Trine 5: A Clockwork Conspiracy Review – Outstanding Fairy Tale Platformer (PC)

The heroes of Trine are back in Trine 5: A Clockwork Conspiracy, and this time they may be facing their worst enemy yet: An aristocrat with too much free time on her hands. Frozenbyte does it again with their peculiar mix of physics-based, 2.5D sidescroller puzzle-platforming action that has worked so well since 2009. Looking as good as can be expected by this team and presenting the same challenging gameplay they are known for, this is a game that will likely satisfy those that are looking for a brain teaser with a relaxing atmosphere and light action. While not every single one of these elements are polished to the same degree, the few shortcomings you may experience are few and far between and are not likely to detract too much from the overall experience. 

Trine 5: A Clockwork Conspiracy was recently released on August 31st, and can be found on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5 & 4, Xbox Series & One, as well as on PC via Epic and Steam for US $29.99.

Story – Serviceable Background

Following the events of the past games, the kingdom had started to employ mechanical knights to replace the outdated human knights. These new knights are controlled by a couple of shady characters that pretend to tarnish the Heroes reputation and then destroy them and significantly change the state of things at the kingdom, and unless you join forces once more with your comrades, they might just be successful. Each of the heroes are doing their own thing at first, with Zoya trying to get her hands on something that doesn’t belong to her, Pontius trying to remain relevant as a knight, and Amadeus going through a rough patch, the machinations that are taking place end up pinning them together and once again on the path of puzzle-platforming goodness fans of the franchise know and love.

Story being told by the narrator in-between levels.

The story is presented in small expositions and cutscenes that are just short enough to not be disrupting and are handled in an interesting manner. We have an omniscient narrator (Terry Wilton) telling us the bigger chunks of the tale in between levels, and the cutscenes that are triggered allow the characters to show their rich and well-stablished personalities. Zoya is still cunning and distrustful, Pontius is as good-hearted and innocent (naïve) as always, and Amadeus is still the box-conjuring wizard, with all that entails.

While the story is well-structured and paced, and there is never a dull moment, it is not the focus or the reason you are likely going to play Trine 5, and that is ok. As long as the story provides a decent setting and excuse for the events of the game, then it’s doing its job. The big draw of this game, as it will surely surprise no one that’s already experienced the franchise, is the gameplay and setting. 

Gameplay – The Belle of the Ball

The original Trine was a bet from Frozenbyte all the way back in 2009. Combining platforming and puzzles may not be a revolutionary idea, but then you start to add on to the premise by including physics-based movement and items, you come up with a setting that presents a perfect excuse for your different characters, such as this fantasy medieval world where they can all believably co-exist, and you give them a Deus-Ex-Machina like being the Heroes of Trine to justify their respawning and you sprinkle it all with a superb co-op experience that doesn’t hinder a solo play too much, and you have the exquisite Trine formula. The experience in Trine 5 does not detract from its predecessors at all and even builds into it playing with some pacing and slight RPG elements. 

Work together to figure out puzzles.

You can expect all the puzzle-platforming we have been given in the past, along with a skill system from which you can pick and choose and improve your heroes, as well as solo missions where each particular character will grow and acquire a new, necessary skill to continue your journey to the right side of the screen. And then to the right side again. And again. 

But it’s not repetitive at all, each different screen comes with a different challenge that demands a new way to wrap your head around. Seemingly all of the problems presented to you will have multiple way to address them and different approaches to take, with your creativity playing an important role. And be it by yourself or with up to 3 other players, you are sure to overcome any obstacle if you just think hard enough about it. If there are any shortcomings, is probably that the combat doesn’t feel as polished as the platforming, but the focus of the game is certainly not the combat, so that can be mostly overlooked. 

Solo VS Co-op

The setting of trine 5, as it has been through the entire franchise, is to be a primarily co-op experience, and ideally a 3-player one at that. However, the game does offer flexibility about this. You can also play the game completely solo or even with a total of 4 players, with some caveats. 

Playing the game solo changes some of the puzzles to make it possible for it to be resolved while using one character at a time. But don’t be fooled, playing solo is probably the hardest way to play it, regardless of the changes. 

Playing solo brings a whole new experience, with more difficulty.

Playing the game with a total of 4 players is possible with the “unlimited mode”, in which all characters can be used by all players even at the same time (all 4 of you can be Pontius, for instance, or 2 could be Amadeus and another 2 could be Zoya, etc…), because there are only 3 characters, there is always going to be at least one of them twice. This changes the mechanics considerably but it does for a great time, albeit this is what I found to be the easier way to beat the puzzles, as you can imagine. 

Playing the game with 2-3 players is the ideal set-up. This way there can only be one of each at a time and the puzzles really do feel made to be solved in this configuration. 

Graphics & Sound – The Cherry on Top

Fans of the franchise, rejoice. Trine 5 takes advantage of the advancements in graphics and with it brings a beautiful world to look at while you are solving your puzzles. Frozenbyte has managed to keep improving their graphical work over time, and while I remember the first two Trine entries to be somewhat similar graphically (specially comparing with the Trine remake of 2011), Trine 5 does feel like a substantial improvement of the same charming formula that characterizes the franchise. 

It’s easy to just stand there and admire the stunning world.

Sound design and music are almost in-par with the graphics. The music is simple and it fits the environments great, although I did end up playing something else in the background for the longer sessions. Sound effects are solid and I there was nothing in them that caught my eye for better or worse. If there are any gripes with the sound design is that when getting stuck on a puzzle for a while, volume starts to gradually go up and then down again, and sometimes that maximum volume can be a bit jarring, but it only lasts a few seconds before turning itself back down.

Trine 5: A Clockwork Conspiracy was reviewed on Steam with a key provided by Dead Good Media.