Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Main Site Facebook YouTube Twitter
You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, starting and replying in topics, voting in polls and more. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free.

Join us, we have cookies!

If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features:

Username:   Password:
Add Reply
Trinity Universe
Topic Started: Oct 12 2010, 01:33 PM (684 Views)
Fate
Member Avatar
p r i n c e

Hmm, I haven't done a review in a while. This is my current craze which I'm trying to get my final Trophy for, so I'll be reviewing Trinity Universe.

Posted Image
Title: Trinity Universe
Developer(s): Nippon Ichi Software, Gust Corporation, Idea Factory
Publisher(s): Idea Factory (Japan), NIS America

Release Date(s):
Japan - October 1, 2009
North America - June 29, 2010
Europe - June 25, 2010

Genre(s): Role-Playing Game
Platform(s): Playstation 3
Mode(s): Single-Player
Rating: T - Teen

Official Websites: | Japanese | English |

Trailer:


Trinity Universe is the product of three developing companies working together: Nippon Ichi Software, notable for their Disagea series; Gust Corporation, known for their Atelier and Mana Khemia games; and Idea Factory. Characters from the Disgaea series and Atelier series appear as playable characters in Trinity Universe, being in 3-D for the first time ever. Those who enjoy the humor in those series will once again experience it in this collaboration, with cross-references, memes, and popular, recurring characters conversing with original characters.

Story: The game takes place in the Netheruniverse, where there are drifting objects orbiting all around, from sushi to ruins to libraries. All is well and balanced, because in Empyria--the Netheruniverse's capital--the reigning king keeps everything stable. However, to accomplish this, he must sacrifice himself to become the Demon God Gem, which repels the drifting objects out of collision course with Empyria. Kanata, the next in line for the ritual to become the Demon God Gem, longs instead for a life of adventure, breaking free from the castle with the help of his vassal, Tsubaki, and going his own way to prevent the drifting objects from colliding.

When starting the game, you are prompted to choose one of two characters to play as: Demon Dog King Kanata or Valkyrie Rizelea. Both offer entirely different perspectives at first, but you do end up with every playable character in your party. You just need to pick who you want to see on the screen as you progress through the dungeons every time, and also who are in your party first. To get access to the full story of the game, though, you will end up needing to play through both characters' modes.

Gameplay: Trinity Universe offers a rather straight-forward atmosphere. Everything you will ever need is made possible at one menu, and that is the Netheruniverse screen. You will see everything that is currently drifting in orbit of Empyria and you can automatically access any of them. You do not, and you cannot, manually enter and exit dungeons with your character walking into them like typical RPGs. You just simply need to pick what you want to check out and you will be there.

Objects drift almost daily, both in and out or orbit. Sometimes nothing will happen. However, once something enters orbit, you are free to check it out, if it is something that can be checked out, such as a shop or a dungeon. Things like sushi or slippers are just there for orbiting and decoration. After a period of time, the object will drift out of orbit, but after some time it will re-enter orbit again. You can prevent certain objects you like from drifting by attaching an Anchor to it, which is an item synthesized or bought.

The game is split into thirteen chapters, and usually Events are needed to proceed with chapters, followed by event dungeons. Events can be viewed as one of the options on the large Netheruniverse menu. They are automatically shown upon choosing and depict what the characters are doing at the given time; some events are crucial to the story while others are there simply for entertainment purposes and randomness. Later on, there will be times where no dungeons are event dungeons and there are no events to view, but sleeping a lot will trigger them.

Dungeons drift in and out of orbit, like mentioned. Event dungeons have a set time, but normal dungeons randomly drift in. Once you choose to explore one, you are cast into its interior. There, you control Kanata or Rizelea--whoever you chose to play as--and are free to move around the place. Battles are random encounters, and the game provides a creative and sequential system of fighting.

You can choose from three different types of attacks depending on the button you press. You can use Rush attacks, via the square button; Mighty Blow attacks, via the X button; or Magical attacks, via the triangle button. Each consume AP, which each character has a specific amount of and will replenish each turn to that amount. Certain characters excel at certain types of attacks, thus causing their AP consumptions to all be different. AP may also be stacked, up to thrice the amount.

The interesting thing about attacks is that using them in a certain sequence will activate a stronger attack. For example, upon five presses of the square button, a greater attack will initiate. You can also link attack combos, where you may start with a combo whose sequence ends with the beginning portion of a different attack's sequence. You can then continue on from that to save button presses and AP.

Abilities can also be used via the circle button. There are four levels of abilities, and they take massive amounts of AP to use, determined not as numbers but percentages. Each character, upon leveling up, will be able to equip four different abilities. Holding down the circle button will charge the gauge from level one to level two and so on, to determine what ability will be used.

Each dungeon also has what is called a Gravity Core. Finding this and destroying it will cause the dungeon to drift out of orbit. However, upon their destruction, the dungeon will become unstable and you will be prompted to run to the exit to avoid being drifted along with the dungeon. A timer will count down and you must reach the exit before time runs out, else be drifted into space, though that is not a game over.

Something interesting the game also features is the Search ability. There is a set number of times you can use the Search ability, which increases as your Search level increases. This can be used outside of battle and inside dungeons only. It forms a glowing orb above the character in which shining rays of different colors extend from. Each color represents the location of a different thing, such as hidden treasures and Managraphics, which are symbols drawn on your weapons to enhance their powers and abilities.

Ratings:

Story: The story is a bit random, to be honest. The game focuses more on humor than actual plot, though when you get to the True Ending of the game--accessible only with multiple playthroughs--the plot does become exciting. It's always very interesting playing as each of the two main characters, as their perspectives are so different. Seeing their side of the story coming into the final, shared plot is intriguing. Rating: 8/10

Gameplay: I actually liked the gameplay a lot at first. After a while, though...it kind of got repetitive and boring. I kept mashing the same buttons over and over as the game becomes broken upon beating it the first time. You can easily get your characters' stats maxed out. It was great fun at first, but do expect it to go downhill after half the game. Rating: 6/10

Graphics: If you've played the 2-D Disgaea and Atelier series, you will love the graphics here. The characters end up in 3-D and look very well-made. The style is an anime/mange style, and faces move when they talk, not just the mouths. Often times during the story you will get chibi characters in a colored manga scene which is cute. Battle graphics could be better, but they're still not bad. The characters seem to do a lot of unrealistic motions. Rating: 8/10

Music and Sountrack: Trinity Universe's theme song is a Japanese song titled Cosmolagoon. Its upbeat, cheery mood really goes well with the game, and it plays every time you are on the Netheruniverse menu, which is after every dungeon. You may get tired of it after a while, though. As for soundtracks, they are all very much like how a JRPG should be. Certain moods introduce certain themes, from sad and morose to optimistic and blissful. Rating: 7/10

Replay Value: If you want to view the game's True Ending and complete it fully, you will need at least two playthroughs. Also, as I mentioned, seeing how the perspectives differ is a very interesting thing to experience. You will want to play the game through at least twice, each time picking a different character, just for that. I strongly recommend it, even if you don't end up going for the True Ending. After playing it through the first time, though, it gets very broken--or, can be if you choose to let it. You can finish any difficulty with ease after your first time. Rating: 8.5/10

Overall Rating: 7.5/10

*Note that these ratings are all based on my personal experience whilst playing the game. Your opinions could be different.*

If you have any questions or comments on the review or the game itself, feel free to post after this. Thank you for reading, guys!
Edited by Fate, Oct 12 2010, 01:33 PM.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Gumdrop
Member Avatar
Cute Snugglepuffs

Nice one, Honey bear! Please tell me you can play it in Japanese though..that voice acting was truly dire.
Your love for the game does have me curious about it, when I got through my new games I may look into buying it. :3
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Fate
Member Avatar
p r i n c e

You can have Japanese voices, yes! ^_~

And thankies~
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
« Previous Topic · Video Game Reviews · Next Topic »
Add Reply