Reviews
[Review] ‘Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince’ sees the Fantasy Puzzle-Platformer Back to its Best
The old saying of ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ applies quite well to Fronzenbyte’s Trine series. The fantasy-based 2.5D puzzle-platformer has always been best when it’s largely stuck to its guns (Trine 3‘s shift to 3D did not work out all that well). Sure, that’s not a great long-term plan for remaining relevant, but Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince shows that a bit of tweaking and polishing can do wonders to a well-used formula.
For Trine 4, the original three heroes return, called to rescue a young prince who has unlocked some dark magic that unleashes monsters from his nightmares, and these now threaten the realm as he flees them. As a result, increasingly threatening purple-hued nasties crop up as the heroes chase after the panicked prince.
To get to the prince, physics-based puzzles must be overcome, utilizing the unique skills each hero possesses. You can switch between the three at will if you’re playing alone, or assign a particular character each in a co-op game. Depending on whether you play alone or not, the puzzles can alter to suit, which is a nice touch.
The wizard can conjure boxes and use magic to move certain objects in the game world. The assassin can fire elemental arrows and ones that create pulleys and bridges with rope, and the knight can use his shield to deflect light, water, and projectiles, plus he’s the most attack-based character with his sword.
Puzzles have changed little from earlier games. They involve stacking blocks, hitting switches, redirecting light and water sources, and creating bridges. The beauty of them is how they’re combined and executed. Frozenbyte has a real knack for creating satisfying puzzles. They’re not always particularly tough to crack, but there are some doozies that made me grin when I finally solved them. Given that the focus is on the puzzles, it’s great to see them so strong and interesting.
If only the combat was as refined. Only one character (the knight) really has an effective attacking strategy in solo play and even then it’s fairly clunky, swiping away haphazardly at threats. The assassin can freeze or set fire to enemies, but as combat encounters always take place in walled-off environments, it gets incredibly fiddly to get off shots accurately. The wizard is largely useless in these encounters unless you can use his box-conjuring power to knock an enemy off a ledge and into a spiked pit, but that’s not always an option.
It’s not really until the boss fights happen that each character really comes into their own in combat, but that’s because they usually involve solving some sort of puzzle to help vanquish them, whereas the regular battles are just straight fights in small arenas. It’s a good thing the majority of the game is about solving puzzles because too much more of the drab combat would probably sour the whole experience.
It’d have to try pretty hard to put you off though as Trine 4 is mesmerizing to look at and listen to. The visuals have always been a strong suit in this series and Trine 4 takes its fairytale fantasy look to new heights. the backgrounds are lavishly detailed and rich in vivid color. Design work on the bosses is inventive and varied, although the lesser beasts are somewhat ordinary.
The twinkly musical score is a perfect fit for the visual style too, giving off a strong aura of a land of magic and fairytales. The voice talent is decent, and again, in keeping with the overall tone. There’s nothing too mean-spirited, and the jokes, while tame, are pleasant and can raise a mild chuckle or two. The narration adds to the storybook feel too. Trine 4 is a big warm blanket of a game on a rainy Sunday afternoon. There’s monsters, and challenges, sure, but it doesn’t stop this being an enchanting experience.
Trine 4 isn’t a reinvention then, rather a return to that which made the series work in the first place. That alone was absolutely necessary after the misstep of the previous entry. There are times I wished there was a teensy bit more ambition with combat and platforming, but the meat of Trine 4 is the puzzles, and that is some pretty succulent meat.
Trine 4 review code provided by the publisher for PS4.
Trine 4 is out October 8 on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.
Movies
‘Dante’ Review – A Paramedic’s Night Shift Turns Into A Blood-Soaked Nightmare [Tribeca 2026]
There’s something very special about horror stories that depict a single night that gets progressively out of hand and covers a lifetime of woe by the time the sun rises.
It’s a difficult balancing act, but one that’s magical when it’s properly executed, and this claustrophobic structure connects. Hugo Ruiz (One Night with Adela) rises to the challenge with Dante, a chaotic experience that’s pumping adrenaline, burning rubber, and snorting drugs from frame one and then rarely lets up. It feels like it starts in the middle of a film’s third act and then pushes itself to go to even more radical and exciting places.
Ruiz’s Dante is even more confident and accomplished than his freshman feature. It feels like a spaghetti western that’s trapped in a slaughterhouse. It’s Bringing Out the Dead by way of Quentin Tarantino after he’s come off a giallo binge session. It’s a white-knuckle, blood-soaked ride into hell that keeps its audience on edge until the credits roll.
Ruiz accomplishes something quite remarkable with Dante, a subversive take on Dante’s Inferno in which a paramedic ambulance driver, Eduardo (Chino Darin), gets embroiled in a vicious crime caper that pushes everyone involved closer to salvation. Dante, as its title suggests, isn’t exactly subtle with its allusions to Dante’s Inferno. That being said, none of the film’s efforts to match its source material’s themes and tone ever feels forced. It’s a bold, risky adaptation of the classic 14th-century epic poem, but it’s also a distinct film that stands on its own and becomes an incredibly satisfying sophomore entry in Ruiz’s career.
Eduardo innocently responds to a standard emergency call, only to find himself tending to a crime boss’s wounds and caught in the middle of a deadly feud between two erratic rival kingpins. Dante digs into an impossibly tense situation with a small cast of larger-than-life characters who really feel like they’re trapped in some layer of hell. Every minor victory is met with yet another physical trial and morality test for Eduardo to overcome. It also distills this harrowing encounter down to its most exciting elements so that Dante is a fast, easy watch that’s beautifully paced and always finds the right moment to heighten its mayhem.
There’s a shocking brutality here. It’s a visceral, gross, oozing horror film that’s often hard to look at. It’s a movie that lingers on not just pain, but how the human body can become such a disgusting mess. Ruiz lingers on gross visuals that reduce people to raw meat and emotion. However, this screaming, bloody mess is also an intimate chamber piece and character study. All this extreme subject matter serves a grander purpose and builds to a sweeping salvation rather than purely existing to be sensational. Dante is vicious, but it’s the film’s heart that stands out the most when everything is said and done.
Among the criminal capitulations is a deeper commentary on faith, passion, and identity. Eduardo is repeatedly confused for a doctor throughout, which is just one of several instances that reflect its themes regarding duality and labels. Eduardo’s wild night highlights life’s transactional nature and how everyone is the same in death. It’s the ultimate equalizer. Alternatively, Dante looks at the weird, unpredictable places in which people can find humanity, connection, and purpose in life, even if it’s surrounded by death and darkness. Everyone is looking for that spark and light that helps us heal.
In a film full of strong performances, Darin’s work as Eduardo is really spectacular. It’s a performance that’s so deceptively layered that it makes you want to immediately watch the film again as soon as it’s ended. Ruiz’s film is also really smart in response to when it digs deeper into Eduardo’s life and personality. It’s easy to picture Dante beginning with Eduardo carrying out several normal rounds to get a better sense of who he is before danger strikes with Mario. The film also excels as it asks the audience to make their own conclusions on this blank slate before the film begins to pull back the curtain on him.
Eduardo is a compelling moral compass throughout this dark night of the soul, albeit a character who is hardly infallible. Some of Dante’s strongest moments are when Eduardo’s mental state is unclear, and the audience is left to wonder if he’s actually getting a rush from this on some level. Eduardo is left to process many heightened emotions on his own. However, there’s also a real camaraderie between Eduardo and Mak (Ester Expósito) that’s genuinely sweet and progresses in a very natural, effortless manner. Their chemistry helps power the second half.
At one point, Eduardo muses that “a director must take risks.” This is a film that certainly adheres to its own advice.
Dante reaches a satisfying conclusion that feels like the natural endpoint of this story, only to then launch into such a wild turn that transforms the film into something considerably darker and a powerful meditation on the pervasiveness of pain and suffering. The ending guarantees that this is a movie that’s destined to be debated by both its lovers and haters.
There’s thankfully a lot more going on here so that Dante doesn’t live or die based on its ending alone. It’s just a brave step forward that reiterates why Hugo Ruiz is a filmmaker to look out for.
Dante made its world premiere at Tribeca 2026; release info TBD.
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