Triangle Strategy Review: Is It Worth It?

This is our review for Triangle Strategy, Square Enix's addition to their HD-2D series of games. Read on to hear our thoughts after playing the game, its highs and lows, and if it is worth picking up!

Triangle Strategy Rating and Review Score

Overall Score
30/40
Mechanics	Story	Art & Graphics	Game Length
6/10	9/10	7/10	8/10

Who Should Play Triangle Strategy?

Players Who Like Story-Driven Games

The biggest strength of Triangle Strategy lies in its story. Players will enjoy a deep plot filled with political intrigue as well as unexpected twists based on the player's decisions.

In addition, there are multiple endings, making the game worth coming back to after your first playthrough!

Fans of Strategy RPGs

Fans of strategy RPGs will feel right at home with Triangle Strategy given its grid-based, tactical combat.

There's a lot of fun to be had here, as battle mechanics are not too complicated, but not simple enough for it to be a breeze!

Beginner's Combat Guide: Basics of Battle

Fans of Classic Pixel Art Style

Triangle Strategy is another title under Square Enix's HD-2D series of games, which aims to emulate the pixel style graphics of games back in the day, with a touch of modern visual improvements such as depth-of-field, shadows, and the like.

Players who are fans of classic, pixel style RPGs are in for a treat with this game's presentation!

What Did You Think of Triangle Strategy?

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Triangle Strategy Review

Pros of Triangle Strategy

Pros
Deep story filled with political intrigue Your choices truly matter Unique endings Balanced and enjoyable combat

Deep Story Filled with Political Intrigue

The story of Triangle Strategy acknowledges the consequences and compromises set by one's decisions, emphasizing that every seemingly correct choice could still lead to an unsavory outcome.

There are times wherein characters will agree or disagree with Serenoa's Conviction, which could lead to interesting twists and turns in the story.

Conviction Mechanics Explained

Your Choices Truly Matter

Triangle Strategy places great importance to every dialogue choice and interaction you have during Exploration, all of which influence Serenoa's Conviction.

Serenoa's Conviction plays a vital role in the game as it allows you to access certain things such as unlockable characters, as well as determining your strength to convince your allies during Persuasion Phases.

How to Influence Choices: Persuasion Guide

Unique Endings

The four final routes in Triangle Strategy differs greatly from one another, and comes with respective consequences in the story depending on the route you have chosen.

What this means is that the endings cannot just be regarded as Good, Neutral, or Evil like with other games, which then gives Triangle Strategy a sense of realism that things cannot simply be just black and white.

Endings Guide: How to Get All Endings

Balanced and Enjoyable Combat

The combat in Triangle Strategy is balanced and highly enjoyable. The game does not ask for extreme level grinding unlike other RPGs and can be enjoyed in a number of difficulty settings.

Players coming from classics such as Final Fantasy: Tactics or Tactics Ogre will feel right at home with the battle system Triangle Strategy offers.

Beginner's Combat Guide: Basics of Battle

Cons of Triangle Strategy

Cons
Text-heavy game Cryptic Conviction mechanic No Chapter Select in New Game Plus Clunky controls and camera perspective HD-2D design gets old fast

Text-Heavy Game

A good portion of Triangle Strategy is just cutscenes of characters talking, which entails a lot of text to be read.

While the story is interesting, it can sometimes feel like a drag, especially if you're on your succeeding playthroughs.

You can skip cutscenes, but if you prefer more action than talking, you might want to look elsewhere.

Cryptic Conviction Mechanic

Triangle Strategy's Conviction mechanic serves as this game's alignment system, but instead of the usual Law, Chaos, and Neutral alignments, it is split into three, namely Utility, Morality, and Liberty.

The problem lies in the inability to determine which dialogue choice or interaction will increase which Conviction, making it incredibly difficult to gauge where you are at in terms of Conviction levels and could potentially hurt your chances of getting certain routes and characters later in the game.

Luckily, it gets easier to monitor Conviction in New Game Plus, but it would have to take you one full playthrough just to do so.

What Carries Over in New Game Plus?

No Chapter Select in New Game Plus

With the game having multiple routes and endings, it would come in handy if the player could just pick a Chapter and continue the story from there.

Unfortunately, the game does not have any sort of Chapter Select or Time Travel feature after clearing the game, meaning you'll have to replay most Chapters completely and repeatedly just to see the outcome of other branching paths.

Clunky Controls and Camera Perspective

Directional controls can oftentimes feel confusing especially in battle when managing the grids.

On another note, the four fixed camera perspectives isn't quite helpful either and could potentially get in the way during battle and Exploration Phases, which can make you miss enemies, items, or interactions completely.

HD-2D Design Gets Old Fast

While the HD-2D design is a refreshing take and pays homage to the classic pixel games of the past, it can oftentimes take you away from the immersion of the game.

The limited expressions of characters due to the HD-2D design hurts serious cutscenes gives no justice to the excellent voice acting performances.

Is Triangle Strategy Worth It?

Triangle Strategy is Worth It

Despite being bogged down by the confusing Conviction mechanic and issues in controls, Triangle Strategy still remains a good game due to its deep story and enjoyable combat system.

By no means is it a perfect game, but there is fun to be had here especially if you're a fan of strategy RPGs and games with multiple endings.

Demo Available for Those Unsure

For those unsure whether to pick up Triangle Strategy, there is a free demo available on the Nintendo e-Shop which covers the first three chapters of the game, giving you a taste of what it can offer.

Demo Guide and Features: Does Demo Progress Carry Over?

Triangle Strategy - Software Information

Software Information
Release Date	March 4, 2022
Price	59.99 USD
Game File Size	5.8GB
Genre	Role Playing, Strategy, Adventure
No. of Players	1
Developer / Publisher	SQUARE ENIX / Nintendo
Supported Languages	Japanese, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, American English
Supported Play Modes	TV mode, Tabletop mode, Handheld mode
ESRB Rating	Teen

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