After the — well-received — turn-based role-playing game Octopath Travelerdirector Tomoya Asano once again plays on the nostalgic rope with Triangle Strategya strategy role-playing game heavily inspired by the classics Final Fantasy Tactics and Ogre Tactics. A happy return to a proven formula, but with heavy and sometimes very bulky luggage.
We discover the story of Serenoa Wolffort, a noble heir who must face a troubled destiny as three nations that have recently become allies find themselves on the brink of a new fratricidal war. The young nobleman must navigate a deadly triangle, carefully choosing his allies and, by extension, his enemies. A story of ideals and stabs in the back. And, yes, there is a princess to save. We cannot escape it.
We chose to play with the original voices, in Japanese, with English subtitles. The dialogues are well rendered, but it’s extremely wordy. We spend most of our time following the tribulations of the high dignitaries of each nation rather than fighting. Important point: our decisions, taken with our allies after votes, have always given us the impression of having weight.
The combat system is really well done. Tomoya Asano, to whom we owe among others Bravely Default and its sequels, has decided to adapt the formula to today’s tastes, simplifying it in part. It was a real pleasure to find this isometric perspective, like a game of chess that can be rotated. Each character has a unique class, forcing us to come up with creative solutions to the scenarios presented. The addition of destructible environments is a plus.
However, after playing about ten hours at Triangle Strategy, impossible not to note that we could still have purified the thing. The process to evolve our fighters, for example, is cumbersome. Isn’t there a better way than following two different evolution systems that each require a lot of collectibles? Some, more nostalgic than us, may appreciate it.
The Artdink studio, responsible for the development, made the wise choice to take over the engine ofOctopath Travelerbased on the Unreal Engine 4. 3D environments, pixelated 2D characters and a macro lens effect, the result is an absolutely beautiful retro-modern aesthetic.
Too bad the Nintendo Switch is unable to keep up. In handheld mode, which we consider to be the ideal way to play this type of game, Triangle Strategy visibly rendered below the device’s native 720p. The frame rate regularly dropped below thirty frames per second, especially when more intense effects took place. There are also frankly unpleasant aliasing problems.
It’s starting to become a distressing constant on Nintendo’s hybrid console. With each new release, we pray for a PC version.