Published by Nintendo and developed by Square Enix, Triangle Strategy serves as the long-awaited successor to their 2018 hit Octopath Traveller and, to some extent, games like Final Fantasy Tactics. The game combines 2D visuals and 3D environments with rewarding tactical RPG gameplay and a story-driven narrative set in a semi-modern fantasy realm full of political intrigue and well-fleshed out characters. I feel like this could be one of the hidden gems of 2022, as it felt like Nintendo didn’t market the game nearly anywhere near as much as other Square Enix developed games. But while you could use this alone as my recommendation for purchasing the game, read on for a bit more as to why I came to this conclusion.
The big takeaway from playing Triangle Strategy was that it favours its narrative over gameplay. This is not uncommon for tactical RPGs, but given how much of a niche it has become over the years, it was refreshing to have a game you could enjoy both as a game and as reading material. Split up into multiple chapters, you will spend most of your time clicking through dialogue boxes as you weave your way through a tale of nations rising and falling, shaky alliances and backstabbing, lies and deceit. Players are thrust into the shoes of Serenoa Wolffort, the heir to House Wolffort of the nation of Glenbrook. From mundane beginnings meeting his betrothed, Frederica Aesfrost, at his nation’s docks, the pair, along with their advisors, quickly become embroiled in a war between the three countries in the continent of Norzelia – and where their decisions will drive the outcomes of the entire world. The foundations begin slow and may leave some with their fingers holding over the skip button but from a few chapters in, if you were like me, you’ll be left eagerly playing “just one more chapter” to see where the tale goes next.
Many games claim that “your decisions have consequences”, but few manage to show that your choices lead to substantially different outcomes from one another. Serenoa will bring out the ‘Scales of Conviction’ on multiple occasions throughout the game, where each of his retainers will provide a vote towards two or three options proposed by him. With the ability to sway the retainers towards your direction or completely leaving things up to random chance, these decisions will set you down paths towards different chapters in completely different locations (and with different plot events and battles), which can have different outcomes for the nations, the party members you have alongside you, and ultimately lead you towards one of the game’s four different endings. Although there is a ‘True Ending’ route you can look up which requires precise decision making, there are no ‘good’ or ‘bad’ options. At most, your actions are merely different shades of grey, and justify playing through the campaign multiple times to unlock additional characters, events and perhaps the secret ending.
The actions you take while playing Triangle Strategy, from how you battle to how you talk with civilians, will fill hidden gauges representing the game’s three convictions: Morality, Liberty and Utility. This leads to unlocking additional characters, who while not having a leading role in the story, do provide diversity on the battlefield and engage with the lead cast through character stories which are unlocked as you continue using them in battle. There is a good variety of characters on offer. While the evident emphasis is focused on the game’s leading quartet (Serenoa, Roland, Frederica and Bennedict), all characters you choose to play as receive adequate individual development running asynchronously to the main story.
The way that Triangle Strategy is structured, most of the game’s 20+ chapters in each run-through consist of many story sequences and a single large-scale battle which takes a good 20-30 minutes to complete. From a developer that once thrived in the development of classic-style RPGs, you get the impression that the dev team had been longing for a chance to offer classic tactical RPG mechanics to a modern audience. Each battlefield is crafted well with multiple ways to approach the fight, and in a few cases, unique (albeit potentially time-consuming) means of ensuring success. Furthermore, while it is technically possible to grind your characters to cheese each fight completely should you throw away hours of your time, how the game’s levelling system works means that you will almost always be at or below the level required for a fight. Concurrently, it isn’t too difficult to level up should your party be under levelled. Therefore, the game strikes a good balance between challenge and being accessible, ensuring you almost always have the party to tackle a battle and making success more about how you approach the fight.
Triangle Strategy features 30 characters for you to join your ranks, albeit requiring multiple playthroughs to complete your roster. The game features scaled back and streamlined character customisation features, which is somewhat welcome (although likely disappointing to some) considering how in-depth other franchises tend to go. Instead, where the game shines is making each character a unique playstyle, giving distinct reasons to play them even if they fall into one of a few dedicated categories (Spellcaster, Frontline Fighter, Ranged Attacker etc). There are tier lists available online should you wish to pack your party with someone else’s recommendations, but every unlockable character has its beneficial boon. Piccoletta, one of my favourite units, might be very weak but can summon a decoy of herself and has a greater attack range for offensive items – very beneficial in the late game. Alternatively, you can go with Anna, an assassin who can go into the frontlines and conceal herself from opponents. Furthermore, as each character has their role in the tale, however minor, none of the characters is made redundant partway through the story. Theoretically and practically, the characters you begin with can all effectively be used in your party in the final battle.
Once the territory of both Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Portable / Vita, the Nintendo Switch has made itself a home for niche RPGs such as Triangle Strategy, which thrive off the classic 2D Sprites + 3D environment style the game uses. Each character model and environment design looks fantastic, and the approach to making each area like it popped off the world map makes it genuinely feel like you are playing a virtual tabletop RPG. The musical backing of Triangle Strategy is also incredible, featuring compositions by Akira Senju.
Triangle Strategy’s English dub has its critics, but I feel that voice cast suited the game adequately. The actors were more subdued and realistic sounding rather than what you might typically find in a game of this nature. While there are no astounding roles, everyone did their character justice. Plus, there was an extensive pool of voice actors drawn from anime voice actors, video game voice actors, cartoon voice actors, live-action actors and quite a few with only a few projects to their name I have never heard before. There are a few double-ups, such as Samantha Dakin as both Anna and Picoletta, yet in these cases, they are distinct enough that you will should hardly notice.
Due to the franticness of my schedule these past few months, it has been challenging just to sit down and enjoy a slower-paced story-centric game without wanting to mash the skip button to get to the interactive parts. While I have always resisted, Triangle Strategy bucked that trend entirely, leaving me craving more of its intriguing narrative, going the extra mile to seek out titbits of story. Complemented by some tactical RPG gameplay which is more about player tactics than micromanaging your inventory, Triangle Strategy was an incredible play from start to finish which embodied the charm of classic style-RPGs, alongside its individual modern-day advancements.
Triangle Strategy is now available to purchase physically and digitally, exclusively on the Nintendo Switch. A free demo covering the first couple of in-game chapters is also available to download via the Nintendo eShop.
A copy of Triangle Strategy for the Nintendo Switch was purchased by myself.
