Trine Ultimate Collection is a compilation of a decade's worth of iconic games meant for a fun time with friends. Having never played any ofTrine Ultimate Collection is a compilation of a decade's worth of iconic games meant for a fun time with friends. Having never played any of these games before, I asked for this as a gift, and in a month played through all 4. Here are my thoughts on each one, then my overall thoughts as a collection:
Trine Enchanted Edition: The remastered version of the game that started it all. Honestly I think it's held up well over the test of time. A straightforward puzzle platformer with minimal story but a constant state of "It doesn't matter how you get past the puzzles, so long as you do." The difficulty is reasonable, but certainly still there, and can lead to a few frustrating deaths. You can also clear the game in 4 hours, so if you want to start at the beginning it could be best to wait for a sale. 7.5/10
Trine 2 Complete Story: Now this is the game that felt like the "true start" of the franchise. Picking up shortly after where the last game left off, this game decided to go for a story and even introduce light cutscenes into the experience as well. The humor was increased and the characters felt more personable, and really brought the whole experience to life. The visuals became a lot nicer, the gameplay much smoother, and the difficulty shifted from gameplay into more intricate puzzles. This game truly brought Trine into the light, and is a fantastic game to play with friends. 8.5/10
Trine 3 The Artifacts of Power: Just as great franchises have great highs, they must also have great lows. Trine 3 was too ambitious of a project, ditching the side-scrolling puzzle platforming in favor of a third person action experience. This lead to some neat cutscenes and a story that could have been interesting, but their budget ran out a third into the game leaving the game only 3 hours long and the story unfinished. Sadly what was left was really bad. Skill trees were removed, and all the character actions were over simplified. Mandatory side quests patted out what little content the game had, and overall it was simply not fun to play. Most of the time the difficulty seemed to come from just trying to make the game work, as several bugs made the already bad experience even worse. When all was said and done, there was little enjoyment to take away at all, making it easily one of the worst games I've ever played. 2.0/10
Trine 4 The Nightmare Prince: After the great fall that was Trine 3, Trine 4 became the greatest of comebacks. This absolute marvel of a game built on every concept Trine 2 had set up and drove it home masterfully. Puzzle platforming returned, along with the skill tree with several new skills to learn that constantly made the game exciting to play. The visuals were also constantly breathtaking with vibrant backgrounds, detailed cutscenes, and animations that were a joy to watch. It's also worth mentioning the story was actually really good! You learn more about our main characters while enjoying a story of a troubled boy with some great inner demons, meeting all sorts of fun side characters along the way. Trine 4 was so constantly addictive and fun to play, and showed the developers can still deliver an amazing new experience while still sticking to their laurels, and I can't wait to see what they do next. 9.0/10
Overall, this collection can't be beat. 3 amazing games with over 20 hours of content, and a lot of laughs and good times you can have with friends either together or online. Trine 1, 2, & 4 are all a lot of fun to play and only get better with each one, and honestly 2 & 4 are good enough to play on their own even if you don't buy the whole collection (though with as much money as you save, why not just get both and try out 1 instead). If you're skeptical to try out the franchise, dip your toes in with 2. Want to play only the best of the best? Jump straight to 4. No matter which route you go down though, don't touch 3. Trust me, I'm warning you for your own good. Overall I think an all in one package is perfect for this franchise because you get to see the evolution of this series, and it just makes you enjoy each game even more than the last and truly gives you a feeling of "Complete."… Expand
