Triangle Strategy Producer Interview Create a new era of wargames

Thanks to bandai Namco for the invitation, we participated in the media interview for Triangular Strategy and chatted with game producer Mr. Yasuaki Arai about some of the players' concerns.

In the interview, Mr. Yasuaki Arai introduced the design concept of the Triangle Strategy game system, including the game's plot, difficulty, and the idea and design of the balance system, as well as his own views and evaluations of the game's content.

Producer Yasuaki Arai

The following is a detailed interview:

Q: Most of the team's past works have been mainly RPGs, why did Triangle Strategy become a strategy wargame type game?

A: Because we think this type of game is the most suitable for expressing the form of "group portrait drama" that is difficult to express in previous works.

Q: What are the similarities and differences between Triangle Strategy and other strategy battle gamers?

A: The similarity is that they all use a beveled perspective with ground height difference, and all are based on the timeline turn-based combat based on this perspective. The difference is that many times the game's plot does not develop in the direction the player wants.

Q: What lessons does Triangle Strategy apply to Travelers Astray? What difficulties were encountered during the production process?

A: I wasn't involved in the development of the previous game, so I don't have much to say, but we did refer to a lot of material from The Wrong Traveler during the development process. The biggest challenge we encountered in the development process was "how to create a strategy game that fits the current game habits of players". In detail, it's about streamlining the numbers (TP) players need to know, making the UI clearer and more understandable, improving gameplay (chasing, cooperating, adding unique units, and keeping the game balanced), and so on.

Q: Why did you choose Mr. Akira Senju to collaborate on the soundtrack of Triangle Strategy?

A: The main reason is that the production team itself knows Sensei Chizumi, and on the other hand, it is also because the magnificent music created by Sensei Chizumi in works such as Ōkawa Drama is very suitable for this work.

Q: What feedback has the player community given since the demo version was released to the present? What adjustments did the team make based on player feedback?

A: We have received a lot of feedback from players, and the adjustments made to the official version are all sorted out on the website https://www.jp.square-enix.com/trianglestrategy/enquete/ (Note: scientific Internet access is required), welcome to refer to it.

Q: Will there be any future DLC updates that extend the story or supplement the prequel story? Will you consider a sequel?

A: There are no plans to launch a follow-up DLC for the time being, and I will be very happy if I have the opportunity to launch a sequel, and I would like to ask for your support.

Q: Do you have any plans to port this game to other platforms?

A: There is no such plan for the time being.

Q: Why did you choose the three-way confrontation and the Salt and Iron War as the background of the story? Are there any historical facts to refer to in the process of finalizing the background setting?

A: We aimed to create a "story that adults can enjoy from the bottom of their hearts", and this kind of setting is the easiest for players to integrate into the plot. As for the backstory, in the process of finalization, it did not refer to historical facts, but only referred to a lot of literature in the setting of salt and country.

Q: What is the reason for choosing to choose the direction to decide on the balance, rather than directly letting the player decide through dialogue?

A: Because we initially decided on a policy of creating a "story experience that changes as the player's play style changes," we think this setting best reflects that goal.

Q: As the game's plot deepens, the sense of "difficult choice" brought about by the balance system will gradually increase, and many players also say that some choices are very difficult to make. How did the development team combine the system with the storyline and gameplay at the beginning of the system design?

A: From the very beginning we decided to follow the player's beliefs and justice to make "every option look like the right answer" and design options, lines, and exploration text for that purpose. Because the main story of this game cannot easily be added to the battle, we decided to give meaning to each battle. Therefore, the process and decision of directing the situation to war should also be of great significance. It would be our pleasure if you could experience these choices.

Q: Which of the three routes of the balance is the producer's favorite?

A: Benedict's decision route. Even now, thinking back to mr. Nakamura's plot during Roland's duel still makes my blood boil. The decisions and strategies made by The Benedict Military Division to lead the protagonist to the path of overlord made me rack my brains, so I had a special affection for him.

Q: Do you have any suggestions for players to choose the route?

A: Don't refer to the strategy when you look at the week, please follow your inner beliefs and justice to make choices.

Q: The proportion of the plot of this game is very large, why is it arranged like this? How does the team handle the balance between plot and combat?

A: In keeping with our motto of "delivering the best stories and improving the happiness of people around the world," which players are looking forward to. Based on the theme of "for adults", we will be careful not to let the battle happen too casually (to make a clear decision with whom and why). This led us to scale back the battles in the story, but also to make each battle richer. Reduced battles are presented in the form of "battle deductions", allowing players to enjoy a variety of changes. (We consider the plot separately from the weight of the battle to maintain the proper balance)

Q: The character's class in the game is fixed and cannot be transferred horizontally, why is it designed like this?

A: This is also to implement the theme of "creating a strategy game that meets the game habits of modern players". We paid special attention to making the game easy to pick up and easy to play, which is why we adopted this design. And if you use a custom class system with a high degree of freedom, each character can change jobs at will, and the best class combination will be generated (e.g. all characters shoot arrows from high), thus destroying the diversity of the game. Therefore, the development team decided on the current direction after many discussions, that is, to make each unit have easy-to-grasp features, so that players can enjoy the fun of arranging the team from a strategic point of view. This choice also makes the personality and background of each character more three-dimensional, and the lines and images of the characters are more convincing, which is also helpful for writing the plot.

Q: The medals needed for class upgrades in the game are difficult to obtain, and the accumulation of points required to obtain powerful stunts is not easy, is it deliberately designed in this way, why is it designed like this?

A: Yes, it's deliberately designed because we want players to think about how to allocate limited resources and enjoy strategic fun. On the other hand, the original design of the game is to hope that the player will play more weeks, which will also give players the motivation to play more weeks.

Q: Under the Normal difficulty, it seems that the level of the character of the Weekly Eye will never keep up with the recommended level of the level, and it is not easy to obtain resources, why is it designed like this?

A: The main reason is to allow players to level up based on imaginary battles. Another reason is that based on the experience system of this game, even if the character's level is not yet recommended, he can catch up in battle. Even if the battle is lost, the experience gained in the battle can be retained, so we want the player to fight with a more relaxed mood. When I played the game in the final stages of game development, I often deliberately challenged at a level below the recommended level to enjoy the fun of leveling up in thrilling battles.

Q: Will you consider introducing a simpler or more difficult mode to take care of players who want to focus on experiencing the story or prefer to challenge the difficulty? (Although the game already has lower difficulty options, some players who are not good at wargames will still find it difficult)

A: Unfortunately, there are no such plans at this time.

Q: What are your expectations for the Triangle Strategy? Now that the game has been released, do you think the game has met your expectations?

A: I want it to be a game that will get a lot of players interested and enjoy it for a long time. And the feedback I got was so good that it exceeded my expectations, especially in terms of the game's storyline. As the head of the game, I would have been worried about the player's perception of the plot of Triangle Strategy, but I was relieved that the game's plot was actually well received by many players.

Q: Finally, what would you like to say to the player?

A: Thank you very much for playing this game, and hearing you say that you "had a great time" in the game is our biggest motivation. Please continue to support us in the future.