Definitely good, but not nearly as much as the others. Feels too easy at times, while certain parts feel too difficult. Uneven is probably the best descriptor. It did introduce some things that were obviously brought over to Trine 4, like stronger characterization, some gameplay mechanics (Zoya hooking onto rings instead of wooden surfaces, Amadeus being able to move while levitating objects, etc.), and vastly updated graphics including some really nice-looking vistas. So it's obvious the team learned a lot and honed their skills, but this feels like the test run for the next title instead of a really strong title on its own. I still enjoyed it, though, and think they could revisit fully-3D Trine in an offshoot series or something.

Certain other things, however, are entirely absent that are standard in every other title, such as upgrades. You start out with all the mechanics each character will have, with no collectibles (other than points found in each level which allow you to progress), skill trees, or other upgrades. That said, there is a certain "pick up and play" feel that would make it a great co-op party game, as the minor RPG mechanics the series has were scaled back in favor of emphasizing the platforming and combat. The puzzles are pretty simple, and unlike Trine 4, you're not going to be scratching your head for ages on any of them once you understand the mechanics.

It's also the first time we see the characters up close and personal, with fully animated faces, and, well, faces at all. Due to the zoomed-out 2.5D perspective of 1 and 2, the characters were always somewhat obfuscated, with the story told in layered, 2D storybook-style segments, with a few exceptions. It's a massive upgrade in graphical fidelity and personality both, something kept up for 4 and 5, despite minor revisions here and there. There's also a very fun chapter presented as though you're inside a storybook, with each screen transition having a brilliant page-turn effect. It's a bit of a throwback to the 2.5D presentation we know and love (while still having some Z axis movement), and likely isn't a coincidence that (to me, at least) it was one of the most fun levels.

I'd probably recommend this slightly more to people who aren't already seasoned Trine fans, even though I'm a big Trine fan and still quite enjoyed it as a sort of novelty. The only problem is that if you end up really liking the gameplay, there's no DLC, the fully-3D movement was only this title (all the others are 2.5D), and it ends on a cliffhanger that would normally get resolved in an expansion or sequel, but never was, possibly due to the poor reception. Absolutely worth playing, but perhaps on sale.

Really fantastic, takes the Trine 4 engine and re-balances the characters a bit. Fairy rope is gone, which made Zoya kind of OP, but there are a few very neat abilities to make up for it in creative ways. Pontius is mostly the same, and Amadeus gets more interesting ways to use summoned objects in both defensive and offensive ways, albeit mostly the latter. Still, as with most Trine games, I used Amadeus more for puzzles, and Zoya and Pontius roughly evenly for fights. On that subject, gone are the boxed-in SSB-style arenas whenever the enemies spawn in, although you do get locked in certain places until the fight is over, but you're granted far more room to maneuver and get creative. You even come up on many of them unaware, able to take your time in setting up a creative opener before the attack puts them on alert and more enemies appear.

One of the best abilities to return (in my opinion) is the wall jump, albeit it's exclusive to Zoya (but it makes sense that she'd be the only one with such an athletic ability). Unfortunately, just like 4, there are a lot of hand rails — and you *still* can't grapple to them, which bugs me to no end. It makes a lot more sense that a grappling hook would easily latch onto a hand rail close to a wall than a ring, but oh well. There are plenty of rings from which to grapple, as well as objects to pull around and attach. Trine 3, despite its low reputation amongst the series, introduced many mechanics that were used in 4 and continued in 5.

The story probably has the most dire consequences — this only spoils the first ~4 chapters, if it wasn't incredibly obvious from the villain's first appearance. The heroes of Trine, seen as such by the entire kingdom, are framed for the destruction of the Royal Academy (!) as well as a large tower which they are technically responsible for, but at the behest of one of the two villains who led them astray, saying it was a device to stop Sunny (the primary antagonist) from controlling the mechanical knights. So, they must fight not only to rescue Amadeus' triplets who have been taken hostage (where is his wife in all this? I think he's too good for her!), but get to his fellow wizards, and Pontius to his fellow knights, to save them all from being turned to stone, or literally having their souls stolen so they can be used as puppets to do Sunny's bidding. It's a pretty monstrous fate, all while the entire kingdom believes the Heroes of Trine to have become terrorists. Unfortunately, and I assume the inevitable DLC will cover this, but there isn't much in the way of an epilogue — at least one that deals with more than "this is what each of the three protagonists got up to afterwards". Considering the weight of the inciting incidents, you'd think there would be a lot more explanation required to sum up exactly what happened after the final boss. But, since I just assume there will be DLC, I wouldn't be surprised if this was covered by it.

In terms of mechanics, other things have returned, such as visible checkpoints, which is extremely welcome, as it wasn't always obvious in Trine 4 (other than the "Saving" message) when you crossed one, or when returning to finish collecting XP or items, where exactly the boundaries are so you know if you've gone a bit too far. Also changed is that you no longer use XP directly to finance upgrades, instead using points which XP must be converted to. This is done automatically at certain checkpoints, and I never found it a hindrance to my progression. Without directly comparing them, I'd reckon besides Trine 1, this likely has the most abilities across the three characters. The downside is that the majority are active rather than passive, and it can be difficult to remember in the midst of a chaotic fight which each character has and how to activate it, and when. But, they're introduced over time, obviously, so you have some time to get comfortable with each. There are also two classes of abilities: those which are unlocked via solo quests, where one characters goes off to complete a smaller string of sections, with a new ability unlocked as the reward. The othere are unlocked via the aforementioned points. You may still activate or deactivate abilities at will, which is terribly useful for trying them out to decide if they're worth it, or how they compare to others before making a decision. Some abilities I literally never used, so there's quite a lot of leeway when it comes to different playstyles.

Lastly, the puzzles: Some are great with creative solutions, others are... less so. Like 4, if I never see another "reflect the light beam so it hits targets X, Y, and Z it won't be soon enough. There's also a newly introduced "hard puzzle difficulty" along with the normal fight difficulty. I haven't tried that out yet, fully intended to, but even if it's not that great, it's another thing to come back for. Some of the puzzles only stumped me because I literally didn't understand that a certain ability had a certain mechanic, or simply forgot I even had an ability that would accomplish what I needed to, so I ended up either cheesing the puzzle, or looking up a walkthrough to get a hint. This only happened 2 or 3 times, so it wasn't that big a deal, and might only be my aging memory now that I'm nearing 40.

The graphics, cutscenes, acting, and design are top-notch, and Trine fans should feel right at home with their banter, feeling like joining old friends on another adventure, which is probably the takeaway. Everyone is more expressive, the setpieces bigger and more elaborate, and more options than ever (clearly continuing from the Trine 4 engine). No launchers to be found here. I'm eagerly awaiting either the next installment or DLC. I cannot get enough Trine!

This goes back to the tried-and-true 2.5D style pioneered by the first two titles, while keeping some of the elements introduced by Trine 3 (the lower-rated 3D one). Namely, things like Zoya (the thie— err, "entrepreneur") grappling onto rings instead of wood, being able to pull objects around and connect them, Amadeus (the wizard) being able to move while levitating, and imo one of the best changes — not having to draw boxes to conjure them, instead selecting them from an inventory of sorts, much like Zoya and Pontius change their weapon.

However, some things that are lacking since Trine 2: Pontius' hammer, Zoya's over-loaded shooting ability, wall jumping (!) which makes Zoya feel far less agile, instead replacing it with pre-determined handrails you grab and jump from. However, you cannot use the grappling hook with them, which feels ridiculous. This is unfortunately carried over to Trine 5, as well.

The story is much more involved, and like 3, has full, well-acted cutscenes and stronger characterization (especially compared to 2), but it also doesn't feel like a bloated AAA game. It still retains an "indie spirit" if that makes any sense. The voice acting, of course, is on-point as it pretty much always is, with the characters feeling more fully-realized than ever. That was one thing Trine 3 got right, as did 2.

Another thing that has returned, fortunately, is upgrading, similar to Trine 2, in the form of a skill tree you can spend XP on (which means Zoya's fire arrows and Pontius' charged sword are back, plus many other interesting abilities). There's also an increased focus on multiplayer, especially local, but I didn't explore that side much.

Technically, you also no longer have a launcher (thank god), instead booting directly into the game, with a varied and useful options menu. The game is just as amazing-looking as Trine 3, with increased fidelity of character models and plenty of impressive vistas in the background, with a dynamic camera that changes angle as needed to focus on a puzzle, a fight, or to just barely draw your attention to collectible or XP bauble at the edge of the screen.

Easily the weakest element for me, however, is how the fights happen. Instead of enemies spawning at certain locations, or running into them, there are set triggers where you're locked into a Super Smash Bros-style screen with floating platforms and a certain number of enemies that spawn in you must kill before you're allowed to progress. This stinks in my humble opinion, and feels overly "gamey" compared to encountering enemies in the wild, or just having more room to work with while taking them out.

One other small change that could go either way is the loss of visible checkpoints. You no longer regain health and save at the blue (or orange) checkpoints as in Trine 1-3, opting instead for regenerating health and only knowing a checkpoint has occurred when you see "Saving..." appear in the corner. Otherwise, they're entirely invisible. Personally, this is a con for me, as even though the levels flow well, they're still cut up into discrete sections with X amount of XP and this or that collectible to find.

If you liked any of the prior Trine titles, I guarantee you'll like this one, and if you like 2.5D one-third-platformer, physics puzzle, and brawler games, you'll certainly like this. However, since all the games (even 3) are so good, I'd recommend starting with the first, as although each game has its own self-contained story, there is some small amount of continuity carried over, and playing through them in order as I've been doing, has added to the enjoyment when there's a callback or reference to an earlier event.

I decided to take a chance despite the negative reviews, and got burned. Mazes (seriously), broken maps, dubious artwork, all for one idiotic fetch quest. Caveat emptor.