Fort Triumph

Developer:CookieByte Entertainment Publisher:All in! Games Price: 24.99 Coming soon to Switch in 2020! In humble beginnings, this game began as a Kickstarter campaign. I can only imagine that the brains behind Fort Triumph had the idea to stick both the RPG and Strategy genres into a pretty powerful blender and see how the results tasted. The end all being that this is a delicious combination in general, but no smoothie is complete without a few additions to keep it from being boring, and the developers here have went above and beyond to make sure that that’s the case. In what can only be described as a very alive and colorful world, your campaign opens in lush forests filled with trees and rocks that, trust me, are just as relevant to you as your own character. With such amazing attention to detail, I am asbolutely sure that the graphics had to have been assembled with love and care. The depth of color really pops, and while things are bright and cheery looking, they don’t detract at all from the fact that you’re waging war here. Menus are detailed and easy to understand, and icons make total sense. The end result here is a wonderfully crafted experience that looks to be the pinnacle of professional game design at a price point that not only is surprising, but hard to resist. Fort Triumph consists of a three-act campaign that has you managing a swath of companions as you build out their skill trees with points from playing through the scenarios. Each character has branching paths, allowing you a level of customization for their classes. While the campaign alone is worth the price tag, up to 8 players can also participate in online co-op, and any one of them can be subbed in for an AI character instead if you have a smaller friend group wanting to game together. In today’s world where social distancing and stay-at-home orders are commonplace, online functionality is more important than ever in being able to have fun experiences with your friends without risking illness. Now, battle is similar to things you may have experienced, but there’s a layer of thought that has to go into the utilization of skills. Making the best use of these skills is a must to succeed, because should a comrade fall in battle, that’s it — they’re gone forever. Permadeath mechanics aren’t lost on the Strategy RPG crowd, with popular series Fire Emblem being one of the biggest franchises to feature it. Fans of such games will be right at home with Fort Triumph, and will likely enjoy the more expanded battle system. Where other games have a rock/paper/scissors combat style, Fort Triumph boasts skills that can be selected and used in battle. Utilizing these skills can turn the tides of war in your favor, but learning when to use them can take a little bit of wisdom to take full advantage of each character’s capabilities — but take heart, friend, your abilities on your characters aren’t the only ways to wage war in Fort Triumph. The beautiful world around you is also not just for show. Trees can be hidden behind to avoid damage and rocks can be picked up and thrown. This interactivity creates some real depth to gameplay and I found myself gunning for cover more often than I expected to, and was rewarded more than once by nestling myself in the foliage to avoid damage only to pop right back out and cause chaos for the enemy ranks. While generally tactical combat sets me on edge and has me with a concerned and calculated facial expression that more than once has been compared to “Resting **** Face,” or RBF, I was usually smirking with glee about being able to use the field for more than just soaking up the blood and tears of my enemies. Cutscenes are works of art entirely, and the music lends well to the ambience. I was generally humming and bobbing along to the music while laughing at the less-than-serious plot — and that’s the thing, this game is made to be FUN. Most strategy RPG’s have heavy and dark tones with stories full of political intrigue and sometimes tragedy after tragedy. Fort Triumph is a parody of a tale that reminds you that a game doesn’t have to be grown-up in order to be good, and that sometimes the silly things are just as, if not more enjoyable than their contemporary counterparts. Pros: -Stunning visuals and sound -Fun story that is a joy to play through -Great multiplayer Cons: -You eventually run out of story Overall: 9.5/10 Fort Triumph is an absolutely joyful experience. It’s immersive world is a work of art from the ground up, with every detail thoroughly crafted to meld with the core of it’s gameplay. The only complaint I have is that eventually its over, and that I would like for it to be a bit less of a resource hog, but in all honesty, nothing should deter you from picking this up and giving it a spin.

HOMM map system + great turn-based combat with a modern XCOM like twist. I liked the role of physics in the game - it supports the replayability very well, there is a lot of fun in trying different approaches to battles. It's what we all loved in HOMM3 but on a different level when it comes to fighting the enemies - really enjoyed that. Fort Triumph has a fun setting, interesting, silly characters, and some intelligent humor. The only thing I'd like to see more is... additional content! Definitely worth buying!