Omega Force - developers of the never-ending Dynasty Warriors franchise - are taking a sleight departure with Trinity: Souls of Zill O'll on Playstation 3. Not only are they producing their traditional brand of hundreds-of-enemies-on-screen hack-and-slash action, but they're also attempting to infuse it with a good dose of role-playing - and specifically the sort of addictive meta-structure found recently in the likes of Puzzle Quest. Both formulas are addictive in their own right and one has already been mastered through countless previous releases by the same studio, but it's debatable as to whether either component in Zill O'll is of high enough quality to make it really stand out as a worthwhile purchase.

Souls of Zill O'll takes its setting straight out of the RPG cheese book as a direct sequel to Japan-only original Zill O'll. The plot, as it is, concerns the continents of 'Vyashion' and the warring kingdoms of 'Dyneskal' and 'Rostorl'. As you can probably guess from the location names alone, this is a land made up of elves, humans and assorted other traditional creatures, sprinkled liberally with monsters and whipped through as many fantasy archetypes as you can scream before becoming hoarse. The main quest centers around a young half-elf on a mission to undo a terrible wrong involving the death of his family, and merrily twists and turns its way through a series of battles based on three-way combat with two travel companions that join your party to write their own wrongs.

The watercolour effect pervades throughout

Since you're bombarded with the RPG meta-structure right away, it'd make sense to discuss that first. Centered around a series of hub towns, Zill O'll is decidedly old-school in its representations of RPG staple elements. From your starting location you'll have access to a tavern and various shops, quest-givers and tradesmen, and (after an hour or two of unlocking basic plot points) it's up to you to pick and choose exactly which missions you'd like to tackle, how to level your party and weaponry, which skills and weaponry to upgrade, and which characters to mine for information or additional quests in taverns and shady hang-outs. All of the presentational menus are text-based with static pictures for conversational sequences, but it is nonetheless extremely functional and charming in its own right, aided by a pleasantly non-jarring musical score.

There is a decent level of depth here too, with the developer clearly careful not to over-egg the mixture for players expecting something altogether different. Character equipment slots are plentiful and the statistical effects of trinkets are well presented, so the basic joy of saving up piles of acquired junk to purchase that next piece of desirable metal is strongly realised. Conversation text is entertaining enough, and reaching a new town or other safe location on the map presents you with new people to bother, different plot threads and vendors to interrogate. In short, it's a well-designed and well-implemented RPG structure, without bringing anything particularly remarkable or innovative to the table.

Advancing the plot is achieved by completing various storyline missions, which can be attempted alongside any of the side quests and hunting forays available from your chosen hub. Activating a quest will allow you to choose its marked location on the map, which then transports you into a sealed dungeon-style level to battle with various enemies and face-off against an imposing end-of-level boss.

RPG presentation is basic but functional

It's here that things get more than a little familiar, with Zill O'll's combat system culled almost in its entirety from recent Dynasty Warriors titles. Mashing the basic attack button will see you through most of the grunt-like underlings, but if times get desperate then several other skill moves can be accessed with one of two other face buttons, or an alternative set by pulling a trigger. The balance between ranged, magic and melee becomes increasingly important as the story progresses, as certain enemies can only be downed with the clinical timing of various specific attack sequences. Numbers of characters on-screen can reach into the high double-digits, and the sense of scale is, at times, as impressive as any of the previous titles.

And again, like recent Dynasty Warriors games, you're also able to switch up between any of the three playable characters on the fly. They roughly correspond to the balanced-meathead-lithe combination that works well elsewhere, and it becomes increasingly important to develop a style and upgraded skill roster with each - if only to make progress that little bit less like banging your head against a wall during later battles. Environmental elements also now come into play, with tumbleweeds and other combustible materials bursting into flame on contact with a trusty fire spell, or lakes and streams frozen in place to walk on or to incapacitate enemies. As simple as those developments are, they do add a much-needed layer of mayhem to the otherwise dependable and predictable combat, and it's good to see that even within such a well-wrung genre that Omega has still managed to find a sliver of innovation.

Trinity attacks can be devastating

Indeed the only other major development comes in the form of a watercolour visual style that's alternately distracting or so subtle that you'd never know it was there. It's an odd decision to cloak the low-rent player models and colourful environments in such a swirly and strange filter, and even more so that it seems to disappear entirely moments after beginning each level. Maybe it's your brain getting used to the colour bleed after such a crisp menu system, but without an option to switch it off completely, it's difficult to know what Zill O'll could have looked like wihthout the misguided aesthetic flourishes.

But regardless as to that misstep, you'll likely know what to expect here. Zill O'll is neither a technical marvel nor particularly innovative within its chosen genres, but that doesn't mean it's not decent service for a built-in audience that'll probably just be happy with a scenery change. Combat is solid and dependable, the RPG elements are functional and decently presented, and there is a good 'just one more mission' addictiveness that'll keep you coming back for more if you let its charms sink in. But then those are all things that I could have predicted before even popping the disc, and if you're in that camp, you'll know exactly whether or not this is a game for you.

Best Game Moment: Chaining together a last-ditch Trinity attack to whittle down the final sliver of health from a gigantic monster.