The tactical JRPG is a much-beloved, if niche, sub-genre within the video game industry. Franchises like Fire Emblem and Advance Wars are renowned for their tactics combat style and innovative mechanics, and Final Fantasy Tactics is revered as one of the greatest video games ever developed.
Triangle Strategy follows in the footsteps of these giants, and while the game doesn’t come out for another few weeks, Square Enix has graciously put a Prologue Demo up on the Nintendo Switch eShop. This demo gives players the chance to play the first three chapters of the game and features save carryover for the full title when it releases next month.
I took the time to play through the roughly five-hour demo and came away immensely impressed with what Artdink and Square Enix have created. Triangle Strategy is a ton of fun to play, and I have hope that it will be a strong contender during the 2022 Game of the Year conversation.
Story
Much of this demo is taken up by drawn-out narrative sequences with a veritable ton of dialogue. Normally in games like this, I end up tuning out after a few minutes and picking up my phone without even thinking, but Triangle Strategy kept me engrossed through every one of these sequences. It helps that there’s an auto-play feature, so it just felt like watching an interactive movie.
It might have to do with the fact that almost every line in the game has full voice acting, or that the story is incredibly complex, but I never lost interest in what was happening on the screen. The basic premise behind Triangle Strategy is that there are three nations that exist in a delicate state of peace with one another. A business venture might strengthen this armistice, but ulterior motives simmer just below the surface of every interaction. It’s kind of like Game of Thrones but with less nudity.
It’s hard to say whether or not the story will continue to be this interesting for the game’s duration, but what the demo offers is tantalizingly good. There’s also a promise of strong replayability, as key decisions through the narrative will dramatically alter events, resulting in different allies and multiple endings.
Gameplay
If the story hadn’t been enough to hook me, the gameplay would absolutely have been. The combat is some of the best, tactical gaming I’ve ever experienced, offering a surprising amount of depth even in the early hours. The opening arenas are deceptively expansive, and a variety of different systems all come together to make each action feel like a deliberate move in a game of 3D chess.
The demo offers a taste of the game’s progression, as well, with each character growing based on level and available resources. Just judging from what I had access to in the demo, it seems like there’s a great deal of customization available for each character.
Outside of combat, there are brief exploration phases that gave me the chance to walk around a contained area and glean information from my allies and nearby townsfolk. Some of these conversations also have a bearing on Serenoa’s convictions, an invisible system in the game that determines how certain events play out later on in the game’s story.
Expectations
The shifting story and optional dialogue choices are a cool feature, but it’s hard to tell if they will have a real impact on the overall story moving forward. The one major decision the demo included strongly encouraged me to lean in a particular direction and made it more difficult to pick the alternative option. Time will tell if these decisions become more nuanced in later chapters.
That said, I believe Triangle Strategy has the potential to be one of the best games to release this year. I can see the combat scenarios and alternative story paths creating an incredibly compelling experience that encourages replaying the game to unlock everything Triangle Strategy has to offer.
Verdict
I loved the time I spent with the Triangle Strategy demo and I was devastated when it ended. There were more than a few moments where I forgot I was playing a demo and just got excited at the prospect of spending the next few dozen hours with this cast of characters. I think this demo will excite fans of JRPGs and strategy games, but I encourage every Switch owner to pick it up and give it a try.
Triangle Strategy will launch exclusively for the Nintendo Switch on March 4th, 2022, and the Prologue Demo is available now via the Nintendo Switch eShop.
