Triangle Strategy

Triangle Strategy is a turn-based tactical role-playing game in the vein of Fire Emblem and Final Fantasy Tactics. The player takes turns moving characters from their party across a grid-based playing field in which computer-controlled opponents must be attacked and defeated. Each character has unique attributes and a set movement range per turn, as well as a number of special attacks and skills that consume a limited but rechargeable pool of Tactical Points per character. During the course of the campaign, levelling up characters by using them in battle will increase their attributes and unlock new special attacks and skills, and players can also upgrade individual attributes and their characters' class to make them more effective in combat.

Along with the starting characters, a number of additional characters are recruited into the player's party during the course of the campaign. If a character in the player's party is defeated in combat, then they are removed from the battle, but there is no permadeath.

The game takes place on the fictional continent of Norzelia. The story focuses on a new conflict thirty years after the "Saltiron War", a war between three countries of the continent – Glenbrook, Aesfrost, and Hyzante – that arose over fighting for the scarce resources of salt and iron. The game follows protagonist Serenoa Wolffort, the heir of House Wolffort, his childhood friend Roland, the second Prince of the Kingdom of Glenbrook, Serenoa's fiancée Frederica Aesfrost, a noblewoman of the Grand Duchy of Aesfrost, and the steward of House Wolffort Benedict Pascal, as they attempt to navigate their way through the conflict.

Thirty years after the Saltiron War, Glenbrook and Aesfrost agree to share the newly discovered Grand Norzelian Mine in an effort to improve relations between the two countries. However, as Serenoa inspects the mines with Gustadolph's cousin Dragan, assassins attack and kill Dragan. Gustadolph then accuses Glenbrook of murdering Dragan, using his death as a pretext to stage a punitive campaign against Glenbrook and invading its capital. Serenoa and his party are too late to stop Gustadolph from killing King Regna and Crown Prince Frani and capturing Princess Cordelia, leaving Roland as the sole heir to Glenbrook's throne.

The game was first announced under the working title of Project Triangle Strategy during a Nintendo Direct presentation on February 17, 2021. The presentation revealed the game as a collaboration between Square Enix and Artdink. Development is led by Square Enix producer Tomoya Asano, who had previously produced the Bravely Default and Octopath Traveler games. Asano noted that the change in direction from standard JRPG of past titles to a tactical RPG came from his desire to create a game with a more mature and adult story, something he felt was more conducive to a tactical RPG.

First in-game footage of the game was also debuted on the same day, where it was shown to have the same "HD-2D" graphics style as Square Enix's Octopath Traveler, where SNES-styled graphics are given a high definition and 3D visual effect. The game was developed using Unreal Engine 4. A free demo was also released to the public upon announcement.

Triangle Strategy received "generally favorable" reviews according to review aggregator website Metacritic.

Kotaku liked the game's demo, praising the game's modern twists on an established genre, and how it set up a complex story. Nintendo Life enjoyed Triangle Strategy for its deep and satisfying combat system, excellent narrative, compelling characters and high replayability, while criticizing the voice acting and dialogue. GamesRadar+ felt that although the battles were well designed, the story suffered from a lack of character development, "The rip-roaring pacing means Triangle Strategy never stops to let any one of these characters properly develop... there's barely a moment where they just get to be themselves outside of fighting for their damn lives".