Trillion: God of Destruction (PC) Review

Things are not well in hell, and not just because it's hell and things are never good there. Trillion, God of Destruction, is really trying to earn his moniker because soon after things start off, he shows up and begins devouring the underworld like he is at a particularly fiery buffet. Current overlord, Zeabolos, tries to stop him, but is almost instantly quashed and killed, learning the crucial lesson of never getting between a fat monster and a buffet. Before he can be devoured himself, however, a mysterious girl named Faust shows up and offers him a deal: his soul for the power to defeat Trillion. Without much in the way of better alternatives, Zeabolos accepts and, with Faust's help, hopes to finally give Trillion some much needed indigestion.

It becomes apparent almost immediately that this is a Compile Heart game. The company certainly has become known for having a certain tone (and a certain level of fan service), and both aspects are featured heavily here. Things can be a bit dark at times (particularly if you mess up and get a character killed), but the same sort of zany goofiness that has really defined a lot of its past titles is here in spades. The dialogue is fun and the interaction between the characters is fairly charming. Nothing here is laugh out loud funny, but the silliness really helps to solidify the tone and gives the game an almost perfect amount of levity. The plot itself is somewhat bland and a lot of the characters fall so squarely into predictable anime tropes that most have likely seen handfuls of characters like this in the past if there is any experience in the genre. Still, predictable doesn't always mean bad and the characters and dialogue are both fun enough that it helps to elevate the story out of mediocrity.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about Trillion: God of Destruction is the mash-up of genres that comprise it. There is only one goal here, which is defeat the God of Destruction. It is quite the tall task as might be imagined, considering he gets his name from the fact he has a trillion HP. Worse yet, Zeabolos is pretty much out of commission considering how badly he was beaten the first time around, so the task falls to one of his loyal followers. These girls are all modelled after one of the seven deadly sins, although only one of the seven can be trained at a time. After selecting whichever you like best, you begin training her with the ultimate task of defeating Trillion. If she falls in battle, a chunk of her experience will be transferred to the next heroine and she can try her luck at stopping the monster.

What's interesting is how the gameplay is sort of divided up. A large section of this feels a lot like a typical dating sim, where the girl is trained, in a way, through selecting options on a menu and trying to keep her as happy as possible. Completing specific training sessions earns XP across a variety of categories, eventually powering her up so she isn't so much of a weakling. It is perhaps not the most exciting method of character development, but these segments do a great job of introducing and fleshing out each of the personas. There are some good character arcs here, too, and through earning affection points you can not only improve a relationship with a character but also earn a key edge in upcoming battles. Think of it as sort of a dating sim but there is the chance to fight monsters at the end of it. Still, while there are certainly perks to the system, the repetition begins to wear thin after a while, particularly if losing at some point and being on the third or fourth girl. This system also isn't as engaging as it could be, and a lot of the time it feels a lot like navigating some sort of Microsoft Excel spreadsheet while trying to get to the actual fun.

Combat almost feels like a bit of an afterthought in all of this, although it certainly is still there. The main fights are just against Trillion. Either his current form is defeated, or he eviscerates whatever poor girl is standing in his way. There are some minor fights to take part in, as well - brief one floor mini-dungeons that can provide some extra experience and loot. Battles take place on a grid, with both the controllable character and enemies moving in tandem. The combat system is admittedly somewhat thin, although there is a nice selection of options here to lead to some varying strategies. More familiars can be brought in to assist in battle, or preparation can instead be focused on learning stronger, more devastating attacks to wipe out enemies without the need for outside aid. The Trillion fights, in particular, are intense, as the big boss here is no pushover and can wipe out people in a single attack if they show up unprepared. The other battles are a bit more disappointing and dull, though. The smaller dungeons feel more like a chore to tackle than anything else, and it wouldn't be worth diving in if the experience they provided wasn't so crucial.

What is interesting is that while there is nothing about the gameplay that can really be classified as exceptional, somehow this mish-mash of ideas all works together to produce something fairly entertaining. Training is somewhat repetitive, but actually serves to do a nice job building up relationships with whatever heroine is selected to fight with. Battles can be long and drawn out, but made intense by the fact that the character you have spent all this time getting attached to can actually die, for good. It makes the big fights against Trillion seem important, and gives them a weight and intensity that is missing from other, similar titles. Sure, most of the other combat is missing, but by focusing so heavily on Trillion and the relationship with whomever the player decides to pair with, it provides a singular focus - a real goal that is worth working towards with a character that you will desperately want to make it. It helps fight that nagging sense of boredom, which admittedly does crop up every once in a while when bogged down in some particularly onerous menus.