I have never before played a puzzle game as long as an RPG in my life. But damn it if I didn't love my time with this game! Even when I spent possibly two hours on one of the "expert" puzzles, I found the game enticing from beginning to end.

• This game is HARD. It will force you to think differently in order to beat this game's puzzles. Most challenges are for experts, but even the main puzzles are no simple matter.
  
• I do not recommend this game to be played with a controller. You spend a lot of time drawing up triangles, and in later levels you will have to micromanage each one.
  
• Turn down the triangle-textures as you're going to draw a lot of them. Your performance will improve greatly.

What is TRI? TRI is a FPS puzzle-platformer that combines a single main-mechanic throughout the whole experience (after you find the TRI in Chapter/Level 3) a la Portal and the unreal, illogical world of Antichamber.

There are some platforming skills at your disposal such as climbing edges by holding the jump button or climbing into holes by holding both the jump and the crouch button. This last mechanic can be picky at times, but you can get by with climbing and crouching throughout most of the game.

The execution of this game makes me wish a game would utilize Mirror's Edge controls with an interesting game mechanic for speedrunners to make puzzles both challenging in reflexes and in the thought process.

Unlike games such as QUBE and Magnrunner Pulse, you are allowed to draw triangles on just about every surface, except wood. You gain an ability later to scale triangles on walls and later to bounce light on triangles. Afterwards, the game is at your whim for how you want to go around the levels.

This greatly improves the replayability as you can challenge yourself to find alternative paths or be more efficient with your triangles and time.

Despite how difficult I've said the game is at some parts, the game scales its difficulty fairly throughout the first ten or so chapters. After Chapter 10, you better have mastered drawing triangles because you're going to draw a lot.

Each new chapter introduces something new that you have to experiment with to figure out what is going on, and some stages might be more expansive than others or more laybrinth-like.

The goal of every stage is to collect three red fox statues to open the portal to the next level. These can be tracked with waypoints by pressing the highligh key (H). There are also secret golden idols in every level that require you to either explore every aspect of the level, look more closely at the level, or challenge you to take the harder challenges.

These golden idols unlock some developer commentary, prototype pics, level layout pics, etc. But the real reward for these idols is the challenge of 100% the levels by finding all the secret and the super secret idols. The downside is that too many rely on visual-illusions that you might grow tired of quickly.


The story is about the Monk, Blue and Red (the Old God Foxes). You are just some human disciple of the Monk, and there's no backstory behind your character.

I don't think this is much of a spoiler because the game never really cares about who you are, only about the world and the other characters. (Even in the developers' commentary, they said they scrapped the idea of giving you a backstory because it wasn't worth it).

The Monk can be thought of as your GLaDoS, but he won't make quips at your failures; he'll be your source of exposition and some encouragement. I don't think his VA is bad at all, but if you're expecting some rich character like GLaDos, I think you'll be disappointed.

After every other level, you'll recieve a cutscene that gives some more exposition. The twist of the game is somewhat expected a mile away, but the story is servicable and I quite like the narrative. This game is a case of more style and gameplay over story substance.

The only gripe I have with the story is I don't quite like how the game handles the idea of madness; it treats the matter as a temporary condition rather than a permanent affliction.

Now I'm not one to not encourage more happier endings, but I think the developers missed out on the opportunity to flesh out the idea of friendship and of madness in treating both things with more consequences. It's something I think this game could've easily done better.

But it's clear the game wanted to focus more on making a relaxing, mind-bending puzzle game than a serious story.


As I mentioned beforehand, in order to complete 100% of every level, you need to find all the golden idols. I would recommend at least being a completionist for the first ten levels/chapters.

Each of these extra challenges will make you more accustomed to the game's mechanics and they will get your head around some of the possibilities you can do. The secrets are not artificial time-wasters; they give you a better opportunity to explore every aspect of the level and become familiar with the TRI.

If you're tired of going after the idols by chapter 9 or 10, stick with collecting the red fox statues. If you think you can handle more mental strain, go for the long run and try to 100% the game.


Pros

• THE SOUNDTRACK! If you love Rayman, boy do I have the soundtrack for you.
  
• A difficult puzzle game.
  
• Simple, yet frustratingly deceptive mechanics and puzzles.
  
• Lots of content to get out of this game.
  
• Foxes, foxes, foxes, and vulpes gods.
  
• Simple story for young and old.
  
• Beautiful scenary and very thought-out level design.

Cons

• A difficult puzzle game. Frustration in the later part of the game with the golden idols. (Chapter 10 onwards)
  
• Crouch Button + Jump Button = NOT FUN
  
• Too many visual illusion puzzles and one-time kind of puzzles.
  
• Simple narrative and characters.
  
• Nuances with drawing triangles over the simplicity of the Portal gun.
  
• Some levels feel way too big or take too long to navigate.

I have never before played a puzzle game as long as an RPG in my life. But damn it if I didn't love my time with this game! Even when I spent possibly two hours on one of the "expert" puzzles, I found the game enticing from beginning to end. [h1]Warnings![/h1] [list] [*] This game is [b]HARD[/b]. It will force you to think differently in order to beat this game's puzzles. Most challenges are for experts, but even the main puzzles are no simple matter. [*] I do not recommend this game to be played with a controller. You spend a lot of time drawing up triangles, and in later levels you will have to micromanage each one. [*] Turn down the triangle-textures as you're going to draw a lot of them. Your performance will improve greatly. [/list] [h1]Mechanics[/h1] What is TRI? TRI is a FPS puzzle-platformer that combines a single main-mechanic throughout the whole experience (after you find the TRI in Chapter/Level 3) a la Portal and the unreal, illogical world of Antichamber. There are some platforming skills at your disposal such as climbing edges by holding the jump button or climbing into holes by holding both the jump and the crouch button. This last mechanic can be picky at times, but you can get by with climbing and crouching throughout most of the game. The execution of this game makes me wish a game would utilize Mirror's Edge controls with an interesting game mechanic for speedrunners to make puzzles both challenging in reflexes and in the thought process. Unlike games such as QUBE and Magnrunner Pulse, you are allowed to draw triangles on just about every surface, except wood. You gain an ability later to scale triangles on walls and later to bounce light on triangles. Afterwards, the game is at your whim for how you want to go around the levels. This greatly improves the replayability as you can challenge yourself to find alternative paths or be more efficient with your triangles and time. Despite how difficult I've said the game is at some parts, the game scales its difficulty fairly throughout the first ten or so chapters. After Chapter 10, you better have mastered drawing triangles because you're going to draw a lot. Each new chapter introduces something new that you have to experiment with to figure out what is going on, and some stages might be more expansive than others or more laybrinth-like. The goal of every stage is to collect three red fox statues to open the portal to the next level. These can be tracked with waypoints by pressing the highligh key (H). There are also secret golden idols in every level that require you to either explore every aspect of the level, look more closely at the level, or challenge you to take the harder challenges. These golden idols unlock some developer commentary, prototype pics, level layout pics, etc. But the real reward for these idols is the challenge of 100% the levels by finding all the secret and the super secret idols. The downside is that too many rely on visual-illusions that you might grow tired of quickly. [h1]Narrative (No spoilers)[/h1] The story is about the Monk, Blue and Red (the Old God Foxes). You are just some human disciple of the Monk, and there's no backstory behind your character. I don't think this is much of a spoiler because the game never really cares about who you are, only about the world and the other characters. (Even in the developers' commentary, they said they scrapped the idea of giving you a backstory because it wasn't worth it). The Monk can be thought of as your GLaDoS, but he won't make quips at your failures; he'll be your source of exposition and some encouragement. I don't think his VA is bad at all, but if you're expecting some rich character like GLaDos, I think you'll be disappointed. After every other level, you'll recieve a cutscene that gives some more exposition. The twist of the game is somewhat expected a mile away, but the story is servicable and I quite like the narrative. This game is a case of more style and gameplay over story substance. The only gripe I have with the story is I don't quite like how the game handles the idea of madness; it treats the matter as a temporary condition rather than a permanent affliction. Now I'm not one to not encourage more happier endings, but I think the developers missed out on the opportunity to flesh out the idea of friendship and of madness in treating both things with more consequences. It's something I think this game could've easily done better. But it's clear the game wanted to focus more on making a relaxing, mind-bending puzzle game than a serious story. [h1]Best Experience--Reccomendation[/h1] As I mentioned beforehand, in order to complete 100% of every level, you need to find all the golden idols. I would recommend at least being a completionist for the first ten levels/chapters. Each of these extra challenges will make you more accustomed to the game's mechanics and they will get your head around some of the possibilities you can do. The secrets are not artificial time-wasters; they give you a better opportunity to explore every aspect of the level and become familiar with the TRI. If you're tired of going after the idols by chapter 9 or 10, stick with collecting the red fox statues. If you think you can handle more mental strain, go for the long run and try to 100% the game. [h1] Pros & Cons Summary [/h1] Pros [list] [*] THE SOUNDTRACK! If you love Rayman, boy do I have the soundtrack for you. [*] A difficult puzzle game. [*] Simple, yet frustratingly deceptive mechanics and puzzles. [*] Lots of content to get out of this game. [*] Foxes, foxes, foxes, and vulpes gods. [*] Simple story for young and old. [*] Beautiful scenary and very thought-out level design. [/list] Cons [list] [*] A difficult puzzle game. Frustration in the later part of the game with the golden idols. (Chapter 10 onwards) [*] Crouch Button + Jump Button = NOT FUN [*] Too many visual illusion puzzles and one-time kind of puzzles. [*] Simple narrative and characters. [*] Nuances with drawing triangles over the simplicity of the Portal gun. [*] Some levels feel way too big or take too long to navigate.