Triangle Strategy review: a tactical RPG with trust issues

There are no stories more powerful than what we tell ourselves. Some ways it’s even more powerful than others. Triangle Strategy It embraces the idea. It seems hopelessly ignorant to others.

This website was created in collaboration with Square Enix and Artdink. Triangle Strategy It is a tactical turn-based tactical RPG that has all the potential and ambition of a Tolkien novel. It is visually similar to Octopath TravelerThis was possible thanks to the leadership of Tomoya, who helped lead development for that JRPG in 2018. Triangle Strategy It is more of an adventure-political drama than a party-based one. It does not focus on friendships, but the relationship between their nations. In other words, if Octopath Traveler Was The Fellowship of the RingThen, Triangle Strategy Is Two Towers The Return of the King combined.

The story unfolds on the continent of Norzelia and the three countries it comprises: Aesfrost, which controls Norzelia’s’s iron mines; Hyzante, the purveyor of its salt reserves; and Glenbrook, a kingdom that acts as something of an intermediary between the two. Following the traditions of Final Fantasy Tactics, Suikoden 2With the Fire Emblem Games and my army, I can command a multitude of characters and build an army. Throughout my 45-hour campaign, I largely inhabit the role of Serenoa, a member of Glenbrook’s royal family and the Atlas upon whose shoulders Norzelia begins to teeter.

You will find arranged marriages, insidious travesties, and red-herring deaths scenes. Triangle Strategy’s script deploys a litany of JRPG and fantasy tropes. You also get introduced to so many locations, characters, feuds, traditions and it’s all that you can imagine.

Photo: Square Enix/Artdink via Polygon

Even so my greatest problems with Triangle Strategy The plot of the game is not as important as its story telling. For all of its promise as a tactical RPG — and there is a Lot of promise in that regard — the game refuses to trust me. It doesn’t seem to think that I can fill in the blanks and build a story out of the pieces laid in front of me. I spend about half of my time working with it. Triangle Strategy Cutscenes were a lot of fun to watch. They are often beautiful but sometimes jarring. Some sequences actually slow down the pace of the action in the game. Square Enix, Artdink and other developers so want to dictate the story through dialogue and exposition that they continually telegraph key combat turns and emerging possibilities. This quickly becomes overwhelming.

Let’s take General Avlora as an example. Once a soldier in the northern realm of Aesfrost, she quickly rose through the ranks to become one of Norzelia’s most prolific military minds. She’s smart, strong, and resilient. Triangle Strategy Spends many hours creating these characters in stunning cutscenes in scenic locations.

They were all necessary.

Avlora’s cunning is evident because she chose to target my weakest units. Avlora’s resilience is evident because she was able to defeat two of my most skilled mages. Avlora, my tankiest, was defeated by her bastard sword. She did it as easily as she could, like removing a curtain or finding her way through fog.

Photo: Square Enix/Artdink via Polygon

If Triangle Strategy It actually removes the wheels from me, allowing me to set up my camp, recruit new characters and improve their weapons. I can also manage their inventories. Then, deploy them in accordance with their capabilities during intense battles that combine brilliant environmental interaction with heated combat. Not even Fire Emblem: Awakening This kind of momentum could be achieved. It is among the top games in its category.

In one battle, I had the opportunity to defeat my opponent using a morally doubtable weapon that was hidden within the city I was protecting. It was a bittersweet victory. With more than a bit of regret, I walked through the wreckage. In moments like this, when the game gives me the time I need to sort through the wreckage and take stock of my situation, it’s downright great.

Triangle Strategy’s occasional brilliance extends beyond the battlefield, as well. A handful of the interactive chapters focus less on Serenoa’s responsibilities as a general, and more on his role as a diplomat. My army members and I have the opportunity to meet and explore cities, as well as share our hopes and fears. This allows me to use the information in voting sequences. I am trying to persuade members of my inner circle that they should vote for one cause. In one case, we were offered an alliance by a neighboring lord, however, some members of my inner circle felt less trustworthy than others. It can feel very apathetic to be in these situations. bit artificial — I was able to sway opinions toward my desired outcome every time — but they bring out sides of the characters that combat (and cloying cutscenes) can’t.

Photo: Square Enix/Artdink via Polygon

In the end, it’s the lack of confidence that gets me. It’s because on paper it looks good. Triangle Strategy resembles my dream game. At certain points it is pretty close. It just can’t help exerting a heavy hand to force-feed the story as it’s “meant to be.” Like a Lego employee kicking down my door to chastise me for ignoring the instruction manual, it rarely lets me build my own structure with the bricks piled in front of me.

Still. I’ll always have those moments on the battlefield where Triangle Strategy is willing to meet me halfway — just like it did when it sent me Narve, the wandering mage, who showed up at my encampment the night before a pitched battle, plucky and sincere, to offer his services. Although his elemental powers were limited, he was still a potential threat. Rudolph, a bandit with an affinity for bear traps and skill using a bow, was my protector. Rudolph stood by Narve, who was fighting a few elite enemies. Both were able to emerge unscathed and quickly became close friends.

At least, that’s what I told myself — right before the next cutscene began.

Triangle Strategy Nintendo Switch will release the game on March 4. Square Enix provided a pre-release code and Artdink reviewed the game on Switch. Vox Media is an affiliate partner. Although these partnerships do not impact editorial content, Vox Media could earn commissions from products sold via affiliate links. Here are some links to help you find. additional information about Polygon’s ethics policy here.