Triangle Strategy PC review - An excellent port of one of the Switch’s best strategy RPGs

Back in March 2022, I reviewed Square Enix's Triangle Strategy on the Nintendo Switch. Fast forward a few months later, it is now available on PC. The Artdink-developed single-player title, Triangle Strategy, is easily one of my favorite strategy RPGs on the Switch. It’s up there with Fire Emblem, in my estimation. The game brings something special to the genre and is more than just gorgeous visuals.

The choices you make matter, the story is rich and tragic, and the voting system is undoubtedly unique. Triangle Strategy is easily one of my all-time favorite strategy games, even if it has a pretty ridiculous name. Don’t let that fool you, though - it’s a fantastic title and even has replayability, thanks to multiple endings and more.

Choices matter in Triangle Strategy’s overall gameplay loop

In short, the world of Triangle Strategy is ruled by three kingdoms - Aesfrost, the Holy State of Hyzante, and Glenbrook. The three have had a tumultuous relationship, which has led to a war in the past. Serenoa, the son of the Lord of Wolffort, is about to get married to Serenoa of Aesfrost when chaos begins to show its ugly face again.

I’ll avoid talking about the story too much because there are a number of interesting twists and turns, and I don’t like spoiling. The story leans towards tragedy, and I like that in my political RPGs. It makes sense, and I love that actions have consequences in this world. It’s a game built on three principles:

Your choices, no matter how large or small, adjust your Convictions (Image via Square Enix)

Utility
Morality
Liberty

As you play the game, you’ll be forced to make many choices in dialog or decisions on what you do. This will adjust the numbers of these three statistics as they guide your life. They influence a great deal, but you can’t actually see the stats. When you play NG+, however, you can see your principal stats. You'll know when your Convictions have changed, though - a notification will pop up on the screen.

It’s better this way, so you can play through the blind and make whatever decisions you think are best. Then, in an NG+ run, you can make what you think are the right decisions or decisions that lead to unlocking the route/characters you’re after. After all, there are plenty of characters to pick and recruit.

When I say your choices matter in Triangle Strategy, they genuinely do. Occasionally, you’ll have to pick a route using a three-tiered voting apparatus. Every character in the party receives a coin, and there are choices to make. Each character has an in-game reason for wanting the things they do.

However, you have to try and coax characters around to your way of thinking. Depending on what you’ve experienced, how thoroughly you’ve explored the area, and other factors, they may or may not go along with you. You have no choice but to commit to the will of the vote, and I love that.

I’m often indecisive, so it takes a bit of the burden off me if things go one way or another. It also brings a new challenge, trying to convince the right characters to do what you want them to with the right argument.

Triangle Strategy’s Gameplay is solid, and the PC port did not contain any glaring flaws

Combat is one of the best parts of Triangle Strategy, though the rest of the game is enjoyable too. It’s a solid turn-based affair, where you can do team-up attacks with proper positioning, and each character’s combat skills cost a number of points. If you run out, you can’t fight for that round.

Elemental attacks are incredibly important, too! It’s more than just “x is weak to y.” If you use an ice spell, it leaves a patch of frost on the ground. You can melt that with fire, and if an enemy is standing on it, use a lightning spell to do extra damage. It’s a very satisfying system.

In general, this was a very good port. I didn’t experience weird slowdown or lag, and no graphical glitches. It just worked great. I could play the game exactly as I did on the Nintendo Switch, and honestly, I think it looked better than the Switch version.

Triangle Strategy is not a perfect game, though, let me be clear. It does require a significant amount of grinding to make the most of the weapon upgrading system. For much of the game, you’re also restricted when it comes to upgrading characters, so you will have to make tough decisions in that department first. Even with these flaws, I loved Triangle Strategy.

The visuals and soundtrack are very much on point in Triangle Strategy

Square Enix has embraced the 2D-HD graphics style across games like Octopath Traveler, Triangle Strategy, and Live-a-Live. It is an amazing way to do a strategy RPG. The characters look surprisingly detailed for pixel characters, and the backgrounds they exist in are breathtaking.

The soundtrack is enjoyable as well. It’s not the most memorable OST I’ve ever listened to, but each song thematically fits the portion of the game it is a part of, and that’s the most important aspect. Akira Senju was the composer and is perhaps best-known for Mobile Suit Victory Gundam and Full Metal Alchemist, so their work was familiar to me going in.

In conclusion

Triangle Strategy is a must-play for fans of turn-based strategy games. I’ve had the pleasure of playing a number of good ones this year, and it stands right next to all of them. The pacing is slow at first, but that will change. The characters are memorable, and while the English voice acting is occasionally flat, it’s not the case for everyone.

What a story! What a game! Triangle Strategy is a must-play (Image via Square Enix)

Every decision you make matters, and there are several endings. I will not discuss the first ending I got in the game, but it was emotionally satisfying and suitably heartbreaking. I can’t help it, I love a good tragedy. It’s nice to see how my choices impact the story, and the gameplay is excellent. The game offers a decent amount of challenges, and you can adjust the difficulty on the fly if it’s too easy or too hard.

Do not skip out on Triangle Strategy. Now that it’s on PC, gamers that do not own a Switch have a chance to play a truly great tactical RPG.