Trine: Enchanted Edition (Wii U) Review

By Dan Stanyon 12.04.2015

Review for Trine: Enchanted Edition on Wii U

With Mario, Donkey Kong, and Rayman, it's no secret that the Wii U isn't short of platformers. However, it would be premature to turn off to the idea of another - Trine: Enchanted Edition is an offering with a distinctly different flavour. Rather than tricky precision platforming that the aforementioned games boast, Trine opts for a more laid-back experience; physics-based puzzles are the order of the day, with an inventive character-swapping mechanic, all set against some stunningly beautiful backdrops. There's not too much to keep players coming back, and the story is entirely forgettable, but there's a good few hours of high quality enjoyment to be had here.

What makes Trine's gameplay so unique? Upon beginning the game, the player is introduced to three fairly stock characters: a thief, a wizard, and a knight. These characters come to meet over the titular Trine, an ancient artefact that ends up binding the souls of the three together, and so they set out on a quest to free themselves, as well as rid the world of evil. The central mechanic of the game is the player's ability to swap between any of the three characters at will, using their individual abilities in tandem to overcome an array of platform-based puzzles. The abilities of each character are nicely varied and lead to different playstyles; the wizard can move objects and create new platforms to overcome great heights, while the thief uses a grappling hook to attach to and swing from wooden surfaces, and the knight has a melee-combat style of play with a sword and shield.

Screenshot for Trine: Enchanted Edition on Wii U

There's a pleasing element of freedom since many of the puzzles don't have just a single solution; to overcome a section with thin wooden beams, platforms can be drawn to connect them all with the wizard, or just swing underneath them using the thief. The other side of the coin is that none of the puzzles will have anyone scratching their heads. Most height-based problems are easily solved by the wizard, and the thief can swing up and onto anything the grappling hook can attach to. Perhaps this was a deliberate move to make sure all areas can be overcome with every character, since they all have separate life meters and it is possible that the required one may not be accessible at times. The result is that, by design, Trine isn't very difficult; even the enemies, which come in greater numbers with bigger health bars towards the end of the game, are somewhat trivialised by the overabundance of health-replenishing checkpoints. While this doesn't really diminish the fun, gamers looking for a challenge may not get their fix here - Enchanted Edition is far more of a relaxing title.

The presentation opens itself for plenty of praise. The game's 15 levels each have some astonishingly detailed environments, ranging from twilight forests to luminescent rivers to flame-illuminated castle interiors. Evidently a lot of thought was put into the aesthetics of this game, and so the fantastic visuals just ooze charm. The soundtrack doesn't consist of many catchy tunes, but there is a well-fitting range of ambient themes that mystify the environments further. The story is less impressive, though; it's little more than a vehicle to set up the game mechanics and move from one stage to another. Delivered in the form of spoken narration on the map screen while the levels are loading, it's a very standard affair, with guardians, spirits, ancient ruins, and so on. These monologues come across as overly twee (like the characters' dialogue and the beginning and end of every level), but fortunately they can be skipped entirely with no consequence.

Screenshot for Trine: Enchanted Edition on Wii U

What about the longevity of the game? As mentioned, Trine's single-player campaign offers a nominally low 15 levels, although each of these levels will take around 15 minutes on the first playthrough. This means that in around four hours, a player can experience all the game has to offer. There are a number of collectables to find, which offer some replay value, including treasure chests containing stat-boosting items and experience vials that can level-up each character's three skills, although it's not as though there's more to do with these skills once they have been maxed out. In a way it's a shame that the multiplayer modes - which include online - don't offer a specifically-designed set of levels, since having two or three of the characters playing simultaneously opens up a lot of new gameplay possibilities (the thief may stand on a box such that the knight's "gravity shield" ability can propel the box, and her with it, over gaps), but these novel ideas are never actually required.

Screenshot for Trine: Enchanted Edition on Wii U

As a cross-platform release, the Wii U offering doesn't differentiate itself a great deal, yet this is hardly surprising given that the original Trine was released for PC in 2009 and the remade Enchanted Edition was released as a PC beta last year. It's possible to play off-screen on the GamePad, but for some bizarre reason the wizard's draw cursor doesn't appear on the GamePad display, making any section requiring his abilities needlessly difficult with the TV off. However, it's worth noting that the game uses Trine 2's engine on all platforms, which produces slightly crisper graphics on the Wii U compared to the PS3 version, although likely no noticeable difference over the PC counterparts. Perhaps it's more important not to find positive differences but to point out that the transition to Wii U is an entirely smooth one, and the game plays very well with a Pro controller (or the identical controls on the GamePad). Players won't be missing out on any content (except for the "old-school" setting, which displays the original Trine's visuals, available on PC) or choosing an inferior version by opting for the Wii U iteration.

Screenshot for Trine: Enchanted Edition on Wii U

Cubed3 Rating

8/10
Rated 8 out of 10

Great - Silver Award

Rated 8 out of 10

Trine: Enchanted Edition is exactly the sort of title that deserves its cult following. With original game mechanics and charming aesthetics, it's a pleasure to play. While not particularly taxing, the levels are long and complex enough to provide seasoned platformers with a fresh experience, and since collecting all the experience vials will take a few replays, completionists may find satisfaction here, too. Trine is best explained as "small but perfectly formed" - its short length and unique gameplay may not be to everyone's tastes, but it nonetheless provides a complete and thoroughly enjoyable package. While there may be a desire for further development of the ideas here, such players may find their desires may be satiated in the already-available Trine 2: Director's Cut.

Developer

Frozenbyte

Publisher

Frozenbyte

Genre

2D Platformer

Players

3

C3 Score

Rated $score out of 10  8/10

Reader Score

Rated $score out of 10  0 (0 Votes)

European release date Out now   North America release date Out now   Japan release date None   Australian release date Out now   

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