PS3 Review: Trinity: Souls of Zill O'll

Trinity: Souls of Zill O’ll is Omega Force’s attempt to bring their successful Dynasty Warriors franchise to the fantasy realm. Does it hold up well or does it trip under three sets of feet? Taking a step out of their usual fair of feudal Japan into a world that is almost as generic, Souls of Zill O’ll is set in a land of elves, dwarves, and other mystical creatures. You start the game as a half-elf named Areus and team up with a lovable behemoth and a sultry vampire to beat your way through hundreds and hundreds of enemies. Each of the three characters have unique fighting styles that play into different niches of battle and can switch between any of the trio at any time.

Most of the time spent in Soul’s of Zill O’ll will be in the large number of dungeons sprawled throughout the game. There are a multitude of different environments, but they all feel the same. Sure there may be a desert in one area, a forest in another, and then you get to a torch-lit cave, but differences stop there. There is some very very light platforming in the game, but the meat is just traversing alone corridors, fight a bunch of monsters, and then repeat. There is hardly any interaction with the environment and it ultimately just gets dull. At least the combat is there to spice things up a bit, if only for a little while.

As mentioned before you have complete control of the three characters: Areus, the sword-wielding mage, Dagda, the slow powerhouse, and Selene, the quick-striking assassin. You will definitely get your favorites in terms of playstyles, but the game requires you to switch control every so often. The ally-AI is only so intelligent, so you won’t want to leave them on their own. The actual combat is broken down into very simplistic combos, most with a maximum of three. Up to six attacks are at your disposal, three custom set to one palette, and three on another. If you’ve ever played any of the recent Phantasy Star games (Online or Portable), think just like those. Big battles will feel like it comes down to just button mashing Square and Triangle (and sometimes Circle) buttons, but there is a feeling of satisfaction after finishing off tons of enemies. Fortunately, skill building is nicely built into the game. Along with usual experience points, you get Skill Points to level up particular abilities for each character. Plenty of new attacks to learn and different unlocks down the road.

If you ever decide to pick up Trinity: Souls of Zill O’ll, I can guarantee you it won’t be for the acting or the story. The plot is laughably generic. Areus’s father, the Light Prince Lugh, was murdered at the hands of his father, the Emperor. The Emperor is evil and wants to keep whatever power he can, so Areus naturally wants to avenge his family. The voice-acting is also as expected, about the quality of a B-List anime, with no Japanese dub option. Areus is cynical and Dagda is obnoxiously optimistic. So if so many things are going against the game, why should one ever bother playing it?

The actual progress of the game is where it really sucks you in. The non-linear story provides exactly what Trinity needs, pacing. You travel from town to town via a world map (no overworld) to towns equally as dull. Here you choose quests from the Adventurer’s Guild, each with the own degree if importance. You can choose the story-progressing mission if you want, but there are always other side-quests you can do to lengthen the game. Fetch quests, escort missions, slay a monster, all the standard archetypes of a game of this kind. But when you play you find it hard to actually finish. “Just one more mission, then I’ll be done,” is something you’ll find yourself saying a lot. While this comes with level grinding, it’s disguised behind all these quests that make you forget you’re doing the same thing over and over again.

Trinity: Souls of Zill O’ll can be summed up in ultimately one word: average. It’s nothing you simply must buy, but if you have a GameFly rental or some extra cash you could definitely do worse. The combat is simplistic, the story is a joke, and there really isn’t a world to explore at all. But if you can get past these, there is enough actual “game” to keep your interest for quite some time.