Simply keeping on top of the steady release of “AAA” game is challenging enough these days, with a larger market than ever before, and a massive number of devs and publishers trying to sate that demand. Unfortunately, that often means far too many good indie titles fly under the radar without the recognition they deserve. This weekly post aims to highlight some of those games we’ve got around to playing but never got around to reviewing.

Trine Enhanced Edition

Trine, pre-enhancement circa. 2009, was developed and released by Frozenbyte with little fanfare, yet quickly picked up a sizeable audience. Retro-style games were making a comeback but this 2.5D indie puzzle-platformer sported 3-player local-coop, gorgeous visuals that could compete with contemporary “AAA” titles, and it had an enchanting soundtrack from Ari Pulkkinen to boot. Presentation aside (something that is much improved in the Enchanted Edition), the real draw is the simple yet engaging puzzling and platforming mechanics, which rely on an entertaining blend of physics, speed, creativity, and coordination. The three (at the time unnamed) protagonists - each of which have their own appraoch to platforming and combat - are bound to the Trine artefact and sent on a quest to recover three fragments, then defeat an undead king and his army, and finally restore peace to the land. Aside from the narration during the loading screens, there's only infrequent character quips in-game, so don’t approach these games looking for a narrative-heavy adventure.

The Knight is the most straight forward of the three, able to block attacks and fireballs with his shield, swipe with his sword, and throw a massive hammer at distant targets. The Knight is the best pick for close combat but has limited platforming skill. The Thief is by far the nimblest of the three, with a grappling hook that allows her to swing from most surfaces, cross huge gaps, and clamber up and down pits. She’s also armed with a bow that can shoot several arrow types, triggering distant traps and picking off distant enemies if you get the angle right. The Thief is the best pick for speed and ranged combat. The wizard can jump about like the rest of the crew but has no direct combat abilities, relying instead on his ability to manipulate distant objects and summon boxes, planks, or floating platforms. Picking up and flinging rocks, or simply summoning a box high above a clueless goblin, becomes your primary and amusing means of attack.

There’s a basic skill tree to upgrade and an equipment system – with XP pickups and gear often secreted away – expanding the versatility of your core skills and providing your selected character with health or mana buffs respectively. However, these upgrades will never halt your your progress. Instead, Trine actively encourages creativity, especially when played in coop. Played solo, you can swap between characters on the fly, picking the best fit for any situation, and cruise past many obstacles. In coop, the ability to combine two or more skills simultaneously opens the way for some creative solutions, in which you can be certain your box, plank, and Knight stack was never the optimal way forward. In addition, coop requires you get all your characters past an obsticle, making for a hilarious couch-coop experience.

You can pick up Trine Enchanted Edition on PC, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch (and it’ll come to Xbox One before the launch of the fourth game).

Trine 2: Complete Story

With Trine 2, Frozenbyte decided to refine, rather than reinvent the wheel. It’s a sequel that looks even more like a CG movie than the first, gave each hero a name and backstory, reintroduced the Trine, and then flung them into battle against an evil sorcerous and her goblin lackeys. Amadeus the Wizard, Zoya the Thief, and Pontius the Knight must again taskle over a dozen 2.5D platforming and puzzle-heavy levels using their unique skills - either played solo or, once again, preferentially in coop.

Perhaps realising the gear system in the first game felt largely inconsequential, Trine 2 ditches it for more generic artwork-related secrets, and instead focusses on expanded skill trees, giving each character even more flexibility (like giving Amadeus the ability to create a box cage around his foes and then fling them at their friends, or allowing Pontius to glid with his shield). At the same time, the environments and hazards within them are more complex, offer more potential solutions, and provide twice the amount of chaos with more than one player. There are giant mushrooms and vines that’ll only sprout if you can redirect waterfalls; steam pipes can be connected in a myriad of configurations to power equipment or launch your heroes; and more combat that feels a whole lot more fluid than before.

If you’re only planning on trying one game in series, this is the best pick thanks to all the visual and gameplay refinements, with loads of content, and coop chaos. You can pick up Trine 2: Complete Story on PC, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch (and it’ll come to Xbox One before the launch of the fourth game).



Trine 3: The Artifacts of Power

This the part where opinions are likely to diverge. Trine 3: The Artifacts of Power tried to shake up the formula by shifting the game to a full – albeit narrow – 3D world, had to make several sacrifices to the gameplay mechanics, and was released in a barely-complete state that was over in a few hours. Thankfully, I only got around to playing a year later, after several patches and content drops. Is it the weakest game of the trilogy? Probably, but it still offers a fun coop experience in its current state.

After a series of tutorial levels focussing on each hero and their newfound abilities in 3D space (skills that are, admittedly, somewhat limited in comparison to the prior games and no longer upgradeable), the heroes reunite and promptly shatter the Trine, no longer satisfied with being bound to its service. As could be expected, a new evil sorcerer swiftly emerges, and the heroes must now go out to gather the shards and reforge the Trine.

Trine 3: The Artifacts of Power plays most like a combination of a fixed-camera 3D action game (like God of War), with several puzzle elements brought in from the prior games. You run around didging traps, platforming in and out of the scene, fighting foes, and solving a lot of block puzzles (that mostly boil down to dragging, grappling, or levitating them into place). There is a bigger focus on combat but, once again, it feels a lot smoother before (albeit less tactical), and the world is still littered with secrets (now often hidden out of sight by the fixed camera).

It’s fun and fluid and short-lived as a single player experience - with multiple story-related and challenge levels scattered across a small overworld map - but the biggest issues are the focus on combat, limited number of interesting hazards, and less flexibility in crafting your own whacky solutions; all representing a big step back from the prior games. It also doesn’t help that the story literally goes nowhere before you hit an abrupt ending and will have to wait for the upcoming Trine 4 - The Nightmare Prince. All that said, if you can pick it up cheaply, there’s still several hours of fun to be had, either solo or in coop.

You can pick up Trine 3: The Artifacts of Power plays on PC, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch (and it’ll come to Xbox One before the launch of the fourth game). At this point it’s worth mentioning you can often pick up the Trine Trilogy bundle cheaply, and it’s often discounted during sales on all platforms.



Let us know in the comments below what you think of our choices, or if you’ve been playing an indie game this week you’d like to promote to the community.

Follow the link to see more of our picks for Indies of the Week.