Triangle Strategy - Switch

 

When Square Enix revealed a new game under the working title Triangle Strategy, they implied that the finished game would be called something else. It appeared to be a spiritual successor to Final Fantasy Tactics, so I was immediately interested. The HD-2D art style, utilized on many Square Enix games of late, looked amazing. It took some time, but ultimately my wife gave it to me for Christmas in 2023.  

The story follows a young Lord named Serenoa as he prepares to wed the sister of another nation's archduke. Meanwhile, the three nations of Norzelia are working together on a mining project, 30 years after a bitter war. Something is found in the mines that sets into motion a betrayal and invasion, kicking off another brutal war. 

As you play through the game, there are opportunities to choose where you will go next. You explore the area and talk to NPCs who can provide you with information that you can then take back to your party and try to convince members to choose a particular path. The game's first few choice moments have two options, and continues the rest of the game with three options each time. It allows for four different endings and a high level of replay value. 

The music by Akira Senju in the game is top-notch. Many times, I would just sit and listen to the music and not do anything at all. Square Enix games tend to have great music, so this should not be a surprise. 

I told my wife the other day that this is one of my favorite games I've played on my Switch. No hyperbole. My favorite may be Breath of the Wild, but this would be very close. Come to think of it, I've played several games since I started blogging here that I have not posted. I'm not sure I want to go back and do that now, though.

My Rating: *****

NEXT: I am starting Final Fantasy VII Remake: Intergrade now, which follows Yuffie. I will then play through Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. I had debated playing the original FFVII next, but I think I'll do that after Rebirth. Or maybe finish Arkham Knight.  I have time to think about it.

Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered

 

Spider-Man has been my second favorite superhero for most of my life. First is Batman, but Spidey comes in a very close second. Maybe 1.5 on the list. Anyway, I've played many Spider-Man games, such as Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro on the original PlayStation, Spider-Man (the movie) and Spider-Man 2 (the movie) on the GameCube. Then there's Spider-Man and the X-Men in Arcade's Revenge for the SNES. That game was cool. While there are others that don't come to mind, there are still many I have yet to play. 

Back when Final Fantasy VII: Remake was nearing its release, I found a great deal on a PS4, which came with three games. I noticed that Best Buy was selling Marvel Spider-Man Game of the Year edition for $15, so I knew I had to snag it. I didn't realize it would be almost five years before I would play it. In fact, in preparation for Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth, I purchased a PS5. Luckily, I was able to upgrade Spider-Man (and the Miles Morales version) to the PS5 editions. 

On to the game itself. The story is not based on any storylines in the comics, so it does a few things that are different, and that's ok. Kingpin is the main villain, but a few others appear throughout it. Overall, a really good story for this game. The controls are fantastic, and I had a lot of fun battling enemies. The boss fights could be very tough, but you could keep trying after you die.

The music is really good in this game. There are many collectibles that you can try to gather, and while I did try to do just about everything, it wasn't worth it to me to get all the secret photos and the highest scores on the challenges. 

I played this on my PlayStation Portal. It was usually great, but lately I've had some connection issues, which I don't think are the fault of the Portal. I did finally try plugging my headphones into the controller, so I may play further PS5 games out in the living room.

My Rating: *****

NEXT: My wife has bought me a few games over the years, and I always try to prioritize those. A couple Christmases ago she got me Triangle Strategy for the Switch. I'll be playing that on my Switch 2 (I don't have any Switch 2 games yet, but I do play to upgrade to the Expansion Pack online to upgrade BotW and TotK when I am ready to play the latter). After that, I'm probably going to do Final Fantasy 7: Remake: Intergrade.