Triangle Strategy developers answer questions put to them by Nintendo

Nintendo has posted a new interview on the Nintendo Switch News Channel with Tomoya Asano and Yasuaki Arai who are both part of Square Enix. Mr. Asano helped produce Triangle strategy and he was also a producer on A brave omission and Octopath Traveler. One of the crucial questions for the devs is why on earth they decided to finalize the name as Triangle Strategy, once that’s out of the way Nintendo then asked the pair which of the elemental attacks of the game they liked the most and also why they decided to give players the ability to go through multi-level maps and much more.

Where does the name Triangle Strategy come from?

Asano: It actually comes from the same naming convention that we used for the game Octopath Traveler. Octo, which means eight, describes the eight characters with eight paths you can travel. So for Triangle Strategy there are three angles [Utility, Morality, and Liberty] in the game. I’m sure a lot of the American public has commented on how kind of a weird name that is, but one of the big things we think about when naming games is that when users see the name of the game, they can understand what kind of game they are going to play.

When we focus on the meaning of the three angles, they represent three countries and three other main characters (Frederica, Roland and Benedict). Each of these characters has their own values ​​and goals that influence the story.

Where does the plot come from?

Arai: When we started the project, our concept was to create a story for an adult audience. We chose the tactical genre and the conflict situation to achieve this goal. We have tried to make such a complex topic as easy to understand as possible. When you think of a conflict, there are at least two groups fighting each other. Why are they fighting? What do they want? That was our starting point when we thought about the story.

Triangle Strategy is different from a lot of tactical games because of the ability to cycle through multi-level maps. Why do you think it was important to add this mechanic?

Arai: By having these tiers or tiered aspects, we could bring some variation to the characters in the game. We didn’t want the strongest characters to be a swordsman or a tank or a magic dealer, so the tiers were the best option. We want each character to have a purpose. This means characters with ladders can support archers by taking them to higher ground to cover more area. A fun aspect is that all the characters are connected and can work together so you can create your own party and strategy in every situation. We hope players enjoy this.

Which elemental attack do you like the most?

Arai: Personally, I use a lot of electric attacks. It has a stun sub-effect which is very useful on the battlefield. I also realized at the very end of development that the wind element became very useful. At the very beginning, it was difficult to make clear differences between the impact of fire, ice, lightning and wind.

Looking at each character, what ability do you find most useful to get through the game?

Asano: One of the things I like, and you can see it in the demo, is the ability to create an ice wall. One of the fun things about the tactical RPG genre is thinking about where you place your characters at the start of battle. There are different heights [or tiers] where you can use an ability like an ice wall to stop an enemy in their path. I think it’s something unique and highly recommend you try it!

Arai: Character placement is very important in this game. So, I personally recommend using knockback to knock enemies back. There are plenty of abilities where you can push other characters. Then there are other characters who can place traps. As Arai mentioned, there are a lot of heights in every map. So, repelling an enemy while he’s high up… feels good! And it can cause a lot of damage to enemies.

Where do convictions come from and how do they play a role in the game?

Arai: When we started the project, we had eight beliefs as the key elements of the game. Eight was really a lot. It was really hard to tell the difference between eight convictions. So we reduced them to make the game system easier to understand. We chose the three [Utility, Morality, and Liberty] address the idea of ​​justice and rights. We want people to think, “What is justice? What is a right?

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