I did not have the greatest first impression of Trinity Fusion.
The game opens up with a fairly interesting premise: Humanity, in its hubris, has both created and industrialized the multiverse. Basically, multiple versions of the same world were created across several different versions of reality, each catering to a specific purpose. Therefore, multiple versions of yourself could exist in these other realities, where one is a factory worker, and another is an artist or farmer. Everything produced in these specialized worlds returns to another, separate reality that exists only to enjoy the fruit of the other’s labor. That is until these realities rebel.
This is a pretty cool concept and one that’s tied to the core gameplay of Trinity Fusion. I just wish it wasn’t delivered by what I am pretty sure was an AI voice. AI-generated content in games always bothers me, so it immediately left a bad taste in my mouth. If I’m wrong and this was a paid voice actor, I’m sorry to say that this particular performance was so stiff and robotic that I couldn’t help but doubt its authenticity.
Regardless, the suspicion of anything being AI-generated in a game like this is enough to put a bad taste in my mouth, so going into Trinity Fusion after this, I can safely say that I didn’t have high hopes. At first, I didn’t really love the look of everything either, with a very bleak environment to explore and some style choices I felt were pretty generic and uninspired for a sci-fi game. However, I am happy to admit that the style began to grow on me, and my bad first impression was only that, a first impression.
Trinity Fusion quickly sold me on its gameplay, which is fast, fluid, and surprisingly fun. This came as a surprise, considering my usual ambivalence towards Metroidvania games. Often, I find the genre riddled with repetitive titles lacking the spark of innovation or excitement. However, Trinity Fusion stands out as a refreshing exception, breaking free from the common pitfalls of its peers in a pleasantly surprising way.
Combat in Trinity Fusion is simple and fluid. You equip two primary weapons, a melee weapon and a projectile, from a list of diverse weapons found throughout levels. They all have their own attack patterns, effects, and ranges. My personal favorite was a scythe I started with in one of my factory runs. You can also collect weapon pickups, like a missile swarm, a temporary shield, or a rocket uppercut, which all expire upon use.
The game is a roguelite, where powerups, weapons, and levels are all randomized, and dying sends you back to a hub world. Like many roguelike titles, performing well in your runs allows you to purchase upgrades in this hub world to improve your overall performance. This standard industry formula works well with the Metroidvania-style gameplay of Trinity Fusion. The last time I saw the combination work so well was Have a Nice Death.
Like any roguelike or roguelite, the experience is made or broken by how fun the powerups and builds are. I’m also happy to say that the diversity and overall creativity of the perks and powerups in Trinity Fusion are pretty good, and I made more than a few fun builds in my runs.
One interesting build I was able to make using the roguelike power drops saw me becoming a nigh-invincible gold-collecting machine. First, I took a perk that returned 500% of the damage I took from enemies as gold. Shortly after, I picked up another perk ability that increased my damage dealt and received by something like 150% to 200%. After carefully taking a ton of damage to rack up the coins, I then found and equipped a perk that made it so damage taken affected my coins instead of my health, meaning I was running around with something like 400% of my original health bar in coins, which also increased every time I killed a foe.
An interesting mechanic that comes with the powerups is that collecting three of a given type unlocks another powerup, rewarding you for committing yourself to complementary builds. Some of these buffs come with multiple color slots, subtly hinting at potential combos. I personally enjoyed anything that gave me extra damage at the cost of taking more myself, as the game’s dodge mechanic is very generous and easy to use.
What also surprised me is that you can fuse the protagonist for stronger powerups as well.
If you skipped the first part of this review, that might sound odd. Playing as one of three versions of the same character across multiple universes, the game occasionally allows you to fuse two versions into a new identity. This is a really cool sci-fi concept, and for gameplay, it essentially means you combine the pool of weapons and upgrades available to two of the individual characters into one.
The game also comes with unique character models for each fusion, which is just… cool. I don’t have a better way to put it; it’s just really cool and is an extra level of detail they probably could have ignored.
Overall, I’d have to say my favorite of the multiversal triplets was Kera, who had, in my opinion, the coolest look and most interesting personality, as well as the most visually impressive levels and enemies.
The fast-paced action of Trinity Fusion is complemented by some surprisingly fluid, high-frame animations from both the player and the enemy. It can be hard to make an efficient attack pattern that uses highly detailed animation, especially on enemies, but Trinity Fusion pulls it off, making for some beautifully animated characters whose attack patterns are no less easy to decipher.
Despite my initial reservations about Trinity Fusion, the game managed to sell me through its solid gameplay, beautiful levels and characters, and earnest creativity. My initial concern over the AI voice presented at the beginning wasn’t repeated throughout the game, as plenty of characters had unmistakably human performances. Overall, I’d say Trinity Fusion is worth playing and stands out as one of the most creative Metroidvania titles I’ve seen in a long time.
The Final Word
Trinity Fusion cleverly combines roguelike gameplay and a solid understanding of Metroidvania mechanics with unique ideas and some unmistakable originality. This action-packed platformer should appeal to fans of multiple genres with its strong gameplay and beautiful visuals.
9
Try Hard Guides was provided with a PC review copy of this game. Find more detailed looks at popular and upcoming titles in the Game Reviews section of our website! Trinity Fusion is available on Steam, Epic Games, Xbox, and PlayStation.