Fantastic Mr. Fox | TRI: Of Friendship and Madness Review

<p>As loathsome as it is to pigeonhole a beautiful&comma; original game like Rat King&&num;8217&semi;s <em>TRI&colon; Of Friendship and Madness<&sol;em>&comma; it cleanly locks into the stable of <em>Portal<&sol;em>-type puzzle games&comma; where it bumps shoulders with its contemporaries like <em>Magrunner&colon; Dark Pulse <&sol;em>and <em>Quantum Conundrum<&sol;em>&period;  However&comma; <em>TRI <&sol;em>manages to distinguish itself from its physics-based brethren by throwing Newtonian theory right out the window for an experience that&&num;8217&semi;s ethereal&comma; spiritual&comma; and genuinely fun&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;01&sol;05041419&sol;TRI-Tree&period;jpg"><img class&equals;" size-large wp-image-71838 aligncenter" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;01&sol;05041419&sol;TRI-Tree-1024x576&period;jpg" alt&equals;"TRI Tree" width&equals;"750" height&equals;"422" &sol;><&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em>TRI<&sol;em>&&num;8216&semi;s core mechanic is based around the eponymous artifact&comma; a device that allows you to create and destroy triangles in order to traverse the game&&num;8217&semi;s 16 levels&comma; slowly adding features as the puzzles become more complex &lpar;I guess even ancient artifacts get firmware updates&rpar;&comma; all in the name of collecting a trio of fox statues that unlock the end of the level&period;  The game starts simply enough&comma; with players building triangles in a 3D space as platforms to move to different areas&comma; but soon starts giving players the ability to string the triangles together in a bridge formation to walk on walls and ceilings&comma; and the ability to reflect laser beams using these same triangles&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Sometimes the concept of spatial relativity and the game&&num;8217&semi;s mechanics gets a little frustrating&comma; especially when it comes to stitching together bridges that move from the floor to the wall&period;  If there ever was a game that could <em>benefit<&sol;em> from 3D or VR technology&comma; <em>TRI <&sol;em>would be it&comma; as trying to anchor the vertices of a triangle in 3D space can be slightly daunting at times&comma; but the game&&num;8217&semi;s forgiving enough that it rarely becomes a genuine issue&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;01&sol;05041435&sol;TRI-Landscape&period;jpg"><img class&equals;" size-large wp-image-71837 aligncenter" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;01&sol;05041435&sol;TRI-Landscape-1024x576&period;jpg" alt&equals;"TRI Landscape" width&equals;"750" height&equals;"422" &sol;><&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The game is thoroughly committed to its world&comma; which is an odd mishmash of Asian and tribal aesthetics&comma; boldly colored and realized through a hazy&comma; dreamy lens&period;  There&&num;8217&semi;s a slow-drip backstory involving The Odd Gods&comma; a pair of foxes&comma; and the encroaching madness that comes from the use of the TRI artifact&period;  It&&num;8217&semi;s not a particularly compelling tale&comma; but it provides justification for the gorgeous design of the game itself&comma; which practically revels in its surreal nature&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>However&comma; those looking for an accessible&comma; gripping narrative will probably become frustrated or bored with the game&&num;8217&semi;s slow-burn&comma; loose narrative&period;  Visually&comma; triangles pepper the landscape&comma; from the windows and doorways to the angular leaves on the trees and the dust motes in the air&comma; and everything is washed in bright&comma; beautiful colors&period; The soundtrack furthers the realization&comma; mixing together twanging mouth harps with chirpy electronics and Asian-flavored flutes in a way that sounds infinitely better to the ear than it does on paper&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>There&&num;8217&semi;s also a decent amount of meat to the game&period;  Sure&comma; there are &&num;8220&semi;only&&num;8221&semi; 16 levels&comma; but those levels can take a <em>long <&sol;em>time to traverse&comma; especially for completionists trying to find all of the idols and statues that unlock a meaty host of extras that detail the making of <em>TRI<&sol;em>&comma; encouraging players to be patient&comma; thorough&comma; and to replay levels&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;