Trinity Universe - the Demon Dog King Route-dood!!

After roughly a week of playing Trinity Universe, I finally managed to finish one of the two routes, Kanata the Demon Dog King [the other route is Rizelea the Goddess Valkyrie]. I actually started playing this game way back since about 2 months ago, but stopped at around chapter 4 to focus on completing my thesis. And when I continue playing [after finishing Vanquish and several Sengoku Basara hero stories], I found myself almost completely forgotten about the game mechanic...Yes, Trinity Universe is basically just a simple turn-based jrpg, but "simple" wasn't quite the right word to describe the gameplay. So I decided to reload my save files on chapter 1 to re-learn the battle mechanics from the tutorial battle, and that's when I finally understand the little thing that made the game much enjoyable - in particular the Ally combo during Fury Chain since I didn't know that we need to execute at least three combo in a single turn before we can Fury-chain attack with the next character. Added to that, each character has different unique combos [albeit only 3 unique combos for each character] and I was more or less forgotten about most of the combo. More reason for me to re-learn the game from scratch.

Ok enough of the long rant I guess. After finishing Kanata's story, I decided to proceed into the other route, the Goddess Valkyrie Rizelea's route, and currently at chapter 5 [out of 12 total]. From finishing Kanata's story, I would say that my impression toward the game has changed slightly...to the better : )


The combat system is actually quite enjoyable
The overlapped combo, the combo-hit linking via Fury Chain, Fury Chain party attack, managraphic and EX attacks really made the difference in Trinity Universe. A bit complex, but taking time to learn the basic is worth the time, especially if you want to experience something different in turn-based games.


Lurkers made dungeon exploration more challenging
Lurkers are basically a badass non-boss monsters that exist in almost all dungeon. They showed up mostly when you wandered around the dungeon for too long. And they're strong, seriously. Like, 20-50 levels higher than your average level [without grinding]., and can 1 or 2-hits KO your party. One option is of course to run from them, but I personally like the challenge of beating them, particularly since their HP remained the same even after you escape from battle. Go into fight, hit a tiny bit with Fury Chain, flee, heal/revive. Rinse and Repeat. Sometimes it took me up to 8 escape to beat a Lurker, but it was a kinda worth the effort since they gave lots of experience - TONS if you soul-break them twice.


Imbalanced stats and levels is the way to go
In Trinity Universe, you can go up to level....999. Your HP apparently maxed at...999, 999. Attack, def, magic and other stats maxed at...99, 999. The game can be normally finished at average level of 100+, so why the insane amount of level cap? Well, because there's stuff like Meteories and Convert Shop in this game. Needed? Apparently post-game monsters and bosses are equally insane...


Meteorite DLC and Convert Shop break the game, beyond overkill
In Kanata's story, you have the access to Meteorite shop at chapter 11, while in Rizelea it's as early as chapter 3. Meteorites are basically some sort of enhancement that you can equip on your character, giving various effects - increased stats, experience/soul/item/money/mana bonus, elemental resistance and much more. Some Meteories are nothing to write about, but others, especially the DLC's totally break the balance of the game by giving tons of stats, insane experience bonus for super fast leveling, and much more. I actually did buy the DLC for the lulz, and was surprised by the crazy bonus offered by these DLCs. Well, if you want to use it just to go through the game swiftly, then sure, go ahead and use them.

Another game-braking features of the game is the Convert Shop - available after you beat the game the first time and remained through your whole New Game+. It basically allows you to convert your stuff into points, and you can then use this point to trade items - ultimate weapons and high level Meteorites comes to mind. They're expensive, but the game even allow you to cheat through these cost by abusing the convert system- by buying high level armor, convert into points, then trade with item that can be sold for much more of the initial cost, giving you several thousand points of profit. Kinda remind me to one time when I play FFX-2 when I could buy hi-potions [i think] for much cheaper cost than their selling price :3


So we won't get the full story unless we play the game twice, and get True Ending?
Apparently, yes that's the case. After finishing Kanata's route, I was left wondering on so many things about the story, it was as if the ending wasn't even an "ending". Only then I found that the answer to many of my question will only come out if I play both Kanata and Rizelea's story, and get the "True Ending" on the 2nd or further playthrough". Worth taking time to play the game a 2nd time? For me definitely yes, because Kanata's and Rizelea's story was told from their own point of view, hence although you see overlapping events, both story focus on different things. It doesn't really feel like you're replaying the game, but rather playing a new story. Plus the story itself was relatively short [one of the chapter only has a single scene+boss fight]. You can speedrun it in a few hours if you use overpowered gears and skip optional dungeons...


Trinity Universe is unique...and funny : )
Trinity Universe a crossover project from GUST [Disgaea], Idea Factory [Agarest] and Nippon Ichi [Atelier/Ar Tornelico]. For that reason several characters from Disgaea and Atelier were brought into the game - Prinny, Flonne and Etna [Disgaea], and Viola/Pamela [Atelier Viorate]. The humor put into the game really made me laugh, especially when it comes to the Prinnies on Kanata side, and Lucius on Rizelea side, adding more reason for me to enjoy the game. Other characters are equally funny too. Flonne and Etna with their neverending rivalry, Rizelea always getting teased for her hairstyle and violence, Recit with his name complex [Receipt LOL] and much more. The world in which Trinity Universe took place itself was unique - a mini-universe where many kind of things come drifting around the orbit and go away randomly. And when it said "many kind", it really means so. A highschool. Pirate Ship. Bonsai. Galaxy UFO. Fridge. Even chocolate donut and a whole friggin nebula didn't escape from this.


Overall, I am thoroughly enjoying my first playthrough of Trinity Universe. Would I recommend this game? I'm not sure because there aren't as many people that actually enjoyed this kind of game. But if you're used to playing turn-based JRPGs and doesn't mind light [and funny] story, then Trinity Universe is a good option to consider. The game did received a mixed reviews, but hey, one does not need a reason to like something, right?

p/s: And even more recommended to those who loves Disgaea's characters :3

doods!