Trinity Fusion review

I previewed Trinity Fusion quite some time ago now, towards the back end of 2022, and while it had my attention, I felt it needed some work before I could get fully invested. Jump forward to right now, with the meat of 2023 sitting heavy in the belly as we contemplate just how much dessert we can safely fit in, and I’m playing the 1.0 version of Trinity Fusion with a very big smile on my face.

Having very recently played and reviewed the excellent Cookie Cutter and The Last Faith, you’d think my 2D action organ would be well and truly worn out. Far from it, however, as I had enough juice left in the old boy to get stuck into Trinity Fusion, and I’m happy to report that it’s another fantastic adventure.

Although it has MetroidVania elements, it’s more of an action game in the vein of Dead Cells. In this future universe, humanity has created its own multiverse, and filtered the fluid of civilisation into realities specifically designed for singular purposes. There’s a factory world, for example, and an underworld which, far from being hellish, is just a realm where nature has been allowed to thrive. It makes very little sense narratively, but is a solid way to explain the themed biomes you’ll be exploring.

In order for this to be a video game though, things had to slide from rosy to shitty at some point, and they’ve certainly done that. In order to prevent the collapse of Reality itself, an individual named Maya (that’s you, sort of) must commune with three alternate versions of herself from different realms and preserve the Prime universe.

So, as Altara, Naira, and Kera, you must traverse various biomes looking for a way to stabilise the multiverse. Each of the three has a slightly different move-set and loadout. Altara, for example, can use a kind of elemental magic, Kera can use a variety of guns, and Naira can use a grappling hook and wields two melee weapons. You begin each run as an alternate of your choice, in their specific starting biome, and must progress through multiple bosses to ultimately complete the run without dying.

At certain points you can spend currency to merge with either of the others, combining your strengths, abilities and weapons to open up new paths through the level. While Naira has a grappling hook, she doesn’t have the double jump the others have, and you’ll need both in a level to fully explore it.

Combat feels flashy and responsive, with a huge variety of weapons, many of which have their own animations. Trinity Fusion boasts a pretty high enemy density for a game of its type, and there’s a ridiculous amount of different enemy types and designs. It feels like a bit of a hodgepodge sometimes, but because it’s procedural, it keeps you on your toes, too.

You’ll often find special canisters that bestow run-specific buffs like the ability to set enemies on fire, or heal yourself when you complete a combat arena. Combining multiple different ones will sometimes unlock something brand new that you might be lucky enough to roll later. Weapons and gear also rolls into a pool the first time you pick it up, so your starting weapons and random drops are always evolving.

Weapons and special abilities are also found in chests that you can either open for free or need to unlock with currency called Orbs. Sometimes they’ll randomly drop from elite enemies, or you can buy them in shop rooms just as in Dead Cells. Saving up the various currencies that drop is also the only way to unlock permanent meta upgrades that carry through runs even if you die. These are skills like Regain, that allows you to get back some of your lost health by retaliating quickly, for example.

Now and then you’ll find a gate into the In-Between, a cyber-like realm where you complete challenges in an order reminiscent of Curse of the Dead Gods, whereby you work towards specific things you want by completing challenges. You may want a new weapon, a new health pick-up, or a rare ability, and you can work towards each one, challenge by challenge until you die and are spat back to the Citadel, which acts as the central hub.

While a lot of Trinity Fusion feels derivative of big hitters like Dead Cells or even Hades, there are enough new ideas that I was never able to fully predict what was coming next. The biomes are aesthetically varied, there are tons of different enemies, and the combat is flashy, fast and fluid. The story is a little forgettable, but it at least tries to give some context to events.

Anyone who enjoys 2D action games would do well to grab Trinity Fusion and give it a whirl. It may not be the most original game, but it’s good looking, exciting to play and features enough new ideas to earn its place at a crowded table.