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Trine 2
PC (Steam)
Wizard Needs Team Badly
3.5/5 stars
“Trine 2,” is the second game in the ‘Trine’ series by Finland-based Indie developer, Frozenbyte, who are also responsible for the ‘Shadowgrounds’ franchise. While “Trine” was originally developed as a PC game and eventually ported to the PlayStation Network and WiiUWare services, “Trine 2” is a multi-platform game from the word go, appearing on every console digital distribution service as well as several popular PC e-shops. While the original “Trine” was a rather bland and mediocre experience, Frozenbyte apparently found enough success to turn that one game into a complete franchise, with a third entry having just released as well. Fortunately, it seems that Frozenbyte is also capable of learning from their mistakes, as this sequel is better than the original in every way.
Presentation
Like its predecessor, “Trine 2” is a 2.5D game with incredibly well done graphics. The characters and enemies are distinctively designed and well-animated, while the environments are lush and colorful. The original “Trine” and the non-DLC parts of “Trine 2” employ hand-drawn stills for all of their cutscenes and loading screens. The goblin-based DLC for “Trine 2,” however, conveys cutscenes using the in-game graphics engine, which really gives players the chance to see their characters and the enemies up close and personal. Using the game engine for cutscenes is a marked improvement, as the actual game assets are so well designed it’s a shame not to use them whenever possible.
Also like its predecessor, “Trine 2” features a pleasantly innocuous Fantasy soundtrack and returning voiceactors for the three main characters and the narrator. The characters do have a few more lines of dialog in this sequel than the original. There are also several new NPCs and villains that get the voiceacting treatment.
Story
In the original “Trine” a trio of Fantasy stereotypes, a female thief named Zoya, a fat knight named Pontius, and a prematurely-graying wizard named Amadeus. These characters found themselves bound together by the magical powers of an artifact: The titular Trine.
Sometime after their original adventure to rid the countryside of the undead, the three heroes once again find the land overrun… this time by plants. In the course of tracking the monster plants to their source, the team find themselves in the employ of a queen with magical powers who needs help dealing with a goblin invasion of her lands. The goblins, however, take a back seat to a backstory of royal sibling rivalry that seems to shadow Disney’s “Frozen” to a worrisome degree.
The DLC for “Trine 2” is dubbed “The Goblin Menace,” and revolves around a group of technologically savvy goblins who kidnap Amadeus the Wizard’s wife. These goblins are, of course, the remnants of the invasion the heroes end up defeating during the base game.
Neither story in “Trine 2” is particularly deep or memorable, but they do tie-together the progression of stages in a cohesive manner. “Trine 2” is also rather short, but is a bit longer than the original “Trine.”
Gameplay
“Trine 2’s” gameplay is largely identical to the original “Trine.” Each of the three main characters has a couple of special abilities, and they need to work together in order to overcome obstacles and enemies while progressing through 2D sidescrolling stages. Like the original “Trine,” in single-player mode, the player can switch between the three characters on the fly, while in co-op mode, each player controls a different character the entire time.
Each character’s core abilities are unchanged from the original “Trine.” Zoya the thief can still shoot arrows and grapple onto wooden surfaces. Pontius the knight can still block projectiles with his shield and kill enemies with his sword. Amadeus the wizard can still create blocks and planks out of thin air and move them around with telekinesis. However, the other abilities possessed by each character in “Trine,” which still must be unlocked by gathering experience vials and spending skill points, have been overhauled and replaced with new abilities in “Trine 2.” Unfortunately many of the new abilities seem to be of questionable use.
The gameplay in “Trine 2” is simplified and streamlined a bit from the original. Characters no longer have magic meters, thus abilities can be used freely. The various hidden treasures that provide gameplay perks have also been removed, with hidden treasures now serving to reveal the backstory or unlock concept art. Checkpoints now revive all dead team members and restore full health, as long as a surviving team member can get close enough to one.
Stage design and difficulty balance in “Trine 2” seems much smoother than the original game. Clearly Frozenbyte listened to the things players didn’t like (vertically scrolling lava chase stages!) and removed them. Unfortunately, collecting all of the experience vials/bubbles required to earn skill points seems like it would be an impossible task in single-player mode. “Trine 2” seems to be built from the ground up to be a three-person experience, with the wizard player providing much-needed platforms and holding moving obstacles stationary, while the other two characters’ players focus on killing enemies. Yes, “Trine 2” is still playable solo, but it would be annoying to lose out on so much experience and the platforming puzzles would be a lot tougher to navigate. Thankfully, the horrible camera and catch-up teleports from “Trine” are much better behaved in the sequel, leaving no reason (aside from lack of friends) to play “Trine 2” alone.
Overall
“Trine 2” offers several improvements over the original “Trine” in every category. However it is still a rather short, forgettable game. This time around the single-player mode, while decent, pales in comparison to playing in a full team of three. This is the kind of local co-op experience I’d like to see more of.
Presentation: 4.5/5
Story: 3/5
Gameplay: 3.5/5 Single Player, 4/5 Multi-Player
Overall (not an average): 3.5/5
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