Back when Trine 4 came out, it felt a bit like a hail-mary attempt to recapture the audience that was lost after the disappointment of Trine 3, and the future of the series seemed a bit up in the air. Luckily, that last title proved to be a strong return to form for the series, and after a DLC expansion (on PC) that was also well-received, Frozenbyte was able to justify greenlighting a full-fledged sequel in the 2.5D tradition. Trine 5: A Clockwork Conspiracy certainly doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it proves beyond any doubt that the developers still have a lot of great ideas to explore and it stands as yet another high-quality entry in the ongoing series.
Trine 5 once again follows the exploits of Amadeus the Wizard, Zoya the Thief, and Pontius the Knight who are now quite famous in their world for saving the day many times. The heroes are reunited after being summoned by Lady Sunny for a celebration ceremony to commemorate their achievements. However, upon arrival, the regent quickly reveals her true colors and attempts to steal the heroes’ power from them, aided by an army of clockwork knights built by Lord Godric. Our heroes manage to escape in time, and this kicks off a quest to defeat the elusive and power-hungry Lady Sunny before she seizes control of the kingdom.
It’s not a terribly in-depth narrative, but there is something that is infinitely cozy about the way in which the story is conveyed. Things like the soft narration in the background as you play, the world map being stylized like a storybook, and the generally lighthearted atmosphere all come together to make for an impressively whimsical fairytale that completely reels you in based on its charm alone. Sure, there aren’t really any stakes to the narrative, but some stories are compelling simply based on how they make you feel; Trine 5 is the sort of game where you snuggle up, settle in, and just let the whimsy of the narrative wash over you.
Gameplay builds on the previous 2.5D entries in the series, wherein you explore levels packed to the brim with various physics-based puzzles that require you to utilize the unique skillsets of all three heroes, which you can switch between at will with the tap of a button. Amadeus is able to conjure and rotate boxes and platforms that you can use to weigh things down or stand on, Zoya shoots arrows that can activate distant targets and can create ropes to connect various puzzle elements together, and Pontius can smash and charge into things or reflect various beams and streams with his shield. Each character has a relatively basic moveset, yet Trine 5 continues to find impressively creative ways to use them to the fullest throughout its fifteen-or-so-hour run.
Part of this comes down to plain good puzzle design, and the rest comes down to the fact that you can expand each character’s skills throughout the adventure. The first kind of upgrade is attained via Quests, which act as small sublevels designed for a specific hero and are nested within larger levels. If you can successfully figure out the series of puzzles with that character, you’ll unlock a new ability that changes the way you interact with all future puzzles. For example, one upgrade nets Pontius the ability to throw his sword and recall it with the tap of a button, which gives him a ranged tool while also allowing him more verticality because he can jump off the hilt if it sticks into a wall. We appreciated these character quests, as they not only force you to become even more familiar with each hero’s kit, but they gradually broaden the scope of Trine 5 without overwhelming the player or becoming needlessly complicated.
Character abilities can then be upgraded later on using skill points generated from collectibles you find in stages. Every level will have a smattering of green crystals scattered about in various hidden or out-of-reach places, and these can be banked at special checkpoints to generate skill points to spend on new abilities. These can have enhanced combat utility, such as Zoya getting the ability to shoot multiple arrows at once, or better puzzle utility, such as Amadeus being able to slam down conjured objects. Each upgrade subtly affect the way you approach gameplay by giving you more options. If you’re crafty, you can sometimes use these upgrades to find solutions that arguably weren’t intended.
This is an especially salient point, as a big part of Trine 5’s appeal is that the player is given a lot of agency to figure out how they want to overcome a challenge. Obviously, there’s always an ‘intended’ solution to any given puzzle room, but we had more than a few instances where manipulating the physics generated a favorable outcome. One early puzzle required us to find a way to cross a body of fast-flowing water, and we discovered that jumping with Zoya in just the right way on a platform when it hit the water would cause her to be launched into the air higher than her maximum jump height. After a little trial and error, we managed to successfully catapult her to the other side, even though we were clearly supposed to use some nearby boxes.
Not every puzzle can be broken in this sort of way, but such moments are frequent enough that we’d argue they’re not entirely unintended and they always spark a moment of excitement and disbelief when you realize that a stupid plan actually worked. Even when you’re operating within the ‘normal’ confines of puzzle rules, we found that the difficulty often rests perfectly on that line of not being overly frustrating while also not giving anything away too early. Most of the time Trine 5 makes you work for it a bit before you finally stumble on a reasonable solution, which can be a refreshing change of pace when many modern games skew towards being too easy or outright tell you the answer at the first signs of struggle.
Notably, the puzzle design here can also be tweaked based on difficulty or if you’re playing with friends in co-op. Initially, all puzzles can be cleared solo, but you can choose to activate a hard mode if you like which replaces all the puzzles with much more fiendish versions that take longer to unravel and execute. And if you have anyone on hand who would like to play with you, you can play puzzles that require characters working together directly to accomplish the solution. We appreciated this more varied take on puzzles, as it not only adds more to replayability but also gives a tailored experience depending on how you like to play.
So, the puzzles are great, but one area where the Trine series has historically struggled is in combat and that unfortunately is still the case here. It’s not as tedious as it was in Trine 4 due to the reduced focus on combat and the fact that Amadeus and Zoya both feel more viable as brawlers now, but the enemy encounters still feel clunky. They aren’t bad necessarily, and they’re not enough of a distraction to substantially drag down the overall experience, but we found most combat to be irritating and an immersion-breaking distraction from what feels like the main focus of the gameplay. Combat at least provides gameplay variety and helps to change up the pace a bit, but we really hope that this gets a redesign of some sort in the inevitable Trine 6.
Alongside its puzzles, the Trine series has historically stood out for its wonderful visuals, and we’re pleased to report that Trine 5 has not dropped the ball here. Whether you’re battling rats in an undersea lair, steampunk warriors in a flying airship, or simply traipsing through flowery fields in a quiet countryside, there’s a tremendous level of visual splendor to be seen in virtually every frame of Trine 5. Colours pop, environments are framed with a clear eye for cinematic presentation, and it all does a great job of completely immersing you in the scene.
This is matched by an equally playful soundtrack that keeps things light and injects just a touch of wonder and magic that ties together perfectly with the visuals and narration to really sell that fantasy of being a storybook adventure come to life. Couple this with the hammy, sincere voice acting, and it’s all but impossible to keep yourself from being drawn into this imaginative world.
Conclusion
Trine 5 hasn’t changed all that much from its predecessors, which is more of a good thing than it is bad. At its heart, this is still a gorgeous, remarkably charming, and challenging puzzle platformer that features some of the best environment design in the business. On the other hand, combat still represents a notable low point of the experience despite efforts to tweak it, but this isn’t enough of a drawback that it ruins the overall game. It goes without saying that if you liked any of the previous Trine games, you’ll love what Trine 5 brings to the table—we’d argue that this offers the most polished and honed version of the series’ traditional gameplay. Trine 5 is an easy recommendation for anyone looking for a chill puzzle game of reasonable length, it’s got a lot of heart and is definitely worth your time.
Back when Trine 4 came out, it felt a bit like a hail-mary attempt to recapture the audience that was lost after the disappointment of Trine 3, and the future of the series seemed a bit up in the air. Luckily, that last title proved to be a strong return to form for the series, and after a DLC expansion (on PC) that was also well-received, Frozenbyte was able to justify greenlighting a full-fledged sequel in the 2.5D tradition. Trine 5: A Clockwork Conspiracy certainly doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it proves beyond any doubt that the developers still have a lot of great ideas to explore and it stands as yet another high-quality entry in the ongoing series.
Trine 5 once again follows the exploits of Amadeus the Wizard, Zoya the Thief, and Pontius the Knight who are now quite famous in their world for saving the day many times. The heroes are reunited after being summoned by Lady Sunny for a celebration ceremony to commemorate their achievements. However, upon arrival, the regent quickly reveals her true colors and attempts to steal the heroes’ power from them, aided by an army of clockwork knights built by Lord Godric. Our heroes manage to escape in time, and this kicks off a quest to defeat the elusive and power-hungry Lady Sunny before she seizes control of the kingdom.
It’s not a terribly in-depth narrative, but there is something that is infinitely cozy about the way in which the story is conveyed. Things like the soft narration in the background as you play, the world map being stylized like a storybook, and the generally lighthearted atmosphere all come together to make for an impressively whimsical fairytale that completely reels you in based on its charm alone. Sure, there aren’t really any stakes to the narrative, but some stories are compelling simply based on how they make you feel; Trine 5 is the sort of game where you snuggle up, settle in, and just let the whimsy of the narrative wash over you.
Gameplay builds on the previous 2.5D entries in the series, wherein you explore levels packed to the brim with various physics-based puzzles that require you to utilize the unique skillsets of all three heroes, which you can switch between at will with the tap of a button. Amadeus is able to conjure and rotate boxes and platforms that you can use to weigh things down or stand on, Zoya shoots arrows that can activate distant targets and can create ropes to connect various puzzle elements together, and Pontius can smash and charge into things or reflect various beams and streams with his shield. Each character has a relatively basic moveset, yet Trine 5 continues to find impressively creative ways to use them to the fullest throughout its fifteen-or-so-hour run.
Part of this comes down to plain good puzzle design, and the rest comes down to the fact that you can expand each character’s skills throughout the adventure. The first kind of upgrade is attained via Quests, which act as small sublevels designed for a specific hero and are nested within larger levels. If you can successfully figure out the series of puzzles with that character, you’ll unlock a new ability that changes the way you interact with all future puzzles. For example, one upgrade nets Pontius the ability to throw his sword and recall it with the tap of a button, which gives him a ranged tool while also allowing him more verticality because he can jump off the hilt if it sticks into a wall. We appreciated these character quests, as they not only force you to become even more familiar with each hero’s kit, but they gradually broaden the scope of Trine 5 without overwhelming the player or becoming needlessly complicated.
Character abilities can then be upgraded later on using skill points generated from collectibles you find in stages. Every level will have a smattering of green crystals scattered about in various hidden or out-of-reach places, and these can be banked at special checkpoints to generate skill points to spend on new abilities. These can have enhanced combat utility, such as Zoya getting the ability to shoot multiple arrows at once, or better puzzle utility, such as Amadeus being able to slam down conjured objects. Each upgrade subtly affect the way you approach gameplay by giving you more options. If you’re crafty, you can sometimes use these upgrades to find solutions that arguably weren’t intended.
This is an especially salient point, as a big part of Trine 5’s appeal is that the player is given a lot of agency to figure out how they want to overcome a challenge. Obviously, there’s always an ‘intended’ solution to any given puzzle room, but we had more than a few instances where manipulating the physics generated a favorable outcome. One early puzzle required us to find a way to cross a body of fast-flowing water, and we discovered that jumping with Zoya in just the right way on a platform when it hit the water would cause her to be launched into the air higher than her maximum jump height. After a little trial and error, we managed to successfully catapult her to the other side, even though we were clearly supposed to use some nearby boxes.
Not every puzzle can be broken in this sort of way, but such moments are frequent enough that we’d argue they’re not entirely unintended and they always spark a moment of excitement and disbelief when you realize that a stupid plan actually worked. Even when you’re operating within the ‘normal’ confines of puzzle rules, we found that the difficulty often rests perfectly on that line of not being overly frustrating while also not giving anything away too early. Most of the time Trine 5 makes you work for it a bit before you finally stumble on a reasonable solution, which can be a refreshing change of pace when many modern games skew towards being too easy or outright tell you the answer at the first signs of struggle.
Notably, the puzzle design here can also be tweaked based on difficulty or if you’re playing with friends in co-op. Initially, all puzzles can be cleared solo, but you can choose to activate a hard mode if you like which replaces all the puzzles with much more fiendish versions that take longer to unravel and execute. And if you have anyone on hand who would like to play with you, you can play puzzles that require characters working together directly to accomplish the solution. We appreciated this more varied take on puzzles, as it not only adds more to replayability but also gives a tailored experience depending on how you like to play.
So, the puzzles are great, but one area where the Trine series has historically struggled is in combat and that unfortunately is still the case here. It’s not as tedious as it was in Trine 4 due to the reduced focus on combat and the fact that Amadeus and Zoya both feel more viable as brawlers now, but the enemy encounters still feel clunky. They aren’t bad necessarily, and they’re not enough of a distraction to substantially drag down the overall experience, but we found most combat to be irritating and an immersion-breaking distraction from what feels like the main focus of the gameplay. Combat at least provides gameplay variety and helps to change up the pace a bit, but we really hope that this gets a redesign of some sort in the inevitable Trine 6.
Alongside its puzzles, the Trine series has historically stood out for its wonderful visuals, and we’re pleased to report that Trine 5 has not dropped the ball here. Whether you’re battling rats in an undersea lair, steampunk warriors in a flying airship, or simply traipsing through flowery fields in a quiet countryside, there’s a tremendous level of visual splendor to be seen in virtually every frame of Trine 5. Colours pop, environments are framed with a clear eye for cinematic presentation, and it all does a great job of completely immersing you in the scene.
This is matched by an equally playful soundtrack that keeps things light and injects just a touch of wonder and magic that ties together perfectly with the visuals and narration to really sell that fantasy of being a storybook adventure come to life. Couple this with the hammy, sincere voice acting, and it’s all but impossible to keep yourself from being drawn into this imaginative world.
Conclusion
Trine 5 hasn’t changed all that much from its predecessors, which is more of a good thing than it is bad. At its heart, this is still a gorgeous, remarkably charming, and challenging puzzle platformer that features some of the best environment design in the business. On the other hand, combat still represents a notable low point of the experience despite efforts to tweak it, but this isn’t enough of a drawback that it ruins the overall game. It goes without saying that if you liked any of the previous Trine games, you’ll love what Trine 5 brings to the table—we’d argue that this offers the most polished and honed version of the series’ traditional gameplay. Trine 5 is an easy recommendation for anyone looking for a chill puzzle game of reasonable length, it’s got a lot of heart and is definitely worth your time.
