Review: Trinity: Souls of Zill O’ll

Trinity: Souls of Zill O’ll has gotten a spectrum of bad reviews. Mainly, it’s because of style– this is definitely a dungeon-based game. You don’t have anything to do on the world map either then to select places on the map, but the dungeons of each area are amazing. Not one is the same in design and each of them have their own special weather, environmental conditions, and enemies. In addition, if you don’t like quests like monster hunting, escorting something, treasure-hunting and the like, then this game will definitely rub you in the wrong way. But I enjoyed Trinity a lot, regardless of the cheesy narrative, and repetitive gameplay.

Summary and Trailer
You play as Areus, a half-elf, who is the son of Prince Lugh, and grandson of Emperor Balor. Balor was told by his Chancellor, Zofor, that he will die by the hands of his grandson. Thus, Balor had his daughter and son executed. However, Areus and his family managed to get away from Balor at that time, at the expense of his father’s life. Thus, Areus is bent on revenge for what Balor took away from him. You meet up with Dagda, a Boldan, and Selene, a Drakenith (I think I spelled that wrong) in your adventures throughout the land.

Narrative and Fluidity (6/10)
The thing is, in the beginning, you only get bits and pieces of the main story. Basically you get a cutscene, and then you have to go do a seemingly useless quest. But it’s all about “getting stronger” and “training,” so in a sense, it fits with the morality of Areus (train first, kill Balor later). So onwards, to more quests until Chapter 4 and Chapter 5, where you actually fight persons of story-line importance.

However, the general story is a bit bland. The introduction battle is also your final battle, in other words, you know that there is nothing beyond this game then just to kill Balor. Predictability will always bring a story down, in my opinion. In addition, the characters aren’t very “colourful”. There isn’t much to them other then their looks. (Areus, Reig, Nemea, Xenetes… All eye-candy. Their personalities don’t go any deeper then the clothes their wearing. (Or lack of them, in Reig’s case.))

I actually really enjoyed playing the game because although the storyline is “bland” it’s not lacking. It’s cliched that’s true– you’re saving the world, you develop friends, you see how Areus develops from the stereotypical lone dog to the philanthropist hero that every one loves, and you suffer through the occasional the sub-par voice acting, but it’s not like there *isn’t* one.

The only way I can really describe it is that it’s like a K-drama storyline. You know, you have the general outline (two daughters, one poor family, one rich family). But most K-dramas don’t go beyond that, thus most are predictable. Yet, for some reason, you just keep watching because you enjoy the characters or the comedy or whatnot.

I personally was very taken by Areus.

Audio and Soundtrack (7/10)
I think the score is fantastic, but what takes it down to many levels is the application of it. There are so many awkward periods where a song goes in and out in an area of a dungeon, and what you’re left with is strange ambiance/background music (which made me double-check if my PS3 was still working) and sound effects. In addition, music doesn’t run smoothly with each other– you have upbeat battle-raging music, that just stops when you kill all the enemies in the area, or it transitions weirdly when you get into a sealed off battle. Or it actually just replays again. It kind of killed the mood sometimes.

Otherwise, Trinity’s score is all orchestrated and very epic RPG-sounding. In addition, its (ending) theme song is actually vocal instead of just instrumental, and it always brings a bit of a noir feeling when it plays in-game.

Gameplay and Combat (8/10)
Controls: Right Analog (R3) for camera rotation, press the Right analog stick (R3) to lock-on to enemies, combine attacks by hitting square, triangle, and circle, press L1+R1 for Burst or for a finisher, press X to jump.

Okay, this is the one thing that can make-or-break the game for you. You can basically customize your own movesets (ie which attacks assign to which buttons), and how you want to play Areus, Dagda, and Selene. I hardly used Dagda, so I didn’t work so much on his moveset, but for Areus, I kept a balance between magic and physical attacks. For Selene, I only used her when I needed to use rapid attacks, so I customized her moveset for 1 set of close quarters (when I used her), and didn’t really change much on the second set.

But when it comes to the actual gameplay– if you like variety in combat you may not get it in this game. I like to stick to the same 2 or 3 combos and types of strategies I’m familiar with so this game didn’t bother me that much. In addition, monsters spice up the challenge– although hordes of goblins will annoy the living daylights out of you, the occasional Griffon that pops up with them, will not. Thus, you can easily get bogged down by this game if you approach a Dragongriff the same way you approach a Griffon. The game encourages you to use all three party members, and that is how you achieve variety in the game.

The only issue I had with this gameplay is that when you “lock-on” an enemy it means that the camera rotates around that enemy. In other words, this means that your attacks can still miss the enemy. (Actually, it usually misses the enemy, especially in a horde. You just end up taking out things around it.) In addition, if you want to switch targets, the camera gets really annoying. This isn’t an issue in the beginning, but later in the game when you have 2 powerful monsters in a sealed area, you have to juggle between attacking one and the other. Thus, the camera shifting/angle is not only confusing, but also very limited, since you can’t see what the other monster is doing if you’re only focused on one.

Gameplay and Environment (6/10)
Controls: Same as above. Different physical or elemental attacks will affect the environment.

I like it that you can break stuff. I like it that most things are breakable, all bodies of water are freezable, haystacks and pieces of wood are flammable, and mushrooms are attackable. But that’s about it. You either have the chance to freeze water or set woods on fire all the time, or none of the time. In addition, it doesn’t go beyond just freezing water, or burning things. You don’t get any fancy tricks with your fire or ice. In addition there is nothing flammable or freezable for the entirety of the last dungeon. Hay is only available in Cave of the White Sands and mushrooms are only found in the Underground Roads. This does help make each dungeon unique, but it doesn’t add variety to the gameplay outside of that dungeon. I would’ve liked it if the final dungeons incorporated those elements in a bizarre way, just to make the adventure there more fun… instead of insanely long.

Yeah heads up, final dungeon will take you more then an hour to complete.

Graphics and Visuals (7/10)
The graphics are nothing out of the ordinary– except for the frosted edges. It’s really weird– it’s like there’s some form of rough texture on the edges of the screen when you view a cutscene. I believe its an aesthetic choice, but I didn’t like it. It really made the cutscene look 2D since the frost on the edges ruined the perspective of the scene. It kind of made you realize you were watching it on a TV-screen, rather then in person. Also, the graphics themselves are average– it basically looks like it was perfected for the PS2.

Additional Features: N/A

Multiplayer Value: N/A, this game is only for the sake of quests and the storyline. No multiplayer function is available.

Replay Value: 5/10, only if you want to take a stab at achieving every quest. Otherwise, it’s a game you would keep just to look at all the cutscenes again if you want to, either that or the artwork you unlock.

Final Score: 7

I feel like this isn’t one of those games to keep in your library, but a fun game to return to every once in a while. The dungeons are fun, though a lot could be worked on, and the characters can amuse you at times. Otherwise, you should pass this game.