TRI: Of Friendship and Madness PC

TRI: Of Friendship and Madness Image
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74

Mixed or average reviews - based on 9 Critics What's this?

User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 21 Ratings

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  • Summary: In the world of the Odd Gods players experience a mind-bending first-person adventure like no other as they discover the magical power of the TRI. By creating triangles that can be used to solve puzzles and traverse the landscape, adventurers hunt for mystical totems and master a wide rangeIn the world of the Odd Gods players experience a mind-bending first-person adventure like no other as they discover the magical power of the TRI. By creating triangles that can be used to solve puzzles and traverse the landscape, adventurers hunt for mystical totems and master a wide range of abilities such as reflecting light, scaling sheer heights and even defying gravity! With every twist of a corridor, every raised gantry, every new floor of towers and dungeons in the Odd Gods' world, TRI challenges gamers to think outside the box and find new ways to overcome seemingly impossible obstacles.… Expand

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Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 9
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 9
  3. Negative: 0 out of 9
  1. Hardcore Gamer
    Oct 9, 2014
    90
    TRI is not typical by any measure and instead charts its own path to puzzle gaming greatness.
  2. Digitally Downloaded
    Oct 16, 2014
    90
    Though TRI lacks the polish and presentation of the more popular Portal titles, its sheer accessibility and serenity mark it out as something genuinely different, and as such deserves to be noticed.
  3. GameSpot
    Oct 17, 2014
    80
    Regardless of comparisons, TRI: Of Friendship and Madness is a fantastically executed return to the well of first-person spatial tinkering.
  4. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Dec 3, 2014
    80
    Great trip beyond ordinary human reality attracts gamers with its eccentric and brilliant visuals and amazing logic puzzles. [Issue#247]
    All this publication's reviews
  5. Ragequit.gr
    Oct 20, 2014
    75
    A nice idea and solid implementation of the triangles usage. Highly recommended for the fans of the genre but I can't say the same for the rest of the gamers.
  6. 4Players.de
    Oct 31, 2014
    72
    TRI shows a clever concept but is afraid to explore its depths and lacks a decent narrative.
  7. Riot Pixels
    Nov 27, 2014
    50
    I never put down a puzzle game before I complete it, but TRI broke me on level 12th out of 16. I got bored much earlier than that, though. Unfortunately, the game is not only beyond hardcore, it’s simply rude to the player. I doubt that most of you will appreciate this sort of masochistic experience.

See all 9 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 7
  3. Negative: 0 out of 7
  1. Artcuegames
    Nov 17, 2014
    10
    A really great game, we had so much fun placing the triangles :-) Just a game we really like :-) If you want a game with a great atmosphereA really great game, we had so much fun placing the triangles :-) Just a game we really like :-) If you want a game with a great atmosphere and challenging puzzles TRI is for you!… Expand
  2. Kruegbert
    Nov 10, 2014
    9
    I enjoyed playing TRI. On the one hand its a very atmospheric and relaxing game and on the other hand it really keeps me going to get all theI enjoyed playing TRI. On the one hand its a very atmospheric and relaxing game and on the other hand it really keeps me going to get all the puzzles done, find the secrets and, sometimes, make funny TRI-constellations and keep myself wondering what majestic stuff I built.

    So go forward and give this sweet little german indie gem a TRI.    … Expand
  4. ChristionX
    Nov 10, 2014
    9
    Tri: Of Madness and Friendship has an original core mechanic, dense atmosphere and challenging puzzles. For first-person puzzler fans, Tri isTri: Of Madness and Friendship has an original core mechanic, dense atmosphere and challenging puzzles. For first-person puzzler fans, Tri is absolutely the right game ;)… Expand
  5. BrianColfxire
    Aug 26, 2015
    9
    I have never before played a puzzle game as long as an RPG in my life (24 hours), until I played this game. If I didn't start to grow tired atI have never before played a puzzle game as long as an RPG in my life (24 hours), until I played this game. If I didn't start to grow tired at Ch 14, I would very much like to 100% this game.

    Warnings!

    1.) This game is HARD.Seriously, it will force you to think differently to beat this game. Most challenges are for experts, but even the main puzzles are no simple matter.

    2.) I do not recommend this game to be played with a controller. You spend a lot of time drawing triangles, and in later levels you will have to micromanage for maximum efficiency.

    3.) Turn down the textures for the triangles 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 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. I wish a game would utilize Mirror's Edge controls with an interesting game mechanic for speedrunners or something to make puzzles both challenging in reflexes and in the thought process.

    You are allowed to draw triangles on almost every surface, except wood. You gain an ability later to scale triangles on walls and later to bounce light of triangles.

    Afterwards, the game is at your whim for how you want to go around the levels. This greatly improves replayability as you can challenge yourself to find alternative paths or be more efficient with your triangles and time.

    Although this game is challenging, the game scales its difficulty fairly throughout the first ten or so chapters. You better master utilizing triangles because you're going to draw a lot of them. Similar to Portal, each new level/chapter introduces something new that you have to experiment with. Some stages might be more expansive than others or more labyrinth-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 highlight 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 for solutions, or challenge you to take the harder challenges. These golden idols unlock some developer commentary, prototype pics, level layout pics, etc.

    The real reward for these idols is the challenge of 100% by finding all the secret and the super secret idols. The downside is that far too many rely on fake-walls or visual-illusions, so you might grow tired of searching for them all.

    Plotting Triangles (No spoilers)

    The story is about the Monk, Blue and Red (the Old God Foxes). You are just some human disciple and there's no backstory behind your character. The game never really cares about who you are, only about the world and 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.

    At every other level or levels, you'll receive a cutscene that gives some more exposition. The twist of the game is expected a mile away, but the story is serviceable. This is a case of more 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. I'm don't think we shouldn't encourage more happier endings in our games, but I think the developers missed out on an interesting storytelling conflict.

    The story could've been about the conflict of maintaining an idea of friendship while also losing sanity of someone you once knew so well as your friend. Madness would've been treated with more consequences, and with the twisted environments becoming crazier, the twisted nature of Red could've been accentuated by the gameplay. The game could test your limits of what you will do to preserve a friendship.

    Instead, we have a simple story for a mind-bending puzzle game.

    Summary

    Pros
    1.) If you love Rayman, do I have the soundtrack for you.
    2.) A difficult puzzle game.
    3.) Simple, yet frustratingly deceptive mechanics and puzzles.
    4.) Lots of content
    5.) Foxes, Vulpes and Canids, oh my!
    6.) A tale for all ages. Cons 1.) A difficult puzzle game. 2.) Crouch Button + Jump Button = NOT FUN 3.) Too many visual illusion puzzles and one-time kind of puzzles. 4.) Simple narrative & characters. 5.) Nuances of triangles. 6.) Level fatigue.    … Expand
  6. Lightrocker
    Oct 9, 2014
    8
    That game is a truly unique experience, which is only possible on a PC (probably a Wii U, too), because it needs good first person controlsThat game is a truly unique experience, which is only possible on a PC (probably a Wii U, too), because it needs good first person controls and benefits from a precise but fast pointing device like a mouse.
    The game play is innovative. You may be reminded of other games but using triangles to solve puzzles permits you to do it with a lot of freedom. And the puzzles are challenging and diversified, so the game performs as a flagship of its genre.
    Furthermore the beautiful artistic style and soundtrack cover so much individuality that I am able to assign it to the game instantly, when I see or hear a piece of it.    … Expand
  7. Blaine
    Oct 2, 2015
    7
    A brilliant puzzle game built around some really original game mechanics. If you enjoyed the Portal series, Antichamber and other first-personA brilliant puzzle game built around some really original game mechanics. If you enjoyed the Portal series, Antichamber and other first-person puzzle games like that you should definitely give it a...try :)

    The difficulty is fair and well balanced, however the game suffers from an excessive length in my opinion.

    Huge props to the team who built this little gem.    … Expand
  8. Brousitch
    Dec 30, 2015
    6
    TRI has colorful and minimalistic world where you can quite freely solve problems (puzzles if you wish) through unique game mechanics.TRI has colorful and minimalistic world where you can quite freely solve problems (puzzles if you wish) through unique game mechanics. Unfortunately there is absolutely nothing to keep you going, no story, no characters, and around tenth chapter pure frustration and confusion just overwhelm you to the point you give up.… Expand

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