Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince first trailer reveals a return to 2.5D roots

Amadeus, Pontius, and Zoya are back in the realm of 2.5D side-scrolling and physics puzzle-solving in Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince. The game’s first gameplay shows the three heroes jumping, fighting and exploring gorgeous environments in full 3-player co-op.

We’d figured Trine 4 would be going back to 2.5D when it was first announced, and I’m glad to see it is indeed returning to what made the series a fan-favorite in the first place.

Developer Frozenbyte is seemingly ignoring the not-so-well-received Tine 3: The Artifacts of Power and its attempts at 3D platforming. Trine 4 isn’t just returning to the series’ 2.5D roots but is also moving on to a new story.

After spending years apart, the three legendary heroes reunite and go on a mission to find Prince Selius. Selius’s intensely dark nightmares are slipping into reality and wreaking havoc on the waking world. His dreams manifest as magical fairytale landscapes inhabited by friendly creatures, as well as a host of nightmarish foes.

Pontius, Zoya and Amadeus will face these foes, including bosses that represent their deepest and dark fears, with a revamped combat system. We see very little combat in the Trine 4 trailer, so it’s hard to fully understand how the new system is different than the previous one. However, we do know the heroes will have more abilities and skills.

The piece of information that really gets me excited isn’t a new combat system or even the fact that the soundtrack is composed by the same person who scored the fantastic music of the previous Trine games (although that pretty awesome to know). No, what I’m excited about is the 4-player co-op.

For the first time in the Trine series, Trine 4 will support both local and online 4-player co-op. Who is the fourth character? We still don’t know. It could be the Nightmare Prince himself, or one of his dreamy creations.

It will be interesting to see who is joining our heroes on their adventure when Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince comes to PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and PC in fall 2019.

In related news, publisher Modus Games will release Trine: Ultimate Collection. This bundle will include Trine: Enchanted Edition, Trine 2: Complete Story, Trine 3: The Artifacts of Power, and Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince. If you haven’t played the Trine series yet (why?), it could be an excellent way to do so.

Trine: Ultimate Collection will be available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC both physically and digitally.