Ahh, it's starting to feel like a greatest hits month already. Last week we checked in on what old JRPG friends Zeboyd had been up to, and this time we're back in the fantasy realm of Frozenbyte's Trine: a co-operative puzzle-platformer full of light blooms and dark tombs. 2011's Trine 2 feels like very familiar ground to me, because it was only last year when I played the Enchanted Edition version of Trine 1: a remake of the first game with the second game's upgraded graphics and mechanics. Trine 2 is in many respects more of the same, with the three heroes - Amadeus the Wizard, Pontius the Knight and Zoya the Thief - embarking on another adventure across a kingdom wracked with overgrown plants and a goblin infestation.

The beauty of Trine is in how each of its little puzzle set-pieces could be theoretically completed with any one of your team via a different manipulation of abilities and gravity/physics engine buffoonery. Less enticing is the game's combat, which generally involve getting attacked by a wave of semi-intelligent enemies as they seek you out and destroy obstacles in the way, but these sequences could be treated as a form of puzzle too with the right set-up. Each character has their focus - the Thief is best for general platforming while the Knight is best for combat. I'm partial to the Wizard myself, who is able to conjure a set number of crates with which to create steps or spike covers to solve problems, as well as a telekinesis skill to move and float crates and other objects, including larger fixtures like moving platforms, to where they need to be. He also gains the ability to use this telekinesis on enemies, pulling them around and tossing them into environmental hazards to take them out of the fight quickly, which is always hilarious.

Each of the game's 2D levels is almost completely linear, but there's a lot of secrets and collectibles sequestered away in non-obvious places just off the beaten path. The collectibles, which provide XP and bestow new abilities on the trio at regular intervals, come in two forms: a floating bubble-like form which takes a permanent stationary placement in mid-air until you find a way to reach it, and a potion form which is beholden to gravity and can be knocked down with arrows or a telekinetic object. They're the best kind of collectibles; not only in the sense that they actually have a tangible benefit, rather than unlocking boring old concept art (which is what the hidden chests contain), but also in how they enhance the puzzles by providing harder secondary objectives to pursue. These make the puzzles last a little longer, and force you to really consider your options rather than take the quick and easy path each time (which invariably involves stacking boxes, and lots of them). They're like the crowns in BOXBOY! or the secret stars in one of the recent Mario games: outwardly optional, but they add so much that they're integral as far as I'm concerned.

Trine 2's visual style is still stunning, though in multiple senses of the word. There's definitely a fantastical beauty to the exaggerated landscapes, with so much detail in the background (and foreground) of every scene of every level, not to mention the incredible lighting effects. The amount of light bloom and particle affects can also be a little much at times, to the point where I almost feel a headache coming along several hours into a session. I'll give the graphic artists props for making each of their levels stand out so vividly with their colors and visual effects, but there are times when it can be a little overwhelming.

When I came into Trine 2, I knew exactly what to expect and I got it. It would almost be disappointing, if it wasn't for the fact that expected package included a high level of quality for the gameplay mechanics, due consideration given to the physics puzzles, and indulging in some fun "see what sticks" experimental lateral thinking and mucking about. It's not perfect - there's an inescapable amount of jank whenever an Indie puzzle-platformer puts physics manipulation front and center, and the characters have an annoying habit of letting their momentum carry them off narrow platforms when moving too quickly - but Trine 2 is turning out to be the tonic I needed after such a tumultuous week. Only problem now is fitting it around the three other games I'm partway through (Cosmic Star Heroine, last week's Indie Game of the Week; Rayman Revolution, this week's The Top Shelf entry; and poor old Tales of Zestiria, which I've left unplayed for something like a week straight now).

Rating: 4 out of 5.