I don't think Triangle Strategy is an exceptional game, but it does show some marked improvements from Octopath Traveler - there's more of an individual identity here, and it feels like it actually has something to say rather than being a proof-of-concept for this nostalgia-laden minefield that is "SNES games but with quality of life features," which is essentially the mission statement for the HD2D series.
That said, I was left feeling a little cold by the end once I realized Triangle Strategy wasn't able to make good on its promises; though I never felt particularly invested in the story, the arc it goes in by the end felt flattened by the austere presentation and emotional beats, which often feel sidelined, unearned, or otherwise compromised. Like, when you recruit Maxwell you don't even get a scene with Roland at all..
I will say Frederica's story is probably the best of the bunch, and I did overall grow to like the main cast, but none get to do anything particularly exceptional and outside of Roland, Frederica, and Benedict, they're there to essentially be yes men and obstacles to overcome during the scales of conviction scenes.
Speaking of, I did enjoy the conviction and decision systems for the most part - after looking at a flowchart I can see how the game doesn't hang on them as heavily as it might seem, but the little moral Crusader Kings-esque dilemmas you have to answer questions about were fun enough to ponder, and if you play honest to yourself, it's interesting to see where it leads you. I was shocked to learn I was on the path to the golden route by the first time I looked up a guide, around the time when you choose who to accompany during a split-up segment.
The gameplay is another place where I felt a little disappointed by the end despite having a lot of fun with it up until then - it's pretty annoying that you're unable to access even half of the abilities of your entire party because it refuses to give you rank-up items beyond five or so. The lack of resources available in the game also makes it feel like the game never truly gets going; you never feel flush with money, which deincentivizes you from using a couple characters who rely on items and therefore cost you to even use.
There's a lot of interesting recruitable characters in the game and I really, really enjoyed how individualized each one is - no character does the same thing whatsoever - but there's some very clear leaders of the pack in terms of usefulness an utility, and most of those are the required characters you start with. At the very least, the core party is the more practical group of deployable units; there might be some more gimmicky or specialized versions of your mage (like Corentin or Ezana), your tank (like Groma or Flanagan), or your archer (like Archibald or Rudolph), but each one feels a bit more niche and situational. I found myself relying on Anna, Geela, Frederica, Hughette, and Erador a lot, so I only really alotted a few slots to experiment with the other characters. I will say I had some pretty crazy wins - in the fight against Thalas and Erika I wound up only having Medina, Frederica, Piccoletta, and Narve left over and spent around 100 turns paralyzing two healers and tricking Thalas into exploding Piccoletta's decoy until I whittled the three of them down enough to finish them off.
Despite how experimental you can get with your strategy, it oftentimes doesn't feel worth it to explore because of how difficult the battles are; the bosses in this game are absolutely brutal and there's really only a few characters that are raw damage dealers that can stack up against them. This coupled with the fact that you'll only be able to unlock a few special abilities in the game really pressures you into picking the more logical ones like nuke abilities and really excellent support ones like Geela's. I think the only wacky one I went with was Ezana's, which I wound up regretting because of how time-consuming the setup is for it.
I can tell this game really flourishes on a second playthrough, especially playing on hard, but after getting the golden ending I don't really feel the impetus to play again and I'm not sure if I will end up taking the plunge - there's some things here I would love to see implemented in other SRPGs, but in the end it doesn't stack up against the complexity of FFT and Tactics Ogre or the replayability and pick-up-and-play nature of Fire Emblem. It's one for SPRG lovers only!
That said, I was left feeling a little cold by the end once I realized Triangle Strategy wasn't able to make good on its promises; though I never felt particularly invested in the story, the arc it goes in by the end felt flattened by the austere presentation and emotional beats, which often feel sidelined, unearned, or otherwise compromised. Like, when you recruit Maxwell you don't even get a scene with Roland at all..
I will say Frederica's story is probably the best of the bunch, and I did overall grow to like the main cast, but none get to do anything particularly exceptional and outside of Roland, Frederica, and Benedict, they're there to essentially be yes men and obstacles to overcome during the scales of conviction scenes.
Speaking of, I did enjoy the conviction and decision systems for the most part - after looking at a flowchart I can see how the game doesn't hang on them as heavily as it might seem, but the little moral Crusader Kings-esque dilemmas you have to answer questions about were fun enough to ponder, and if you play honest to yourself, it's interesting to see where it leads you. I was shocked to learn I was on the path to the golden route by the first time I looked up a guide, around the time when you choose who to accompany during a split-up segment.
The gameplay is another place where I felt a little disappointed by the end despite having a lot of fun with it up until then - it's pretty annoying that you're unable to access even half of the abilities of your entire party because it refuses to give you rank-up items beyond five or so. The lack of resources available in the game also makes it feel like the game never truly gets going; you never feel flush with money, which deincentivizes you from using a couple characters who rely on items and therefore cost you to even use.
There's a lot of interesting recruitable characters in the game and I really, really enjoyed how individualized each one is - no character does the same thing whatsoever - but there's some very clear leaders of the pack in terms of usefulness an utility, and most of those are the required characters you start with. At the very least, the core party is the more practical group of deployable units; there might be some more gimmicky or specialized versions of your mage (like Corentin or Ezana), your tank (like Groma or Flanagan), or your archer (like Archibald or Rudolph), but each one feels a bit more niche and situational. I found myself relying on Anna, Geela, Frederica, Hughette, and Erador a lot, so I only really alotted a few slots to experiment with the other characters. I will say I had some pretty crazy wins - in the fight against Thalas and Erika I wound up only having Medina, Frederica, Piccoletta, and Narve left over and spent around 100 turns paralyzing two healers and tricking Thalas into exploding Piccoletta's decoy until I whittled the three of them down enough to finish them off.
Despite how experimental you can get with your strategy, it oftentimes doesn't feel worth it to explore because of how difficult the battles are; the bosses in this game are absolutely brutal and there's really only a few characters that are raw damage dealers that can stack up against them. This coupled with the fact that you'll only be able to unlock a few special abilities in the game really pressures you into picking the more logical ones like nuke abilities and really excellent support ones like Geela's. I think the only wacky one I went with was Ezana's, which I wound up regretting because of how time-consuming the setup is for it.
I can tell this game really flourishes on a second playthrough, especially playing on hard, but after getting the golden ending I don't really feel the impetus to play again and I'm not sure if I will end up taking the plunge - there's some things here I would love to see implemented in other SRPGs, but in the end it doesn't stack up against the complexity of FFT and Tactics Ogre or the replayability and pick-up-and-play nature of Fire Emblem. It's one for SPRG lovers only!