Written by: Alex

 

 

 

"Trine 2" is Frozenbytes sequel to their beautiful 2009 physics-based puzzle-platformer. The beautiful world of the original, and the innovative three-character mechanic, returns once again for a new adventure that (while similar) managed to improve enough upon the formula and pull me back in – especially in conjunction with the beautiful improved graphics.

 

 

Trine 2 wastes no time establishing the story. Explaining the previous game in a few lines, the wonderful narration tells of how the heroes of the Trine have been on many adventures since I last encountered them in the original game, and this is just one more of their many tales.

 

Once again the magical artefact known as the Trine appears. This device has bound the game’s three heroes to itself in order call upon them whenever they are needed, and now they are, to defend the kingdom from plants and trolls. With Trine’s champions (the knight, the wizard and the thief) back together they must follow the path before them. Eventually their path takes them to a talking flower who guides them onwards towards her sister on the other side of the forest. And it is this interaction between the sisters that creates the stories conflict.

 

 

While the story itself is fairly throw away (with the twists and turns of the two sister’s relationship mostly revealed through letters along the way), it is all presented in a wonderful fairy tale manner. From loading screens between levels styled like books with a silky Jack-a-Nory voice over, to the characters incidental chatter and reading of sisters letters, everything just feels friendly with a charm that is refreshing in a title aimed so squarely at adults. It gives a warm feeling of being read when I was young, that doesn't feel patronising or childish, but nostalgic.

 

 

Introducing each of the characters with the same efficiency as the story, Trine 2 rapidly reminds me (or teaches new players) how to play. Starting with the wizard each of the three characters are presented one by one. All of the cast move in the same basic manner with their speed and jumping constant as they move through the lavish 2D world, but it is their unique abilities that really make the game what its is.

 

All the three heroes begin with their own set of skills, and as experience is acquired by collecting orbs these become increasingly powerful. As previously stated its is the magic Amadeus who is introduced first of the three. Perhaps the most important of the cast, the small wizard has the power to create and levitate objects. With the option of creating planks and boxes (all with an interesting clockwork style) the ability to summon these becomes invaluable as Amadeus slowly powers up and is able to make ever more of them. Maxing out at four items, the wizard is able to build towers and platforms to reach areas that would otherwise prove inaccessible, as well as manipulating other environmental items (and enemies) to help.

 

Along side Amadeus to help navigate the world comes Zoya the thief. With arrows and a grappling hook, she is the most rounded of the three characters and is the most capable at moving around the world due to her ability to swing from any wooden surface. Strangely while, of all her abilities, I used her grapnel most, her power-ups all revolved around her bow and arrows. This initially seemed like a strange choice, as I would far have preferred upgrades to the hook to help me speed through the world, but balance issues soon became clear if Frozenbyte had taken such a route. Were Zoya more manoeuvrable she would have been unworkable in the games multiplayer as the skill would allowed her to move ahead far too quickly. The down side to this levelling was that Zoya’s projectiles (while far from the best offensive weapon in game) could quickly be upgraded to such a level that the final character, Pontius, became almost pointless.

 

 

Pontius is a knight who, garbed in armour, is able to take more damage than his companions and during the (rare) combat sections comes in to his own. Unfortunately other than that his roles are limited to occasionally using his hammer to smash open new areas and using his shield to get through otherwise lethal traps.

 

 

The Trine franchise’s most interesting element is not in the characters it offers, but how they can be utilised. Using the controller’s shoulder buttons each of the game’s cast can be swapped at will to make use of their skills, helping me move through levels and collect the ever present experience orbs that allow them to level-up.

 

Much like the original Trine, Trine 2 relies heavily on swings, pivots, and levers to form the backbone of its physics puzzles. The beauty lies in just how many methods can be used to navigate each of the different environments. Pontius could move items quickly to build a makeshift platform, Amadeus could simply build a path using blocks and Zoya could simply swing through the world depending on how the level is constructed. Not every method can be used in every situation but thinking of ways to tackle the problem is when Trine 2 really gets interesting.