Trinity Fusion takes place in a multiverse composed of 3 different parallel universes, where the population is completely unaware of the presence of their parallel selves. But as corruption starts to spread across the multiverse and dangerous robots and creatures start to threaten the existence of citizens, the protagonist must rise to the occasion and cleanse the corruption from all over the multiverse. It’s a simple story that operates on a very generic framework of the player being at the epicenter of the conflict that drives the narrative, so it’s nothing that we haven’t seen before.

Players will take control of Altaria and her different versions across the multiverse. The different universes presents itself with a simple backstory and why they fell down, but that backdrop doesn’t really end up being all that engaging. And that’s largely because the writing itself is also pretty inconsistent, as certain characters will speak in an exaggerated serious tone all the while your character will be mocking them in a childish manner. Having such a confident and talkative character at the center may not be uncommon, but the issue here is that those punches don’t really land which makes the writing and occasional dialogue sections feel pretty awkward.

"The different universes presents itself with a simple backstory and why they fell down, but that backdrop doesn’t really end up being all that engaging."

Coming over to the gameplay side of things, Trinity Fusion is a roguelite at its core which essentially means that you will be making your way through procedurally generated worlds as you try to save the multiverse from collapsing. Permadeath is very much a thing here, and one too many mistakes will lead you back to the starting line all over again. But that’s not to say that Trinity Fusion doesn’t have permanent progression. You can use your accrued special points during a run to purchase upgrades or augments that will permanently boost your stats and give you a slight edge in the subsequent runs.

Everything except your starting weapons and spells will be reset before a run, and you must once again fight and upgrade your way through different biomes. The combat here is pretty simple, with the player having a single light attack that can be executed through a press of the square button. Landing successful hits on the enemy will charge an energy meter, which is used to dish out special attacks. Your offensive options are quite limited, which makes combat start to feel a bit repetitive after a while.

You can also jump and slide through levels, and the general combat encounters revolve around sliding and dashing into an enemy, hitting them before they turn your way, and doing that all again. There’s nothing wrong with having a simple combat loop, but the issue here is that the combat doesn’t really have the oomph that many of its peers like Returnal possess It’s not flashy in a visual sense; the attacks don’t seem to have much weight and controls aren’t the most responsive especially when you try to deal with aerial enemies.

"The combat here is pretty simple, with the player having a single light attack that can be executed through a press of the square button. "

The player starts out in the outskirts, a desolate place that probably belongs to a lower strata of the society and you make your way to the wastes which is a frigid biome with fierce creatures ready to maul you at every turn. Teleport stations are placed all across the map, which can easily take you from one corner to another so you don’t have to make your way back through dozens of rooms if you end up going really deep exploring. The procedurally generated maps strike a good balance of being complex enough to be interesting to navigate through and not being too overly complex where you are constantly getting stuck in places with no way out whatsoever. However, I did notice some instances where map layouts were essentially identical during multiple runs. And in one instance, I got a map layout where I literally had no way forward given my current set of abilities even after thorough exploration of the environment. Of course, your mileage might vary but the map design generation wasn’t really up to the mark during my time with the game.

Trinity Fusion places a lot of focus on exploration, and players are advised to explore each map in a thorough fashion before proceeding on to the next biome. Each biome has multiple optional rooms that contain anything from a precious health resource to better weapons or an upgrade station where you can choose a temporary stat upgrade that will last you for the run.

These upgrade stations give you a total of 3 upgrades to choose from, and it’s vital that you chain the effects of these upgrades to maximize the damage output of your character. For instance, if you have an upgrade that increases your critical chance, you should choose another upgrade that would increase your damage with each critical hit and so on and so forth. Carefully engaging with these mechanics can significantly increase your chances of success, and it makes the moment to moment combat feel a bit more engaging as well. There are also cursed chests that you can find in rooms which offer a powerful weapon in exchange for a curse that will last with you until you make it out of that biome. It’s a classic risk versus reward mechanic which adds a neat twist to the gameplay proceedings as well.

"Carefully engaging with these mechanics can significantly increase your chances of success, and it makes the moment to moment combat feel a bit more engaging as well."

Unfortunately, Trinity Fusion doesn’t really have a good art direction. Sure, it takes place in a fantasy world filled with different kinds of beasts but the art direction feels extremely generic and bland with little in the name of distinctiveness. This combined with the previously mentioned simplistic combat makes the moment-to-moment gameplay feel somewhat uninteresting. I also felt that Trinity Fusion suffers from balancing issues since I couldn’t even make it past the first couple of stages without a good amount of permanent upgrades. The initial levels felt a bit uninviting to me since I didn’t really stand a chance against enemies without those permanent upgrades which can feel a bit cheap and unfair. Even when I got hold of a couple under my belt, they felt like very marginal upgrades to my character which didn’t really help me ease into the experience. As such, the first few hours playing Trinity Fusion revolved around grinding for upgrades before I was able to comfortably cross levels and start making some real progress.

For everything that Trinity Fusion does right, it fumbles in something that is equally crucial to nailing the experience of a great roguelite. As such, it was pretty hard for me to be impressed by this game. It’s not a bad game by any means, and it does have some cool concepts in its mechanics but the execution isn’t impressive which makes it a mediocre experience.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.

To that end, GamingBolt spoke to Angry Mob Games CEO Bogdan Iliesiu about the state of the game, how the response has been and what players can expect in the future.

"Ever since we launched, we did weekly or bi-weekly balance updates. The aim is to get it to a really fun and balanced experience, and slow down on tweaking too many balance figures after the console launch."

Brawlout has come a long way since its days in early access. How has the journey been thus far?

So much has changed since we first launched in Early Access, earlier this year. And it’s all thanks to our amazing community. It’s really time consuming to balance a fighting game, that’s why most really successful ones are iterations on decades-old franchises.

That’s one of the best parts of Brawlout, and platform fighters in general: you don’t need to stick to the traditional fighting game mechanics. They really shine when you get crazy with the moves design, and give each playable character distinct advantages. We’ve added tons of requested gameplay features, like ledge grabs, and made the top level play even more technical. In October, we’ll launch the next major update, with a huge progression system, where players could unlock tons of amazing stuff, including 18 new character variations.

When we first saw Brawlout, it mixed platforming with fighting game mechanics and unique characters. What was the feedback from your player base on this formula?

That’s what they love about Brawlout. You really feel like you’re in a fighting game, and you feel the weight of every punch and kick.

The players love how fast and fluent everything feels. Because we tweaked the rock-paper-scissor formula (for attack-block-grab – by removing the blocks and grabs), the game got a lot more fast paced, and now your main focus is the trajectory of your fighters, and anticipating your opponent’s position – as opposed to the slower defensive play in other games, where you actually have to read your opponent’s every move and counter it.

Fighting games usually see numerous balance changes throughout their life cycles. Was Brawlout in a similar situation at times and how did you address it?

Ever since we launched, we did weekly or bi-weekly balance updates. The aim is to get it to a really fun and balanced experience, and slow down on tweaking too many balance figures after the console launch. This way top players could perfect their skills, and we wouldn’t be breaking their strategies or combo games with new updates.

Which character is your favourite currently? Can you tell us about the overall character design process?

Personally I like both Sephi’ra and the Drifter, from Hyper Light Drifter, because they both give you so many movement options, both on ground and in air. That means you can easily follow up on your attacks and chain some amazing combos.

The character design is by far the most fun part in developing a fighting game. All our characters start from their attack moves design, based on a specific play style. The play style is either an ‘archetype’ seen in other fighting games (like Paco, who is a grappler), or it’s based on great game mechanics from other action games (like King Apu, whose chain attacks are inspired from games like Castlevania).

After we come up with the overall ideas for their basic attacks and special moves, we concept out the character art. All our original characters (except the guest characters) are based on different world cultures and civilizations, so that also helps to give them a common theme and a strong personality. Next up comes the actual art production, animations, sounds, backstory and of course the final balancing, for which we work closely with our top players.

"The online play improved greatly since the first Early Access launch. You can now play 4 player online matches with no issues, super smoothly. Of course that depends on each player’s network connection, but it’s way faster now."

What new content has been added to the game since launch? Have there been new modes or characters added?

We tried to keep the Early Access version focused on competitive play, and so we kept the main game modes to straight up fights, either locally or online, with casual or ranked matches.

In October, we’re rolling out a major update, with a lot more single player content, like an Arcade Mode, a much requested Tutorial mode, and tons of unlocks and character progression. The current Steam version features 7 characters, and it will go up to 26 this year. That includes another really famous guest character.

Post-launch, how has the network code for Brawlout been holding up? With lower player counts and other factors like balancing between skill and connection quality, how do you feel Brawlout‘s online play has shaped up?

The online play improved greatly since the first Early Access launch. You can now play 4 player online matches with no issues, super smoothly. Of course that depends on each player’s network connection, but it’s way faster now.

We’ve given pro players some extra options for choosing their matchmaking regions, connection quality and lag settings. Last weekend, our top players from Europe and North America were able to compete in a single tournament, so the connections are super smooth now.

How has the competitive side for the game panned out since release?

Initially we had tons of players battling it out for top spots, but slowly, some very high skilled players coming from other fighting games started picking up the game, and they’ve been holding on to the top spots in the ranked leaderboards and some of the online tournaments. But there’s always room for new players to make their mark, and Brawlout is really easy to get into.

We’ve been running weekly tournaments through ESL and Smash.gg. The community also does smaller 4-5 weekly tournaments, so feel free to join anytime, on Discord.

What are some of the challenges you face with a fighting game after launch, especially with so many different competitors bringing out games every other month?

It’s important to release new content often, to keep the players engaged, as with any other genre. With fighting games, it’s way harder to come up with new characters every month, as one single character takes around 6 months of development time. After the console launch we’ll ramp up our e-sports efforts, and hold larger tournaments, with bigger prize pools, both online and offline (in person).

"Many developers feel like they’re much more welcoming to smaller and indie developers, than Microsoft and Sony."

Brawlout will also be coming to the Nintendo Switch in Q4 2017. What has it been like working with Nintendo and what differences did you notice in their handling of third parties compared to Microsoft and Sony?

Nintendo is amazing. Many developers feel like they’re much more welcoming to smaller and indie developers, than Microsoft and Sony. Not only for their third party support, but also because it’s not such a crowded space, and it’s much easier to stand out with an amazing game.

What does the future hold for Brawlout? Can we expect a sequel or significant expansion any time soon?

We plan to support the game post launch with lots more game modes, and new characters every couple of months. And of course we’ll try to grow the e-sports scene, with the help of our community.

The game will be receiving Xbox One X support. Is native 4K and 60 frames per second on the cards?

Yes, it is.

What is your target resolution for the PS4 Pro version?

We plan to get to 4K, but we’ll have to see what kind of optimizations would be required.

What is the resolution and frame rate of the base PS4 and Xbox One version?

We’ve been focusing on the Nintendo Switch version, for which it runs perfectly smooth at 60FPS, in both Handheld and TV modes. Once we’ll get to the PS4 and Xbox One final optimizations, we’ll have more to share on that.

Is anything else you want to tell us about the game?

Thanks so much for your questions! Keep following us to see when the next major update hits!

How will that ultimately shape up? GamingBolt spoke to Angry Mob Games CEO Bogdan Iliesiu about Brawlout and what distinguishes it among other party fighters.

"Each character is inspired from fighting game archetypes or well-known action game heroes (like King Apu has moves similar to Castlevania)."

Obviously Brawlout is interesting to us given its Super Smash Bros. elements but what inspired the development of the main premise and characters?

We always loved fighting games and action games, and wanted to make something truly competitive.

Adding in platforming elements, plus some crazy and funny moves also makes Brawlout really fun to watch and easy to understand for everybody. That’s really important these days, with Twitch and YouTube gaming.

The characters were all designed around their moves, while adhering to a common theme. Each one has its very distinct play style, which ends up in a chaotic and fun fighting experience.

To give them more personality, we developed an epic single player story campaign, full of plot twists and some nice surprises. Each character is an Exemplar, representing their civilization in battle.

To give you more details:

• Olaf Tyson is a duo coming from Nordic lands, with freezing attacks and boxing moves.
• Sephi’ra is an Egyptian goddess, with her main focus on speedy leg fighting.
• King Apu has Hindu origins, with a long-range chain whip.
• Gancho Puncho is a Mexican Luchador with grappling moves.
• Chief Feathers is a Native American with fiery projectile attacks.

How many fighters can we expect to see in the full game?

There will be at least 9 characters. We’ll keep adding new characters for the next few years as well, to make the play styles even more varied.

What different play styles can we look forward to? Will there be enough variety for all kinds of fighters?

Each character is inspired from fighting game archetypes or well-known action game heroes (like King Apu has moves similar to Castlevania).

"The combat system doesn’t have any execution sequence. The combos are simple chains of a direction plus one of the attack or special buttons."

Will the stages play a key role in matches; say with destructible environments or hazards that can turn the tide of battles?

Many of the stages will shift their shape during battle and have dynamic elements (including destructible parts). We’ll try to stay away from random hazards, as they’re not always that fun, especially in tense battles.

Each stage will have at least 3 versions: The dynamic one, the more balanced one for competitive play and the flat one, for people who want to win only based on their reflexes and skills, and not blame it on the stage.

The game is especially interesting because it takes the combo-heavy nature of Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat. Do you think this will limit its appeal as a party game or is it more of an “easy to get into, hard to master” combat system?

The combat system doesn’t have any execution sequence. The combos are simple chains of a direction plus one of the attack or special buttons.

As opposed to what you might be used to from Smash Bros, we’ll have combo chains like AAAB, or sideA-sideA, or AA-sideA, to get more variation in the moves and combos. They all make sense once you start playing the game, so it’s not some hidden combinations.

What kinds of different modes will be in Brawlout? Can we expect any crazy custom missions or goals to complete?

There will be an epic single player campaign, with lots of tiny variations for each battle game rules. Other single player game modes will feature challenges, a survival mode, and a complex practice mode for polishing player skills to get into top-tier competitive matches.

Online will include casual matches plus ranked multiplayer. There will also be in-game weekly tournaments, using the Xbox Arena and PlayStation Tournaments features. The basic game modes, like Stock, Timed or Team Play will definitely make it in. For any other crazy suggestions, let us know what you think would be fun, and we’ll try to add them in!

"We plan to release the game on Steam Early Access early February, and then release it on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 in Q2 2017."

How will 8 player local multiplayer support work? What challenges are you facing in the net code for online multiplayer and how are they being handled?

If you’re lucky to have 8 friends around, you just need to plug in up to 8 controllers and start playing.

We’ll probably design some larger stages, recommended for 8 player matches. Online play will probably only work for up to 4 players, as lag might occur, and we prioritize a smooth online experience.

The net code for a fighting game is obviously much harder to do, as compared to a RPG, for example. All our architecture is based on GGPO, which is the standard for the best fighting games out there.

Will players have online lobbies and other features to help them queue for multiplayer more easily?

The multiplayer match joining will happen seamlessly, without custom lobbies to wait around. In case nobody is playing at 7AM, you’ll be free to play single player matches and join an online game as soon as somebody pops up.

What is your competitive stance on Brawlout? Will you be looking to build some kind of pro-gaming following around it?

The competitive side is really important for us. We’ve been attending fighting game events like EVO and Super Smash Con, where some of the best Smash players gave us some amazing feedback, and we’ll continue balancing the game. We also held tournaments at major gaming events like Gamescom, PAX, EGX, Paris Games Week, and we’ve got some upcoming ones at PAX South, Beast 7 and Rezzed.

When can we expect Brawlout to exactly release? What kind of post-launch support, if any, are you looking at for the future?

We plan to release the game on Steam Early Access early February, and then release it on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 in Q2 2017. Post release we’ll keep balancing the game based on player feedback, add new characters, stages, game modes and online features.

I am sure you must have heard about the PRO and Scorpio, How do you rate Sony’s relatively more conservative approach with the PS4 Pro versus Microsoft’s more radical overhaul with the Xbox One Scorpio? Which excites you more, from a development perspective?

We’re super excited for both! It’s always great to play in 4K and see all the amazing details in today’s games.

"We’re authoring the whole UI in 4K, so it’s already sharp and nice on the PS4 Pro. But if we didn’t have this, it would indeed require more work."

The Xbox One Scorpio is being touted as the most powerful console ever made. And yet, given Microsoft’s diktat that all games have maintain parity with standard Xbox One systems, and that there can be no Scorpio exclusives, do you really think that the Scorpio’s power will be able to be put to any meaningful use?

Sure, it’s usually easy to pump up the graphics, to take advantage of the extra processing power. If the games are designed for the Xbox One, they’ll look great on Scorpio. But if it’ll be the other way around, and the games will be pushed to the limits, to look amazing on the Scorpio first, it’ll probably feel like playing on an old laptop, when playing that game on the Xbox One.

PS4 Pro’s chief engineer Mark Cerny claims that supporting the PS4 Pro version is only about 0.3 to 0.4 percent of the total effort. What is your take on this?

That definitely depends on the game. Brawlout already works flawlessly, at >60FPS in 4K, so it wouldn’t be much of a problem in our case. For a smaller team, it’s definitely more work to support the PS4 Pro, as they require a separate Dev Kit, and some extra certification steps to check.

It always depends on the tools developers use. We’re authoring the whole UI in 4K, so it’s already sharp and nice on the PS4 Pro. But if we didn’t have this, it would indeed require more work.

With iterative consoles and Pro, do you think there will ever be a thing called PS5 in the future?

Probably. People always need something new for Christmas.

Though it’s not even out yet, Microsoft’s Project Scorpio is being marketed as the most powerful console ever, capable of 4K resolution visuals and VR support. It’s still a ways off (Holiday 2017) but that hasn’t stopped us about wondering whether the console’s extra power will actually be put to good use. Especially when you consider Microsoft wanting all games to maintain parity across Xbox One platforms.

GamingBolt had a chance to speak to Bogdan Iliesiu of Angry Mob Games, currently working on Brawlout, as to whether Scorpio’s power can be put to any meaningful use in the long run. He noted that, “Sure, it’s usually easy to pump up the graphics, to take advantage of the extra processing power. If the games are designed for the Xbox One, they’ll look great on Scorpio.”

However, Iliesiu also said that, “If it’ll be the other way around, and the games will be pushed to the limits, to look amazing on the Scorpio first, it’ll probably feel like playing on an old laptop, when playing that game on the Xbox One.” This seems to indicate that Scorpio far out-classes the Xbox One in terms of hardware performance.

So the question then is how far developers can go with all that extra processing power to optimize their Xbox One titles. Maybe into true native 4K? We’ll find out for ourselves in the coming year but let us know what you think in the comments below.

PS4 and PS4 Pro chief architect Mark Cerny thinks that all developers should find no problem in being able to support Sony’s newer, more powerful PS4 console- in his own words, it takes just 0.2 to 0.3 per cent of the effort to make sure the game is enhanced for Sony’s new console.

We’ve often felt that this assertion is missing the forest for the trees, but we’re not developers, so we decided to pitch this question straight to one of them when we got the chance to. And in an exclusive interview with GamingBolt, Bogdan Iliesiu of Angry Mob Games, developer of Brawlout, shared his opinion on just how much effort the PS4 Pro really needs.

“That definitely depends on the game. Brawlout already works flawlessly, at a greater than 60FPS in 4K, so it wouldn’t be much of a problem in our case,” he said. “For a smaller team, it’s definitely more work to support the PS4 Pro, as they require a separate Dev Kit, and some extra certification steps to check. It always depends on the tools developers use. We’re authoring the whole UI in 4K, so it’s already sharp and nice on the PS4 Pro. But if we didn’t have this, it would indeed require more work.”

I think that’s what it comes down to- the pitch for the PS4 originally was that it would the console that all developers, including and especially the smaller ones, would find it incredibly easy to develop for. And while Sony have largely stuck to that philosophy, even with the PS4 Pro, which is an easy machine to come to grips with, the simple fact remains that throwing in another SKU for developers to optimize for and get certifications for, can throw smaller developers off.

The trailer claims you’ll be able to work your way up from Facehugger levels to Xenomorph prowess, offering a Young Blood to Master Hunter route for the Predators. Now if only it looked a little better than your typical third person hack and slash. And those have more blood.

AvP: Evolution is due out in the first quarter of this year, and will follow the tale of the Super Predators who have enslaved the Xenomorph race for their own war against the Jungle Hunter Clan. How the humans factor into this is, as always, a mystery. Hopefully it will be able to measure up to Gearbox Software’s Alien: Colonial Marines on release.

Developed by Angry Mob Games and set for release in the first quarter of 2013, all renders and environments have been created using the Unity Graphics Engine. Check them out in full detail below. Certainly brings out the nicer side of both species, doesn’t it?

In AvP: Evolution, you’ll be able to control either an Alien or Predator and take the conflict across 24 levels set in the AvP universe, upgrading your character as you prepare for the ultimate end-game. Players can access the game on release via Apple’s iTunes Store and the Google Play Store.