Trinity Fusion is a sci-fi rogue-lite Metroidvania set in a multiverse on the brink of collapse. Playing as three alternate versions of the main heroine, you travel between dimensions and fight off endless hordes of enemies as you save the multiverse from its ultimate demise, one run at a time.
Developed and published by Angry Mob Games, Trinity Fusion has been in Early Access on PC for the past nine months. The team has been working with the community to fine-tune the game and enhance the experience, which really shows. It is obvious that the studio put a lot of love and care into their newest action title that combines stylish visuals, sleek combat, unique enemies, and an intriguing concept.
Trinity Fusion is out now and is available on PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC.
A Stylish Rogue-Lite Featuring Three Distinct Heroines
Fusing multiple genres and aspects, Trinity Fusion is a rogue-lite action platformer with Metroidvania elements that is packaged in a 2D side-scroller. You play three distinct characters, all of which are alternate versions of the same heroine from different universes. Connected through the dimensions, they must work together to save the multiverse and hinder dueling factions from destroying it in a relentless fight for dominance. Think Everything Everywhere All at Once combined with Dead Cells and a dash of Ori.
You start your first run as one of the heroines and will gradually unlock the other two as you make your way through the story. Once unlocked, you can switch between them and play with your heroine of choice.
Each of the characters boasts her own set of skills, moves, and gear, allowing you to tackle challenges and combat in creative and diverse ways. Things get especially interesting once you can fuse your characters, enabling you to meld move sets and combat skills from the different heroines into one.
Dying Serves a Purpose
With each run, you’ll find random weapons and items scattered across the map that let you mix and match your build. These include melee and ranged weapons as well as passive “Amplifier” upgrades, consumables, and currency. You level up throughout each stage by defeating enemies, after which all subsequent item drops are increasingly powerful, enabling you to eliminate foes with more ease. Until you can’t.
We might all start a roguelike thinking we’ll beat the game in our first run, but that is not the goal in Trinity Fusion. Sooner rather than later, you’ll find yourself completely underequipped, inevitably dying from an enemy attack.
This will send you back to the “Citadel,” a hub between the worlds. Here, you can chat with various NPCs and use the currency you’ve collected to buy permanent upgrades that carry over to your subsequent runs. Upgrading your stats this way tremendously helps the feeling of progression. Knowing that you’ll be stronger next time around makes dying for the umpteenth time a lot less frustrating.
Adding to this, the game also features a “Hyper Mode,” which increases your damage resistance after each run. It can be enabled and disabled at any point and makes the game more accessible, even to rogue-lite newbies. However, if you prefer more of a challenge, you can play on one of the two harder difficulty levels, meaning any type of player can get the experience they’re looking for.
Trinity Fusion Shines in Its Sleek Combat and Fantastic Enemy Variety
Trinity Fusion was developed by Angry Mob Games, the studio behind the platform fighter Brawlout. The team’s experience with fighting mechanics is evident in the game, as the combat is sleek, stylish, and satisfying.
The variety of weapons you find on the map is immense. From long-range rifles and magical throwing stars to axes and katanas, there are countless options to fine-tune your build. However, weapons drop randomly, so there is always a level of unpredictability.
As you progress in the story, more abilities and gadgets are added to your arsenal, allowing you to get creative both in combat and traversal. Special tools such as an explosive teleportation drone, a grappling arm, and warping abilities keep combat varied, fresh, and entertaining throughout.
However, there is one downside. Weapons, tools, and abilities are attached to certain face buttons. While you can remap many of these, it can be challenging to identify which one is which, as the HUD symbols are tiny and difficult to decipher. When switching or fusing characters and progressing through levels, the button mapping tends to get reset, which can be extremely irritating and get you into precarious situations mid-fight.
The vast variety of enemies you encounter further enhances combat. I was impressed by the level of detail that went into designing each of the foes in Trinity Fusion. From flesh-eating plants and axe-throwing robots to spell-wielding sorcerers and everything in between, all enemies are unique and can be approached in various ways.
Surprisingly, the same level of variety and detail is not present in the final bosses. While they vary in design, I found their move sets and attack schemes rather repetitive and predictable.
A Story That Keeps You Going
The near-constant action gets broken up by your travels to the Citadel each time you die. This is where most of the story unfolds. Dialogue with NPCs offer a breath of fresh air in between runs and reveal more about the impending catastrophe and the lore of the multiverse.
A lot of love went into the NPCs, as each of them has a personality and background. However, the same cannot be said about their character modeling. During dialog sequences, characters look more like plastic mannequins than living beings. All the characters are voiced, but their faces and lips do not move as they speak.
Even though the voiceovers are not bad, they do take some getting used to and feel cringy at times. In combination with the characters’ lifeless faces, the dialog sections feel rather awkward and unfinished. Lip-syncing could have helped a lot here.
It takes some time to wrap your head around the story behind the collapsing universe, which is drip-fed to you via the dialogs and tapes you find hidden in the world. However, as the game progresses, the story becomes more compelling and encourages you to keep going. In the end, I found myself quite eager to find out what was going to happen.
Trinity Fusion offers a satisfying gameplay loop of exploring various sci-fi realms, hacking and slashing foes, and upgrading your stats. The sense of progression is palpable throughout, while the story gives you an intriguing ending to work toward.
The game shines in its enemy variety and combat maneuvers, which are as multidimensional as the multiverse it is set in. Being able to play your way and tackle challenges with creativity and variety makes every run unique and enjoyable.
While both the final boss fights and the close-up character models could have done with a bit more love, Trinity Fusion offers a fun gaming experience overall and is a solid new contender in the ever-growing rogue-lite genre.
Trinity Fusion – 7/10
Trinity Fusion was reviewed on PS5 with a code supplied to FandomWire by Angry Mob Games via Terminals.io.
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