The latest strategy RPG to release on Nintendo Switch, Triangle Strategy, naturally draws comparisons to Nintendo’s own SRPG series, Fire Emblem. Released on March 4, Triangle Strategy is an HD-2D title by Square Enix reminiscent of Final Fantasy Tactics and Tactics Ogre. The latest Fire Emblem title, Three Houses, was released on July 26, 2019, but a hack-and-slash action game spin-off, Three Hopes, is set to release on June 24 of this year.
As strategy RPGs with stories surrounding political tensions, Fire Emblem and Triangle Strategy will naturally spark comparisons. The warring factions and emphasis on narrative give them a common ground for fans of one to perhaps check out the other. Getting a feel for Triangle Strategy is easier thanks to its free demo with data transfer.
The larger number of Fire Emblem games to choose from is offset by their growing scarcity, especially with the Nintendo 3DS eShop shutting down in March 2023. Still, Triangle Strategy’s accessibility compared to most Fire Emblem titles, which are still Japan-only, doesn’t mean it’s a one-to-one replacement for them. The two actually have major mechanical differences that can either lead players to prefer one greatly over the other or to offer welcome diversity in the SRPG fan’s collection.
Triangle Strategy Doesn’t Use Phases The Way Fire Emblem Does
Many strategy RPGs divide gameplay into a “player phase” when the player can move all their allies however they please and an “enemy phase” when the enemies can do the same, and Fire Emblem is no exception. Players can build their strategy around moving their units all at once in whatever order they please, and they know the enemies will all move in response to how the player leaves the field. In Triangle Strategy, there are no phases: units instead move one after another based on their speed, similar to how the speed stat works in Pokémon. Players have to instead consider when each unit, enemy and ally alike, is able to next move in order to best approach the situation and keep their units protected.
Direction Matter In Triangle Strategy, Unlike In Fire Emblem Combat
The Fire Emblem series hasn’t utilized the direction units face as a game mechanic, although other strategy RPGs such as Final Fantasy Tactics do. Triangle Strategy takes after Final Fantasy Tactics by including unit direction – where players place their units is always going to be important in both Fire Emblem and Triangle Strategy, but players will have to also consider the direction their unit faces in the latter. Whenever a unit is hit from behind, they’ll take a critical hit – something players want to protect their units from and utilize when they see an enemy opening.
Triangle Strategy & Fire Emblem Have Different Kinds Of Branching Paths
Fire Emblem titles have dabbled in “branching paths” in the past. In Thracia 776 – a “midquel” to Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War – and Sacred Stones, players can choose between two different “paths,” or sets of chapters to complete, which change the maps they visit and characters they can recruit. But in both these games, the deviating paths eventually merge, and the games thus feature a singular ending regardless of which path they chose. Games like Fire Emblem Fates and Three Houses feature drastic story splits, but they’re each treated as their own game – to the point where players must buy the different “routes” of Fates separately – and don’t have major deviations within them or different endings to unlock.
Triangle Strategy makes use of both these approaches. Choices players make can affect the short term by having the player go to one certain chapter instead of another, then returning them to the “shared” route after, as seen in the Triangle Strategy demo. Choices can also build up over time and lead to numerous different endings. In this way, Triangle Strategy seems closer to the likes of Tactics Ogre than Fire Emblem.
Terrain Is More Important In Triangle Strategy Than In Fire Emblem
The only Fire Emblem game to utilize map elevation is Radiant Dawn, and it mostly amounts to additional terrain bonuses. All Fire Emblem games use their maps to create spaces where only certain units can move, or to apply certain stat bonuses, like a forest tile increasing a unit’s chance of avoiding attacks. While these map elements add a lot of strategy to the gameplay – with the map design itself being a crucial factor in the overall balance of the game – there aren’t many ways the player can interact with the environment itself. In Fates, certain units can interact with tiles dubbed “Dragon Veins” to alter the map, but they are very controlled.
With Triangle Strategy’s game mechanics, however, players can not only take advantage of elevation, but they can interact a lot more with the map itself. Certain spells and items can turn tiles wet, which can then conduct electricity. Some tiles can be set ablaze, and wind-based skills can spread the fire further. Any character can take advantage of these terrain interactions, either through their spells or with items, unlike in Fates where only royal characters could interact with Dragon Veins.
Triangle Strategy Doesn’t Have Permadeath Like Fire Emblem Does
Units have a greater sense of individuality in Triangle Strategy compared to in the Fire Emblem series, partly due to its mechanics regarding unit death. In the Fire Emblem series, from Three Houses to Shadow Dragon, units whose HP reach 0 can never battle again. Most are considered dead, while others who are more relevant to the plot are said to have sustained injuries that don’t allow them to battle anymore. The only exceptions are the main characters, who if they die the player gets a game over and must replay the entire map again.
Although units “dying” in video games is common, and they can be revived, the death in Fire Emblem has been dubbed “permadeath” due to its permanent nature, and has affected the gameplay in other subtle ways. Critical hits – especially when the player is on the receiving end – become more frightening, and “meat shielding” is a much less viable strategy. Newer Fire Emblem games, starting with New Mystery in Japan and Awakening worldwide, include a “casual” mode that allows players to turn off the permadeath, but the feature still exists on “classic” mode and affects how the game is balanced.
In Fire Emblem games, whether they allow units to change their class or not, the player needs to be provided with multiple units of the same class just in case one of them dies at some point. Although they may have different personalities and backstories, mechanically they function the same. Some Fire Emblem games will give each unit their own exclusive skill to let them stand out, but otherwise, the units are interchangeable with each other. On the other hand, units in Triangle Strategy whose HP reaches 0 leave the field of battle for the rest of the map, but they don’t die forever. Players may be left at a disadvantage and take longer to win in Triangle Strategy when their unit leaves, so they still need to be considerate of how they strategize, but this also means Triangle Strategy has more leeway to make each unit highly distinct from each other.
Because players won’t be at risk of losing a character in battle, units in Triangle Strategy are a lot more different than each other. Although characters may die due to story reasons, that’s a controlled factor that allows each unit to have its own mechanical purpose and decreases the need for multiple units that do the same things. But it also means Fire Emblem games tend to have larger playable casts. Fire Emblem Gaiden has the smallest number of playable characters in the series at 32, and its remake, Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, added two more through normal play and four through DLC, similar to the four characters exclusive to Fire Emblem: Three Houses’ Cindered Shadows DLC. Sacred Stones features the next fewest playable characters in the Fire Emblem series at 34, although its special Creature Campaign adds 10 more.
On the other hand, Triangle Strategy’s marketing boasts “over 20 playable characters,” significantly less than even the smallest Fire Emblem cast. But sometimes less is more, as Fire Emblem’s large casts are notorious for having numerous characters who have very little relevance to the story at large. Triangle Strategy’s smaller cast comes with the benefit of more individuality in terms of gameplay as well as greater potential for narrative relevance.
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