Trinity Fusion is a 3D action rogue-lite that features three heroes in three worlds, beset by a single doomsday scenario. Read our review to see what it did well, what it didn't do well, and if it's worth buying.
Trinity Fusion Review Overview
Trinity Fusion Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
 Absurdly-Detailed Everything Three Worlds, Three Experiences Its Hefty Combat Is Amazing Build Variety Is Just Right |
Cycling Weapons Can Suck The Combat Isn’t For Everybody |
Trinity Fusion Overall Score - 82/100
Trinity Fusion is a solid action rogue-lite featuring well-paced combat, diverse builds, and a vast arsenal of weapons. Each of its three heroines has distinct, if not wholly different, playstyles. Combined with its familiar gameplay loop and rewarding deaths, Trinity Fusion is a well-rounded game that should definitely be considered by any enthusiast.
Trinity Fusion Story - 6/10
It may come as no surprise that a rogue-lite would have difficulties delivering a proper story. After all, no matter what the developer does, its pace is entirely dictated by your skills and preferences in progressing through the game. Not only that, it also suffers from scattered storytelling, especially during the early stages, due to having three separate, mostly independent routes.
Trinity Fusion Gameplay - 9/10
Despite its heftiness, combat in Trinity Fusion is an incredibly satisfying experience due to its diverse builds, rewarding gameplay loop, and tight controls. Since most maps are different each time, and the upgrades you’ll have access to are almost entirely unique in every session, there’s rarely a time when two runs feel exactly the same - especially considering that there are three unique characters and even more distinct worlds to play with.
Trinity Fusion Visuals - 9/10
Fully utilizing its 3D models, Trinity Fusion enjoys a much more solid visual experience than many of its 2D counterparts. It also follows its setting very well, with three enemy archetypes scattered aptly across three different worlds, each with its own diverse types and designs.
Trinity Fusion Audio - 8/10
The game boasts sound effects that are as punchy as any excellent action game, with decent background tracks to boot. Although the latter may not be memorable by any stretch of the imagination, it does its job well enough to make playing the game an even better experience than not having it. Also, the voice acting is great and nearly omnipresent in the game!
Trinity Fusion Value for Money - 9/10
This is being sold at a mere $19.99. That’s a meager price for the hours and enjoyment you can invest in the game. As long as you can get used to everything the game has, there’s little doubt that you can just watch the hours fly away as you repeatedly die with satisfaction.
Trinity Fusion Review: Three Thumbs And A Hand-Up.
Considering my skill with platformers in general, 2D action rogue-lites are usually at the bottom of my list for games to consider playing. After all, not only am I lacking the necessary expertise to dabble in platformers, but the added difficulty of the rogue-lite genre makes for an unbearable experience.
Most of the time, at least.
It’s likely a motivation thing. Many average roguelikes and rogue-lites simply don’t deliver the kind of experience that would pull the untrained me back to its gameplay. Honestly, the main reason why I even tried Trinity Fusion was that its gameplay videos looked sick (in a good way, of course). I’m glad I did.
Trinity Fusion isn’t a very special or groundbreaking game in any sense. Most of its mechanics are familiar faces to those who play rogue-lites and roguelikes. For example, the Amplifiers, permanent modifiers that last throughout a run, function similarly to Dead Cells’ Mutations. However, innovation isn’t the strong point of rogue-lite Metroidvanias, anyway. What really matters is how sharp and polished their gameplay is, and, oh boy, Trinity Fusion might just be among the sharpest tools in the shed.
The game’s combat is an absolute joy to experience. Attacking and maneuvering flow very well between each other. Unless you’re using a move that expressly gives enemies an opening, you have all the freedom to move away and press your advantage or perform a strategic retreat. Comboing with your secondary weapons is also possible, depending on your character. You could even add your interactions with the environment as part of your considerations, such as using walls to jump back toward enemies after dodging their attacks.
Sure, pretty much every attack in this game, including your own, is telegraphed to such a degree that it feels clunky at best and downright unresponsive at worst. However, I feel like that’s part of the game’s charm. Since you know that your attacks won’t hit as fast as you want them to, you’ll have to get around this issue by taking any opportunity more carefully.
The end result might be less exciting than your typical action rogue-lite, but it sure is much more intriguing.
Pros of Trinity Fusion
| Things Trinity Fusion Got Right |
|---|
|
Absurdly-Detailed Everything Three Worlds, Three Experiences Its Hefty Combat Is Amazing Build Variety Is Just Right |
Absurdly-Detailed Everything
While many popular rogue-lites use either sprites or 2D models, Trinity Fusion utilizes 3D resources for everything in the game. This allows the developers to stuff as much detail and lighting effects as they want and make it work its magic through perspective and such.
Even its character and enemy designs look cool, but not in a way that betrays the game’s setting. The three main heroines themselves have quite subdued designs and, in my opinion, would struggle to win any fashion-related awards. However, they fit right into their home worlds, further enforcing the gravity of the story’s imminent apocalypse.
Three Worlds, Three Experiences
Unlike other rogue-lites, Trinity Fusion features three entirely different worlds to play in. This is as much of a design necessity as a story-driven one, as the game’s premise concerns the progressive and simultaneous destruction of three, actually four parallel worlds.
Each of the three heroines mainly acts on their own worlds. So, for example, if you want to play as Altara, you’ll also have to play in the Underworld. And while you can fuse your characters at specific points in the game to use the other heroines outside of their home worlds, that’s more or less just a gameplay mechanic than something that can influence the story.
However, that doesn’t mean it’s all for nothing. Each world features different sets of enemies and diverse terrain. So, if you get tired of repeatedly dying in the Hyperworld, where everybody’s an obnoxious android, you can switch to the Overworld and die to machines instead!
Its Hefty Combat Is Amazing
Right off the bat, it’s essential to state that Trinity Fusion’s combat is notably slower than that of similar games like Dead Cells. But while that may put off some people looking for a game similar to the latter, I think its weighty response gives it a unique and strategically exciting personality.
Knowing that your attacks won’t land right after your input forces you to consider your moves much more carefully. Just because an enemy is recovering from an attack doesn’t mean you can just slide into his personal space and maul him to death. You also need to consider the state of the enemies around you. Are they also recovering from an attack? Are they out of range to follow up after their friend? Or maybe they’re a higher-priority target?
Your reusable abilities being governed by cooldowns instead of charges also enforce a more thoughtful approach to combat. Although one could argue that it just encourages defensive gameplay, there’s really nothing wrong with that. Everybody should be able to play how they want to, especially in a game that provides a decent variety of ways to approach builds. I mean, if you want to experience the fast-paced thrill that the genre typically provides, then just play as aggressively as you want.
Build Variety Is Just Right
In order to support a wide variety of players besides the usual hardcore, rogue-lite enthusiasts, the builds that you can aspire to in Trinity Fusion are diverse and distinct.
First of all, despite having three distinct heroines to choose from, you can choose to fuse them at certain points in the game, allowing you to use more than just your main character’s signature secondary weapon. You also have Augments and Combat Upgrades, which are permanent upgrades across all of your characters. These are expensive to purchase, but well worth the investment.
Then there are the usual damage-based Amplifiers, which, you guessed it, increase the damage you can deal, but there are also survival-based Amplifiers that can make you last longer in combat or heal for higher values. Other Amplifiers deal with improving your chances of dealing critical damage, increasing the utility of your dashes, reducing the cooldown of your reusable abilities, etc.
If there’s something about the game that you want to exploit, there’s likely a set of Amplifiers that you can take for it.
There are also rare Amplifiers that can improve two different aspects simultaneously or work on the effects of another mechanic. For example, there’s an upgrade you can take that allows you to heal off the critical damage you deal. If you combine it with one of the weapons that always deals critical damage if your opponent is suffering under a specific status effect and a secondary weapon that can reliably apply that debuff, you can create a nearly immortal avatar.
Well, that is as long as you can keep applying the necessary status effect. However, that’s not reasonable to demand, at least for the most part. That’s because weapons have to be cycled every so often.
Cons of Trinity Fusion
| Things That Trinity Fusion Can Improve |
|---|
|
Cycling Weapons Can Suck The Combat Isn’t For Everybody |
Cycling Weapons Can Suck
Perhaps in an attempt to force you to test the game’s various weapons, every piece of equipment in this game has something similar to durability. It’s similar to the weapons in Monster Hunter, gradually losing their edge (even hammers, for some reason) as fights progress. However, unlike in Monster Hunter, you don’t have access to a whetstone to tend to your blade in Trinity Fusion. Instead, you’ll have to switch to a fresh weapon regularly.
You can imagine how much that can suck. Perhaps your weapons are already synergistic, such as a primary and secondary equipment set that guarantees critical hits. Or maybe it’s for more personal reasons, such as liking how a particular weapon handles.
Regardless of your rationale, you really don’t have much of a choice if you don’t want to struggle down the road. You will have to change your weapon often, whether you like it or not, due to circumstances that are simply part of the game’s experience.
And since weapon drops are entirely random, you’ll likely end up with one that may not be as comfortable to handle as you’d like.
The Combat Isn’t For Everybody
Due to Trinity Fusion’s hefty controls, players looking for the fast-paced combat that many rogue-lites like Dead Cells or Metroidvanias like TEVI might be disappointed. Although exploration is quite forgiving, with many teleportation hubs scattered around every map, little can be done with how weighty fights can feel.
Although you may be able to run each session with the urgency of an imminent stroke, the game itself will resist your attempts at breaking past its speed limit. That’s why if you want to get far in Trinity Fusion, you’ll have no choice but to adapt to its tempered pace.
I have to say, though, I think accepting the pace for what it is ultimately provides a more rewarding experience in the end.
Is Trinity Fusion Worth It?
Definitely Worth Your Time And Money
Trinity Fusion is a solid game; there's no doubt about that. Though you might have to get used to its pace at the onset, the dozens of hours you can spend afterward is a merry experience of fighting for your life, dying, and trying again.
| Platform | Price |
|---|---|
 Steam Store |
$19.99 |
 PlayStation Store |
$19.99 |
 Microsoft Store |
$19.99 |
Trinity Fusion Overview & Premise
Four parallel worlds are collapsing. First, the Hyperworld, where science and art abound, has become a dystopia where its citizens modified themselves into an advanced race. Then, the Overworld fell, courtesy of the machines they manufactured rising up in revolt. The Underworld followed, with its abundant life energies mutating beasts across the planet.
Destruction is inevitable. The only thing anybody can do is to salvage whatever’s left and fuse the worlds into one.
Trinity Fusion FAQ
How Many Playable Characters Are There In Trinity Fusion?
There are three playable characters available at the start, each with unique playstyles and arsenals.
Is Trinity Fusion A Roguelike Or A Rogue-Lite?
Trinity Fusion is a rogue-lite.
Trinity Fusion Product Information
 |
|
| Title | TRINITY FUSION |
|---|---|
| Release Date | December 15, 2023 |
| Developer | Angry Mob Games |
| Publisher | Angry Mob Games |
| Supported Platforms | PC, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4 |
| Genre | Action |
| Number of Players | 1 |
| ESRB Rating | Teen |
| Official Website | Trinity Fusion Website |
