-
Welcome to Talking Time's third iteration! If you would like to register for an account, or have already registered but have not yet been confirmed, please read the following:
- The CAPTCHA key's answer is "Percy"
- Once you've completed the registration process please email us from the email you used for registration at percyreghelper@gmail.com and include the username you used for registration
Once you have completed these steps, Moderation Staff will be able to get your account approved.
Project Triangle Strategy: Octopath Tactics
- Thread starter YangusKhan
- Start date
I haven't finished my first playthrough yet, but this game is a real breath of fresh air to me. There is a lot of talking, but it's an actual well-plotted story. The combat is fun and you get neat powers that matter. Levelling up is meaningful and you don't have to do weird things to level your weak characters. The maps have geographic features that influence the combat.
I enjoyed Fire Emblem: Three Houses enough to play two houses, but...the story in that game was probably only 1 hour of content. The rest of it was chatter. And the combat was pretty mindless by comparison. Triangle Strategy is a steak compared to that cheeseburger.
- Moving archers up to a high elevation to give them higher range and damage
- Shooting immobility arrows and stranding enemy melee characters away from the front line
- Setting up traps in front of your tanks or behind your warriors and to trap enemies and waste their turn
- Knocking enemies off a cliff with pushback for extra damage and then watching them scramble to get back to the front line
- Assassinating enemy mages under cover
I enjoyed Fire Emblem: Three Houses enough to play two houses, but...the story in that game was probably only 1 hour of content. The rest of it was chatter. And the combat was pretty mindless by comparison. Triangle Strategy is a steak compared to that cheeseburger.
I think Medina is the strongest of the straightforward healers, but you need cash and levels for her to really pay off, and until then she's just a mediocre fighter. Geela is the most straightforward and efficient healer, and sometimes that's all you want. Hossabara isn't really a main healer, it's better to think of her as a physical attacking unit that can occasionally heal. Narve has a heal spell and very good range with it, but you're more likely to use him for offense wherever possible and his TP game isn't strong enough to make him a consistent healer.
There are other units that can do some healing, but most of them won't be obtained until late/postgame, or specifically if you help Roland deal with the Royalist scandal in chapter 15.
There are other units that can do some healing, but most of them won't be obtained until late/postgame, or specifically if you help Roland deal with the Royalist scandal in chapter 15.
OK, I'm glad I gave this another shot; I'm enjoying it a lot now. I still think it's just a touch too talky-talky by volume but the battles are solid, the information you glean can be useful, and I like that the upgrade system is focused on, well, upgrades, rather than constantly replacing equipment.
Violentvixen
(She/Her)
Geela was a workhorse for my first playthrough, even though I was never quite sure Haste was doing that much for me.
Cordelia's regen is pretty great and the combination of offensive and healing magic in Narve made him a common deployment for me too. I never got the hang of Hossabara, I need to try her again.
This is my take on NG+ now that I have money! I've started deploying and winning battles without any healers at all with no regrets.
I read a review early on that said to skip Lionel and Medina on your first playthrough because the money you would spend on them is better spent on upgrades for other characters and I absolutely agree.
I have a real shortage of Silver, so I'm still stuck on Medina weapon level 1 even at 40 hours in and seemingly at the end of the game.
I have been playing with Hossabara more. You can make her relatively tanky. And if you select her ability to heal herself upon counterattack, she can get at least a little self-healing here and there.
Overall, I find mages to be relatively weak compared to archers. It's pretty rare being able to hit more than 2 enemies at a time with their AOE attacks. Add in the high TP cost of spells, lower range, more squishiness, and less ability to inflict status effects, I find archers to be better.
I have been playing with Hossabara more. You can make her relatively tanky. And if you select her ability to heal herself upon counterattack, she can get at least a little self-healing here and there.
Overall, I find mages to be relatively weak compared to archers. It's pretty rare being able to hit more than 2 enemies at a time with their AOE attacks. Add in the high TP cost of spells, lower range, more squishiness, and less ability to inflict status effects, I find archers to be better.
I cleared NG and got a pretty shaky ending.
In this particular path, Benedict becomes a fascinating character at the end and I was with him all the way. No regrets!
Amazing game! I might play a NG+ in a few months.
Is it clear how to get the best ending in NG+ or do you have to read a guide?
A tactic that really helped me get through the battles in the end was to rely on 2 tanks infuriating enemies. Infuriating a mage or healer is particularly effective because their physical attacks are so weak. Combine this with archers putting enemies to sleep / blinding / immobilizing. The goal is to have your enemies either attacking your tanks, sleeping, missing their attacks, or stuck away from the battle.
There isn't much opportunity for clever ways to increase your damage, but this is an effective tactic for reducing the damage you take.
Deposed Roland and aligned with Aefrost to take down Hyzante
In this particular path, Benedict becomes a fascinating character at the end and I was with him all the way. No regrets!
Amazing game! I might play a NG+ in a few months.
Is it clear how to get the best ending in NG+ or do you have to read a guide?
A tactic that really helped me get through the battles in the end was to rely on 2 tanks infuriating enemies. Infuriating a mage or healer is particularly effective because their physical attacks are so weak. Combine this with archers putting enemies to sleep / blinding / immobilizing. The goal is to have your enemies either attacking your tanks, sleeping, missing their attacks, or stuck away from the battle.
There isn't much opportunity for clever ways to increase your damage, but this is an effective tactic for reducing the damage you take.
There is a way to get the "golden route" without going to NG+, but it's tough.
As you've explored different paths, you've seen different hidden corners of the world, and learned secrets that alone are significant, but pooled together into one individual with vision can shake the world to its foundation.
You could also read a guide. It couldn't hurt.
- You must preserve the secret of Castle Wolffort's Wildfire defense.
- You must have the trust and vow of Svarog to fight at your/Roland's side when the time comes.
- You must uncover the secret of the Roselle and the Goddess's statue in the Source.
- (Not sure about this one) Serenoa must hear his father's Final Words.
But you CAN clear the Golden Route on game one.
There is one final test to unlock the Golden Route, but if you've gotten there, you should be able to get through on your own gumption.
Every guide I've seen about it says you need to go see Serenoa's father after he recovers.
For what's it's worth, here's what I did on my golden route playthrough:
Protected Roland, but didn't use any of the Fire traps
Delivered the the illegal salt shipment.
Revealed Roland's identity to Svarog
Defended the Roselle
Went back and saw Serenoa's father at chapter 15.
For what's it's worth, here's what I did on my golden route playthrough:
Protected Roland, but didn't use any of the Fire traps
Delivered the the illegal salt shipment.
Revealed Roland's identity to Svarog
Defended the Roselle
Went back and saw Serenoa's father at chapter 15.
Violentvixen
(She/Her)
I'm still going through my golden route attempt, but this is the guide I'm using (including answers to the final questions, which looks easy to screw up without a guide).
I'm roughly 30+ hours into my first play through and I've decided this game is a stone cold classic for me. The fact that there are seemingly many paths to unlock on multiple plays just sweetens that deal. I think my biggest hurdle to recognizing that was, as you can see my previous comment in this thread, approaching the game on its own terms rather than slotting it into some box established by a previous SRPG.
All of the characters are so unique, even those ostensibly of the same "class" that each battle requires careful consideration of party composition. No throwing TG Cid in with a bunch of Calculators and teleporting Ninjas and calling it a day. Buffs are important. Careful understanding and use of terrain is important. Healing, aggro, TP, all must be understood as a part of the whole and exploited.
Also the story is good? Like maybe very good? Decision points often feel like choosing between two not great options and then dealing with the consequences of that. I don't care if the game is a bit talky because I am very engaged with what is happening.
There's no online hooks, no "play forever" service game features. Just a well crafted SRPG in the classic style with a definitive beginning, middle and (presumably becuase I'm not there yet) end.
Bravo, Square Enix.
All of the characters are so unique, even those ostensibly of the same "class" that each battle requires careful consideration of party composition. No throwing TG Cid in with a bunch of Calculators and teleporting Ninjas and calling it a day. Buffs are important. Careful understanding and use of terrain is important. Healing, aggro, TP, all must be understood as a part of the whole and exploited.
Also the story is good? Like maybe very good? Decision points often feel like choosing between two not great options and then dealing with the consequences of that. I don't care if the game is a bit talky because I am very engaged with what is happening.
There's no online hooks, no "play forever" service game features. Just a well crafted SRPG in the classic style with a definitive beginning, middle and (presumably becuase I'm not there yet) end.
Bravo, Square Enix.
Violentvixen
(She/Her)
Just wrapped up the golden route. That was tough, but satisfying. I got a new opening sequence with vocals on the title song?! Note that new title sequence has a lot of spoilers!
I fucking love this game. Every time I was stuck I could do the mental battles or shuffle things around so it never felt grindy. The only time I was baffled was the Svarog battle I previously posted about but I did figure it out.
Characters I never got the hang of: Quahaug, Lionel, Medina, Hossabara. I never recruited Travis because I couldn't bear to turn over the Roselle.
As everyone else has said, the writing is just so good and the decisions so powerful.
I fucking love this game. Every time I was stuck I could do the mental battles or shuffle things around so it never felt grindy. The only time I was baffled was the Svarog battle I previously posted about but I did figure it out.
Characters I never got the hang of: Quahaug, Lionel, Medina, Hossabara. I never recruited Travis because I couldn't bear to turn over the Roselle.
As everyone else has said, the writing is just so good and the decisions so powerful.
I still find I just cannot play this game late at night for very long (very much a me problem) but the plot is kicking into gear and I can definitely see interesting alternate paths branching from the big choices. Also the score is pretty killer.
At level ??? Medina gets TP Physick. With that trait, every unit she uses an HP-restoring-item on gains 1 TP.
The reason that her "double item" skill needs to cost 3 TP is because if she hits herself with an item e.g. the ranged HP restore items, she can recoup most of that cost.
The ability to feed your back row ridiculous TP gains (and recover their HP, since they'll probably be getting hit by counter-casters) "mitigates" a lot of challenges.
The ability to feed your back row ridiculous TP gains (and recover their HP, since they'll probably be getting hit by counter-casters) "mitigates" a lot of challenges.
I ran into a scenario I couldn't beat easily in the defense of Wolffort in Ch.8. I've restarted or failed a scenario once or twice before now, but this one took me three tries, some leveling and some dedicated strategizing to pull off; I am not going for the best ending first time out, so I used the fire traps to get a bunch of soldiers off the map quick, and then lured Avlora into the top tier to set off a second one and take her out. That was fun. I ended with scenario with just Serenoa, Roland, Hughette, Jens, and Rudolph left standing.
Finished my first go-through (Frederica's path). Thoroughly hooked now, starting New Game+ tonight (and skipping scenes I've seen, hah! But the story got interesting as it went). Seems like a lot of us went this route first? That confrontation with Benedict was heartbreaking, legitimately.
Benedict is a particularly well-written character, probably the best one in the game. He's scary in his single-mindedness, and not really that different from Gustadolph or Idore in terms of scheming and willingness to sacrifice whatever need be for his aims, which is a smart move to keep the decisions ethically difficult. None of the powers involved aren't self-interested, even if Serenoa can try to be more idealistic himself. Villainy a matter of perspective, etc.
I'm entertaining myself by trying to figure out how old Hossabara is supposed to be. The art makes her look 40 or 50 at most, but she had a son who died in the Saltiron War, 30 years ago? How's that figure? Anyway she's a character I didn't use all that much through most of the game, but had her out in the last battle for reasons, and while she almost died a few times she actually managed to score the final blow!
The challenge level is great; a few battles I had to try three or four times, but it was always picking at the right strategy that did it, not any particular trick, so each attempt wasn't frustrating. Most I won on the first try but saw ways I could have done them better. I like the upgrade system a lot—there's virtually no grinding required, but you can take time replaying mock battles to get extra materials or bring neglected characters up to speed quickly if you want.
It feels heavily influenced not only by TRPG classics like FFT and such, but also by board games like Imperial Assault and Descent (all in turn being influenced by other computer and board/minis games)—the once-per-mission powers, the TP resource for abilities, the specialized roles for each character in contrast to a more open job system, etc. It has a very boardgamey feel to me in the battles.
Benedict is a particularly well-written character, probably the best one in the game. He's scary in his single-mindedness, and not really that different from Gustadolph or Idore in terms of scheming and willingness to sacrifice whatever need be for his aims, which is a smart move to keep the decisions ethically difficult. None of the powers involved aren't self-interested, even if Serenoa can try to be more idealistic himself. Villainy a matter of perspective, etc.
I'm entertaining myself by trying to figure out how old Hossabara is supposed to be. The art makes her look 40 or 50 at most, but she had a son who died in the Saltiron War, 30 years ago? How's that figure? Anyway she's a character I didn't use all that much through most of the game, but had her out in the last battle for reasons, and while she almost died a few times she actually managed to score the final blow!
The challenge level is great; a few battles I had to try three or four times, but it was always picking at the right strategy that did it, not any particular trick, so each attempt wasn't frustrating. Most I won on the first try but saw ways I could have done them better. I like the upgrade system a lot—there's virtually no grinding required, but you can take time replaying mock battles to get extra materials or bring neglected characters up to speed quickly if you want.
It feels heavily influenced not only by TRPG classics like FFT and such, but also by board games like Imperial Assault and Descent (all in turn being influenced by other computer and board/minis games)—the once-per-mission powers, the TP resource for abilities, the specialized roles for each character in contrast to a more open job system, etc. It has a very boardgamey feel to me in the battles.
Last edited:
I actually reloaded for it, I wanted to do the Francesca path first for consistency with other choices I'd made.
You know what would be fantastic as an add-on for this game? A level designer.
You know what would be fantastic as an add-on for this game? A level designer.
Last edited:
After playing Triangle Strategy, I had the itch for more tactics so I went back and finally played the Black Eagle House in Fire Emblem: Three Houses.
There are some plot similarities between
Edelgard and the Empire - Aesfrost
Church of Seiros - Hyzante
The Triangle Strategy story and combat is much better. Three Houses having both an evil church AND a character with amnesia is like JRPG cliche double duty.
There are some plot similarities between
Edelgard and the Empire - Aesfrost
Church of Seiros - Hyzante
The Triangle Strategy story and combat is much better. Three Houses having both an evil church AND a character with amnesia is like JRPG cliche double duty.
This is extremely picky but I'm not sure why Aesfrost is a duchy if the duke isn't under a king, and Aesfrost seems like its own independent nation, the same way Hyzante is a theocratic empire.
I need to go back and finish 3H; I missed the offramp for the "go with Edelgard" path and lost several of my best characters, and the scrubs I am trying to train up aren't doing the job right.
I need to go back and finish 3H; I missed the offramp for the "go with Edelgard" path and lost several of my best characters, and the scrubs I am trying to train up aren't doing the job right.
Violentvixen
(She/Her)
I did not know you needed a king to have a duke? That's interesting.
There are (or were) sovereign duchies.
Generally they're the level under a king, I think. So maybe the duchy is supposed to have broken away from Glenbrook at some point in the past, which would make sense actually. Maybe it's in the setting info you find, I haven't read deep into that.
I started NG+ and whoof, even that first mission at the docks was pretty tough! I had to try it a few times, bring Benedict up to the recommended level, and play very defensively to finish it. The tournament was easier, but enemies having access to leveled-up tricks makes the scenarios a challenge even on normal.
EDIT: Anyone else notice how the Decisive Battle theme takes a hard right into "whimsical 50s romance opening titles" territory partway in before switching back to heroic fanfare?
Last edited:
That's rough. The fork in the story is probably at least 20 hours in.
The Crimson Flower ending was more satisfying to me than the Golden Deer and Blue Lions routes, so I can... kind of recommend it. I do wish there were more cut-scenes and a little more drama. The story feels rushed at the end.
Violentvixen
(She/Her)
Yep. First time I encountered it I was on headphones and thought the same. Then I was playing on the TV and my spouse came over in confusion to see what was going on in the game to trigger music like that.
It's just kind of a funny interlude, along with the jazzy horn blasts from The Incredibles. Overall a great score though! The two "March" themes are particularly rousing battle music.
Last edited: