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Hey Guys,
Just wanted to drop a few thoughts on a game recommendation.
I've been really impressed by Trine 4 and highly recommend it.
It's not a new game, and as you can tell by the '4', the series is well established. That said, Trine 4 is the first one I've played so I can't comment on the first three.
I grabbed Trine 4 with my two kids in mind (aged 9 and 11), hoping for a some local coop gaming, and it as been a smash hit. However, the success has gone beyond just having some fun times with the kids, and even with my wife!
Yes, it has local coop, even 4-way coop (if you have the controllers for it - keyboard/mouse is viable if not quite as handy as a controller), and it also has online coop (but I've not tried it, no idea how active the servers are). It even has multiple coop modes allowing for free character swapping/duplication or a mode where character duplication isn't possible. So the coop is solid.
I haven't tried to play the game solo but I suspect it will be viable, but maybe a little easy (?).
So, quickly, what is Trine? Well there are tons of Youtube videos to clue you in, but it's a platform puzzle game. If you're old enough, you might remember the old game Lost Vikings (I had it on the Amiga). Trine gave me vibes of that game, but far better. Essentially it's a quest through various levels where you control three different teammates - a wizard, an archer/acrobat, and a knight. Each one has unique abilities that have to be used in combination in order to overcome various platform puzzles, discover various treasures/hidden items, and make your way through the story. There is also some platform combat from time to time.
Here's what had made the game great, IMO.
1 - The audio/visual - Trine 4 is really pretty and does a great job of creating levels and a world the builds atmosphere. There's nothing too inventive here, it feels like other fantasy/fairytale environments you've seen before, but it's done so well that it's enjoyable just watching what's going on. The art, the extra critters and animations in the foreground and background, all feel really polished. You'll catch details here and there that you missed, and it's just an lovely world to play through.
2 - The character skill progression - each of the characters starts with basic skills which, in combination, already feel varied and competent but, to my surprise, I found that the game kept building in more and more skills and abilities. Some are fixed upgrades that trigger automatically at certain points in the game, and others are chosen via a skill-tree. This allows for players to experiment with different skills and ways to solve puzzles. There are a few that you'll probably end up using more than others - the wizard's box stacking might be the most obvious, but you do have some varied options for how to use each character. My daughter loves Zoya, the archer, and even when it isn't the best or easiest choice, she loves trying to rope-swing her way through each puzzle. I was surprised how much depth there was in the skills. I would have likely been happy with fewer, but I can't complain about the creators had so much into the title.
3 - Speaking of packing a lot into Trine 4 - the puzzles/solving. I was blown away with the depth of the puzzles. Some are simple, others are more challenging, with a couple I found genuinely frustrating - but overall I'd say the difficulty was spot on. I wouldn't want it all easy or all difficult. I'm glad I was pushed at times, and at other times, enjoyed the easier spots where we could have fun just playing through it. There's a rhythm at times, and it feels like you could almost enjoy speed-running through levels where you rope-swing/jump/float/leverage your way smoothly through the levels. There's enjoyment just in the movement. Beyond that, though, you can genuinely find different solutions to the same puzzles - bring your own approach to each one. Often I later found a smarter solution after having 'lucked' my way through a puzzle by pulling off some tricky timing that probably wasn't the intended solution. But I liked that. Each puzzle is almost like a puzzle sandbox where you can play around. Some solutions are more limited, but overall, you've got a decent amount of freedom to explore options.
That's not all though. As I said, I've only played coop, but I've played two-player and three-player coop, and accidentally, started a single player mode with two players. The depth of the game is such that it adjusts puzzles for the number of players. Puzzles are genuinely different depending on the number of players. I loved that. It adds a ton of replay quality where you will have to find different solutions to the same areas because the puzzles are different. I'm sure some are very similar, but there are plenty that present a different challenge. It really feels like a well-planned, well written game with a lot of loved poured into it. If you're a hardcore puzzle fanatic you might find it overall too easy, but if you want to enjoy a fun action puzzle game which will challenge you sometimes and sometimes you just enjoy the ride, this is definitely one to look at.
What else?
4 - The collectibles - I'm not one for grinding or going back to collect collectibles. However, Trine 4 has a sort of player 'lobby' before you launch into the main game. It's a room from one of the in-game areas.
The interesting thing is that the room has it's own puzzle in it which can only be solved as your progress through the main game and find various hidden collectible items. Each map area/level has three items to find, a letter (which is just lore), a treasure and ... a knickknack (I think - whatever it's called, there's a letter and then two items per main level). As you find those items they combine and when you have a set it provides a new feature in the lobby area which you can then use to advance the puzzle.
Most of the collectibles aren't difficult to find but I've gone through the game twice now, once with each of my kids, and we haven't found all the items yet. Just today I went through one level twice looking slowly for missing items (knowing there were all three to find), and we still haven't found two of the items.
In completing the game I didn't have to use a walkthrough, but if we keep trying and can't find the items, I might have to dip into one to see what we're missing. But overall the collectibles and hidden areas haven't felt like a chore but fun. It's great to discover a well-hidden area and adds the mystery/wonder of the level design.
Right - are there any negatives?
Sort of. Sometimes, in an effort to find hidden areas, you'll jump into gaps that'll kill you, even if you're trying to be careful. Maybe that's on me for not picking up on clues well enough to spot explorable areas vs. obvious pits of death.
When playing coop you can get in one another's way if you don't work together. That's not a knock on the game at all, it's down to the players. But the most frustrating thing in the game is when players don't work together.
The character development - it's pretty generic/basic, but then, the game does follow a wizard/rogue/knight formula, so you might expect it. I didn't mind it. The voice acting was decent enough and the story does enough to flesh out their stories. So although they rely on established tropes I found the characters likeable and I'd like to see their story go on. If you're hoping for something really quirky or different though, you might not enjoy it as much.
Removing a keyboard player - this is a weird one. When you launch the game sometimes player 1 defaults to keyboard and mouse. For the life of me I can't find a consistent way to remove that player or swap them to controller. Often I had to quit the game and relaunch it. Once I had to unplug the keyboard and launch it to avoid having that keyboard player in. Adding and removing controller players is easy - press the start button. The keyboard player doesn't seem to have a 'start button' equivalent.
................
I think that's about it. There might be more but those are my main thoughts.
Bottom line - Trine 4 is gaming done right. It knows what sort of game it is. It invests in that and offers up a polished products that doesn't skimp on the gameplay, giving you plenty of what you want, but also does a good job with graphics, sound, writing, and other aspects, so that it feels a really complete experience. This is how games should be done. If you like good games, especially puzzles or coop, give this game a look.
Oh, and there's some DLC. Bought it but haven't played it yet.
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