Triangle Strategy (PC) Reviewed

Triangle Strategy came out in 2022. Why then are we reviewing it? Simply because due to our (or rather my) absentmindedness, I never requested from Square Enix a copy to review. That’s despite being a fan of SRPGs!

Well, that’s fixed! When I noticed Triangle Strategy on sale on a Steam sale last month, I knew I had to review it and spread the word.

So…is that word good?

You’ll find out if you continue reading.

What is Triangle Strategy?

Triangle Strategy is a strategy RPG with turn based tactical battles. It’s developed by ARTDINK and Squarer Enix, with Square Enix also doubling as the game’s publisher. It’s available right now on the PC and Nintendo Switch.

Our review copy was provided by the awesome people at Square Enix! Thank you so so much for digging up a code for us when I requested it!

Triangle Strategy, like its name suggests, is a much more nuanced take on the regular RPG formula. Despite its isometric looks (you can rotate the camera around in battles), there’s a surprising amount of depth to it.

I was going into the game expecting something akin to Vandal Hearts or even Tactics Ogre. What I got instead was something even better.

Unlike pretty much every other SRPG, the core of Triangle Strategy is you.

Or rather, your in-game character, Lord Serenoa.

The young head of House Wolffort, Serenoa has just attained his position when chaos consumes the land and forces him headlong into events that will shape the future of the realm.

When I say shape, I really mean it.

Choices you make in-game influence a lot of things; from how the plot unfurls, to who joins you to areas you visit. There’s a HUGE amount of replay value in Triangle Strategy and I dare say I’ve never played any SRPG that even comes close.

Everything revolves around your choices but your compatriots’ views also matter.

While Serenoa leads the House, all the decisions are made democratically.

The game does this by having a vote at crucial junctures.

During these parts, Serenoa can influence this allies by pleading and reasoning with them. There are even hidden options (which you must unlock by speaking to NPCs in the game’s locations) that can severely influence the vote.

It’s a really cool mechanic that encourages you to explore and talk to everybody you can, so that you can have a potential ace in your hand in the future.

It’s all strategy strategy strategy.

That of course, applies to the gameplay.

While the basic SRPG mechanics are there (elevation, character facing, weaknesses), the game also takes the environment into account. Flame spells can melt snow into water, which can then be electrified with electrical spells to cause more damage. The first time I realized this, my jaw literally dropped.

It’s so damn cool!

While similar mechanics have been done (I remember Kartia and Hoshigami from the PS1 had something similar), Triangle Strategy’s implementation is the slickest yet.

In battles, the game’s not a pushover either.

Enemies are very intelligent and regularly gang up on exposed characters with no hesitation. Triangle Strategy rewards great positioning; if a unit has enemies across it, whenever one of those units attack, the other will also chime in with a free hit.

Surrounding a character in a cross (and complimented with ranged attacks) is therefore the best way to beatdown an enemy.

It might seem like such a basic tactic, but the AI is pretty good in protecting itself so that when you do pull it off and isolate a unit, it feels like a huge thing. Battles are decently paced too, so you don’t spend a ton of time fighting. You can also level up your units in skirmishes in the pub, so you can grind to your heart’s content.

A great thing about the game is that if you choose to redo a battle that you’re losing, you’ll actually keep all the EXP you’ve accumulated, so you never feel as if you’ve just wasted time for no reason.

Using smart tactics is also rewarded with an in-game currency called Kudos. You can use that to barter for exclusive items in the camp after battles, so you’re heavily encouraged to fight smart by taking advantage of positioning, high ground and flanking.

Outside of battles, you can customize your own weapons or even do mock battles to grind out XP if you think you’re too weak. You can also use the Kudos you’ve accumulated and trade them in for items to upgrade your characters with.

Triangle Strategy’s characters don’t have the depth or flexibility of the Job System from Final Fantasy Tactics, but that doesn’t really matter because while your characters can still be promoted to a different class when requirements are met.

Unfortunately, while I have nothing but good things to say about the battle mechanics and its depth, I do have to admit that Triangle Strategy tends to drag. It can get quite tiresome reading reams and reams of dialogue before you get to another battle…and then more dialogue and exposition.

The game’s plot is rather good though, and you having having a hand on how it plays out definitely had me hooked but if you’re not into Triangle Strategy’s tale of political scheming, backstabbing and morality, you’ll hate the game. I have zero doubt of that.

In fact, the game reminds me of another heavily political SRPG; Final Fantasy Tactics.

I have no idea why Square Enix didn’t just call Triangle Strategy Final Fantasy Tactics II because both games are so similar in story and gameplay.

In between the fighting and the story are side events (marked with a green circle on the map) and Character Stories. Both are optional but doing them fills out the plot (for side events) and gets you new characters or expands on a character’s background (for Character Stories).

Speaking of characters, you’ll gather a huge boatload of them through the campaign. Unfortunately, you’ll only be able to bring a handful into battle, which is rather unfortunately.

I love that Triangle Strategy goes out on a limb and includes playable characters that are not archetypical. Sure, you have your swordsmen, mages and the like in the game…but you also have characters like Jens, who are able to create and place ladders, or Rudolph, a smuggler who can place traps on the maps for enemies.

They’re rather unique in their playstyle and it’s all the more reason the limited party count in the game is so disheartening.

To compound matters, characters not brought to battles do not gain XP, which makes leveling a well-rounded party an issue.

It’s a weird oversight but a huge one…I don’t know how none of the designers missed that or thought it was a good idea to leave it out.

Visually, the game looks great! It’s heavily reminiscent of Octopath Traveller’s looks but that’s never a bad thing. Besides, the team behind the game is the same one behind the Bravely and Octopath Traveler games.

One thing to note though; there’s a weird depth of field effect that’s implemented to make the background look blurry. It’s similar to Octopath Traveler’s but somehow I find it a bit too strong in this game. Perhaps it’s just me though.

Character animation is a bit limited, but one can only do so much with sprite art. The character looks are great though, especially if you’re into the sprites. Ironically, that makes the game even more similar to Final Fantasy Tactics.

That even extends to the music.

There are some incredible tracks in the game, so if you’re into gaming music, you might just want to track down the game’s OST. It’s a shame there’s no OST on sale for the Steam version, as I’d buy it in a heartbeat.

The Bottom Line.

Its deep battle mechanics, the plot and giving the player a choice in how the story plays out makes Triangle Strategy one of the must play games in the SRPG genre. SRPG veterans will love how it integrates mechanics previously unseen in the genre into a solidly made game that rivals the classics. I’ve been playing SRPG games for decades, and the majority of them are nowhere near the quality of this.

While the pacing is definitely an issue, the game’s plot had me riveted right off the bat. The characters are well written, and having your choices matter definitely helped drive me to play the game.

If you need something substantial to sink your time into, look no further than Triangle Strategy.

TLDR:

An SRPG that’s destined to be a classic. It’s a shame it’s not on the Playstation or Xbox consoles, because more people need to play this!