Effectively Square Enix’s love letter to 1990s tactics RPGs, Triangle Strategy achieves everything that I imagine was on the design document. The one thing it doesn’t manage is to push the genre into the 2020s.
It’s taken me over 70 hours gameplay to finish the story, in three main spurts across a year and a half since the game was released. At times I would have described it as almost a chore, but now I’ve wrapped it up I don’t think I would change a thing.
The niggles:
The core narrative is long and slow to kick into gear with the storyline told through extended dialogue scenes and awkward adventure segments. This often meant upward of an hour between tactical battles and became a barrier to convenient play sessions.
The games holds to a traditional, very grindy approach to levelling up the vast cast of characters. At a number of stages I played three to five trainer battles between progressing story to ensure my full party was levelling up sufficiently.
The best stuff:
This game is wonderfully written. The engaging story is full of interpersonal and big political themes. Throughout, it explores the interplay of its characters feelings of morality, utility and liberty. In doing so, the choices the game offers feel consequential throughout – particularly toward the end when different branches reach their own divergent endings.
The deep tactical battles are best in genre stuff with real variety provided by the array of characters unlocked along the way. I particularly enjoyed the apothecary patrolling my backfield throwing two healing items to colleagues each activation – often more efficient than my healer.
The interlocking systems created a puzzle to master for each battle, forcing the player to take account of characters’ height and facing as well as more dynamic elements such as icey patches left behind by spell casters (movement and accuracy penalty) and puddles left when a fireball melts ice (increased impact for lightning spells).
The overall presentation feels premium yet in keeping with the game’s lineage. HD-2D makes the game look like how your memory wants the Super Nintendo classics to look. The voice acting is clear and characterful, really representing the intrigue of a royal court.
Overall:
During my play through I have revisited Fire Emblem (2003, GBA) through Nintendo Switch Online and Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (2003, GBA) as well as the genre adjacent Advance Wars series. I’m not sure I’d recommend Triangle Strategy over those classics – the gameplay is, in many ways, interchangeable – but fans of the genre will find it to be another strong title.
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