Trine 4
Released: October 8, 2019
Game Length: 10 Hours
Grade: A
Expectations: After the failure of Trine 3, I was still holding on hope that the developers could come back with a "true" sequel to the series. The ratings of the new game were decent enough with many thanking the company for dropping the 3D interface and reverting back to its original 2.5D environment. I believe I saw the words "not as good as Trine 2, but good enough to play" somewhere among the pile. I would have played this a lot sooner, but I wanted to wait until Melody of Mystery released on November 19, 2020. So how does a $30 game fair with an $8 DLC package?
Reality: For one thing, you definitely won't be criticizing the game for being too short. After adding the 6 levels in from the DLC and the "fun" level of Toby's Dream that was patched in a couple months after its release, you'll be spending a good chunk of time going through 25 levels stretching across 6 Acts. The first three levels of the game entail the characters by themselves. The second Act has your group venturing through castles and mazes. However, the game takes a massive detour when you are tasked to "follow" your target through animal houses and various creature's domains in Acts III and IV. It might have been a long time since I played Trine 2, but the "epic" feel of fighting your way through dangerous areas filled with monsters went away for a more "fun" and laid back adventure. This isn't a bad thing! In fact, I think this allowed them to focus more on designing all those complex puzzles.
Mechanics: Instead of plopping all the abilities on you at once in the beginning, every level introduces something different. The wizard starts off with the ability to create one simple box and slowly gains the options to make three objects with four different kinds of shapes. Although the knight gains the ability to cast a form of shadow shield in the earlier levels, he isn't able to use his shield to glide until much later in the game. Wait until you learn how to use fairy rope with your thief! The mechanics got so mind-boggling that I had a tendency to forget what I could do when a particular puzzle demanded it. Sometimes I like to shout "Box Me!" whenever the wizard is needed. When it comes to combat, there is very little to speak of. After solving a handful of puzzles, a sub-set of shadow creatures will appear on the screen for you to fight. As much as I liked hacking away with my knight, I found it interesting to use my other characters as well. Each has their own trait tree that allows them to perform certain bonus maneuvers. The map is very easy to read when each checkpoint shows stars for battles and the number of vials missing per section. It is super easy to load any puzzle and search out those secret items hiding among the missing upgrade points. Just don't get too upset when you realize every "boss battle" is really just a massive puzzle to figure out.
Extra Content: Although it isn't required to find every optional item in the game, I had a good laugh when they openly mocked the previous game for missing half the story. Melody of Mystery was also a fairly good addition to the game, easing back on the difficulty of the puzzles and adding more wondrous settings full of new characters along with a chain of new songs as well. There's even a level that will make you hungry. My only concern for the game is not knowing how it would fair while having three people all trying to solve the puzzles at the same time. Despite the daunting price, I will admit that this game was a real treat. I would totally recommend it for puzzle-lovers and fans of Trine alike.
12-19-2020