Trine 2: Complete Story: Lords of the Trine Review

Review

December 27th, 2013, By Maya Mayfield

I remember the first time I read Lord of The Rings. I was pulled into this incredibly dungeons and dragon style fantasy world following Frodo Baggins on his quest to rid himself of that cursed precious ring. I enjoyed reading about the Wizard Gandalf, Legolas the elf, Gimli the red headed feisty Dwarf, and of course Aragorn the brave knight who would eventually become King.
If you also enjoyed reading such fantasy novels filled with Wizards, Brave Knights and Dragons, then I would definitely say you are on the right quest in reading this review.

Trine 2: Complete Story brings back those great nostalgic feelings of adventure, mystery and magic from the pages of every great fantasy story you've ever read.
Our Adventure begins with three heroes bound together by a mysterious artifact called the Trine. Our heroic trio consist of a Knight by the name of Pontius, a thief named Zoya and Amadeus the Wizard. These three characters each with their own unique set of skills must heed the call of the trine and fulfill the will of the artifact. One night our hero's are summoned to investigate a nearby forest overrun with goblins and the sudden appearance of a mystical water with magical elements. Your mission is to find out the origins of these weird events, which will lead you on a magical quest of discovery.

What I immediately found appealing about Trine 2: Complete story was the fairy tale storybook theme that runs throughout the gameplay. Each new chapter is voiced by Terry Wilton, the omnipresent narrator of the story. I particularly liked his light-hearted and at times humorous tone which definitely helped to set a precedence for the overall plot.

Visually I couldn't fault Trine 2. The game simply looks gorgeous on the PS4 running at a cool 60 frames-per-second in 1080p resolution. The colors, lighting, and textures seemed to jump right out of the screen and I could immediately see the improvements on the PS4's version, from its previous release. Add the fact that the game also supports 3D graphics and what you get is a whole new world of immersion, depth and dimension uncommon with most 2D platform puzzlers.

The same can be said of the music score and sound effects used through out the game. You really get a sense of being in each environment from the sound of natures wondrous world. Stop for a moment and close your eyes, and you could believe you are in the heart of a forest amidst scurrying  insects, flowing rivers, thunderous echoes and windy storms.

The music is both fun and enchanting matching the games magical style, whether you are in the midst of battle against goblins or unravelling the secrets behind one of the games many interesting puzzles. I enjoyed the idea of switching between three heroes especially when it came to puzzle solving, platforming and combat system. This unique twist to the gameplay definitely made the title feel fresh and interesting as I journeyed on my quest.

As I mentioned earlier each character comes with their own unique skill trait. Zoya the thief uses a grappling hook in addition to her bow and arrows. Pontius the knight uses a sword, hammer and shield; and Amadeus the wizard can levitate and create objects.  You also get access to a skill tree which can be accessed to upgrade new powers and improve your current abilities after acquiring skill points. It's these unique differences in each characters that makes the game very interesting as you must figure out how to use each of their talents correctly when you come across various challenges and puzzles.

Having said that, the challenges and puzzles are not that difficult to master once you get a hang of things, and that's where we find Trine 2's weakest link. The games control can at times feel finicky as I found myself spending more time trying to execute some easy challenges than I would have wanted.
Despite this, Trine 2 is a solid game, mixed with well balanced challenges to overcome these minor setbacks.

Expect a good amount of gameplay here too, with over 12 hours of content to go through. As an added bonus, there is a DLC pack  titled, 'Goblin Menace' which includes 5 extra hours of gameplay packed full of challenges. There is also a secret level called The Dwarven Cavern's only accessible once all the golden treasure chest have been obtained and the option to play multiplayer with three people online on the same screen.

Conclusion

Trine 2: Complete Story is an excellent title that pays homage to some of the best loved fairytales. Its a fun and simple game based on all the best ingredients, making it a truly magical experience, one that can be enjoyed by all the family.


Thumbs Up

• Magical Fairytale adventure
• Unique mechanics when switching characters makes the game feel fresh
• Interesting challenges and puzzles

Thumbs Down

• Some puzzles were easy to solve
• Frustrating control schematics during some challenges

Score 4/5