Trinity: Souls of Zill O'll Game Sample - Playstation 3
34So I spent A LOT of hours playing RPGs over the last few weeks and happened upon a copy of a game I had for years just collecting dust: Koei's "Trinity: Souls of Zill O'll". Prior to this video, I had played it twice for all of 30 minutes and immediately wrote it off as a less exciting variant of "Dynasty Warriors (2+)" with extra steps and with Omega Force at the helm, I expected better even with their solid "Wash, Rinse and Repeat" formula. Released in late 2010 in Japan and 2011 elsewhere, I had heard of the game's origins back in the day as a semi-traditional PS1 JRPG when I was really big on importing and came to learn that this game was designed as a more approachable prequel story with the hopes of a bigger target audience, but Trinity was effectively shunned by the mainstream media which affected sales and subsequent DLCs and the hopes of sequels (or remakes) were more or less canned. After revisiting the game, I think I owe Zill O'll and its many inhabitants an apology.
On the surface, the game's plot is a bit of a throwaway. Taking place roughly five years before the original game, Trinity tells the tale of the continent of Vyashion where a young man named Areus is prophesized by Zofor, Emperor Balor's Chancellor, to grow up and one day kill him. Because Balor is a ruthless jerk, Zofor's visions are unquestionably accurate and the child in question is also his grandson, he has his own pregnant daughter assassinated in an effort to prevent this but ultimately fails as it was not his daughter but his son, Prince Lugh, who creates the prophesized child by getting an elf pregnant and raising him in secret. Areus is eventually found and the elves / prince are hunted but he escapes with his mom and brother through the sacrifice of his dad. He eventually grows up and becomes a gladiator and adventurer trained in the sword by a blade master and spends the rest of his life plotting revenge against his grandfather with the goal primarily being to "get stronger". The main and supporting cast are a bit generic but likeable for the most part and there are eventually a few plot twists to keep things spicy. The general theme of the game is forming "bonds".
On the gameplay front, Omega Force has designed the game from scratch but incorporated many of their usual trappings from their other games while translating a lot of the mechanics from Zill in a way that is tasteful and recognizable for players of the original game. The end result is an ARPG with lots of quests, plenty of loot to grind for with a variety of characteristics, several hubs to visit that expand upon the setting and lore, and a three-party combat system where you can swap allies at a moments notice and elements impact your surroundings. Areus is the "Balanced" type, Dagda is the "Tank" and Selene is the "Agile Assist". "Souls" return in this game which can augment each character's fighting mechanics and playstyles but the vast majority of combat is handled by a single character. Interestingly, your allies will seldom kill anything off-screen but serve as great distractions for mobs and have some pretty solid A.I. at work. When all three are together, the party can also utilize "Trinity Attacks" and "Soul Bursts".
Another interesting element is that while the game has many different items to leverage, most foes hit hard and fast... to combat this, the player heals automatically after every cleared skirmish. Leveling from combat is very slow and actually discouraged; the majority of your levelling comes from constantly completing quests or reaching important milestones, which incentivizes interacting with other characters and learning about the game's world. On that note, the game has a lot of cool resources to review as they arise and is well-intentioned at its core.
I'm not saying the game is incredible... it is a slow burn with more than a few pacing issues, was clearly put out on a lower budget than most of the DW/SW/Musou titles and has some technical and aesthetic issues that were deemed underwhelming in the face of earlier, prettier PS2/3 titles (it has some nice set pieces though), but the game was built off the groundwork of a great tale that is the original "Zill O'll" from 1999 and ties quite nicely into the overall framework without too many deep connections that would require extensive knowledge of the original. While it doesn't quite have the original's charm, complex branching narrative or AMAZING soundtrack, the gameplay is solid (albeit repetitive) and it deserves to be played by casual hack and slash enthusiasts and / or true "Zill O'll" fans. Perhaps some day we will look at the original "game(s)" and expound about the creators and their thought process behind Zill O'll in more detail. This is a HQ video showing some things in action. Enjoy.
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