Dear Supergiant Games, I Love You.

It’s gorgeous. It oozes, drips and flows with aesthetic beauty and conjures a dreamy scifi-cyberpunk-steampunk style. The melancholy song and driving beat that plays over the lush visuals whisks your imagination and emotions to another world - before depositing you back to the real with the leering number: 2014. 2014?!?! *sigh* I suppose good things really do come to those who wait.



Supergiant Games released a tantalizing teaser for their newest game yesterday. And while we don’t know too much about Transistor beyond the delicious trailer, it certainly appears to be a brilliant follow-up to their freshman effort, Bastion.

But something else elbowed its way to the front of my mind as I replayed the trailer nearly a dozen times. Something made me smile...





Now wait just a second before you start rolling your eyes at the expectation of an oncoming feminist rant. Trust me, I LOVED The Kid. I’m just really happy to see a girl with a giant sword starring in Supergiant’s new game - as if Supergiant’s beautiful work on Bastion didn't garner enough admiration from me!

Naturally my first instinct was to throw my credit card at the screen. When that didn't work (I tried a few dozen times but it kept bouncing off) I decided to write something just to get the *SQUEEEE* off my chest. Writing helps me control the *SQUEEE*.

When Bastion was released, I threw the full weight of my mouse cursor at the “Buy” button on Steam and promptly dove into Supergiant's painterly world. After only playing it for about an hour, I wrote a long email to Supergiant that gushed praise and, to my surprise, I received a kind reply from their writer, Greg Kasavin; which of course made my face do the happy dance.

But I didn't write them for a reply back. It was one of those purely giving moments we experience when something humbles us. I wrote them because Bastion had humbled me.

Bastion was just that singular experience that made me so happy that I had to tell the creators just how happy. I wanted them to know how much Bastion's magic had moved me, and I wanted them to realize that the creative risks they had decided to take turned into an absolutely wonderful game experience. Between Jen Zee’s eye-popping art, Greg’s tight story-writing, Darren Korb’s immersive and haunting music (not to mention Ashley Barrett’s dreamy vocals), that silky baritone voiceover from Logan Cunningham and all that hidden magic of the programming team; Bastion made me remember why I was a gamer.



As I sit here and pine for Transistor on my pile of forget-me-nots, the knowledge that one of my favorite new developers has taken both a risk and a creative leap to build upon their unique and stunning aesthetic and boldly put a GIRL at the reins of their next story, makes me smile - makes my little gamer heart glow with happy feelings as Supergiant proudly displays that some devs really do know that girls can kick just as much ass as the next guy.

Bastion made me a follower and fan, Supergiant. Transistor just might make me a true believer.