Wii U users have had access to Trine 2 for quite some time, but never got to experience the original game that came before it. Things have changed, however, with the enhanced port of the first game, now known as Trine: Enchanted Edition, which Cubed3 previously reviewed on Wii U and PC. With the implementation of the engine that made Trine 2‘s graphical fidelity sharp and added effects, Trine: Enchanted Edition for Wii U gives players the original story they never got to play. The medieval-fantasy puzzle-platformer that dazzled gamers in 2009 has finally made its way to the Wii U platform, but just how enchanting is it? Find out in this second opinion Cubed3 review.
When Trine: Enchanted Edition begins, users will immediately have control in a safe environment that doubles as the start screen, which is actually a non-intrusive tutorial. This allows players to become familiar with the physics-centric gameplay. When Trine begins proper, there are what can be best described as “sub-tutorials” – moments where the game teaches that there are multiple means to negotiate each obstacle or puzzle. Since this game relies on switching between three different characters on the fly – each with their unique qualities – the game’s puzzles are very flexible to accommodate play styles.
There is the wizard, Amadeus, who has almost no offensive abilities, except that he can move most objects that aren’t bolted down, and can create boxes, planks and even floating platforms, which can be used to bypass some of the more precarious situations or reach areas the other two heroes cannot. Zoya, the thief who stole her wardrobe from the Assassin’s Creed games, has a grappling hook that works similarly to Bionic Commando, but with much more loose physics, and she comes with a bow and arrows. Zoya is interesting because she has the most flexibility in the game, since she is both offensive for fighting waves of skeletons, and she can traverse most of the levels thanks to her grappling hook, where she can swing across gaps and even cheese her way by exploiting the wonky physics. She does get some upgrades that make her even greater, like her fire arrows, which can light torches and do devastating damage. Amadeus and Zoya alone make quite a team, which can be used effectively by themselves. This leads to Pontius the knight, who is the least useful of the bunch and has a very creative ability – the magnetic shield, which is hardly ever used to its fullest. Pontius is good for only two things: hitting skeletons with his sword or getting hit. The shield that Pontius uses is generally not that useful when it should be, since it can reflect fire balls and has a magnetic property that’s akin to the gravity gun from Half-Life 2.
The three heroes are on a pretty stock journey to retrieve the artifact known as the Trine, so they can unbind their souls. While the story isn’t really the focus and is fairly generic, there is some attempt to give the cast a surprising amount of characterisation. Trine‘s narrator, in particular, who has a grandfatherly quality about his voice, as if he is telling a bedtime story, truly does capture a whimsical fantasy atmosphere. Even though Pontius is one of the least fun characters to use, he does have a very boisterous persona and rowdy Cockney accent, with some pretty great line deliveries. Amusingly, Amadeus the wizard has a much younger voice than his design would imply, and the game suggests that he is a sort of ladies’ man. Zoya, being the most fun to play as, has the flattest characterisation in the team, and is not particularly memorable.
What is memorable, are the stunning, high fantasy visuals. Every environment is pretty lush and rich with colour, and atmospheric effects, like fog, fireflies and shafts of light. Trine: Enchanted Edition truly does benefit from the new engine and added bump in graphics. The package is more richly textured and a fluid sight to behold. The music is so perfect for the style of this kind of game, with a very renaissance fair quality about it, and really does add to the atmosphere of dungeons and dragons style heroes on an adventure, with the narrator acting as the dungeon master.
As mentioned earlier, Trine gives quite a bit of leeway when engaging with the game’s physics-based puzzles. There are so many winches, levers, switches, seesaws, catapults, traps, windmills, ropes and many assorted bits of contraptions that react pretty naturally. All of these gizmos are woven into the levels pretty organically, and it never feels like the geometry was prefabricated. It all has a natural flow and intelligence to the level and puzzle design. Most of the puzzles can be beaten with Amadeus or Zoya, given how dynamic their abilities are – especially Zoya, who can hook shot and swing her way to the goal.
Using the Wii U GamePad screen (or analogue sticks), it is possible to manipulate many objects to make a path, or create boxes as a counterweight. Later, Amadeus can make planks of varying size to clear gaps or make the odd floating platform. It’s when playing as Pontius that the game shows how sloppy it is, due to its brainless combat. Most of the enemies are generic skeletons – sometimes they have shields, other times they have torches, or maybe they will have bow and arrows. Most of the time, the skeletons will run around frantically trying to path find their way to one of controlled heroes, but they are typically weak fodder. Rarely, the game will throw in a spider enemy or a mini-boss, which comes in very few flavours, but for 80 percent of the game, generic skeletons will be fought.
The RPG elements in are pretty light and not terribly vital to the game’s progression. Levelling up only means upgrading one of the existing abilities for each character, and Trine can be beaten with the most basic core abilities, too. The freeform way puzzles are makes it so that there are many options and choice, which give this a bit more variety and replayability than most other puzzle-centric games.
Trine: Enchanted Edition is not a terribly long game, but for $15, the price is fair for about an eight to ten hour play time. The game does feature online cooperative multiplayer, where other players can play as the other characters, but things tend to descend into utter bedlam, with two other characters running about doing their shtick. It also should be mentioned that Trine is not a very challenging game, possibly due to it being made to cater to young gamers. Those who are seasoned in the arena of puzzles and platformers will breeze through this quite fast, even if it is still a genuinely fine game.
While there is not much for post-game content outside of a harder difficulty, there is some element of replayability for anyone who wishes to retry the game playing it slightly different, but outside of that there is no other substantial longevity to Trine: Enchanted Edition. Even those who have played the original Trine may be left disappointed that this updated rerelease is more or less the exact same game, but with enhanced visuals. This is not essential for veterans of the original, but for anyone who enjoys light atmospheric fantasy puzzle games, they will feel right at home.
