Triangle Strategy, a tactics game from the Octopath team

It might be slightly premature since the game doesn't even have a name, but the follow-up to Octopath Traveler has been revealed and it's a Tactics Ogre-esque strategy RPG. In a land still healing from the Saltiron War, you play as Serenoa Wolffort, heir to the House of the same name, and fight in top-down tactical squad battles. What sets it apart from Final Fantasy Tactics and closer to TO is the decision tree: you make choices across the game that correspond to the virtues of liberty, morality and utility that attract and repel the various factions and characters, changing your path and probably the ending.

A demo is currently available and as for TO and BD there will be post-play feedback surveys that will go toward improving the game. Apparently it starts you off mid-chapter 6, with a somewhat lengthy intro before you get to the gameplay bits.

I'm INCREDIBLY interested in this as someone who adored what SE did with Octopath. I can't get to the demo just yet but will be playing it over the weekend. Who else is interested, and what are your thoughts on the demo+what we've seen?

Edited by Watashiwa on Feb 17th 2021 at 6:32:30 AM

My brother immediately got the demo. I have no intention of playing the demo, I want to go in not knowing too much. I remember when the Octopath Traveler demo came out, I played it for like ten minutes. I was super engrossed in Primrose's story, and actually quit the demo before finishing it, because I had already decided I was going to get the full version and saw no point playing over the same section twice.

Both my brother an I are both excited for this, but for largely different reasons. I'm more interested in the story and ability to make choices that impact the story, he really likes min-maxing to get big numbers. Mind you, I also like when you get to promote someone to a different class, as is often the case in Fire Emblem, or when you get to choose what classes each of your party members are, like in various Final Fantasy games.

Edited by WillKeaton on Feb 17th 2021 at 7:57:08 AM

I am super interested! Got the demo, might start it tonight.

I thought the OP demo let you just save your progress with the main game though? Honestly, that's the kind of demo that I prefer. If this one starts you off in chapter 6, though, it doesn't seem like we'll be able to do that here.

Well this looks really cool.

Octopath had two different demos, the first one only had beta versions of Olberic and Primrose's chapter 1 while the second was a four-hour trial of the main game. The TS demo is the former, basically.

I’m excited for this because 1) I’m expecting the soundtrack to slap hard like Octopath’s did and 2) the gameplay looks fantastic. I really dig that there’s some form of elemental interaction in the combat system as well as a fast forward button. I also love the idea of having to vote for major story decisions and you have to persuade people to join your side. I hope they go all in on that.

Already downloading the demo. Excited!

Wait, looking at the announcement for it again, I'm wondering why they don't call it the Salt/Iron Wars or some variety of that? For one, it seems to be the main driving conflict of the plot, or at least the reason they're fighting in the first place. Plus it sounds pretty cool.

Um no, the Saltiron wars were clearly a background element that happened decades in the past. The current conflict will probably be something different.

I'm honestly considering getting the demo, just to recieve the survey to tell them "PLEASE think of a better name."

At least with these games, Square Enix is pretty good when it comes to recieving suggestions from fans, the first Bravely Default II being an example, and so was the original demo of Octopath.

Edited by Makir on Feb 18th 2021 at 1:55:59 PM

I can only imagine the memes that would be born if Square called this game "The Salt Wars".

Also, downloading the demo right now. It's been a while since I've played a good SRPG that wasn't a Fire Emblem game.

The Saltiron War happened 30 years before the current story. Here's a video explaining some lore and characters:

Edited by lu127 on Feb 18th 2021 at 4:42:41 PM

Played a bit of the demo^note ...I did not enjoy my time with it enough to finish it. Wow, it is wordy. Long cutscenes, narration, side events that are also long cutscenes... and they built the cutscenes to be really slow unless you're fast-forwarding, but that goes by too fast to read anything. Localization heavily takes from Game of Thrones

It has some interesting ideas about plot progression, but I'm not sure how well it'll work in the full game? Branching plots are hard (Also it looks like it might be somewhat random, which I can't imagine will be fun)

In the lineage of Octopath (and thus also Bravely Default and FF Gaiden), but actually distances itself from Final Fantasy for once. Ends up kinda pulling from everywhere? Bit of Tactics Ogre, more Fire Emblem than you'd expect, even a few parts that remind me of Bahamut Lagoon

I'm not sure about the battle system. Circumstances change too rapidly for saving up TP to really be a meaningful choice. You also have an absolutely enormous party but fairly small maps, which doesn't really work

Doesn't look like there's any way to direct party members' growth. Presumably you're supposed to use the characters most suited to the mission, but it doesn't look like there's a way to catch up characters that've fallen behind...?

So, I'll be interested in seeing how it turns out, but I'm probably not going to buy it

Edited by Hylarn on Feb 18th 2021 at 7:22:07 AM

With what the plot is set up to be. I expected plenty of a specific Fire Emblem

Yeah, I couldn't help but notice, uhh, similarities. Two of the leads even look like Edelgard and Dmitri.

Regardless, this looks good.

Edited by HamburgerTime on Feb 18th 2021 at 10:39:08 AM

I honestly need to finish the two other long JRPGS that I'm currently in the middle of, one of which is Octopath Traveler itself. But this looks cool. The battle system seems to be like FFT, but I'm not sure what the making choices part is? Is it like Civilization: Beyond Earth with Purity/Supremacy/Harmony?

More like Tactics Ogre and its Law/Chaos/Neutral routes. Some characters in that game also required specific points of approval with some of the game's clans in order to join you but this looks more involved.

My interest was already piqued, then I saw that the composer is Akira Senju?! Oh ho ho ho.

Hm, the choice in the demo is very blatantly Morality vs. Utility (follow your oath, oppose evil, and protect your friends from the people who just murdered almost all his family vs. hand over your childhood friend and liege lord to the invading faction to keep the Adresti—er, Aefrostians from targeting you).

I wonder how Freedom vs. Morality choices will work, since those seem less obvious as far as writing goes.

So I only played the first stage of the demo so far, but it is both hard and nerve-wracking to me.

Is 2D-HD going to be their "name" of sorts?

It's a trademark which they intend use as a brand for this type of game.

Considering Japan imports as much American TV as everywhere else, are you sure it isn't the game itself, and not just the localisation, that draws from Game of Thrones?

I’m glad they’re making it a brand. I’m salivating at the possibilities. Gorgeous JRPG remakes im particular.

From what I understand Go T hasn't really taken off in Japan.

I don't think misspelling 'sir' is something that can really be translated into Japanese?

Huh? The game's Japanese vernaculars are no different from other political JRP Gs set in medieval times. And again, this kind of setting and plot have been done extensively in Tactics Ogre and Final Fantasy Tactics, which predate GOT by more than a decade.

Edited by lu127 on Feb 19th 2021 at 4:25:44 PM