We played Triangle Strategy in mixed reality on Quest 3 - is it worth it?
Square Enix's Triangle Strategy for Meta Quest was released last week. MIXED tried it out with Quest 3. Here are our impressions.
The original game was released on Nintendo Switch and PC in 2022, and now you can play the tactical RPG on your Meta Quest, either in VR or in a passthrough mode.
I played Triangle Strategy for the first time and will only talk about the VR/MR adaptation in this article. As far as I know, it's a straight port and content-wise, nothing has changed from the flat original.
How Triangle Strategy plays in mixed reality
Triangle Strategy alternates between battles, which are shows in colorful 3D environments and purely narrative 2D cutscenes displayed on a large screen. There is also a picturesque 3D map on which you can choose main and side quests.
The game's mixed reality mode is a passthrough view that overlays your physical surroundings, nothing more, nothing less. There is no interaction between the game and the environment or anything like that. If you like to stay in reality while you play, you'll still appreciate the mixed reality mode.
The 3D environments in the style of classic Japanese SNES-era RPGs look nothing short of stunning in VR or MR thanks to stereoscopic 3D and Quest 3's clear lenses.
You can use your hands to move and rotate the 3D environment freely in space. Unfortunately, zooming or tilting is not supported, but if you activate Meta Quest's lying down mode, you can calibrate the 3D environment along a vertical axis and play Triangle Strategy while lying on your couch or bed, which is great.
Aside from that, Triangle Strategy hardly benefits from VR and MR, and by and large the game remains stuck in the 2D medium from which it originated. Yes, you use the controllers to select and move your characters in space, but the menus are all flat and feel like elements that don't belong to the medium.
Is it worth buying? And for whom?
Triangle Strategy is optimized for Quest 2, and if you use the Quest Games Optimizer and really want the 3D environments to shine, you can increase the resolution by about 50 percent, although only the 3D environments and the map will benefit from this. The higher resolution has no effect on the pre-rendered 2D cutscenes.
For Meta Quest, there aren't many games that offer more than 50 hours of entertainment, and even fewer tactical RPGs. Triangle Strategy is therefore very welcome. If you like the genre, like the art style, or have always wanted to play Triangle Strategy and have a Quest 3 or 3s, then I can recommend the game. If you have already played Triangle Strategy, the decision is more difficult. Is it worth it just for the stereoscopic 3D and mixed reality aspect? You have to decide for yourself.
Alternatively, you can pick up Demeo, which was built from the ground up for virtual reality, supports multiplayer, and will keep you hooked for hours as well.
Triangle Strategy is available in the Horizon Store.
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