Game: Transient
Platform: PC
Genre: adventure game
Style: directly based on Lovecraft’s work
Verdict: Highly Recommended
Buy: Steam
I originally received a copy of Transient to review for MonsterVine.
After Conarium, an adventure game set as a sequel to “At the Mountains of Madness,” the developers went on to bring Lovecraftian horror into a cyberpunk dystopia with Transient.
Transient is in a strange position where it is partly an original story and partly an adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s Dream Cycle stories like The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath.
Randolph Carter is a hacker-for-hire who gets mixed up in a conspiracy that stretches across dreams, virtual worlds, and a dystopian city. Due to the setting, you have some high-tech tools at your disposal, such as a scanner that lets you check for clues in the environment. All of this investigation work proceeds in a fairly linear manner, however, and much like in Conarium, the game’s greatest emphasis is on atmosphere and world-building rather than scares or complicated puzzles.
In other words, while it’s not quite a “walking simulator,” you will spend most of your time watching the story unfold.
The atmosphere is a curious blend of cyberpunk and Lovecraftian themes, and it does a good job of combining the two styles to create a world where you’re never quite sure what you can trust. Games based specifically on the Dream Cycle instead of the Chtulhu Mythos are less common, so it’s nice to see it being done justice here.
Transient’s ending feels a bit rushed, but the story is exciting overall and there are even some ties to Conarium (although you can play Transient even if you haven’t played Conarium). If you liked Conarium, you’ll probably like Transient as well, and it’s worth a look if you want a Lovecraft-inspired story with a cyberpunk twist.
Buy: Steam