This is a weird one as the sequel to Trine has already been out on PS4 for just over a year now (which we reviewed here), so this Enchanted Edition, a port of the first game could possibly come across as a bit of a cash grab. But that would be doing it a disservice, because if you’ve not played it before, then this the best, most complete version of the game you’ll find.
A physics based, side scrolling platformer, Trine 2 features three characters that can be switched between at any given time. After touching a treasure known as the Trine, a thief, wizard and knight find themselves merged together. This forms the basis of the character switching antics, each character coming with their own unique skills and abilities.
The thief, nimble and armed with a bow and arrow can grapple onto any wood structures, swinging across chasms and to new areas. The knight, strong with his trusty sword and shield can take down any enemy. The wizard has the power to conjure boxes, planks and other platforms, as well as the ability to move them with his mind.
The main star of Trine though is the levels themselves. They’re brilliantly crafted and become quite a test during the latter parts of the game. And quite cleverly a lot of the puzzles have multiple ways to be solved. So there could be one part where you can use the wizard to create floating platforms, or maybe you want to use the thief to grapple her way across the wooden beams. It’s up to you really, usually the thief is the best option mind as the wizard is the most cumbersome of characters to use. As a game originally made for PC’s, conjuring boxes by drawing squares with an on-screen curser is not ideal when using the PS4 controller. Thankfully the game is incredibly lenient when it comes to the drawing. More often than not the squares looked more like circles, yet the game still gave us a box to work with.
Levels also come complete with enemies that need to be fought and the way the player chooses to dispatch them is just as clever as how they reach the end of the level. You might even find yourself killing them by complete accident. The thief and knight come with their trusty weapons, which is the traditionalist way, but there’s nothing better than using the thief’s grappling hook to swing and kick a skeleton off a cliff to its doom. Or better yet, why not push a block onto its head, or just create one with the wizard and watch it splatter your foe into a million pieces. With a few boss fights sprinkled in, the levels are brilliantly designed and look even better on PS4.
As the name suggests, this edition of the game is most certainly “enchanted”. Using the superior engine from Trine 2, lighting effects are simply gorgeous and the whole game has a much higher level of polish. In addition, the Enchanted Edition also brings with it online multiplayer, making this more than just a lazy port.
While this is no doubt the definitive version of Trine, we can’t help but feel it’s time for developers Frozenbyte to move on. From 2009 onwards they’ve been invested in the Trine universe, which is odd considering it’s not the world of Trine that makes the game so appealing. On the surface it’s a pretty standard fantasy world. But if this is the only real complaint we have (if you can even call it that) then Frozenbyte are certainly doing something right.
If you’ve somehow avoided Trine up until now then this is the point where you should really jump on board. Some clever physics puzzles make reaching the end of a level feel like a real achievement and despite the short playtime, it’s well worth the asking price.
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