When normal people lose their voice, they pick up cough drops. When Transistor heroine Red loses hers, she picks up a talking sword that acts as the game's narrator. Narration plays a large part in Transistor, but the philosophy behind the voice-over isn't one of exposition like in Supergiants' previous game, Bastion, it's one of relationships.

Being a voice trapped in an inert object makes the relationship between player and narrator "symbiotic," according to a report from Polygon. The narrator in Transistor isn't an omniscient storyteller; he has feelings, and exists in the present, alongside Red.

"I hope that what comes across is he really cares about Red the protagonist," creative director Greg Kasavin said. "If you get nothing else out of it, I hope you get that - that he cares about what happens to her and he doesn't want her to come to harm."

Of course, being a sword, the Transistor is dang good at making sure Red is protected.