Triangle Strategy, one of our most anticipated games of this year, recently received a final Prologue Demo that covers the first three chapters of the game. In this demo, we get a generous helping of its fantastic world and backstory, a taste of its gameplay, and even its unit progression system. You’ll get about 3-5 hours of story and gameplay, which is more than enough to let you know if the game is for you or not.

To sweeten the offer, your saved game will be ported over to the full version of the game and the Japanese language is available in this demo for those of us sensitive to certain voices.

Based on what we’ve gleaned from the story, it is a period of peace between the three sovereign nations in Triangle Strategy‘s universe. For a period of time, they have battled over the coveted resources that resulted in the Saltiron War. You take command of Serenoa, a young lord hailing from Glenbrook, at the turning point of his life when he inherits his lordship from his father and is introduced to his wife-to-be, Frederica of Aerfrost – the half-sister of the Archduke and a progeny to the cursed race of Roselle.

All is fair in love and turn-based war

Triangle Strategy starts off strong by throwing you into a battle right away, giving you a quick overview of what to expect. The combat is straightforward, and if you’ve dabbled in this genre before, all the basics are there for you to employ.

What’s new compared to other similar games is the ability to flank enemies, allowing for follow-up attacks. Taking advantage of enemy weaknesses also grants you kudos points, which could be used to purchase special items and abilities at the encampment.

Unlike Fire Emblem, Tactics Ogre, and to a certain extent Final Fantasy Tactics, Triangle Strategy doesn’t have permadeath, opting for a more story-centric experience. When one of your units falls in battle, they merely lose the opportunity to gain levels, which you can easily recover back at your encampment when you unlock the Tavern where you can grind it out in the mock battles.

Speaking of the encampment, this is where you can upgrade your units, purchase supplies, and strengthen your equipment. Resources are scarce, as you can only purchase a limited supply from shopkeepers or win them through battles. The cost of powering up your units becomes cumulative as the resource ask increases with each upgrade.

Story-centric gameplay

Much of your experience in this prologue demo is setting up the political backstory of Triangle Strategy, which may be a bit slow for players wanting continuous action. You can engage in the Main Story while checking out some of the Side Stories to see what other the characters are up to, giving you a view of how the moving parts interact with each other.

Every chapter ends with the featured battle, but prior to that, you’re allowed an exploration phase where you can survey the battlefield, collect loot, and strengthen your resolve by speaking to allies and would-be foes. When combat begins, you can prepare accordingly, setting up your unit placement and applying what you’ve learned through your conversations in battle.

The way Triangle Strategy subverts the genre is the mechanic that allows the units under your command to vote for decisions that branch storylines. Of course, you can sway the vote in your favor by attempting to persuade other units to favor your decision.

At the start of Chapter 3, you’re given a choice to visit Aesfrost or Hyzante. Your party is split on where to go until you identify an undecided member who will swing the vote to your favor. I feel this adds more weight and thought to your own decision, which adds more importance to the story-based gameplay.

There’s so much value to this demo, as it provides quite a lot of content but also piques your interest in the final product, which I’m even more excited about now.

Triangle Strategy launches for the Nintendo Switch on March 4.