Things to do in Trine 2

As much as I admire the lush graphics and puzzle design (i.e. how the character abilities interact with the world) in Trine, and as clearly as they’re carried over into Trine 2, complete with a new RPG system that lets you unlock new skills for each of the characters, I suspect this isn’t a game for me. Anytime I come upon a situation in which I have to try a jump more than five times, I’m pretty much done with a game. Life is too short to finesse the timing in a jumping sequence.

(Note that you can invoke the “life is too short” opt-out for nearly any skill based videogaming pursuit. That I choose to say this about jumping sequences is as arbitrary as someone else saying it about a build order in an RTS, a lap time in a driving game, or a high score on a pinball table. One man’s tedium is another man’s treasure.)

But one thing I love about Trine 2 is how the developers at Frozenbyte approach achievements. Every achievement is based on playing with their cool gameplay systems. For instance, there’s an achievement for firing three arrows into the air as the thief, and then swapping to the knight and catching all three arrows on your shield. Another achievement rewards you for using the wizard’s levitation power to make a stack of eight objects and then stand on top of the stack. There isn’t a single “beat a level”, “finish the game”, or “gather collectibles” achievement. You play the game for the game’s sake. You play the achievements for the achievement’s sake.