Early today developer Frozenbyte and publisher THQ Nordic announced Trine 5: A Clockwork Conspiracy. The title is the 5th entry in the 15-year-old series known for the titular three heroes, side-scrolling platforming, and co-op puzzling. Frozenbyte says Trine 5 will be the biggest game in the franchise yet. Alongside the announcement came a trailer featuring some of the story and gameplay.
Of course our three iconic heroes Pontius the Knight, Zoya the Thief and Amadeus the Wizard return, this time facing a threat of an imposing clockwork army. This adventure also sees an antagonistic duo seeking to defame and destroy the trio. The trailer featured the trio adventuring through wooded fantasy landscapes, running atop what seems to be an airship, delving deep into the depths of an underwater glass tunnel, fighting through medieval city streets and much more. As always the environments are a stunner to look at, from pops of colors all around to incredible lighting.
Beyond that comes new combat and abilities. As featured in the trailer, Pontius can now stake his sword into a wall and use it as a platform to hop onto. Zoya can use her arrows to ricochet, and Amadeus can reverse gravity. These are just a few of the featured abilities, as more are available through a skill tree. Furthermore, comes new elements such as air, magnetism and electricity for puzzle solving.
Frozenbyte has added that Trine 5 will be the most challenging in the series yet. There will be difficulty options, with higher-level difficulties impacting some of the puzzles as well. A normal level mode might require one route to solve a puzzle, whereas a higher level will require more guesswork and solving in completion.
The news of Trine 5 is welcome for longtime dedicated fans. Trine 1 released way back in 2009 and was met with rave reviews, Trine 2 subsequently came out in 2011 equally positively received. Trine 3: The Artifacts of Power tried to switch up the 2.5 gameplay and ditched it for full 3D but didn’t pan out as well as the prior entries. Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince released in 2019 went back to the 2.5 side scrolling roots that made Trine popular.
Currently there’s no release date for Trine 5, however it’ll be coming to PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Switch this summer.