Are you a fan of cute anime girls? What about dark Japanese fantasy tales? Would you rather run your own farm or fight dark deities? All of these were options while visiting the XSeed PAX East 2023 Booth. At PAX East 2023, we were supposed to preview Loop8: Summer of Gods, Trinity Trigger, Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life, Melon’s Journey, & AKIBA’S TRIP: Undead & Undressed Directors Cut.
Sadly there was just not enough time to see everything due to our pact schedule. Despite having a busy schedule, we still had the opportunity to play Loop8: Summer of Gods, Trinity Trigger, and Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life; we also had the opportunity to look at AKIBA’S TRIP: Undead & Undressed Directors Cut.
If you are unfamiliar with any or all of these titles, that is perfectly fine because we will help you on your journey. For this preview, we will be covering what we experienced with Trinity Trigger and Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life (Harvest Moon). If you want to check out our Loop8: Summer of Gods & AKIBA’S TRIP: Undead & Undressed Director’s Cut preview, click here.
Before getting into this preview, I will state that I had never heard of these titles before PAX East; I know how shameful of me but at least I have now. Oddly, the XSEED demo stations would restart if you did not push a button after a few seconds but that did not stop us:
Trinity Trigger Demo
Trinity Trigger is an action role-playing game stylized after popular 90s RPGs; if you are a fan of Golden Sun or Secret of Mana, the game should pique your interest. Players take control of three young heroes on a journey to save their continent Trinitia. Players can choose which hero to control and players playing solo can rotate between the three characters.
This becomes rather important when fighting enemies and dodging skill shots. These three heroes are accompanied by creatures called Triggers; these creatures have the unique ability to transform into different types of weapons and aid the heroes on their journey.
For the PAX East 2023 demo, we were thrown into an early stage of the game where a town was having to sacrifice children in order to protect itself. The heroes have decided to set up a trap to take down the creature menacing the town.
Before setting out to fight the boss, we had the ability to explore the surrounding area and practice the fighting mechanics. The hardest mechanic to get used to was the dodge ability since there was a minimal delay.
This ultimately would help us when fighting the boss, but we would occasionally have to move the other characters out of harm’s way.
When fighting, each hero’s trigger has a unique ability based on its weapon. These abilities would charge up based on hitting the enemy. Once it was charged, you could unleash the attack causing extra damage.
Rotating between the three allowed us to put out a steady amount of damage. As the boss was set to attack red indication lines would show where the attack was heading allowing us to move out of the way. Sadly, we did not get to experience much of the story due to the demo’s time constrictions.
Despite fun combat mechanics, we wish we could have played more of the game and actually experienced the story. Trinity Trigger is set to release on April 25th, 2023 on Nintendo Switch, PC (Steam), PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5.
Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life
Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life formerly known as Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life is set to release on June 27th, 2023, on Nintendo Switch, PC (Steam) PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.
For former fans of the original game, the remake gives them the experience they knew and loved while presenting new events, enhanced festivals, a cornucopia of never-before-seen crops, and even more cooking recipes.
The PAX East 2023 demo had players start after moving into the town. We were given free rein to explore and terrorize the neighborhood. We played a lot of ding dong ditch; just kidding, we tried to visit neighbors while they were still asleep to unveil.
The game seems charming for those that love farm simulators/cozy games. Players who like fast-paced games can very easily be put off by the pacing of the game. Petting the dog was cute, but didn’t sell us on the overall experience.
Looking at the GameCube version of the game, the remake still holds the original feel while providing improved graphics, mechanics, and new items. If you were a fan of the original, then you will most likely love what they have done with this remake.
Trinity Trigger is launching on April 25th in North America and on May 16th in Europe for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5. The game is also now coming to Windows PC (via Steam).
Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life is launching on June 27th across PC (via Steam), Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PlayStation 5.
