forward Hades Becoming what many consider to be 2020’s Game of the Year, its developer, Supergiant Games, has produced three critically acclaimed games that showcase the team’s impressive range of games. Everything from each game’s setting to their respective gameplay is completely different from the rest, resulting in an exciting slate of games from one of the most exciting indie developers of the time. Currently, Chaoju is working on Hades IIdespite being only the earliest version of Early Access, its sequel now rivals the original game in scope. But while the team is building on this to release a full game next year, why not catch up on Supergiant’s early glory days?
GOG is currently running a promotion As fall approaches, there are tons of cool new games on sale, as well as tons of classics. But in all this, I found fortress, transistorand pyreSupergiant’s first three games, and all of the phenomenal original games that defined the indie space throughout the 2010s in their own right. Many people have played fortresswhich made a huge impact when it came to XBLA in 2012, but fewer and fewer people played the studio’s subsequent two games, which is a shame because they remain, in my opinion, among Supergiant’s finest creations one. So I’m here now to make the case for them all.
fortresscurrently priced at $3.74 on GOG, is where many of us started on this journey, so there’s no better place to start. This dynamic isometric action game follows children through an apocalyptic world called Disaster. After the disaster ripped apart the land of Kalondia and reduced many of its inhabitants to dust, the Kid took it upon himself to piece the world back together piece by piece. When released, it received rave reviews for its art direction and music, as well as the prominent role of the narrator. Look, the narrator is fortress would react to certain actions taken by the child, often commenting on his judgment and, in turn, the player’s judgment, which was huge at the time. Games don’t usually break the fourth wall and look inward like that, one might say fortress helped popularize the meta-quality that can be found in many video game narratives in the 2010s.
In some ways, fortress It’s clearly the studio’s most modest release, but its ambition also sets the stage for Supergiant’s style moving forward. Although they all play in different worlds, fortressThe striking painterly style has reverberated throughout the team’s catalog ever since. Darren Kolbwho created fortress As his first video game score, also achieved Each subsequent release has incredible music The album also marked the beginning of Korb and Supergiant’s collaboration with vocalist Ashley Barrett, who appeared on every album. Most mechanical depth fortressincluding a variety of weapons with completely different gameplay and elements that allow you to modify the difficulty of the game to gain additional rewards, defined the Supergiant version of the future. In other words, this yes The Blueprint is still worth a look.
Super giant followed fortress With one of my all time favorite games, transistorjust recently 10 years old. The story takes place in a unique cyberpunk city called Cloudbank. transistor It tells the story of 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 act as the game’s narrator, and if you want to take it a step further, his voice can be emitted from your controller. although transistor Like its predecessor, presented from an isometric view (another hallmark of Supergiant games), its action is less fortressFast-paced real-time combat. transistor This can be done in real time, but it benefits greatly from Red Card’s turn-by-turn ability, which pauses time and allows her to move around the arena and use abilities as her dwindling stamina allows. It’s a system that allows for precision and skill, while also emphasizing Red’s unstable nature, as she doesn’t undergo rigorous training as a fighter, yet she manages to display overwhelming strength despite the odds.
transistor It’s a little deeper than RPG fortress It is, too, and has one of my favorite skill systems. In it, you unlock actions called “functions,” and each function can be used as an active skill on the toolbar, a modifier for another skill, or a passive skill for a red skill. For example, the “bounce” action can be used as an active function to fire projectiles, as a modifier to chain abilities, or as a passive shield to allow red to deflect some damage. There are 16 skills in total, which results in a surprising number of permutations, meaning it’s not difficult to craft a build that’s just right for you.
As an additional dimension, these features are tied to the characters in the world transistorand equip them in different ways, unlocking parts of their biographies, enriching the game’s lore while encouraging experimentation. transistorIt’s so cool that you can buy it on GOG for $5.
Super giant’s third game, pyrequietly the studio’s best, we won’t HadesWithout it, huge storytelling and roguelike structure. pyre Just a Banana, too, because it takes place in a world where a roving orchestra of fantastic creatures play the spirit game of basketball. The player is an unseen character known only as “The Reader” who joins a team that initially consists of a normal human companion named Hedwin and a talking dog named Hedwin. Lucky green tail (what a great name), and a horned lady named Jodariel, but along your journey you’re joined by many of the Super Titans’ finest characters, Nightwing. Among them are the wise tree man Wolfred Sandalwood, the one-eyed knight Sir Gilman, and of course Tizzo.
pyreThe Outcasts are some of the warmest characters I’ve encountered in any game, but they’re also terrifying players in the game’s rituals. In these ceremonial battles, players take three teammates with them to compete. Each character has a unique shape to protect the surrounding aura, usually based on their body type. The aura shatters and disintegrates any opponent that passes through it, or can be focused into an explosion to achieve the same effect. The object of the game is to grab the orb in the center of the field and dunk or throw it into the enemy team’s pyre until they run out of health. At the end of the tournament, the winners will advance to a tournament that spans multiple regions, while the losers will trudge back to the group stage.
pyre But there’s another twist: If you win the entire tournament, you’re free… one person at a time. At the end of a win, you have to sacrifice a player, weighing your fondness for them and your desire to see them free against your need for their skill or athleticism. It’s a mess, it’s a loop that you’ll repeat a few times during the game, like pyre tells an impressive story React to your decisions, wins and even losses. You now understand why it is so important for development Hadesno matter how successful Zagreus’ performance is, it’s got some story to tell. pyre Unfortunately, Supergiant is Supergiant’s most overlooked game, but you can make up for that by buying it on GOG right now for $6.
If you have any appreciation for Supergiant’s recent critically acclaimed work, you should go back and see how the team does it. The history of Supergiant is one of constantly punching above its weight and making it out of the running. These three games are some of the most beautiful things I’ve encountered in decades of gaming, and feature some of the most moving music and sounds I’ve ever heard. They form part of the glory days of gaming that I’ve always missed, and they only cost about $15 to own.
