Even with minimal VR changes on Quest, Triangle Strategy remains a compelling turn-based RPG from Square Enix. Here are our impressions.
There's no contest when I say Triangle Strategy was my biggest surprise during Connect 2024. Square Enix has shown minimal interest in VR across the years - Monsters of the Deep and Kingdom Hearts VR Experience being notable exceptions. So, seeing a tactical RPG released for Switch and PC two years ago suddenly heading for Quest was certainly unexpected.
If you're wondering what's changed, functionally not a lot. Several elements like the UI display and battle controls were adjusted to better fit VR. Otherwise, it's pretty much a straight port of the original game, though the isometric perspective makes Triangle Strategy feel like an interactive diorama. The impressive 2D-HD art style, which merges pixel art with 3D environments, shines during combat missions on Quest 3.
As a story-heavy RPG, this comes with an unsurprising trade-off for its numerous 2D cutscenes. Those are now presented using a floating scroll in a 'Theatre Mode,' which I can accept considering the game was clearly never designed for this medium. Between battles and cutscenes, exploring the 3D map to check out the Norzelia continent is nice.
You can play using a fully immersive VR environment that puts Norzelia in the background, or mixed reality via passthrough. I do wish Square Enix would go further with MR and it's disappointing that you can't resize the map. I would love to play this while on my sofa, putting the map across my coffee table. You're limited to rotating and pulling the map towards you.
That's pretty much where the main VR-specific differences end in this port. That said, don't let this deter you if you consider yourself a more classic RPG fan; we've seen before that VR games can still deliver strong experiences using a similar camera perspective before - just look at Table of Tales. Six hours into this campaign, Triangle Strategy is delivering a captivating RPG that's got my attention.
Early game screenshots taken by UploadVR on Quest 3
While establishing its world takes time, the compelling story is arguably the biggest factor. You play as the heir of House Wolffort, Serenoa, finding yourself at the center of a growing conflict between the continent's nations. I won't spoil anything specific but the well-written blend of fantasy and politics has me invested in this world. It's a shame the English voice acting isn't great, so I'm glad you can swap to Japanese.
As a tactical RPG, combat is reminiscent of Fire Emblem and Final Fantasy Tactics as you command your party across a grid-based battlefield. These battles have enjoyable depth that encourages strategic thinking, like dealing extra damage from higher terrain or how placing units on each side of a foe lets you attack them twice in one go.
Minimal changes from the flatscreen release make Triangle Strategy an incredibly tough sell if you've already played it elsewhere, yet it's a rare game where I'm willing to overlook that. The narrative is highly compelling, combat is strategically satisfying and the visuals remain strong. As someone who mostly sticks to RPGs outside of VR, I'm happy it's reaching new audiences and I hope this convinces other publishers to take that chance.
Triangle Strategy is out now on the Meta Quest platform.
