Triangle Strategy is a tactical RPG buffet, blending grid-based combat, deep unit customisation, and a branching story driven by player choices, wrapped in a dazzling retro-inspired HD-2D presentation. It’s built to scratch that Final Fantasy Tactics itch, with a focus on positioning, strategy, and tough decisions that ripple through Norzelia’s salt wars. It was a righteous original title on Nintendo Switch in 2022, but was released on beefier consoles in late Summer 2025. Now that the dust has settled and it runs at higher resolutions and frame rates, does Triangle Strategy hold up?
Triangle Strategy draws subtle but striking parallels to World War I, crafting a political and military drama that mirrors the era’s complex alliances, resource-driven conflicts, and moral quagmires. While the game doesn’t explicitly recreate historical events, its themes and world building echo the Great War’s dynamics, filtered through a fantasy lens. It doesn’t have the most exciting start; it takes a while before the Franz Ferdinand-type figure gets assassinated, and the drawn-out character-establishing moments are dense in the early hours before the plot picks up. Even the battles are not the most exciting at first due to the limitations imposed on players.
The story aims for Game of Thrones-style intrigue, and it mostly delivers. Choices shape the narrative through a Conviction system tied to Utility, Morality, and Liberty, leading to wildly different paths and endings. Voting scenes, where allies debate in the Scales of Conviction, crackle with drama. The world feels rich, its lore detailed yet digestible. It’s a bold setup that carries weight when it lands. The pacing could be better since the story front-loads a lot of exposition before the scenario has anything eventful happen. Cutscenes are bloated with dialogue pauses between early, sparse battles, turning epic moments into endurance tests. Major revelations overexplain every plot twist, as if the story distrusts its own clarity. It’s like a bard droning on about his lute’s lineage when the tavern’s ready to riot.
Triangle Strategy‘s pacing evens out after the major players are introduced and the plot is thoroughly underway. When the party is big enough and gamers are set loose to tinker away with the composition, that’s where the fun begins. Units grow through a class-based system that’s deep but not overwhelming. Each character starts with a base class and upgrades twice via promotion items, unlocking stronger abilities. Roland’s cavalry, for instance, gains sweeping lance attacks, while Geela’s healing evolves into area-wide buffs.
Leveling happens through battle experience points, shared across deployed units, but grinding in optional “mock battles” at the Encampment is often necessary to keep pace with tougher chapters. These fights, while useful for loot and experience, aren’t as imaginative as the main story skirmishes. The same maps and foes become a tedious loop. Customisation comes via equipment and ability upgrades, purchased with materials or kudos (earned from battle feats like backstabs). Upgrading Anna’s daggers boosts her evasion, while Benedict’s skill tree enhances team buffs.
Resources are scarce, so choices matter. Thinking about prioritising tanks or glass-cannon mages? Triangle Strategy is flexible but limited; characters are locked to their class paths, so no turning Frederica into a knight. Compared to Final Fantasy’s endless possibilities, it feels restrictive, though the unique roles keep each unit distinct. The grind for materials, though, can drag, especially when later battles demand maxed-out gear to survive.
At its heart, Triangle Strategy is about outsmarting foes on a grid-based battlefield, where terrain, positioning, and unit synergy are king. Players command a squad of up to 12 units from a roster of over 30 in turn-based fights, moving across maps dotted with hills, rivers, or chokepoints. Whether Serenoa’s sword-swinging leadership or Anna’s dagger-wielding stealth has unique stats, abilities, and roles (tanks, healers, mages, archers). Wiping out enemies, seizing objectives, or surviving set turns, with victory hinging on clever tactics. Positioning is the game’s sharpest blade. Attacking an enemy flanked by two allies triggers a follow-up strike, doubling damage like a well-timed ambush. High ground boosts range for archers or mages, while low ground leaves units vulnerable.
Environmental hazards or traps like burning grass with fire spells or freezing rivers to block paths add flair and a sense of dynamism. Abilities cost TP, which accrue each turn, forcing players to balance basic attacks with game-changing skills, like Benedict’s buffs or Frederica’s fire magic. Status effects and elemental combos deepen the puzzle, making every move feel like a chess gambit as the stakes rise, feeling like the party is being backed up against the wall.
The strategy isn’t limited to just combat. It’s designed into the story through the Conviction system, where player choices shape Norzelia’s fate. Serenoa’s decisions are aligned with Utility (pragmatism), Morality (compassion), or Liberty (freedom), which are tracked secretly, influencing story paths, recruitable characters, and endings. Major choices play out in the Scales of Conviction, voting scenes where allies debate actions like smuggling salt or defending Rosellan refugees. Players sway votes by gathering intel in exploration phases or dialogue-driven segments where Serenoa chats with NPCs or searches for clues. Pick the right arguments, and allies align; fail, and the story veers, like losing Roland’s trust or missing recruits like Trish.
The HD-2D style has a timelessness to it that makes it perfect for RPGs, and Triangle Strategy is no different. It obviously takes cues from Final Fantasy Tactics, but with robust particle effects and lighting that was not possible on the first PlayStation. It’s a very atmospheric game that feels cold during the winter scenes and warm when characters are lit by candlelight or crackling fireplaces. The visual style looked as good as it could on Nintendo Switch, and the jump to Xbox Series consoles maintains its identity and signature look. There isn’t much that could be done in the porting process. The most notable improvements are technical, like the higher and smoother frame rate and fast load times. It’s a sharper-looking game, but the HD-2D style deliberately invokes a retro aesthetic that leans into chunky texture art, so the best players can hope for is a cleaner, shallower depth of field effect.
The Scales of Conviction integrate with gameplay beautifully. Choosing to protect a village might trigger a defensive battle with tight odds, while sacrificing it opens an easier offensive map but shifts the narrative’s tone. Exploration phases are underdeveloped and amount to clicking through dialogue with static sprites, not true investigation. The system’s opacity is a double-edged sword: it’s immersive, forcing blind moral calls like a diplomat, but unclear how choices affect Convictions until late-game consequences hit. It’s ambitious but frustrating when a desired path locks out due to earlier, obscure decisions.
