The next chapter in Frozenbyte’s series Trine is set to release October 8th, publisher Modus Games has announced through the medium of quickly moving images which, once combined, form a gameplay trailer of gorgeous 2.5 dimensional puzzle-platforming pastel chaos.

Check out Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince in action after the jump.

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The magical puzzle-platforming adventures of a thief, a knight, and a wizard will continue this autumn in Trine 4, developers Frozenbyte announced today. Following a terse announcement for the game last year, now they’ve opened up with screenshots and a trailer and details and all that marketing jazz. Once again, our trio will be leaping around levels, solving physics-driven puzzles and smashing baddies in different ways with their different abilities. Perhaps most notably, Trine 4 is going back to the side-on ‘2.5D’ style of the first two games, after Trine 3’s expedition into the third dimension turned out a little blah.

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I often lament that game companies don’t tend to admit when they’ve ballsed something up – paralysed by fear that it’ll affect marketshare or boardmember confidence. Today, we get to see what it looks like when a successful but small developer puts their hands up, admits there’s a problem and explains why. Does it feel any better?

Trine 3: The Artifacts of Power [official site] is the game in question, and its shortness and unresolved story are the cause of the drama.

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When I’m playing the Trine [official site] games I feel like I’m shuffling around inside beautiful fantasy concept art. It’s a little known fact that Louis Armstrong’s recording of What A Wonderful World was performed after an all-night cooperative Trine binge and the inspiration is clear (the final verse, however, was a joke about The Sims’ squalling infants). I’ve often wondered how it would feel to step inside the beautiful artwork rather than dashing across it from left to right, and the freshly announced Trine 3 has the answer. Indulge your eyes by watching the trailer below.

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If someone could kindly make a Trine 2 level that’s a big huge grappling hook playground with daring leaps and grand fairytale vistas, I’d be much obliged. Developers Frozenbyte have released public beta versions of the level editors for both its magical puzzle-platformers, you see, but I’m oh so horribly busy this week. They let folks create new levels, edit existing ones, and put together their own multi-level campaigns. A string of grappling hook playgrounds, perhaps.

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Each generation adds its own twist to old fairytales, reflecting the tone and fashions of the era, teasing out undertones as statements. Trine was not an adaptation of an old tale, but played with genre conventions to deliver a modern message: lusty wizards and thieves with grappling hooks are totally wicked cool. But what comes out when that itself is updated? Prettiness. So much prettiness.

Developers Frozenbyte yesterday launched Trine Enchanted Edition, a remake of sorts in the Trine 2 engine, adding online co-op and buckets of shininess. It’d been in public testing for a month.

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I remember Trine as being awfully pretty but no, apparently it wasn’t pretty enough for developers Frozenbyte (and, having now returned to the game, it seems my memory’s not quite what it was). They’re porting Trine over to the Trine 2 engine, giving the puzzle-platformer a fairytale makeover and its sequel’s online co-op.

While Frozenbyte may disappearing off on their summer hols soon and don’t know quite when it’ll be finished, they’ve released a beta version so we can all argue with Skypepals over who gets to be the Wizard. (Tip: start this argument then sigh “Fine, I’ll be the Thief” because actually she is the best. Thank the pro-wizard lobbying of Idle Thumbs, I guess.)

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It’s not Android games, nor soundtracks, nor books about kettles. The new Humble Bundle is the original, the Humble Indie Bundle 9. And for a ninth time in a row, it’s a corker. With names like Mark Of The Ninja, FTL: Faster Than Light, and FEZ, you can see the dollar signs spinning already.

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I remember a review of Zhang Yimou’s Hero which claimed that almost any frame from the film would be worthy of hanging in a gallery. Hyperbolic perhaps but it was> a motion picture not afraid to include all of the the colours, frequently in astonishing arrangements. Similarly rich in palette, Trine 2 brings a beauty all its own to the fields and frozen wastes that are so well-trodden by hordes of wizards and warriors. It’s truly fantastic fantasy art and I’d happily watch a slideshow of both its spectacles and subtleties for hours. All that beauty can be yours for £2.99 this weekend on Steam, which is less than you’d spend on a postcard of a hill. The Goblin Menace DLC is also available now and at £5.09 actually costs more than the game at the moment.

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Truth be told, I’m not entirely sure how goblins – lumpy, stumpy little monstrosities – can exist in Trine 2‘s world. I mean, I have to imagine it’s like a snowman going for a stroll on the sun; we’re talking about two entirely opposing forces, and one has to give. So naturally, you’d assume ugly ol’ goblins would immediately explode into flame volcanoes when exposed to Trine’s blindness-curing beauty. And yet, they’re still alive and kicking – and menacing>, no less. So, of course, it’s up to us to fix that little problem while accidentally walking off tall ledges because we’re distracted by all the pretty thi–

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