My first (and probably last) review of a Playstation 3 game. Trinity Universe is a PS3 exclusive released many years ago, I recently got the game... mostly because it's exclusive for PS3 to be honest. As some people know, I'm a person of exclusives, a lot, and often, I get a game because it's an exclusive more than anything else. Still, Trinity Universe has never been a popular game, and like many other games, I feel like I'm the only person who knows about it. This game isn't that bad when it comes to suggestive content, but I can't say that the fanservice isn't there, this game not only has Flonne and Etna from Disgaea, both characters with sexualized designs especially Etna, there are also some enemies/bosses with suggestive or sexualized desings (Kotodama, for example). Anyway... let's begin.

Story: At least a 7 for this category, the story of Trinity Universe isn't exactly the best, but it's still a fun and engaging story. The game has two protagonists, Kanata and Rizelea, the story revolves around the Netheruniverse and, more than anything else, Empyria, the city (planet?) floating somewhere in the Netheruniverse, in the game, the Netheruniverse is a world/place where objects from other worlds end for some reason, it can be pretty much anything, sushi, rice balls, buildings... even entire planets can end in this world. if you choose Rizelea, the game begins with her confronting Shuten, the father of Kanata, the Demon God (Dog) King, she seals Shuten, and after that, of her own accord, she begins to address the situation about the drifting objects, initially the idea is to force Kanata to turn into the Demon God Gem, which should protect Empyria from the drifting objects, but after a while, she starts to investigate if there is another way of protecting Empyria from the Drifting objects. The story isn't phenomenal or groundbreaking, but it's well written in my opinion, this game was developed by Gust, Nippon Ichi Software and Idea Factory, so, the game also has a sense of humor and is often funny and ridiculous, compared to other RPGs, Trinity Universe doesn't take itself too seriously, and in fact, the game isn't serious most of the time I think, even so, I really like the story more or less, Rizelea develops as a character and even though she didn't had a dream when the story begins, she later finds her dream and follows it, yes, it was nice to see how she develops as a character, especially before the end of the game. As always when it comes to RPGs, this is a game better played knowing as little as possible, but basically... yeah, I like the story of Trinity Universe, I like the characters, I like that the game breaks the fourth wall a lot of times (as I said it's a funny game), and... it might not be the best story in the genre, but what is here is good enough at least.

Graphics: Listen, I was thinking about giving this category a 6, but in the end, I would say that a 7 for this category isn't bad, that said, this game barely deserves a 7. Trinity Universe was released in Japan in 2009, and then in the rest of the world the next year, in 2010. Even for its time, it wasn't the best looking RPG of all time, but it doesn't look awful in my opinion, Trinity Universe is the prequel of the original Hyperdimension Neptunia in one way or another, if you compare the gameplay (and graphics) of Trinity Universe with the first Hyperdimension Neptunia game, you can clearly see that Hyperdimension Neptunia looks similar. Ironically, I think that Trinity Universe looks slightly better than Hyperdimension Neptunia. The 3D models look decent and at times, there is some attention to detail in the environments, while it's true that some areas look darker than they should I would say, I can't say that it looks awful, some objects and 3D models look great and shiny, and as I said, there is some attention to detail at times. Yes, the Xbox 360 version of Tales of Vesperia looks better, yes, the Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii versions of Sonic Unleashed look better, yes, the PS3 version of Star Ocean: The Last Hope looks better, etc, but what is here looks nice at times, and I think that the more you play the game the more you appreciate its graphics. Some assets were recycled for the original Hyperdimension Neptunia (3D models, textures...), and ironically, some assets look better here in my opinion. Some maps (Flonne's MK III, for example) clearly were more or less reused for the original Hyperdimension Neptunia game, but those dungeons look better here to be honest, the color scheme is more appealing to the eyes, and the monitors with unknown symbols that appear floating in the air are a nice touch that contributes to the graphics, in fact, all the dungeons have some visual element that appears in the air, and that complements the graphics... that's something that the first Hyperdimension Neptunia game doesn't have, I also like the bubbles that appear in the pirate ships for example. The 2D art looks really nice to this day, Tsunako is credited as the character designer, and her art looks amazing as always, Trinity Universe was the first game developed by Idea Factory (and Nippon Ichi Software) with some level of animation during the events, this was the first AAA (Active Animation Adventure) game developed by Idea Factory, and that so-called Active Animation is still used to this day. One could say that Trinity Universe... was ahead of its time to an extent, animation during events in anime-style games didn't become common until several years later, and by the way, the lip syncing is better in this game than in other games that were released later, if you play Trinity Universe with English voices, the game has better lip sync than Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 1 and 2, for example. Basically, for a PS3 exclusive released many years ago, in other words, a game developed specifically for PS3 (probably) from many years ago, this game is... good, when it comes to graphics and everything...

Sound: The game has a great soundtrack at times, Trinity Universe has a varied soundtrack with catchy and cheerful themes that fit the game, rock music with some great guitar solos, songs with an oriental tone or sound, and more, it's not the best soundtrack composed by Kenji Kaneko, composer of most songs in the game, but it's a soundtrack fitting for the game with varied themes, and the music is memorable, but of course, some tracks are more memorable than others. The voice acting is pretty good at times, but not always, sometimes the acting is just good, and other times, believe it or not, it's... campy or exaggerated, but as you can probably imagine, it's actually enjoyable because of that, at least to an extent, campy or exaggerated voice acting can be enjoyable, and Trinity Universe is an example where the occasional campy acting actually adds to the experience in my opinion. The game has a great cast, Kanata is voiced by Sam Riegel, Rizelea is voiced by Mela Lee, Recit is voiced by Keith Silverstein, Flonne is voiced by Sandy Fox (as always) and Suzaku, one of the antagonists in the game, is voiced by none other than Troy Baker.

Addictive: Trinity Universe is a turn-based RPG that, even today, I would describe as ''different'', more or less, unlike most RPGs, Trinity Universe isn't a menu-based game during the battles (for the most part) and instead, the game relies on combos and button combinations for its combat. Unlike Hyperdimension Neptunia, the characters use AP for every action and when you do... anything, the AP counter will start to go down, the key is pressing the buttons with good timing to deal a high amount of damage, special skills or attacks that are the result of a specific combo or button combination are also important. Overall, Trinity Universe is a complex RPG more or less, regardless of what you think about this game, you can't deny that the developers were trying to create something different, something new. Did they succeed? Yes, to an extent, Trinity Universe has a lot of mechanics and gameplay features that make the experience fun or engaging, the game is on par with the first Hyperdimension Neptunia game, and at times, it's even better. There are a lot of mechanics for the combat, different types of equipment (Weapons, runes, kotodamas and meteorites...), items to find in the dungeons... it can be overwhelming, and honestly, it's not the most newcomer-friendly RPG, there are a lot of mechanics and things to consider, and the fact that there is a lot adds to the game, it's one of the reasons why it's a fun and engaging game more or less, the game even has a synthesis system like Atelier where if you have the manual and necessary ingredients, you can create more items and yes, better equipment. It's a fun game in my opinion, not the best turn-based RPG of all time, but it's enjoyable, it's better than the original Hyperdimension Neptunia in some areas, and maybe worse in others. You don't have to be an Atelier or Disgaea fan to enjoy this game.

Depth: At least 35 hours if you ignore the extras or something like that, Trinity Universe is longer than other Turn-based RPGs and the game has a lot of extras. I got the normal ending with Rizelea, so, the game has multiple endings and two different protagonists, the experience can last a lot because some grinding might be required in order to beat the game, and of course, the game has a lot of trophies... I have less than 30% of the trophies, so, the game offers a lot of content. It's a huge game, more or less.

Difficulty: Definitely an 8 at most, Trinity Universe can be very difficult not only because of the complexity of the game, but also because some bosses can be very difficult and powerful, the game also has bosses that appear in the dungeons (lurkers) and are always very powerful, if your levels and equipment aren't enough, those monsters will defeat your party in the blink of an eye. The final boss took me 3 tries, I had to level up a lot (4 characters of level 110 at least!) in order to win. It's not the most difficult turn-based RPG of all time (Dark Rose Valkyrie and Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 1 can be even more difficult), but there are easier turn-based RPGs out there, that's for sure.

As I said, you don't have to be an Atelier or Disgaea fan to enjoy this game, the main appeal of Trinity Universe should be the fact that it's a crossover game, it's a game that has characters from Disgaea and Atelier, and the fact that at least those 2 franchises are represented or referenced in this game with those characters should be the main appeal, the fanservice (not the sexual kind), even so, it's obvious that the developers were trying to make a good game, and the result isn't a bad game. Unfortunately, I can't recommend this game easily, and that's not only because there are other turn-based RPGs that are a little better, but also because of the price tag, Trinity Universe is usually an expensive game nowadays, and wanting to get this game at a low price is asking for the impossible, it's not going to happen... So, I'll say this: If you are not dying to play Trinity Universe, get another game, but if you have extreme curiosity about Trinity Universe, buy it, I guess, but my advice is... do not pay more than $70 dollars (including shipping or whatever) for this game, if you pay more than that, it's not worth it anymore...