Trine: Enchanted Edition (Switch) Review

What do a thief, a knight and a wizard have in common?

They are as one.

In 2009 when the first Trine game released their souls intertwined thanks to a mysterious artifact called the Trine.

When the King of a ruined land dies without leaving a hier the world in which Zoya (Thief), Pontius (the Knight) and Amadeus (the Wizard) all see an opportunity as the world in which they live in plunges in to dark chaos, the undead rise up out of nowhere, seemingly, and the throne is vacant.

Each one of the trio of characters goes straight to the Academy of Magic, but with thier own motive.

Zoya thinking there will be some goodies ripe for plundering, Pontius on a self directed mission to protect the Academy and Amadeus already within the Academy after a sleeping potion backfired is trying to escape.

As all three approach a shrine to the magical treasure that is the Trine their souls become fused together.

The three strangers, who had no intention of being so close with eachother, let alone friends must now work together to undo the magic that binds them together and save what remains of the Kingdom along their adventures.

A 2.5D side scroll, the original Trine exploded with PC gamers due to its richly detailed and ethereal world.

Utilising real-world physics like we had never seen before, each Level consists of puzzles where you will need to use all three characters and their abilities to get through.

Zoya has a bow and arrow and rope with a dagger which will allow her to swing across great caverns, Amadeus can cast spells and produce objects out of thin air, handy if that next platform is just out of reach. Pontius, well he is like a bull in a China shop, but has excellent defense with his shield and a brutal undead slayer with his sword.

Throughout the game you will be changing characters on the fly to progress. If one character is low on health, generally with you being able to switch characters will save you from death. That said, if one or two of your characters dies, there’s a cool off period, or until you find a health potion.

The first Trine title set the developers; Frozenbyte as magical wizards themselves in a game that we all couldn’t get enough of.

So, it wasn’t too long (2012) before we revisted our soul-bonded trio again in Trine 2.

Again the three need to band together in similar gameplay mechanics, retaining that astounding real-world physics which both accented and at times added to the difficulty of gameplay.

In Trine 2 the Kingdom has been restored at the conclusion of the first Trine and there were a few years of peace… until the Goblins arrived. The Trine once again works its magic and throws our band of unlikely heroes in to a world they had not experienced before.

Trine 2 had an RPG element by way of earning skill points where you can upgrade the characters via a skill tree.

Again, Frozenbyte really upped their game with Trine 2.

Then, only a couple of years back (2015) Trine 3: Artifacts of Power was released on PC and console (stereoscopic 3D on PlayStation 4).

Yup, our misfitted trio of Zoya, Pontius and Amadeus return but not so much to a magical realm – instead they are once again bonded together throughout brutal medieval lands.

Each Trine title is narrated as the adventure is played out – this gives us, the enchanted players, more backstory and clues as to what we are meant to do – there are times where a puzzle may not be so obvious.

Trine 3 follows the same mechanics as Trine and Trine 2, but unlike the prior two, Trine 3 was significantly shorter in it’s play through.

The Trine series really made it’s impression on gamers due to it’s art style and the aforementioned environmental real-world physics.

A game that is not only challenging and rewarding to play through, but a beauty and wonder for the visual senses.

For now, Trine: Enchanted Edition is available with the rest of the trilogy set to release soon for Nintendo Switch (Trine 2 and Trine: Artifacts of Power).

Being on a portable platform there has been no noticeable compromise. Frozenbyte wielded their own magic to bring us the delight that is Trine on to one small cartridge.

Trine: Enchanted Edition is MUST for any Switch owner. Do not overlook this one.

It is not so much a quick play game, as Levels can be frustratingly challenging at times – but there are over 60+ hours of play time to be had with all three and Levels have differing lengths of play-through time. There is also multi / co-op player where friends can drop in and out of the adventures. Being on Switch, each player can partake with one of the Joy-Cons.

Trine has always been a game that keeps on giving and I’m hoping that Frozenbyte release a fourth (hopefully with a more indepth skill tree mechanic).

Fuse your soul with your Switch and take on Trine: Enchanted Edition for the first time, or pick it up all over again, releasing the magic to save the land and yourselves, wherever you are.

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