Trinity Fusion, Review
(Guest writer, Nina, returns to give a quick Byte Sized take on Indie game, Trinity Fusion.)
Trinity Fusion is a roguevania platformer and the latest release from indie devs Angry Mob Games. It is quite unlike anything the studio has put out before- up until now, Angry Mob’s MO has been mobile games and the odd Predator tie-in. But you wouldn’t guess that when playing Trinity Fusion. In fact, you’d probably think these guys were veterans of the metroidvania genre.
As always, technical stuff first. I played this game on PS5 and it ran perfectly. No crashes, no bugs, nothing. Just smooth, 60 fps. The art direction is easily my favourite part of this game. It’s a firmly sci-fi based premise, spanning three different “multiverses” that you as the player can traverse via the three “counterselves” of the main character, Maya. You have Altara of the Underworld, a place of jagged rocks and organic beasties. Kera of the Overworld, a forge-world inhabited almost entirely by machines. And Naira of the Hyperworld, a high-concept, sci-fi vision of earth where technology is so advanced, the humans there aren’t even considered “human” anymore.
These three worlds are totally unique and are a total feast for the eyes in their own way. And the designs of Altara, Kera and Naira are damn-near perfect- detailed without being busy, clean without being bland and all implicitly inspired by their respective home world. The animations of the characters are gorgeous as well, meaning this game feels as good as it looks.
Preamble aside, how’s the Trinity Fusion gameplay?
Gameplay wise, Trinity is superb. Movement is quick and intuitive, giving you a real sense of speed and agility in everything you do, be it slicing up enemies or simply traversing the given stage. Combat is primarily melee-based, but each character has their own unique secondary ability that ranges from an overcharged melee attack to guns and ability spams. Both are very well done, and the resulting combat loop is addictive to say the least. To put it simply, the game’s just fun – I could put hours and hours into it.
Note, however, that I said could and not have. I could drown entire days worth of time into this game, but as of writing, I’ve only sunk about four. Why is that, you might ask? Especially considering the glowing praise I’ve just provided?
It’s simple really. You see, Trinity Fusion may be a metroid-vania, but it’s also a roguelike. I hate roguelikes. They annoy me more than sweaty multiplayer, more than soulsborne bosses, more than anything. I thought maybe Trinity’s awesome premise and addictive gameplay might ease that annoyance, but it didn’t. And I’m really upset about it, because I love this game. I want to play it. But every time I do, I end up wanting to tear my hair out. None of this is Trinity’s fault – in fact, it’s everything a good roguevania should be.
My issue is with the genre itself; when I die, I don’t want to lose all my progress and start all over again. I just want to play the game. I want to enjoy the story. I want to fight enemies without fearing for every health point I Ioose. If Trinity was just a metroidvania, I’d absolutely adore it. But since it’s a roguelike, I just find myself getting frustrated by it.
That all said, though, I still absolutely recommend Trinity Fusion. It’s one of the most polished indies out there and is a real competitor for best metroid-vania on the market right now. However, this glowing recommendation hinges on whether you are into rougelikes and the challenge that goes with them.
