Political storylines are often reminders of the ugliness that exists in our world. Greed and corruption usually fuel the ship, leading those in charge to make difficult decisions in hopeless situations. The triangle strategy in these cases represents the worst side of humanity and forces you to wonder if peace is a naïve dream and if we can ever break out of the cycle of war.
As a newly appointed manager, this is up to you. Thought-provoking questions about how to handle horrific situations make Triangle Strategy an immersive experience, while the fun strategy combat keeps you coming back to face them. Unfortunately, a few stumbling blocks along the way prevent Triangle Strategy from fully exploiting these appealing aspects, but it still offers an immersive experience on and off the battlefield.
Triangle Strategy is characterized by its turn-based strategy mechanics. As you play, you build an army of different units with classes that help you fight in grid-based battles where positioning and flanking are crucial. I used the altitude to my advantage as you can deal big damage and protect yourself from counterattacks, and I enjoyed finding new places to give myself an advantage, whether it was climbing houses or cliffs to position. The best part, however, is seeing the different abilities of your party members and the synergy in action. My favorite moment was when I was pushing an enemy back off a cliff to knock fall damage straight into a trap I set with another character a few turns earlier.
You also get a wide range of fighters; I had a martial arts grandma and a children’s circus performer in my ranks. The circus performer could make a decoy to fake the competition and absorb damage, while another character could change the weather to affect the power of my magic. Speaking of which, the elemental power at your disposal combined with the environment is extremely satisfying. Do you see an enemy standing in a puddle? Use a lightning spell to electrocute and paralyze them.
Watching your team level up, learn new skills, and roam your HQ is also great fun. There are three different weapon levels and class advancement levels that you can use to improve your characters. The former is more about unlocking stat boosts and passive abilities, while the latter improves your stats and opens up cool new abilities. Due to the linear progression, I wish there was more customization when creating characters, but it’s an easy system to grasp and I always looked forward to new abilities because of the new strategies they would open up.
Unfortunately, battles can be a little repetitive and lengthy; Don’t be surprised if you spend 30 to 45 minutes in a single encounter. Towards the end of the game, more variety in your objectives opens up, like escort missions and bomb defusing, but I wouldn’t call this fun, mostly if it just lengthens already long combat sequences. Also, don’t expect to get through the journey without having to level the grind, especially when you get to the later stages. Battles have a limit on how many members you can bring in, and even the characters you take into each battle aren’t up to the recommended level for each battle phase. Luckily, the grinding isn’t too much of a pain, as there are mock battles that offer great items to upgrade and allow you to level up or two for completion.
The story of Triangle Strategy revolves around three nations that control vital resources, which has led to major conflicts in the past. For the past 30 years, countries have worked together and shared resources to keep the peace. However, history tends to repeat itself and a power-hungry leader turns everything upside down, bringing out the worst in all heads of state for some game of Thrones Style levels of political intrigues. As a newly appointed leader named Serenoa, you must decide to lay the foundation for a new era.
The overall plot is nothing new and is told through boring, drawn-out cutscenes. However, it’s the way Triangle Strategy presents choices and deceptions that keeps things fresh. Often you see the various nations plotting their next move in the background just enough to make you wonder if you can trust them. Then you are usually presented with an election that involves the suspect party in some way. When is the best time to confront them? Do you use them to gain allies and supplies to get stronger for now, or sever all ties for fear of their inevitable betrayal?
You decide your strategy, which usually corresponds to one of three beliefs: utility, morality, or freedom. This will often affect who joins your army. Each conviction is also represented by a character who is close to Serenoa: his childhood best friend, his new fiancé, or his loyal advisor. It adds a nice personal touch as I was often torn between these personalities I liked and their position on what to do next. Choosing against their preferred path, I felt the pain of letting them down, and sometimes the consequences affected whether they would even join me in the fight.
Every decision has layers; I could see pros and cons alike and was often afraid of their potential impact. It made me weigh every choice very carefully. I was even surprised by some of my choices. Do you fight with an enemy to face an even greater threat? Should a few suffer for the good of many? Triangle Strategy does a fantastic job of letting you feel a leader’s plight, and the narrative isn’t afraid to take dark turns. At times the menacing and hopeless tone made the game difficult to play, but I appreciate that the authors don’t tap into humanity’s darker tendencies, especially in times of war and political turmoil.
Playing the Triangle Strategy battles is probably the easiest and lightest part of the experience. It’s a lot of fun strategizing and watching your characters’ skills shine, and I loved outsmarting the competition. The hardest part of the journey is making choices alongside the grim realities you must contend with about the world’s injustices. The game has multiple endings so you can choose your vision for the future. Even with my ending, which was meant for a much more idealized, compassionate world, I was a little disheartened. But maybe that’s the point. And that’s why Triangle Strategy isn’t like most games you’ll play, which makes it special, even if it’s not always perfect at conveying its harsh truths.
