Developer: Frozenbyte
Publisher: Modus Games
Platform: PC, Xbox One, PS4, Switch
Tested on: PS4
Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince – Review
Trine, the game about the trinity of heroes saving the world over and over again, seems to be back once again. This time Trine is ready for the next generation of consoles, including the Nintendo Switch, to find a lost prince who has been dabbling with the magic arts. We get to fight through yet another adventure with the mage Amadeus, the hefty knight Pontius and the stealthy thief Zoya. While the game is still being developed by a somewhat modest studio, it has been on our radar ever since it has been announced. We were looking forward to some good old fashioned puzzle platformer action in a multiplayer format.
Story
Amadeus, Pontius, and Zoya get called in for a new disturbance in the kingdom. The prince has been dabbling with magic, and things have turned for the worst. It seems that due to him messing around with magic, a dark entity has taken a hold of him and now it’s a matter of time to capture the young nobleman before things get even worse. The plot isn’t that thick but everything is presented by very enjoyable cutscenes which motivates you to keep playing. The narrator is very pleasant to listen to, and the fairytale environments are what makes the setting of this game perfect.
Graphics
Graphically Trine 4 is simply fantastic. The game truly keeps the quality of the Trine series high and every scenery and background has been wonderfully crafted. Right off the bat, you’ll have the impression of wading through a fairytale-like world, even when looking at the different manmade structures. The characters are all well made, and they move extremely fluent, even when using their different abilities. The enemy models are somewhat simpler as they use a lot of the same models over and over again, safe for the boss models. Overall we can conclude that this game is truly a sight to behold and that it motivates the player to press on to explore even further.
Sound
The sound design in The Nightmare Prince is also superbly handled. The characters are properly voiced, even though they don’t get that many lines during actual gameplay. The narrator is very pleasant to listen to and has that ‘old-wise-man-vibe’ going on. The background music is also rather cinematic but stays on the background just enough to subtly enhance the gameplay. The sound effects all sound the part but they aren’t too world-shattering.
Gameplay
Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince is a very pleasant puzzle-platformer, with a few action RPG elements embedded in terms of being able to level up your heroes and equip them with fancy new abilities. The game is pretty straightforward in what it tries to do, namely get you from the beginning of a level to the end, by solving puzzles that allow you to overcome obstacles and open doors, cross gaps, scale walls and so on. You’ll have to use the abilities of the three characters to solve these puzzles, but even then there’s a lot of room for personal interpretation, as the game allows you to muck about and find your own solution to the game’s many problems. You’ll have the three different characters at your disposal from start to finish. You can switch characters on the fly, and when playing with friends or online, the other players will also have the three characters readily available, allowing them to play as they see fit as well.
As you progress through the game you’ll collect more experience. This experience will allow you to purchase certain upgrades for your character. For the most part, you can easily keep playing without ever properly looking at your skill-tree as the game will unlock crucial skills automatically. Nonetheless, upgrading your characters with the somewhat limited options is quite fun, as you can have a few more abilities readily available for your (favorite) characters.
The game has five acts to explore, and depending on how good you and/or your party are, the game will be a breeze to blast through, with a few brain-busters along the way. Overall the game can be completed in around eight-ish hours, when you’re not in the mood to collect everything. If you’re a completionist, you can invest several more hours into the game. Overall, the length feels just fine for a game such as this.
Conclusion
Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince is a very amusing puzzle platformer that is best enjoyed in (local) multiplayer. The game offers a lot of different levels and many different puzzles to overcome. If you loved the previous entries in the series, you’ll certainly have a blast with this one, but even those who haven’t played a game in the Trine franchise will still be able to enjoy themselves without having any prior background of the story. Everything is kept relatively simple, and the different difficulty options can make the game a bit more challenging if you’re one to play serious, rather than muck about with friends.
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[…] In the first DLC for Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince, our beloved trio of heroes returns to Astral Academy for some good old ghost hunting. A mysterious sleep has befallen all the students and an accidentally freed spirit might lie at the heart of this trouble. With six new levels of clever puzzle adventure fun, Melody of Mystery is a story-based DLC that will be availble for PC this month, and on consoles by the spring of 2021. For our review of Trine 4, you can go right here. […]
[…] almost been four years since we last saved the world again as the three Heroes of Trine in Trine 4. The fourth installment of the series presented longtime (and new) fans with a fun fantasy story […]