Court intrigues, betrayals, no holds barred clashes. These are the ingredients at the base of Triangle Strategy, a strategic role-playing game that does not hide its similarities with Fire Emblem and Final Fantasy Tactics, inserted in a narrative context where there is no lack of machinations worthy of The Throne of Swords.
In a year that will see the arrival of Kirby and the Lost Land, Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope and, above all, the sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, the Nintendo Switch catalog of exclusives can also count on this interesting production by Square Enix, which for some may turn out to be even more appetizing than the others just mentioned.
Follow us, we explain what it makes Triangle Strategy so special.
Don’t call it Octopath Traveler
Don’t be fooled by the peculiar robe 2D-HD graphics: to develop Triangle Strategy is not Acquire, that is the Octopath Traveler team, but ArtDink. The similarity, however, is anything but coincidental, given that the same producers are at the helm of the project, namely Tomoya Asano and Masashi Takahashi.
So much so that in the preliminary stages of development, Project Triangle Strategy should have been a classic JRPG. However, Asano himself has decided in the race to change direction, to create a decidedly more mature work in terms of gameplay and narrative. We saw it in action with a demo published on Nintendo eShop and it must be said that already in those phases it had hit us positively.
Triangle Strategy has therefore become a Strategic JRPG old school, in which the speed of the individual units determines the order of turns and the movement and action system follows those already seen in games like Fire Emblem: Three Houses. Once a character’s turn comes, we will be able to move him in his individual action space and then attack enemies from near or far, depending on the weapon held or the skill chosen.
The various units are distinguished precisely by virtue of their skills, in a way that recalls what already happened in a classic like Final Fantasy Tactics: resistant melee fighters, fragile wizards with devastating spells, healers and other support characters. Knowing the peculiarities of each of them is fundamental, while some positioning mechanisms allow to process chain attacks. In addition, some special techniques move units that execute them or those that are attacked, and certain spells can change the properties of the battlefield.
Story of intrigue
The events take place in a distant land, called Nortelia, in which mainly three nations coexist. The kingdom of Glenbrook, which thrives on naval trade; the grand duchy of Aesglast with its iron mines; and finally, the holy empire of Sabulos, which controls salt in the desert. Three forces that have long fought for the possession of these resources, but at the end of the so-called War of Salt and Iron had signed a truce, punctually broken by the new commander of Aesglast, Gustaldov, at the beginning of the game.
From here one unravels plot which amazes for its maturity: also thanks to a superfine lexical choice of the Italian localization, already the demo has shown engaging dialogues that transmit the gravity of the situation in a few seconds.
If that wasn’t enough, everything immediately takes a dark and realistic turn, with assassinations and executions as brutal as those seen in the first chapter of game of Thrones. Court intrigues are on the agenda and we are sure there will be unexpected twists. The clashes appear memorable for the skilful fusion of a few pixels and some nice particle effects, while a mechanic promises to be truly unique.
The choices
One of the most important features of Triangle Strategy is in fact the mechanism of choices. In these intricate events we will take on the role of Serenoa of Wolfhort and will have to make difficult moral decisions on more than one occasion. Some, however, will require a greater investment of time: in these cases, in fact, we will have to wander around the village and talk to the inhabitants to get their opinions. The goal is to unlock more options when we have to converse with our teammates: the right answer could convince them to change their position regarding the decision that the community will have to make and every contribution will literally end up on the scales, with the result. which will determine the unfolding of the story.
A feature that will have a major influence on the longevity, which according to producer Tomoya Asano will be around 50 hours. More obviously any extra games guaranteed by the multiple endings.
Exit date
The arrival of Triangle Strategy is expected exclusively on Nintendo Switch for March 4, 2022. Starting from the same date, the Tactician’s Limited Edition will also be available in Europe, which includes a variety of collectibles, including a deck of cards and a set of dice inspired by the game.
What do you think of this particular production?
