One of the many games revealed during last week's Nintendo Direct was Project Triangle Strategy.
It's a turn-based tactical RPG by Square Enix, which is expected to launch exclusively on the Nintendo Switch in 2022. It's already drawn comparisons to games like Final Fantasy Tactics and Octopath Traveler.
As part of this reveal, Nintendo made a demo available on the Switch eShop. A week on, its official Nintendo of America account is now calling for some feedback. Surveys are also reportedly being sent out.
Here's more about the game, courtesy of the official PR:
In this game that continues SQUARE-ENIX’s celebrated legacy of tactical RPGs, battles take place on terrain with different elevations. A character’s attack range is determined by their location and their equipped weapon, so it is imperative to survey the battlefield before acting. Additionally, the decisions made will affect how the story unfolds and which characters will join your cause.
Square Enix followed a similar pattern with Bravely Default II - releasing a demo to the public and then asking for feedback.
So, what do you think of Project Triangle Strategy? Have you downloaded the demo yet? Was this a highlight of the recent Direct for yourself? Tell us down below.
Comments 71
Name it Delta Kingdom Chronicles since Delta (Greek alphabet) looks like Triangle shape.
It’s not my genre of choice, but I love the artwork, so I gave it a try.
It’s very wordy (which in a game like this, is probably supposed to be)
Appropriate music.
The gameplay seemed immediately convoluted. I knew I wasn’t playing in my genre comfort zone, once I saw all the menus.
I prefer Octopath Travelers’s delivery.
I won’t talk trash about this game. It’s just not for me. I wonder for people that prefer this genre, do THEY think this is good. I’m interested...
Meh. Character controls are so slow it seemed like I am moving 100 ton boulders, and directional controls seemed messed up as well. Overall it felt like I'm controlling a first person shooter on a phone screen (and that's clearly unimpressive for a turn based strategy game on a proper controller). Visuals are good, didn't get much into the story, being dumped straight into chapter 6. I really appreciate Square Enix's efforts to release a demo for most of their games recently, but the games themselves (especially Bravely Default 2 and this one) don't make me want them.
Didn't like Octopath since battles felt grindy.
Grindy games aren't bad and they work because you don't FEEL like you are grinding.
I was hoping this game fixed that but I haven't heard anything positive just yet. I'm withholding my judgment for now.
Obviously a spiritual successor to Final Fantasy Tactics series. (Easily in the top 5 tactic RPGs) I kind of wonder if it may have started out as more than just that and they changed it to a different IP.
Would rather play octopath and fire emblem. But not bad
They mentioned Shining Force in the survey. That pleases me so much.
The story gripped me! COMPELLING, EXQUISITE and the voice acting(spot on), the combat felt good but can be improved upon with little tweak here & there. generally felt better than octopath traveler in my own opinion.
My brother loved the demo but I haven’t given it a shot yet. I adore Final Fantasy Tactics Advance so it’s right up my alley.
Name it Triopath Straggler. That's my feedback.
Loving it so far.
@Anti-Matter please send them this idea, it's such a good name!!
I forgot about this one, that's my weekend gaming fix filled! <3
I haven't played the demo yet, but so far looks amazing, but stupid name just like Octopath
Call it Angela Lansbury. She has three arms so it makes thematic sense.
Change the name and thats the only feedback I have.
The demo was pretty good tho imo
Haven’t had a chance to check it out yet but love the art style.
Feels like it needs work, didn't help being thrown into middle of the story either...hopefully they will speed up the gameplay a bit and make it more fun as it could be amazing.
Already told em my takes, hope they took those into consideration on the final release. Anyways it was a good demo, can't wait to see the finish product, hope it'll at least blow away Acquire's Octopath Traveler. I did enjoy Artdink's work on Ogre Battle, Tactics Ogre, Tail of the Sun, and Carnage Heart so I wish them the best with this new project.
@Anti-Matter Or just call it the Saltiron War, that's literally what it was anyways and is a better title name.
I gave myself a brief start with the demo a couple nights ago, and I have some thoughts.
It seems interesting enough. I couldn't get myself to care enough to withstand the barrage of cutscenes immediately levied at the player on starting. Disappointed by the lack of free roam. It, like OT, is the same delicious flavor of neo-retro eye candy. One OT's biggest draws was world traversal, so this is a pretty big blow for me. I'm still buying it, regardless.
These are very early impressions. I'm only about 20 mins into the demo (10 mins of that being dedicated to cutscenes before I started skipping, lol).
One year on from buying a Switch I'm feeling pretty disillusioned. Games like this aren't my bag and whilst I appreciate they are popular, I envisaged many more casual/simulation games coming to Switch as per the 3DS and Wii. Nintendo regularly mention how they are focused on catering to a diverse range of players but it really doesn't feel that way.
Still have not received the survey and I fear that just like with BD2 I won't get it at all, which really does make me sad.
In BD2 they failed to adress one of my chief compaints which is the battle quote spam, I would've loved to see them tone that down AND/OR add an option to at least quiet that down separate from the event voices but apparently from what I've heard from the people who played the 2nd demo they did neither and so now I'm forced to pick between my ears bleeding or no voice acting whatsoever.
I do realize that some of the things I'd like to see on Triangle Strategy like limited item slots for each unit and an incentive to keep your units alive in battle, and nerfing the broken unit "Anna" are something that probably not everyone would like, but then there's general improvements which I think everyone would appreciate, most notably for me there NEEDS to be a way to speed up the cursor movement in the battle scenes so I would like if someone would at least bring attention to that.
Nevertheless the game itself was already great as is and I would've loved to just have been able to continue on from the demo. This game definitely got into top of my list of my most anticipated upcoming games.
Just looks like an isometric octopath, and dont like tactic games, so my feedback, just dont make it. (joke)
Does anyone know how long the demo is please? Might give it a try at the weekend although I feel demos never really do these games justice as the learning curve ends up being too steep.
@Sabrewing Someone who knows Shining Force, that's refreshing. I still hope that one day we'll get a Shining Force III complete edition or a collection. Maybe even a Shining Force IV.
One can dream... ^-^
Anyone have a link to the survey? Can't find it for some reason... :/
EDIT: Nevermind, found it and filled it out.
Do they really want to know what we think?
With only 240 characters for each question I couldn't really be specific, which means I had to cut a lot and provide a lame short undetailed feedback. Like, I feel there are a couple of basic features missing, but I had no space to specifically say which ones, so I hope they can figure it out themselves........ which kinda kills the point of having feedbacks to begin with...
Really not sure how many useful replies they will get like this, though personally the demo didn't really hype me anyway for the release. I think it's a very competent TRPG and there are some very good ideas in it, so it may even get a good success and a healthy fanbase, but, for me, nothing made me wish to play more and see the full game tbh.
Loved it! It seems like the natural progression after Octopath for me.
@Absol Hmm Of course tastes are different but there's a quazillion of "smaller casual games" on the eShop (which are not MY cup of tea). I get bored by cookie-cutter-always-the-same triple A games on the other platforms, I've had enough of them really. Switch'es library is really refreshing to me.
Did you do a DEEP-DIVE into the eShop yet? If you could name a few examples of what you like, maybe I can come up with a few recommendations for you?
Looks good. Far to much dialogue. I'm not interested in made up fairy stories behind the game. A minimum amount of speech needed to progress the game is fine.
The demo has not encouraged me to put the game on my must buy list.
Not for me but probably a good game for those that like these kind of games
Gorgeous presentation, good music, decent writing, stale as old bread in the gameplay department. Can’t approve, sorry.
I agree re gameplay that it needs more twists and wrinkles rather than just select something from a menu and execute. Spells affecting the environment are a good idea, though, and I hope the game builds on that.
My main problem was... camera controls. I always seemed to have been going the wrong way with it and haven't found a setting to invert it.
Too-much-text.
Felt like reading a seven-tome war chronicles of an empire I have no interest in with the occasional action sequences (which were good).
Love the Look of this. I just Hope the final Game won't be as easy as Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, which was downright broken.
I wish they’d remake Final Fantasy 6 in this art style
I haven't tried this yet but I really hope the story is better than Octopath.
"Hi stranger who helped me with an errand out of the blue, I'm going East on a quest that has no relation to yours at all. What's that? You're going West? Well of course I'll join you."
Gameplay wise I think it's pretty fine (I'm not usually into turn-based RTSes, but as they go, this one was decent) — the only things I would tweak (unless I missed them in the options menu):
Skipped the story since it dropped me in the middle and I wanted to try out battles anyway. Loved the combat. Obviously the game looks incredible.
@Absol Wow, I can't believe you feel that way. The Switch is an amazing console with, thanks in part to the eshop, a vast & diverse library of games available both physically & digitally. Don't take this the wrong way, but if this is how you feel, and you are a casual player disillusioned with the options available on Switch, I would suggest selling up and stick to the hundreds of casual shovel-ware games on mobile.
@ian_beale hate to say but felt the same about OT, they shoulda cut out some folks and had a more fluid narrative. Instead it was incredibly formulaic, basically putting a bow on each chapter with no sense of adventure. Also made characters thin in personality with hokey dialogue, they had no time to be fleshed out as Square was more focused on their concept than taking a chance on something meaningful
It all clashed together and didnt really blend into eachother.
Shame as i loved the ff tactics series.
Not sure yet, cause the dissapointment was real when it wasnt octopath 2 so i am pretty sure my bias is speaking now.
Will try it again, but am not rly into reading a 30 minutes wall of text in the middle of the game.
I know I'm a bit alone with my opinion but I really, really don't like this 2D/3D mixed graphics like they did in Octopath and seem to do it again.
It's not the art style I don't like but the graphics engine behind it.
This said: Give me a pure 2D Final Fantasy Tactics!
(I know this will not happen but I can't stress this subject enough.)
Also: I'm not shure if I can trust Nintendo anymore releasing good turn based strategy. Fire Emblem Switch is a complete fail from my point of view.
It's the successor of Tactics Ogre I've always waited. Day one purchase.
I thought it was great. A big political drama, deep strategy to build and master units and tactics, and it looks nice. My two major gripes are that the battle field seems to get a little cluttered, and there should be a button you can hold to see which unit belongs to which commander. Also I’m sure it will be in the final game, but I want Japanese voice with English subtitles/text. I can’t handle some of these English voice actors. A bit cheesy haha.
Played the demo and it was everything I wanted it to be. As a clear successor to Tactics Ogre it did everything that it needed to for me to be sold on it. It's got a few rough edges for sure, the voice acting in particular is awful, but the fact that they're asking for feedback from players is particularly promising. I think this game is going to be great and I can't wait for the full game's release!
@glaemay Agreed! For one wild moment when the trailer started I honestly thought it was a new instalment in the series!
Remember when Octopath was the project name? I'm betting everything that Triangle Strategy is going to be the final name.
Can't wait for their upcoming games on other genres Traversing Platformers and Vehicle Acceleration
...no. I haven't played the demo yet, but I want to
I loved the demo. Really took me back to FF Tactics, like choosing character direction at the end of your turn, targeting spaces on the ground for AoE effects regardless of enemies, individual turn order instead of whole teams going at once. I also liked some of the environmental effects you can create, like the ice wall from one of your mages. It's neat that height plays such a crucial role in planning attacks, too.
Man...I downloaded the demo this past weekend and I tried to get past the first battle. These games aren't really my cup of tea but I at least tried it. Who knows, I may decide to get back into it and give it another go. Game still looks great otherwise
I played the first battle, it took me an hour with all the story content around it too. Not sure how many chapters this game will be but if it's that slow going I really can't be bothered. Octopath was pretty slow going at times, even though I enjoyed it I dread starting it's sequel if it gets one. I'm not into strategy RPGs either so I really can't care enough to spend so much time trying to get through Triangle Strategy. I'll push on with the demo but what I experienced so far, I'm just not that bothered about playing the full version.
The name absolutely will not change either, despite it's working title tag. Octopath Traveler was supposed to be a working title. These are the same producers that worked on Bravely Default, so it seems they can only come up with really obvious titles relating to gameplay elements.
@tseliot more so tactics ogre
Square Enix has been struggling lately to create games that capture the essence of what was a good play experience. I was an RPG fan and moved away from the genre and now I have started to re-immerse myself and the state of games today is disappointing. I downloaded the OG Dragon Warrior(Quest) and it is better than most of what they have out now. I do like DQ11 but it has its issues as well.
Overall I enjoyed the demo. The visuals are awesome, the music is decent and MOST of the voice acting ranges from decent to passable. (Not too fond of Serenoa's VA though) The player is dropped in the middle of the story, which can be confusing, but the text CAN be skipped through with the right shoulder button. So I feel like the "too much dialogue" quippers have an easy answer there.
The combat takes some getting used to; the only SRPG series I've played are Fire Emblem and a bit of Shining Force, so I'm definitely not used to mixed up unit movement based on speed. I did pretty well in the first battle and managed not to lose any units, but the second...was a dumpster fire. It'll be a big planning adjustment should I get this game. Backstabbing is a neat mechanic.
I've received the survey but haven't filled it out yet. For now, my complaints are small; auto-dialogue would be nice, as well as a way to auto-enable cutscenes. Speeding up enemy battle speed would also be nice, though you can speed up the turns of your own units. Menus could use a bit of work too, but they're certainly navigable. Unit movement could use a bit of fine-tuning as it feels a bit clunky at times. And I do agree, the diorama battlefields look nice but do feel a bit cluttered.
I played the first battle so I can't give a 100% thought out comment just yet. I do plan on playing a bit more to see what and if.
But so far, I can't say it has grabbed me yet.
Octopath was a tremendous game. Ticked almost all of my boxes, especially in the art department. So that box should be ticked here as well.
FFTactics is one of my all time favourite games, and I didn't even play through the remaster much, which was even better, script-wise. So another box ticked.
Yet somehow, it didn't grab me entirely. Perhaps it is the nature of the game that I fell out of love with. I'm not sure if I still enjoy Tactics games. One thing I will add if I do end up filling out a survey is that I felt the voice acting was horrid in my ears, and the writing wasn't up to par either.
And I do want to explain myself here. The first time I felt the script was given the correct treatment ever was with Final Fantasy 12. The writing felt somewhat Shakespearian for a lack of a better term, or Tolkien-esque, mayhaps? It felt medieval-esque if anything. The voice acting was also spot on, more British than American. I felt like I was watching people from a fantasy landscape talking instead of the high school jocks one sometimes hears in these games.
The FF Tactics remaster was the second time I was suitably impressed.
And I can forgive simplistic writing in SNES RPGs, since there were technical limitations. FFTactics already started out pretty well but the remaster for PSP made it even better.
This feels like a huge step back. I don't mind wordy games, but the writing should be good, and it felt off to me. The voice acting just made it even worse for me. Hopefully there will be an option to turn it off.
As for gameplay, well... I don't know why, but it felt more like Vandal Hearts than FFTactics to me, and that is not a good thing.
But yeah. A couple of things I hope. I play(ed) Tactics games more for the story than the gameplay, so I hope there will be a dead easy mode so I can just enjoy the story and that they will re-evaluate their writing, plus an option to turn off voice acting.
EDIT: Also, still not over the silly Octopath Traveler name, and they sure did outdo themselves with this one. Trust me, it won't get much better. They will remove the Project from the title, but I dread to think what will replace it.
Definitely one of the best games I have ever played and it’s a demo lol, I can’t wait for the full release of this game since this genre is my favourite. The acting was great the music was the spot on and the graphics they went with is timeless and perfection. Give it to me know!! Please.
Too many and too long loading screens...
@ManaOwls Yeah, Shining Resonance was... not what I wanted to see from that franchise. So unimaginative compared to what Camelot did with it.
Long loads. Too much dialogue (5 hours out of a 6-hour demo). Unclear visuals--the 2D style is a bad idea for a 3D map, and things were highlighted in too many colors. Balance is off--one fight was much harder than the other two, and some characters border on broken while others are meh. The "triangle strategy" idea was impossible to pull off.
On the other hand, cool gimmicks and solid, if vanilla, gameplay. I'll probably buy it when it goes on sale.
THE LOADING SCREENS. Yeah first they have to fix all the context changes that force all of the loading screens. It would occasionally go story text loading screen story text loading screen. The dialog could be better written and better voice acted but i actually do appreciate the amount of story dialog (as long as it is not continuously interrupted by loading screens to tell the story). Other than that it will be awesome to me. I hope they include territory control in the final version too, the maps have the bones of the possibility of territory control and its impact on story. Day 1 buy for me.
@ManaOwls I'd love a shining force III remaster. Never got to play that one.
Well, having spent a little more time with it, I can say that I was wrong in my previous post when it comes to the writing.
After having turned off the voice acting, the dialogues became far, far better. I am glad the option exists, because the only voice that I liked was that of the narrator.
I also really liked the voting system, coupled with the "third option sidequests" thing. It was cool! Love it when story heavy games have these little subsystems.
I haven't played the next battle yet, but by now I know that I fell out of love with the tactics style gameplay, but always love the stories.
All in all, I am excited to buy this game once it comes out. I am sure I will get enough enjoyment out of the "gameplay" part of the game anyways, but I will most definitely be here for the story.
I got Ogre Battle Tactics feels from it with a lick of Octopath Traveller paint on it. I "would" play it, but this kind of game is just too involved for me nowadays as I just don't have the proper time to get into it. I'll leave it to the initiated to give their thoughts.
Fantastic art design, just like Octopath. Couldn't tell you anything about the story since I fast forwarded through the cutscenes, but my gosh there was a ton of jibber-jabber.
Gameplay, not bad, but the one battle I played seemed a bit tedious and not particularly challenging even though the difficulty level is supposedly ramped up for the demo. I think fewer characters on the battlefield would help pick up the pace.
Not sure if this is one I'll be buying, but it's certainly worth keeping an eye on.
Hated the interface.. in. the beginning I just couldn't get anything moving.. the visual style should be cleaned up for this.. in tactics ogre gab,vthe most direct comparison I guess it was much clearer and nicer.
@Realness Yes, it is very good for us SRPG fans. It's a call back to Final Fantasy Tactics and Tactics Ogre.
The only negative part of the demo for me was some of the terrible voice acting. I would actually prefer a bunch of lengthy text without Voice acting, over some of the voice actors we got.
Going through multiple menus for combat is normal for SRPGs in this mold.
@Daniel36 The game is more closely modeled to Tactics Ogre than Final Fantasy Tactics as far as combat and look.
@Scollurio essentially, simulation games that aren't farming/crafting sims e.g. Tomadachi Life, The Sims, etc. I play Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley but I find the farming, catching and crafting elements fairly repetitive. My favourite thing about Stardew Valley is the relationships you build with townsfolk but Animal Crossing is really quite basic in that respect (e.g. animals who just tend to repeat the same things). I appreciate any suggestions.
@Tipehtfomottob I think you might be right. I still hope one day EA will commission a new The Sims game for Switch but the new Pokemon announcements will have me sticking around for now.
I finally started the demo today and here's a hint.
How about you cut the story part short in a demo if it's chapter VI anyway and the game even announces that it's going to be confusing? Not to mention it gives away some big story points? And most of all, I don't want to see it all in a demo, I want to see how the fighting works. Just make a separate little story about liberating some town from the enemy or even random bandits for the demo so that the player may experience the combat system right away.
I know I can skip it, but my point is it shouldn't have been in there at all. What's the point of bombarding the player with exposition before they get invested?
The previous Bravely Default 2 demo did it much better: here's a desert town that's flooded for some reason: go to the surrounding desert to find out how to fix it. Now play around with the Job system. Simple, concise and gives reins to the player right away.
On a lighter note, Gustadolph is a great name for a not!Swedish villain, if a bit on the nose.
Show Comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...