and developers, by acknowledging that she has no capabilities of causing change in this world. Look out below, I know there’s no decision Step out beyond the edge and start the motion This idea of Red acknowledging her position as a construct doomed to repeat the same cycle starts to make more sense within the lyrics of “Signals.” The shift to “you” suggests that Red speaks directly to her audience, the players. This changes in the next chorus line and persists throughout the rest of the song. She understands the inner workings, or spine, of the world she is inhabiting, which, I suggest is not necessarily Cloudbank, but refers instead to the constructed world of the game itself. This song isn’t describing the enemy encountered later in the game like the title of the song might suggest, but is actually how Red sees herself. The placement of this song within Transistor’s opening minutes as Red stares at posters of herself plastered on a city wall is telling. What I found surprised me and offered an understanding that not only is Transistor an exploration of agency, but that Red herself seems somewhat aware that she is a character in a game. The problem then was finding how the songs, “The Spine,” and “Signals,” fit into this reading. Nissa did a pretty fantastic job of piecing through the songs “In Circles,” “ We All Become,” and “ Paper Boats,” to help support her interpretation. Nissa pointed out several aspects of the game and dug heavily into the lyrics of Transistor’s soundtrack to support her analysis that the game was an exploration of agency. Recently, while preparing for an interview with Supergiant Games Darren Korb and Ashley Barrett I came across an analysis of Transistor written by freelance writer Nissacam. Touch Arcade described the soundtrack as “astounding, rich and evocative” and praised how it “perfectly complements the bright yet mysterious world of Transistor.” The soundtrack garnered many awards nominations and won several including New York Videogame Critics Circle’s Best Music in a Game and SXSX Gaming Awards‘ Excellence in Musical Score.Readers beware this post and the articles I link to contain spoilers for the game Transistor, if you haven’t played it yet go do it! Moving on… Using her enemies' strange sword, the Transistor, against them, she fights against the Process, a seemingly never-ending force of robotic creatures which aim to process the entire city and its citizens, essentially killing them.Īshley Barrett voices Red, the protagonist, a famous singer in Cloudbank, and therefore, also sings on the soundtrack as Red. You play as Red, a famous songstress, who has just survived an assassination attempt. Transistor is a role-playing game (RPG) set in the futuristic city of Cloudbank. Transistor: Original Soundtrack includes the original music composed by Darren Korb for the Supergiant video game, Transistor. Song bios and annotations may contain spoilers for Transistor
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |