Frozenbyte's Trine is making a return this summer with the fifth entry in this 2.5D puzzle-platforming series. Trine 5: A Clockwork Conspiracy sees the return of the Knight, Thief, and Wizard as they attempt to clear their names after their reputation is tarnished. And yes, the game is coming to Switch on day one.

We got a sneak peek at the upcoming sequel, hosted by publisher THQ Nordic, and if you loved Trine 4 then you'll be pleased to hear that this is more of that with some important tweaks and refinements.

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Retaining the core of what makes Trine great — co-op puzzle solving both locally and online (though you can play single-player too) — Trine 5 looks lovely, with some stunning light effects, colourful environments, and creatively head-scratching puzzles that'll keep you occupied for hours. One level, which looked like a fairytale castle garden, was particularly beautiful, with gorgeous blush-coloured flowers and greenery, and some rather stunning water effects.

You can play with up to four people in Unlimited multiplayer, which means you can all swap between all three characters (and have duplicates, of course). Or you can stick with the Classic multiplayer and stay with three. Frozenbyte confirmed that you'll be able to customise your heroes' looks with hidden customisation items throughout the game.

Each of the three characters has some brand new abilities to use in both puzzle-solving and combat. The Knight can, for instance, clone himself, either to act as a decoy or to stand on two separate switches. The Thief, meanwhile, can now bounce arrows off of walls to ricochet into hard-to-reach places. And new elemental magic for the Wizard and the need to use all three characters in most scenarios (you can swap between them if playing alone or with less than three people) means even fans will have plenty new to discover.

One of the things we were most impressed by was how the difficulty, or whether you're playing alone or co-op, changes the puzzles. If you're playing on Hard, it won't just be the enemies that are tougher, but the puzzles will have extra elements added on top of them. On Normal, a puzzle that might just be about moving a block will require another step or two to get past it on Hard.

And combat has been given a fairly good polish, too. Boss battles look much more creative, with one particular encounter being a multi-phase fight against a giant which involved pressing switches by stacking boxes and reflecting attacks with the Knight's shield. And if your friends die (in co-op), then you'll need to revive them with the new Ghost mechanic.

We haven't been given a specific release date for Trine 5 as of yet, but it's looking strong for summer 2023 on Switch (and all other platforms). There's no need to play previous games in the series, either, so if you like the look and sound of what you've seen today, then you can pick up Trine 5 when it releases later in the year.

What do you think of the Trine series? Will you be diving into A Clockwork Conspiracy? Let us know in the comments.