Dog Eared- Trinity Universe Review

Last year, NIS America released Cross Edge, a game which united a collection of characters from games as diverse as Darkstalkers, Disgaea: Hour of Darkness, Atelier Marie: The Alchemist of Salburg, and Mana Khemia 2: Fall of Alchemy. While Nippon Ichi enthusiasts took delight in seeing their beloved protagonists converge, casual JRPG followers  took issue with the game’s verbose dialog and uninspired visuals. With its amalgam of fan favorites ranging from Etna, Flonne, Prinnies (and a duo of alchemists from the Japan-only Atelier Viorate: Alchemist of Gramnad 2) gamers can be forgiven if recent release Trinity Universe sounds familiar. Like Cross Edge, the title has a few niggling deficiencies that are bound to be overlooked by devotees.

Both Trinity Universe‘s plotline and gameplay are divided into two distinct portions. At the commencement of the game, player may choose to lead Valkyrie named Rizele or Kanata- a Demon Dog King. Each character has their own impetus- Riz sets out to protect an endangered planet from a cascade of random items, while Kanata seeks to avoid transforming into a gem which would halt the flow of miscellanea.  Naturally, the two tales converge, pitting the two protagonists into a cosmic struggle. While the game’s storyline infrequently transcends charming absurdity, a few highlights exist, such as when characters ‘break the fourth’ wall, comment on stale role-playing tropes, or even in the irregular mildly vulgar remark.

Trinity Universe allows players to interact with the world through two distinct mechanics. The first are Events; picking these from the game’s menus trigger conversations between two individuals. While these discussions are elevated by having two well-rendered, subtly animated portraits converse on-screen, they are also marred by sporadic instances of irrelevant banter. The inclusion of dual-language voice acting for these sequences is commendable, but on my review build, the English dub seemed incomplete. During some events, spoken dialogue would turn on and off inexplicably.

Combat can be found in the game’s other key element- Dungeons. Like the Disgaea series, objects contain realms ripe for exploration, each containing an ample supply of loot, beasts awaiting conversion into experience points, and ultimately- a gravity core in need of terminating. While expeditions boast a variety of visual aesthetics, the actual physical composition of each dungeon is similar, with advanced stages offering elongated hallways. Players are also allowed to initiate a limited number of searches. These exploration-pausing queries point to the location of vital spots in the dungeon, from Hunting Points which can temporarily halt the generation of random battles to Managraphic Images, which embed with weapons with amusing abilities.

Following a contemporary trend in JRPGs, Trinity Universe‘s combat system offers a bit of real-time interaction to complement its turn-based foundation. Each member of your party has three attacks representing light, heavy, and multiple-enemy assailing magic strikes. Combatant start with a pool of AP, which dwindles with each blow, as both individual and collaborative assaults are dished out to opponents. Learning new combinations to dish out damage (and using these combos to charge a devastatingly powerful  Image Gauge) further augments Trinity Universe‘s battles, allowing the game’s combat to remain compelling during the twenty-five hour main quest. Some players will surely be motivated by the lure of materials, which are distributed after most skirmishes.  These resources are invaluable when delving into the game’s item synthesis and monster creation components. Sadly, the title’s menus never seem to offer quite enough data, making item-swapping decisions unnecessarily complicated.

With a delightfully preposterous plot populated by a handful of celebrated characters, Trinity Universe works bests a piece of immodest fan service. Undoubtedly, the game’s best moments revolve around franchise in-jokes, from the volatile nature of Prinnies to Etna’s lack of pectoral endowments.  Those seeking the satisfaction of a polished dungeon-crawl or a refined item creation system may be less enamored by the title’s uneven charms. Personally, after being teased with Cross Edge, Disgaea Infinite, and now Trinity Universe, my anticipation for Disgaea 4 has reached critical mass. In that respect, NIS America’s latest release has certainly triumphed.