Triangle Strategy Review

Slowly is how Triangle Strategy begins. The “New Game” button triggers a string of unpleasant events. Your persona, Serenoa Wolffort, along with his incredibly dull retainers and fiancee, are presented. An extensive amount of narrative is offered regarding the previous post of a fantastical location, with its lack of salt being its most intriguing feature.

Characters are introduced in the cutscene after the sequence with little to no explanation. With the exception of a straightforward beginning battle, which lacks a clear hook, you hardly have to do anything at all. With only the amazing pixel imagery to keep it inspiring, it’s awkward and aggravating. But despite a mediocre beginning, over the course of its 40+ hours, that slowness turns out to be a strength, developing into one of the most powerful and enjoyable instances of the tactical RPG genre.

Sharpen Your Tactics and Conquer the Battlefield with Triangle Strategy

Rest assured that this is not one of those JRPGs that “gets wonderful after the first twenty awful hours.” Nearly every aspect of that annoying beginning disappears, some issues even right away, showing a game whose slow confidence is a strength. The setting’s banality transforms into a dramatic, intensely personal political story. The vast cast of characters creates fertile ground for intrigue because when the action gets violent, seemingly big players might be eliminated while small characters stand up. It gradually shows a system in which expressing opinions, gaining knowledge, and comprehending character dynamics all play significant roles. Combat never gets too complicated, but it always feels well-rehearsed. Additionally, the primary character consistently makes Jon Snow seem thrilling in comparison. I apologize for it.

Triangle Strategy’s first notable strength is its customizable three-dimensional universe with two-dimensional character pixel art. It is a trademark of producer Tomoya Asano, who also contributed to the equally outstanding Octopath Traveler. Switch, though I think I might have somewhat preferred the latter because the characters on the smaller screen stood out more. I could see all the text very easily on the Switch itself as well as on a rather tiny television, which is obviously very necessary for a word- and number-heavy RPG.

Given that this is a game with a strong narrative, it is crucial to begin with the plot and setting. The continent of Norzelia has magic, but it is more of a tool and a weapon than a superpower. Instead, the characters engage in conflict over power and riches. Iron and salt have long been contested resources between the three rival kingdoms, but a recent cooperative mining venture serves as a sign of peace. Naturally, things go wrong and everyone begins to fight once more.

It may not sound thrilling to play a game about human political intrigue since it is anchored in a human story of resources and ambition, but in a genre where crazy wizards or ancient gods frequently threaten to destroy their individual planets, it is welcome. One of my favorite characters was first shown as strong but sympathetic. After being ordered to go to war, where they killed many important decent guys, they gradually began their journey toward redemption as they understood how deep they had descended into barbarism. It would be simple, but fair, to draw comparisons between Triangle Strategy and Game of Thrones.

On the other side, Triangle Strategy’s four central characters suffer from being boringly similar to one another. The majority of the party members, including the youthful Lord Serenoa, his fiancée Frederica, his advisor Benedict, his best friend Prince Roland, and others, are kind, responsible, and painfully, excruciatingly polite at all times. They don’t appear to possess any lower instincts, and they never curse, get angry, act on their desires, or do anything that would be amusing. Even some of the older individuals had flashbacks that depict their wild childhood. The limit of these flashbacks is that they occasionally raced to see who could follow instructions the best. How rebellious! It almost comes as a shock to see a group of major characters who are so aggressively boring in a genre that is rich with colorful and memorable characters in games like Fire Emblem, Final Fantasy, or Persona.

Triangle Strategy: The Ultimate Tactical RPG for Fans of Strategy Games

However, some of Triangle Strategy’s other characteristics help to offset even this character flaw. First, even though the personality is still generally good and responsible, the plot they take part in ends up stressing them out so much that it begins to shine through, like Frederica’s passionate desire for justice or Roland’s love for his family. Bigger than that is the Scales of Conviction system, where anytime House Wolffort faces a major choice, instead of expecting us to simply make it through Serenoa, the seven primary party members all discuss and vote on it. The votes are legally binding and can be cast against your preferences, and as time goes on, they become more and more significant for the characters’ and Norzelia’s futures. Even while they continue to be – again – painfully polite and sensible throughout, the larger stakes make the variations in character motivations stand out more.

The votes can be influenced in a number of ways. You can learn things during some brief exploration stages that might be helpful. For example, knowing that the Wolffort settlement is full of traps might make encouraging an invasion appear more appealing. Second, dialogue options that align with a character’s motivations can be useful. For example, since Benedict is a pragmatist, those options are most likely to influence him, whereas Roland is more loyal. Finally, Sereoa has “Convictions” in the metrics of Utility, Morality, and Liberty depending on other dialogue choices, which can support his claims. When I had to decide whether to accept a corrupt offer while my retainers unanimously voted to be honest and expose the corruption right away, I had difficulty because I had normally focused on being polite and honest in that campaign.

The methods for voting and conviction turn out to be quite clever ways to make your choices manifest. As a result of all the small dialogue choices you make—and even some battle moves—Serenoa is gently led down specific routes and side people and flashbacks are unlocked for them. For instance, because of my rigorous honesty, I was able to recruit Julio, an honest anti-corruption support character, who was crucial in the late game since he kept my mages casting spells nonstop. The Conviction system is completely hidden on the first playing, which is a drawback. I wasn’t sure if I was expected to understand what was going on or not because of this. (It turned out that one of the best ways to play was to unwind and let the campaign develop naturally.)

In a few key instances, the choice system is also effectively applied. For instance, the inclusion of an oppressed people group known as the Roselle, whose historical and religious oppression seemed directly inspired by the history of the Jewish people in a way that was so direct as to feel awkward, is one of the seemingly minor setting characteristics of Triangle Strategy (real history of real oppressed people being given a slight fantastical mask can lead down some strange and unpleasant paths). However, Triangle Strategy consistently provided me with the chance to act in a way that improved the lives of the Roselle when those opportunities arose. That oppression wasn’t just a plot device to make the world seem darker and more genuine; part of it actually provided a setting for a story. The Roselle were definitely handled much better than I’d anticipated, though I still think they’re a little odd, especially given their physical characteristic of pink hair.

Triangle Strategy’s quiet assurance is even more noticeable in the fighting system, which at first seemed like a perfectly ordinary tactical RPG. However, as the campaign progressed, I was more and more amazed with some of the best level design and difficulty tweaking I’ve ever encountered in a tactics game.

A party of eight to twelve characters that you manoeuvre around a tile-based map in turns during combat is akin to Final Fantasy Tactics or Fire Emblem. Each character has unique attributes and skills. Roland is a quick-moving cavalryman who can deal a lot of damage but doesn’t stay long if he becomes isolated. Benedict is a supporting class who can employ skills that make your characters stronger, tougher, or faster, but deals little damage on his own. It’s a very classic style that has endured because it works well to give players strategic challenges while incorporating character distinctions and personality revealed through actions.

Think Outside the Square with Triangle Strategy: The Tactical RPG that Breaks the Mold

The Triangle Strategy system has a few minor tactical aspects built in: some foes are more vulnerable to particular spell kinds, while taking use of the terrain by attacking from higher ground or sneaking up on targets can deal more damage. But these are minor elements that don’t add up to, say, a Disgaea-style combo system where the object is to construct the largest abuses you can. The growth system in Triangle Strategy does not support the creation of superpowered characters like those in Final Fantasy Tactics. There is also nothing that encourages fighting decisions other than “do the most damage” like the friendship system in Fire Emblem.

Triangle Strategy has a quieter, more straightforward progression. Characters become marginally, but noticeably, stronger in ways that provide some transient advantages, but then more formidable foes also acquire new skills. Although you can’t entirely change your character’s appearance, there are enough equipment and advancement options available through weapon upgrades to significantly alter them. Erador, the main heavy infantry character, was beginning to take a tonne of magic damage, so I increased his magic defence so he could hold his ground better. Every time I felt I had a significant edge, such as when I acquired the strong archer Archibald, I watched as the opposition forces grew powerful enough that what I had previously believed to be an overpowering disadvantage turned out to be just another effective tactic.

In the tactics genre, balancing difficulty is crucial, yet doing so has proven to be challenging. Even though I adore both XCOM 2 and Fire Emblem: Three Houses, I had a lot of trouble deciding what level of challenge I actually wanted in both games. That Triangle Strategy gave me exactly the level of difficulty I wanted virtually every time, even on the default Normal setting, is very high praise. There were fascinating and useful extra bouts I could take part in to level up a little bit when I got stuck on those tougher encounters, or else I could just play with changing my characters’ structure and roster. These are the precise kinds of tactical choices that I hope to make in games like this: “Ah, so if I used the ice mage here, and placed my group up on the left instead of meeting the enemy head-on, I can survive longer.”

Furthermore, thanks to diversified and creative level design, the combat engine is able to apply that constant difficulty across a variety of level types. One late-game encounter pitted me against a large enemy force that was coming straight at me. This was the kind of all-out scrum that tactics games rarely genuinely attempt to simulate. I was able to win by bringing in a lot of archers and positioning them in flanking locations to burn down as many foes as I could, reducing the number of adversaries my melee heroes had to contend with. This happened immediately following a skirmish in a mine where a number of mine carts facilitated quick navigation of the map. That was the exact opposite structure: a succession of small-group encounters in which I hurriedly moved support characters about to gain incremental advantages that ultimately led to a victory.

Greatness in Pixels

When a significant storyline battle happens, Triangle Strategy also rises to the occasion, both in terms of combat strategy and visual appeal. The music, which is crucial in this genre, is generally excellent, but it excels in some of the major fight themes, especially one that has a spaghetti western feel to it. Additionally, there is some distinctive character interaction that takes place throughout these battles, which is particularly helpful given that the villains typically dominate the campaign in terms of personality.