Games worth discovering

This roguelite Metroidvania needs more time in the oven - Trinity Fusion Quick First Impressions

5K View2023-04-18

PLAY IT OR SKIP IT?

Skip it for now. Trinity Fusion is a sci-fi roguelite game with a complex story about the multiverse and the evolution of humans with machines. The game’s exhilarating combat and worthwhile exploration make it an enjoyable time for anyone that likes roguelites. But Trinity Fusion has a long way to go in early access before it’s worth playing for a wider audience. The game has a strong foundation to build something great, but I’d suggest putting this on your wishlist and checking back when some of the game’s more glaring issues have hopefully been fixed.

TIME PLAYED

I played Trinity Fusion for four hours. I managed to get through seven runs with each one lasting between twenty-five to forty minutes. I didn’t get remotely close to finishing the game, but I made it to the second level. I spent most of my time trying to progress through this level by playing safe, but I usually ended up dying; survival is a challenge in Trinity Fusion.

WHAT’S AWESOME

• Combat. Trinity Fusion’s exhilarating combat is enhanced by the huge variety of augments, weapons, and items I could pick up. Each weapon has its own playstyle and combo, while the augments I picked up from loot boxes helped boost my damage output and speed across the battlefield. Even though the game’s monsters don’t have exciting fighting patterns, I still had fun beating them up with every axe and sword I came across.

• Exploration. Trinity Fusion randomly generates its levels, which meant it was always exciting to explore the decently sized, secret-packed maps. I had a blast traversing through buildings and caves, and stumbling across hidden rooms.

• Narrative. Although Trinity Fusion’s narrative only progressed if I did, I wanted to experience more of it. The story involves three worlds in the multiverse facing their end. I needed to journey through these worlds to fuse them together and salvage what I could. It’s an interesting setup and was told through beautiful cutscenes as well.

• Environment. The dystopian, run-down aesthetic of Trinity Fusion’s environment looks stunning and eerie. Their appeal is rounded out by a variety of horrific monsters and layouts that shift and change with each run.

WHAT SUCKS

• Unbalanced gameplay. The first level is easy to get through, but I’ve found it tremendously difficult to make progress beyond that point. All the decked-out augments and weapons I acquired in that first level prove useless against the absurdly overpowered, tanky monsters of the second area. Roguelites are supposed to be difficult, but Trinity Fusion’s current balance is off, and it frustrated me to no end.

• Boring enemy mechanics. Even though the monsters in Trinity Fusion look great, battling them is repetitive because they use the same very simple patterns. Most monsters lunge as their primary attack, and so dodging was the key to defeating them. That becomes more challenging later, as it only took a handful of mistimed dodges to get killed. I’d love enemies with more variety in their attacks but less health overall.

• Limited healing options. As much as I like a challenge, I hated Trinity Fusion’s lack of a method to consistently and reliably heal myself in runs. The only healing item that I came across was a one-use consumable that replenished thirty-five percent of my health. This might be enough on its own if said item was littered across the map in convenient places. Unfortunately, I was only ever able to acquire it through randomized loot boxes, and it was tremendously scarce.

• Unlock requirements. Because it was so hard to progress through Trinity Fusion, I wasn’t able to unlock the two additional playable characters that are currently in the game. These additions to the roster are unlocked by making it to different worlds, but I wish there were easier or alternate methods for getting access to them. I felt like I was missing out on a major part of the Trinity Fusion experience, and perhaps jumping into the game as a different character for a few runs may have eased some of my other annoyances.

💬 Are you going to play Trinity Fusion or will you skip it? Tell me in the comments!

Mentioned games