Game: Trine 2: Complete Story
Genre: Adventure, Action, Platformer, Puzzle
System: Nintendo Switch (also on PC, PS4)
Developer/Publisher: Frozenbyte
Age Rating: 12+ (UK & EU) | 10+ (US)
Price: £15.29 | €16,99 | $16.99
Release Date: 18th February 2019
Review Code kindly provided by Frozenbyte
Let’s Rescue the Princess!
Amadeus the wizard, Pontius the knight and Zoya the thief are once again bound together by the mystical Trine and whisked away to save another kingdom.
This time the heroes find themselves fighting; goblins, oversized plants and spiders, as well as a fire breathing dragon – all to save a princess and restore order back to the land – Huzzaaaah!
Gameplay & Controls
Trine 2: Complete Story incorporates many of the aspects/mechanics from the first Trine game, but with: more puzzles, different skills, no item inventory and abilities aren’t restricted by a mana meter (yay for less restrictions).
In their adventure in this kingdom, the trio find that the plant life has started to come alive and grow far larger than they should – even some of the wildlife have increased in size!
The overgrown nature/wildlife make for some interesting puzzle segments; the player can direct water to make new plants grow and create new platforms, while wildlife get in the way until the player gives them an incentive to move – leading to some funny comments from Pontius. 😀
Variety is the spice of life
As with any good adventure, there are a variety of locations for the heroes to explore; a forest, a marshland, a (spooky) grove, a cave, underground sewers, by the sea and even an ice keep.
In each location there are new types of puzzles to solve and enemies to fight. However, the goblins are the main enemy, so you get to fight plenty of them along the way. The different enemies and creatures make the world feel more alive and certainly makes the game more interesting. 😀
Treasure, Experience & Abilities
Much like in the first Trine; there are treasure chests to find and experience points to collect. There are artworks and poems in the treasure chests and the experience is used to unlock abilities. A lot of the experience points are hidden or difficult to get to, which adds more of a challenge for players that like to 100% games. Thankfully though, 100% experience isn’t needed to unlock all the abilities, and you can re-configure what the points have been used for (great for players that don’t like hunting round levels).
There are a few ability differences in Trine 2 compared to 1; Amadeus can now put enemies into cages – making him more useful in battle. Pontius can glide with his shield – great for crossing wide gaps. While Zoya has a third type of arrow that creates an anti-gravity bubble; when objects are in the bubble they float (handy for reaching greater heights) and fire and water cannot penetrate the bubble (great for battles and puzzles).
Zoya’s anti-gravity bubble – brilliant for getting water to where you need it!#Trine #Trine2 #NintendoSwitch pic.twitter.com/UGB29cuPWL
— Evriun (@evriun) May 18, 2019
The anti-gravity bubble isn’t needed to complete any puzzles or to get through the game, but it’s great fun to use – especially in replays to change things up!
Goblins Are Afoot!
Trine 2: Complete Story contains the DLC expansions that were released for Trine 2 in 2012 (Goblin Menace and Dwarven Caverns). So after saving the princess and the pumpkins; the heroes find out that the goblins are still causing mischief and have kidnapped Amadeus’ wife!
The additional story is a little more comedic and takes the trio to all sorts of places – some are very different from the main game while also being more difficult. Once Amadeus’ wife has been saved, the fun doesn’t end there though.
If the player has found all the hidden map pieces in the Goblin Menace levels, then they will unlock the Dwarven Caverns. This additional level is quite challenging, rather puzzling and doesn’t have a boss at the end, but it’s a nice extra level with plenty of experience points to collect (making it easier to unlock all the abilities of the heroes).
Hello?…Is Anybody There?…
Trine 2: Complete Story has local and online co-op multiplayer (for up to 3 players). However; a Nintendo Switch Online membership is required and it’s rare to find anyone hosting a public game.
There are two modes when it comes to choosing characters during multiplayer;
- Classic: Only one person can be a certain character at a time.
- Unlimited: Anyone can be which ever character they want.
Puzzles are a lot easier with an additional player, but if you aren’t able to communicate with one another and are on Classic mode; it can be very tricky if you need Amadeus to move an object, but the player is clueless to what needs to be done. Most likely won’t be a problem for local play, but for online it may be best to use software/an app that allows for voice chat (like Discord).
Magic At Our Fingertips
You can use the joy-cons or pro-controllers for all the characters, but Amadeus now has touch screen functionality. So with a simple gesture; we can create boxes and planks, as well as drag goblins around and put them into cages – happy days! (perhaps not for the goblins 😛 )
Of course in TV mode there is no touch screen available, so you have to use the analog controls to conjure with Amadeus. It’s a shame there isn’t another method, as motion controls would be perfect for conjuring.
Graphics, Designs & Soundtrack
Trine 2 has a great atmosphere to the levels; with a wispy mist-like look to (majority) of them and lighting that makes the world feel even more alive. The style fits perfectly with the game’s setting and creates a brilliant magical-fantasy feeling.
The level designs are brilliant; progression feels natural and fluid, while also allowing the player to try different ideas when approaching a situation. There are of course a number of puzzling parts that require the player to stop and think, but they don’t ruin the flow of a level and provide a nice break from platform hopping/goblin slaying.
The soundtrack brings so much emotion to the game and really makes it feel all the more magical and adventurous! Some tracks are lighthearted and quirky, others create a sense of mystery and intrigue, while some have a beautiful delicacy to them; all working perfectly with the themes of the levels and the setting of the game – it’s brilliant!
Trine 2’s soundtrack was actually one of our ‘Game Soundtracks We Love’ choices back in December – the article can be found here.
Additional Comments
Throughout the game the heroes discuss and make comments about what is happening, but there is also a narrator that reads passages of text between levels, and comments during play. It’s a nice aspect, making the player feel more like they are taking part in a fantasy story, rather than just playing a game. The comments made (by the heroes and narrator) can be quite humorous and adds a nice lighthearted feel to the game.
Steam has Trine 2: Complete Story for £13.99, while Director’s Cut on Wii U is also £13.99. I think £15.29 is still a fair price for the Switch version; £1.30 more is a small price to pay for portability. Of course those lovely sales come around every now and then (helping us save some pennies) and recently it was on sale in the UK & EU eShop for £10.70 – brilliant price!
Complete Story contains the same content as the Director’s Cut. So if you’ve played through the game on Wii U, you won’t find any new content here – only limited touch functionality and no Super Mario easter egg in the Dwarven Caverns (shame really; it was funny finding it).
Overall Opinion
Trine 2 I feel is a step up from the first Trine, the creators added a lot more charm into the game as well as variety with the locations, enemies and puzzles. I had played Trine 2 on Wii U for more than 100 hours (most of that was multiplayer online), so I was very familiar with the game before starting it for this review – still thoroughly enjoy it though! 😀
The Good
There are multiple ways to approach (most) situations, thanks to the skills and abilities of the three heroes. The freedom of choice allows the player to be creative when trying to overcome a puzzle or enemy – which is brilliant I think! I always have great fun trying to use the skills in different ways, or not using them for segments I usually would use them for – freedom of choice is great in any game. 😀
For awhile it seemed Trine 2 was destined to have no touch screen functionality at all (like Trine: Enchanted Edition). Thankfully though, the functionality has been added for Amadeus – which makes creating/moving objects feel so much more fluid (at least in handheld mode).
I think the dialogue between the heroes is great and so is the narrator. The heroes’ dialogue adds depth to the characters as well as humour and charm to the game. While the narrator really brings everything together as an fantasy story being told (a big part of Trine’s charm I would say 😀 ).
Another part of the game’s charm is the surprisingly the goblins. Sure they are rather dopey and silly, but that made them more entertaining and enjoyable to fight – more so than the undead in the first Trine game.
The Bad
The minor flaws: not able to skip all cut scenes on replays, no option to turn off control tips, or able to map buttons to suit your own play style. Skipping all cut scenes and turning off tips was possible in the Director’s Cut version – not sure why they aren’t in Complete Story.
I think the main aspect I see as bad, is when trying to cage an enemy. While in TV mode the cursor moves too slowly and you are more likely to pick an enemy up than cage them. It’s disappointing that motion controls haven’t been implemented for TV mode, or making it so that while you have a hold on an enemy, you simply tap a button to conjure a cage around them. Motion controls would be more fun, but tapping a button would be far better than trying to draw around an enemy with a slow cursor (not practical at all).
Would I recommend Trine 2: Complete Story?
I definitely recommend Trine 2: Complete Story. It’s brilliant fun and you don’t have to play the first game to make sense of this one. Although the controls for Amadeus could be improved for TV mode, a patch could remedy that aspect of the game (it’s currently version 1.0.1) and it’s fine in handheld mode.
So if you like action-platformers with puzzles and like fantasy based games; certainly give Trine 2 a go! 😀
My Verdict
I absolutely love Trine 2. Sure it’s not flawless (what game is?), but the major issue I think the game has, doesn’t actually affect my play experience at all (I play the Switch in handheld mode more than anything).
Therefore, I give ‘Trine 2: Complete Story’ Two Thumbs Up! 😀
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