I'm not sure when the game mash-ups started, but I think it all points back to Capcom with their VS. series. Ever since then company crossovers have been happening with greater frequency, and to be perfectly honest these have yielded some great results. The best example that comes to mind is Square-Enix and Disney's Kingdom Hearts franchise. Other ventures of this sort have been mostly tame, but last year the PlayStation 3 saw a niche game called Cross Edge that was a collaborative effort with characters from Capcom, Nippon Ichi, Namco Bandai, Gust, and Idea Factory.
While not entirely successful, Cross Edge was a step in the right direction and kept fans of franchises such as Disgaea, Atelier Marie, and Darkstalkers happy. Seeing some possibilities there, Nippon Ichi, Gust, and Idea Factory got together again some time later and worked on Trinity Universe (though it has nothing to do with Cross Edge). Featuring a host of new characters and favorites such as Disgaea's Etna, Flonne, and Prinny, as well as Atelier Viorate Pamela, and Violet, Trinity Universe once again takes things that J-RPG fans love and sticks them in a pot. Does it work?
Trinity Universe takes place in Empyria, which happens to be a magnet for crap from the Netheruniverse. Everything from old sushi to desserts, buildings, and first aid kits finds itself drawn to Empyria. The only way to stop this from happening is if the Demon Dog Kanata is turned into a gem. What's the big deal with that? Well, he doesn't want to become a chunk of rock locked in servitude. Instead Kanata would rather run free and have adventure, so that's pretty much his motivation in the game.
On the other side of the coin there's the Rizelia, who is a valkyrie charged with restoring order to the Netheruniverse. Obviously the best and easiest way to do that is to get Kanata to turn into a gem, though since that's not going to happen without a fight she has to come up with something else. The story doesn't evolve much beyond this point, though various cut scenes and dialogue flesh out the world, characters, and story somewhat. For the most part the game is nonsensical and just cracks jokes while presenting one absurd situation after another.
.jpg?t=20120209092158)
Article comments