Try not to get triggered in Trinity Trigger.

Since the jump, everyone that saw even the tiniest snippets of Trinity Trigger footage started to compare it Secret of Mana. I’m sure I was one of them. I think these people (self-included) were hoping that it would fill the void that the PlayStation 4 remake of Secret of Mana was supposed to fill. At first, Trinity Trigger was doing its job. It was taking care of that nostalgic itch that only a replay of the original Secret of Mana could scratch. After a certain point, some cracks started to show. Nothing I couldn’t handle but they were noticeable. Further and further in, things started to get worse. And worse. Eventually, it got to a point where I was so frustrated, I turned the campaign into a speed run to knock out the remaining trophies and move onto something else. To those that think Trinity Trigger covers what Secret of Mana lacks, I’m not sure what you’re on because Trinity Trigger pulled some stuff that other action games get crucified for.

Trinity Trigger takes place in the world of Trinitia. Long ago, two gods fought for its control. The weapons they used fell to the ground and shaped the foundations of the environment. From the wreckage, God Warriors were born. God Warriors serve as champions that fight in the gods’ stead. Our hero of this journey is a God Warrior named Cyan. He learns that he’s the Warrior of Chaos. He befriends two warriors. The first is Elise Quoise, a girl from a faraway land that was told to assist Cyan by her elders. The second is Zantis Gheldyne, a War Oracle with a carefree personality. Cyan, Elise, and Zantis are assisted by Triggers, animal-like beings that can shapeshift into various weapons. Cyan’s partner is Flamme, a fire Trigger that lost his memory. Elise works with Oise, a water Trigger that has a motherly demeanor. Zantis has the rascally Rai, a lightning Trigger that enjoys mocking Zantis every chance he gets.

I’m going into a lot of detail about the story and world because it’s one of Trinity Trigger’s best features. The chemistry between Cyan and his friends is unexpected. They start as strangers, and gradually grow to become friends. Seeing everyone organically develop overtime to become a party of six close friends makes you feel like you’re a part of the group. There’s a sizeable cast of NPCs that have their own time in the spotlight that help give more realness to the world of Trinitia. The world itself is its own character; it’s a world dotted by fallen skyscraper sized weapons that influence their environmental surroundings.

The weapons, referred to as Arma, are at the center of each of Trinitia’s locales. For example, Cyan’s village, Woodroost, gets its influence from The Gladius. The Gladius is a massive sword that’s sticking out of the earth blade first. Woodroost’s and other towns’ bizarre landmarks aside, towns in Trinitia are what we’ve come to expect. There are lots of chatty locales, hidden items to discover, shrines that let you save your game and warp to other visited shrines, and shopping. Items can be purchased or crafted. One of the most important items you can craft or buy is Manatite. Both offensive and defensive Manatite can be imbued into your Trigger’s various weapons. There’s no armor or accessories for Cyan and his friends. And while they gain experience points and level up traditionally, their ability to survive the challenges relies mostly on Manatite.

This brings me to combat. This is where you’ll be spending most of the time. The further you get, and the more you unlock, the more frustrating it gets. Don’t let the introduction of the game fool you because everything is promising at the start. Cyan, Elise, and Zantis have access to a multitude of weapons, each with their own (somewhat) unique three-hit combos. Each maneuver in the combo can be powered up with Technical Points that are earned from defeating enemies. However, Trinity Trigger isn’t another button mashing action game. Every attack depletes the Synchro Gauge. When this is empty, attacks deal pitiful damage. You’ll have to wait for it to recharge while moving away from enemies and/or dodging their attacks. While the three friends can equip any weapon, each one has more proficiency with certain ones over others. You can switch between characters quickly. As time passes, your weapon will glow and pressing a button will unleash a powerful Trigger Strike. These are great for dealing with hordes of enemies. Attacking enemies enough will fill the Weapon Aura gauge. Each weapon has its own unique Weapon Aura that provides extra perks during combat. Finally, there’s a powerful screen clearing attack called the Trinity Impact.

As you read the above, you’re likely getting excited about the combat and its alleged swiftness. I know I did. Learning that Cyan and his crew could equip a sword, bow, lance, fists, axe, gun, dual blades, and a magic staff each with its own attacks and passive abilities sounded wonderful. Then there’s the ability to equip all sorts of Manatite that provide oodles of different passive bonuses. The game threw in some handy short cuts for quick weapon swapping, allies using restorative items when needed, and boosting the Synchro Gauge with well-timed gauges. Well, all that is great, but it’s around the halfway point in which Trinity Trigger feels like is actively punishing players for not playing co-op. The AI is terrible. Sure, they’ll attack enemies and attempt to evade, but when there’s an enemy previewing an AoE attack, they’ll stand there. Inevitably, your AI will burn through your healing items. Then there’s the issue of limited inventory combined with limited raw materials for crafting the best items. You’ll also have to wade through an endless amount of Manatites. Chances are you’ll be swapping them back and forth regularly. For a game that tries to avoid keeping players in menus, players will be in menus a lot.

Then, there are the boss battles. Oh man, this is when the game is at its worst. On top of allies finding every way to run into their attacks, every boss has an armor-barrier-gauge-thing that needs to be depleted before they can be dealt any damage. Think of Unlimited Saga; you had to wade through an enemy’s HP before you could damage their LP. The LP is what needs to be depleted before an enemy gets killed. That’s how bosses are. The bad news is that once their armor gauge is depleted, they’re stunned for a few seconds before it gets refilled instantly. This means bosses are long wars of attrition. The solution? Take control of Elise, who is the most adept with the bow and arrow.  Then hope that the boss has a weakness to bows. Then pelt from afar. In the event a boss isn’t weak to bows, give your AI allies the right weapon and monitor their health. It’s not fun. Spoiler alert: Secret of Mana never pulled any of this. Secret of Mana had its issues, but it didn’t go out of its way to mess with you for not having others to play with.

To bring things back to a positive light, I’ll mention that the game has a pleasant look, a great soundtrack composed by Secret and Trial of Mana legend Hiroki Kikuta, and excellent voice acting. There might have been lots struggles getting through Trinity Trigger, but things were always looking and sound great during the process. It was cool to see how varied each part of Trinitia was due to the various Arma. There’s plenty of environment, monster, and NPC variety. The weapons and their multitudes of attacks evolve and change over time, too. Unfortunately, the screen can get crowded and busy. This will cause some slowdown. I can imagine it happens on PlayStation 4 and Switch since it happened to me on PlayStation 5.

For as much trouble Trinity Trigger gave me, it didn’t take long to finish the game and see everything it had to offer. It took me about 30 hours when all was said and done. It’s not a bad game. It’s just disappointing. Half of it is on me for thinking it would finally -FINALLY- pick up the slack from the classics like Secret of Mana. But, the other half of it is flawed design. It’s important to know that I never played it with other people. My guess is that it would be a lot more fun with others to play with. Part of it is the fun that comes with couch co-op. The bigger part is that it wouldn’t mean the AI suiciding. If you have one or two other people to play with, then Trinity Trigger should be great. For solo players, proceed with lots of caution. The game’s beginning moments are fine, but things get messy before long.

Overall, 5.5/10: The power of three is more manageable with three people. Trinity Trigger is at its best when you’re taking advantage of multiplayer.