If you have been gaming since the PS1 and PS2 era, chances are that you loved playing games like Banjo and Kazooie, Ratchet & Clank, or Jak and Daxter. With developers evolving with time and people focusing on more realistic gameplay experiences, cartoony, action-adventure games have been dying into the background with few developers actually putting effort into them. Fast forward to 2022 and today I am happy to mention that Glowfish Interactive and Big Sugar have managed to bring back nostalgia with their latest title Trifox. Featuring solid gameplay mechanics and cartoony visuals, Trifox is an adventure game that combines platforming, action, shooting, and puzzle-solving into one game. This is our review of the PC version of Trifox in which we explode some crabs and take down pirates in beautiful, beachy locations.
The story of Trifox kicks off after Trifox is looted at his premises and his precious TV remote is stolen from him. Trifox is chilling at his home one day. However, the evil pirates decide to rob Trifox, and out of all the things they could loot from him, they decide to loot Trifox’s TV remote. The story takes Trifox on a manhunt as he is chasing after the leader of the pirate gang that stole his TV remote however every time Trifox is about to catch him, something happens, and the villain manages to get away. This leads to a fun and silly little adventure that is filled with action and humor mixed with each other. The main area in Trifox is your main hub which acts as your base of operations. You select different levels to play, upgrade your skills, switch them out and do everything else here. While you are not out playing a mission, you will find yourself in this main hub.
The levels are pretty straightforward and linear areas where you will fight with the bad guys, solve puzzles and do a little bit of platforming to progress. At key points, there are also cool little cutscenes that are not narrated and just show the in-game characters making noises at each other and pointing at stuff. They fit really well with the overall presentation of the game, and this is what I like about Trifox. There are sometimes a few hidden areas in the game since you have to find the hidden gems but sometimes there are coin chests in the level as well which are sometimes in plain sight, but you have to progress in the level and then unlock a way to access them. This certainly makes you look for hidden passages, levers, and more, and sometimes, solving a puzzle requires a small extra step for that hidden loot as well. The game features a top-down camera, but it is still at an angle and not that far away so if something comes your way to block your view, it vanishes in thin air and once you have moved away from it, it appears back giving you a clear view of the entire screen.
The UI of Trifox is pretty simple and what you would normally expect from a classic action-adventure game. You have your health bar and mana bar with your character’s portrait which changes its expression when you die on the lower-left side of the screen. You also have all of the assigned skills showcasing what buttons they are assigned to right next to it. At the top, you have your coin counter. Trifox has one of the best and most simplistic UIs I’ve seen in a long time. Dying is not too harsh in the game as you will just respawn at the start of the puzzle or combat scenario however if you increase the difficulty level to maximum, you will be restarting a lot because most of the incoming attacks with one-shot kill you. You can adjust your experience with four difficulty settings which are adjustable on the go without any hiccups. The level design is multi-layered and you will sometimes do a little bit of backtracking as well especially when you have to find a lever to open a locked door you saw in a previously explored area. The backtracking is not too annoying and is just the right amount of it without making the game too tedious.
Trifox is able to wield three different fighting styles and it all depends on you which skills you want to choose for him. At the start of the game, you are offered to choose a fighting style from warrior, mage, and engineer as each of them has its own unique fighting styles and skill trees. After your selection of the initial skillset and attack, you have to purchase new skills with coins that you collect from defeating enemies, random exploration around levels, and special hidden coin chests. You purchase these skills from the upgrade screen located in your hub which is easily accessible straight from the level selection screen as well making it extremely convenient. At this screen, you can also mix and match abilities with each other or assign new keys to previously unlocked skills. The ability to mix and match the skills of an engineer, mage, and warrior really open up cool opportunities for your unique build. The game does not restrict you in any way when it comes to equipping skills from the three skill trees you might have different skills equipped from all three of the skill trees at one time and the game will not give you any trouble with it. This allows you to become the master of all three fighting styles as you can equip and use the best skills from all three trees simultaneously or create unique builds catering to your current mood.
The skills themselves are pretty cool as you can lay down mines, put down turrets, magically jump from one place to another, use your hammer to beat down enemies, or use magical wards to defeat your enemies from a safe distance. The skills individually perform really well and combining them with each other is just magical. Landing these skills is really easy as well because if you have a mouse with multiple buttons, you can assign all of the skills to your mouse, aim with it and then use the skills and shoot with the mouse while moving around with the keyboard. If you have a controller, you can link it up to the PC version and play it via the controller as well. There are two different movement modes in the game. If you stop aiming with the mouse, the character becomes faster as he is just moving but if you are moving the mouse around, a cursor will appear on the screen and the character will not sprint during this aiming mode. Switching between the two modes is automatic.
Combat is one of the main elements of the game and you will be fighting against natural enemies and the main villain’s goons as well. The enemies in the game come in all shapes and sizes and the boss battles in the game could become really intense as well. Most of the enemies are random in the game however you have to face waves of enemies at certain points especially when you solve a puzzle completely or are trying to solve a particular step of a puzzle. The enemies are both melee and ranged as well and some even land status effects on you, so you have to be continuously on the move and defeat them with everything that you’ve got. At certain points, you will be locked in a small arena of sorts, and you will need to defeat all of the enemies coming at you before the arena unlocks and you can move forward.
While Trifox is a linear game and if you only care about the story and experience, you might play it once however, the game tries to offer some sort of replayability by incorporating traditional elements such as a level timer, number of deaths, and hidden gems along with coins collection as end-level mechanics. If you want to speed through the levels and try to beat your old times, you can replay the levels to try to beat your best time or if you died during your previous playthrough, you could replay the level to try to complete the level without dying even once in it. If you are a completionist, you can replay levels to find all of the hidden gems and coins in all levels. Apart from these, the game does not offer much after you have beaten the main story of the game once.
Playing Trifox is nothing short of a nostalgic trip, especially if you played titles like Jak and Daxter, Ratchet & Clank, and other early 2000s shooters. The game reminded me time and time again how fun this genre really is. Trifox combines platforming, puzzle solving, and shooting into one entertaining package. The only problem I see is that Trifox does not really offer any sort of endgame content to extend its gameplay beyond your initial runs of all of the levels. The story of the game is not too long, and this is a crime. After you have replayed the levels a few times to collect the last remaining gems, and coins and tried out all of the skills in the game, there is nothing left to do in the game and that is a shame. I really hope that Trifox gets another game in the franchise and that the developers further expand the game next time since they already have a solid foundation to work on.
Final Verdict:
Trifox is a brilliant adventure game with a pleasing art style and solid gameplay mechanics. The ability to combine different skill trees together and use them to absolutely annihilate your enemies in the game really satisfies your slaughtering needs. Trifox shows us that the genre of classic action-adventure games is not dead and there are still developers out there exploring it and releasing some really cool titles. From the very first level to its very last boss fight, Trifox is an adventure that is highly enjoyable and satisfying. It is aimed at a wide range of audience and no matter what sort of games you play, Trifox will certainly appeal to you with its charming atmosphere and action-packed gameplay.
Final Score: 9.0/10
