Trinity Universe First Look

Trinity Universe is a collaborative effort by Nippon Ichi Software, Gust, and Idea Factory where characters from the Disgaea and Atelier series will make an appearance in 3D for the first time. There are two storylines to play through, both of which take place in the Netheruniverse where there's a serious problem with space debris. The easier storyline follows the young demon god king, Kanata who, instead of transforming into a demon god gem to protect the Netheruniverse as he should, decides to run away and enjoy a life where there's an endless supply of soba noodles. The second storyline is for more experienced players and follows the valkyrie Rizelea who's taken it upon herself to restore peace in the Netheruniverse by hunting down the demon god king.

The setup for both stories is the same. After going through the initial story sequence, you'll move to a menu with a view of the Netheruniverse that is surrounded by an assortment of junk. This space debris includes tamago nigiri pieces, refrigerators, and delicious-looking cake. Because this stuff is colliding with the Netheruniverse, you must enter each piece--which is essentially a dungeon--to locate the gravitation core and destroy it so that the dungeon will float off into outer space. Not only do you need to fend off monsters while tracking down the core, but you also need to get out of there before you drift off into space with the rest of the garbage. From the menu, you can also access story events that are available, as well as other dungeons. The inn is open to you for free to rest up, and there's a shop should you need to stock up on items. Certain things will be available depending on the time of day, so you can choose to spend the night at the inn or just take a quick nap.

As you explore the dungeons, battles for the most part are random, although there are some instances where a shadow will appear to hunt you down, and it may be tougher to beat, but it will also drop better items. Combat is turn based and based on the skill link system, where you press different face buttons for combos. By pressing the square, triangle, and X button in a specific order, you can execute chain attacks, which will cost fewer action points than if you were to attack randomly. The square button is used for lighter attacks, but you'll get more hits in, and the X button is for greater damage. The triangle and circle buttons are for spells and healing, respectively.

The build we had was still very early, so we didn't get a chance to check out all the features yet. We do know there's weapon customization that looks like it comes in the form of decals. With these graphics, you can decorate your weapons to enhance their stats. Depending on the graphic, it'll also affect the animation in battle. For example, with the cherry blossom design, you'll see a burst of flower petals as you fight.

Familiar faces like Etna and Flonne will make an appearance, as well as the loveable but volatile penguinlike prinnies. You'll also learn more about the story as you watch the hilarious interactions between the wacky characters. They talk to each other via lightly animated character portraits, so you'll get that full anime/manga effect when you see different symbols appear as they start to get agitated or annoyed. Trinity Universe looks to follow the trend of keeping things lighthearted and fun, so be sure to look for the game when it is released in June.