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.
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.
Comments (14)
Oh I didn't know this was coming.
4 Definitely made amends for 3, so I'm looking forward to this one too!
Wasn’t Trine 4 supposed to get DLC or something? I got the entire collection at Wal-Mart new for $5 several years ago, and that was one of the luckiest finds ever as far as Switch games. Looking forward to this one.
Trine, Trine, Trine, hmmm.
Oh yeah, Trine, the one they said all games were on the cartridge, but then suddenly did a U-Turn and only 4 was on there in the end with the others as download codes so cancelled my order
I still need to finish 2 and 4... completely skipping 3.
Trine 2 on WiiU was great with pointer controls using a Wiimote and drawing on the Gamepad... but the pointer controls were abandoned on Switch. Not sure if they exist in Trine 4 for Switch?
Hopefully (doubtful) the motion control cursor will return in Trine 5? And has anyone seen how this runs on Switch?
I need to fire up my physical copies of one through three and four...one of these days.
This is GREAT news!
I love this series and 4 really took the gameplay up a notch with fights that were more than just random button-pressing.
I'm also a huge fan of 9 Parchments - which we have 30+ hours of play on at my house. That was a blast - and is in the Trine world - all about the Astral Academy that is mentioned in the T5 trailer.
I love the Trine series, and even though I see Trine 3 as not a good game - it's still manages to be a lot of fun - sort of like an arcade romp compared to the thoughtful game play of the rest of the series.
Trine 5 coming is great news!!
Trine was a must-have a decade ago on Steam and I never knew it made it to consoles. This is great news for me but I rather get it on pc.
Loved Trine 1 & 2 on Wii U and have just recently bought them all on Switch as the collection was discounted, so need to get 3 & 4 played now 😆
Having only played Trine 2 on Wii U, I loved what I got to play.
Before the past eShops closed, I managed to get Trine: Enchanted Edition. And during a recent sale, I got the four games via Trine: Ultimate Collection, though I'm yet to play any of them.
Will be adding Trine 5 to my collection eventually.
Played the first two on Wii U. Haven’t played any since then.
Definitely will get this, I enjoy the first 4 Trines games with the family and will get this to for that fun co-op family experience.
I have yet to dive into the first game for real, but I already have the four of them and do salute this series continuing. Lost Vikings got a worthy spiritual successor.
I've played 1, 2 & 4. Really liked them. I'm definitely up for some more.
Trine is awesome!
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