It’s been a long time since I’ve played a Trine game. I didn’t enjoy the original much, but the second game was really good. Third title had a very bad reception for reasons I’ll explain, and I expected the series to be dead due to it. Yet here we are, Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince was released a few months ago to everyone’s surprise (or at least mine) and I decided to check it. And also 3, while I’m on it. It was a rather pleasant experience.
Trine 3: The Artifacts of Power was a really weird release, to put it mildly. It started out as an Early Access title on Steam and became one of the bad examples of one to refer to later due to one simple reason – Trine 3 is not complete. The game as it was released and as it remains today is only about one third of what was supposed to be the full game, yet, for financial reasons, the development was scrapped and only the opening part of the game remained. A fact that is humorously (not sure it’s in good tone, though) mentioned in Trine 4’s secret area. But was it any good?
Well, on one hand its desire to simplify things was curious. Skill upgrades were completely ditched, every character got more navigation abilities, sometimes breaking the uniqueness of each character, game structure moved to shorter but refined levels, plus lots of bonus levels and, most controversially, the game switched from 2D movement to a weird 2.5D hybrid. That last point is, pretty much, what makes the game frustrating to play at times, as due to the move judging the distances became occasionally impossible and level layout got sometimes rather confusing. The game did look good and some of its levels were really nicely stylized and, ironically, it’s probably the only Trine game where the combat wasn’t infuriating but rather fun, if awkward. But it’s not a fantastic game, it’s collectathon approach with triangles was misguided and puzzles weren’t all that great. Plus, again, it’s simply not a complete game, just a short part of a project that will never get finished.
Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince is an attempt to return to form. We’re back to 2D movement, back to more unique skills between characters, back to more involved puzzles and platforming challenges. Unfortunately, back to more obnoxious combat as well, but hey, can’t please everyone, I suppose. This game feels like a continuation of what was great about Trine 2, disregarding a lot of ideas of 3 (sometimes for worse).
Puzzles and platforming are possibly the most refined in the series, with only a couple of them being genuinely infuriatingly obtuse. Combat is terrible, but at least there’s an easy mode which I have not tried but it is possibly a preferred way of playing the game. The overall structure is linear again, with very long involved and varied levels, lots of them with unique gimmicks that are not reused again and there’s only one bonus level this time around (and it was added via update). It looks great, as usual, sounds good too. Skills are back for whatever reason as while there are optional upgrades to take that make some parts potentially easier, but all important ones unlock at the exact moment the game needs you to have them.
Overall, Trine 4 is the best title in the series so far, at least from the singleplayer perspective as I’ve not checked it in coop yet. I wish they would’ve kept some of the simplifications from the failed third game and the combat could’ve been less annoying (and reliant on freeze arrows). But it is a really good sidescrolling action adventure/puzzle platformer with really nice adventurous spirit and even a solid story for a change. If you’ve never played Trine before, this is the one to go with. And if you’ve been disappointed with 3, this is something that will get you back in the series.