Party Chat: Project Triangle Strategy (Demo)

I’ll start the Project OctoTriangulacorn Stratactics Discussion

In the long-standing absence of a gritty FFT/Tactics Ogre-esque game, I’m very impressed by this demo. Whether it is truly a spiritual successor to those games or not, it certainly fits the glove. It looks and feels like those games – something that has been sorely missing from modern, similar outings such as the Mercenaries series and Fell Seal.

As much as I enjoyed the latter especially, it lacked oomph in the visual department and I think that is key to making these pixel-based isometric TRPGs successful. Modern “copycats” may play similarly to them, but they also have to feel/look like them. And I think that this is where this new game is best. That scripted scene at the end of the first skirmish? Chills.

Gameplay feels solid – obviously restricted some due to it being a demo, so we’ll have to see how much it opens up in terms of customization and depth in the full release. What is here, however, feels really good. Same goes for the story – we don’t know much, but I’m a sucker for good political strife + otherworldly undertones, and it seems that is the direction this is going.

I’m glad they kind of put you in the middle of everything so as to not give away too much at the beginning, but even now I am hesitant to fully explore the demo so that I can save it all for the full release. I just know I will enjoy this game.

My ONLY complaint so far is the voice acting. It is…uneven? Some lines/characters are portrayed well while others are questionable at best. Games with these kinds of plots really need top-notch voice acting or it is a detriment to the experience as a whole. Fortunately, you can turn them off, which is precisely what I ended up doing in Octopath Traveler. I’ve never seen voice acting as a necessity in these types of games – reading silent lines adds a nostalgic touch to them anyway.

Oh, and that working title is hot, stinky garbage. At least Project Octopath Traveler was serviceable – this is just pathetic. Hopefully they come up with something good. Overall, I loved what I played of the demo and cannot wait for the full release.

Just for that, I am Team Triangle Strategy. Final title, ship it as is.
Before going into my thoughts I do like that they’re going the Bravely Default direction of taking feedback that will hopefully be used to improve the game further. What was presented was really solid, but there are a few hiccups

I do agree about the voice acting. Some of the lines were delivered really well while others are kind of questionable (varying degrees of over the top to no emotion).

I’m not sure why they have a button designated for the character profile during cutscenes when all it shows is just a character portrait? At that point it’d probably just be better to have the portrait in the left hand corner, unless they were planning on using that page to have more information.

The menu layout is also a bit strange during battle. Instead of a menu to select move inventory, skills, attack, etc. , all of that automatically pops up after you hit confirm and you press left/right to select a skill or an item. It didn’t bug me too bad, just an interesting choice.

I’m assuming that those profile pages will be more detailed upon release. If they aren’t then I totally agree with you. Either way, I think they could use those portraits better also.

I’m also not the biggest fan of the “EXP only awarded when actions are taken” trope returning. Fell Seal improved upon this system a lot, and the departure of it entirely in the new Disgaea entry is one of the main reasons I’m so hyped for that game. This may not even be an issue if the game is balanced well and creates numerous opportunities for all job/class types to play an active role.

Ok. I think I like what I’ve got here so far in Triangle Traveler. I like that the battle arenas aren’t flat areas and there is elevation as well as weather effects. I also really like the environmental factors in battle, where you can take an ice spell, melt the ice, put electricity on it, then push your enemy onto it. This so reminds me of one of my favorite rpgs, Divinity Original Sin 2. The music is pretty top notch. The game is still visually stunning. The Voice acting was good for the most part.

I did have some visual bugs, specifically when anyone would shoot an arrow (I recorded the YouTube gameplay) there was a second of a black screen. I’m sure that can be fixed. I did wrestle with the camera a little. They also did a poor job initially at telling you how to play. Obviously, I figured it out but it was only the experimentation…

Triangle Traveler!!! The man has done it again. Just pay him, Square Enix.

My biggest takeaway so far is just how DENSE this game is. There are a ton of interconnected characters, political motivations, and interpersonal relationships to track. Combat has layered environmental effects, the TP accumulation system, interactive map elements, in-battle events, and a heaping dose of unit variety.

Add onto all this battle map exploration, war council scenarios, a morality system, branching story paths, the encampment, and side stories, and you’ve got a huge amount of content just covering one or two chapters of the game alone (and that’s just what I’ve played so far).

Assuming they can balance the combat system properly and make character progression engaging, we’ve got a killer tactical RPG on our hands.

The gameplay in this is amazing and I love everything I have experienced so far. The game does an amazing job at truly illustrating the “weight” of the decisions made in the game and makes thought necessary to see how things play out. This is likely going to result in hella replayability and if they don’t New Game+ I will literally cry a bucket of tears.

Everyone knows I’m not a huge SPRG fan. Mostly due to pacing but I have to admit that I love how the environmental factors and mid-battle events help break the monotony. The game is also drop dead gorgeous. I love 2DHD.

Me too. It evokes an almost whimsical nostalgic feeling while still seeming current.
I honestly hope to see other games with this style. It’s like Paper Mario grew up.

Echoing what everyone else already said, I really love how they mix the exploration and voting portions of the game. The game just left me with a feeling of satisfaction and excitement for the full game.

I also like that I feel more encouraged to use non-attacking skills in battle? I’m typically more of an offensive player and everyone except my healer usually ends up as an attacker. But having units that are primarily support units is nice to experiment with.

The support roles are awesome. Usually they are situational at best but they’ve balanced them quite well, making them useful all the time.
And +1 on the voting. Seems like this could have some serious replay value.