Before Hades became considered by many to be the Game of the Year for 2020, its developer, Supergiant Games, created three critically acclaimed titles that showcased the team’s impressive reach. Everything from each title’s setting to its respective gameplay was vastly different from the others, creating an electrifying series of games from one of the most electrifying indie developers of the time. Supergiant is currently working on Hades IIa sequel that currently rivals the original game in scope, despite being only the earliest incarnation of the early access version. But as the team builds on these foundations to deliver a full game next year, why not catch up on Supergiant’s great past titles?
GOG is currently running a sale will ring in the beginning of fall, and there are tons of frigid fresh games on sale, as well as plenty of classics. Among many, however, I noticed Bastion, TransistorAND StackSupergiant’s first three games and all of the uniquely original titles in their own right that defined the indie space in the 2010s. Many people played Bastionwhich made a huge impact when it landed on XBLA in 2012, but fewer people played the studio’s next two games, which is a shame because they’re still some of Supergiant’s sharpest works in my opinion. That’s why I’m here now to make the case for all of them.
Bastionwhich is currently priced at $3.74 on GOG started many of us on this journey, so there’s no better place to start than there. This spirited isometric action game tells the story of the Kid after the apocalypse called Calamity. After the aforementioned catastrophe split the land of Caelondia and reduced many of its inhabitants to dust, the Boy attempts to put the world back together, land by land. Upon release, it received enthusiastic praise for its art direction and music, as well as its outstanding narrator role. You see, the narrator in Bastion he reacted to certain actions of the Kid, often commenting on his rating, and therefore the player’s rating, and this was huge at the time. Games have rarely broken the fourth wall this way and looked inside, and one might agree with that Bastion helped popularize this meta quality found in many video game narratives in the 2010s.
In a certain sense Bastion is clearly the studio’s tamest release, but its ambitions also formed the basis for the further development of Supergiant’s house style. Even though everyone is playing in different worlds, BastionSince then, the artist’s striking and painterly style has echoed throughout the band’s catalog. Darren Korbwho composed Bastion as his first video game soundtrack, it also did amazing music for each fresh release their work, and this title also marks the beginning of Korb and Supergiant’s cooperation with vocalist Ashley Barrett, who appears on each release. Much of the mechanical depth Bastionincluding multiple weapons that play completely differently, and elements that allow you to modify the game’s difficulty for additional rewards, have defined future Supergiant releases. In other words, this Is plan and it’s still worth checking out.
The supergiant followed him Bastion with one of my favorite games of all time, Transistorwhich recently turned 10 years venerable. The action takes place in the iconic cyberpunk city known as Cloudbank, Transistor follows a singer named Red who suddenly wakes up to find her lover trapped in a giant sword that looks like a microchip. He can speak through it and acts as the game’s narrator, and his voice can come out of the controller if you want to take it a step further. One sec Transistor is, like its predecessor, presented in an isometric projection (another characteristic feature of Supergiant studio games), its action is much more strategic compared to Bastionbrisk real-time combat. Transistor She can play in real time, but relies heavily on Red’s Turn, which freezes time and allows her to move around the arena and utilize abilities as her dwindling stamina allows. It’s a system that allows for precision and finesse while also emphasizing Red’s insecure nature, as she isn’t particularly trained as a fighter, but can demonstrate overwhelming strength despite the odds.
Transistor is a slightly deeper RPG than Bastion too and boasts one of my favorite skill systems. In it, you unlock moves called functions, and each function can be placed as an energetic ability on the toolbar, a modifier for another ability, or a passive for Red. For example, the Deflect move can either fire a projectile as an energetic feature, cause skills to chain as a modifier, or allow Red to reflect some damage as a passive shield. There are sixteen skills in total, leading to a staggering number of permutations, meaning it’s not complex to create a setup that suits you completely.
As an additional dimension, all of these Features are related to characters in the world Transistorand equipping them in different ways unlocks parts of their biographies, fleshing out the game’s story while encouraging experimentation. Transistorit’s really great and you can buy it for $5 on GOG.
Supergiant’s third game, Stackhe’s quietly the best in the studio, and we wouldn’t do that HadesWithout that, an amazing plot and roguelike structure. Stack it’s also just cliché because it takes place in a world where wandering bands of fantasy creatures engage in a spiritual game of basketball. The player takes on the role of an unseen character known only as the Reader, who joins a crew initially consisting of a normal-looking human named Hedwyn and a talking dog named Rukey Greentail (what a great name) and a great horned lady named Jodariel, but throughout your travels many of Supergiant’s best characters join your team, the Nightwings. There is Volfred Sandalwood, the wise tree man, the one-eyed worm knight Sir Gilman, and of course Ti’zo.
StackThe band of exiles are some of the warmest characters I’ve ever encountered in any game, but they’re also terrifying players in the game’s Rituals. In these ritual fights, the player takes three members of his team and plays ball. Each character has a unique shape of protective aura surrounding them, often depending on their size. The aura shocks and disintegrates any opponent who crosses it, or can be concentrated into a blast that can achieve the same effect. The aim of the game is to catch the ball in the middle of the field and throw it or throw it into the opposing team’s pile until their HP runs out. At the end of the game, the winners will advance in the multi-region tournament, while the losers will move up the bracket ladder.
Stack however, it has a different twist: if you win the entire tournament, you gain freedom… one person at a time. At the end of a winning streak, you must sacrifice the player, weighing your feelings for him and your desire for him to be free against your need for his skills or movement abilities. It’s messed up and it’s a cycle you’ll repeat several times throughout the game because Stack tells an impressive story reacting to your decisions, victories and even defeats. Now you understand why this is so significant for development Hadeswho can tell pieces of the story no matter how successful Zagreus’ run was. Stack is unfortunately the most overlooked game in Supergiant’s history, but you can make up for it by purchasing it on GOG now for $6.
If you appreciate Supergiant’s latest and highly acclaimed work, you should go back and see how the band achieved this success. Supergiant’s history is one of consistently punching above its weight and knocking it out of the park. These three titles are some of the most handsome things I’ve come across in my decades of gaming, featuring some of the most moving music and vocals I’ve ever heard. They create such a great era of gaming that I miss all the time, and they can be yours for about $15.
