Today’s Nintendo Direct digital event included an unexpected announcement from publisher Square Enix: a brand new tactical role-playing game, currently operating under the working title Project Triangle Strategy. The game features the distinctive “HD-2D” art style, previously used in the 2018 Nintendo Switch RPG Octopath Traveler.
Despite the similarity in style, the game does not seem to feature an explicit connection to the world or setting of Octopath Traveler. Instead, it takes place in an original universe set following the Salt Iron War, an epic conflict between three rival nations. Players will take control of a group of heroes from the Kingdom of Glenbrook, who will travel through the land and gather allies as they navigate through a changing world.
Combat will feature tactical strategy battles similar in style to those of Final Fantasy Tactics and the Fire Emblem series. Characters will have unique movement patterns, skills and abilities, and battles will take place on terrain featuring various elevations which will affect the flow of battle. Secure the high ground, link up with your allies to perform follow-up attacks, and take advantages of enemy weaknesses to secure the victory.
In addition to the strategy-based combat, the game will also feature a series of weighted choices which will significantly affect the outcome of the story depending on the player’s decisions. Decisions will contribute to the balance of the “scale of conviction,” which will change the course of the story as it goes along. Which allies will be recruited, which characters survive and even how the story ends will all depend on the Scale. Will you be a conqueror, a hero, a pacifist, or all of the above? Only your own choices will tell.
A demo for Project Triangle Strategy is available now via the Nintendo eShop, where it can be downloaded for free. Square Enix also plans to release a feedback survey at a later date, in order to collect player responses regarding the demo. The full game is currently scheduled to release some time in 2022.
