World-busting Strategy
Fantasy and tactical RPG/Simulators are two of a kind. From fan-favorites such as Final Fantasy Tactics to the fantastic Sci-Fi take in the XCOM series, the genre lends itself to nearly endless possibilities given its flexibility. Fort Triumph, out on Steam April 26, is a fantastic take on a classic combo. Fantasy tropes with a clever attitude and a focus on environmental-based combat makes taking in your surroundings strategic and fun. Creating a domino effect to dominate your foes is awesome to see and fun to pull off. Once you start pushing the ins and outs of the various systems the game offers, it can be tough to pull yourself away.
Fun and Flashy
Fort Triumph has a colorful and clever aesthetic with visuals that pop. It has a fun and chaotic atmosphere with a classic Warcraft style quality to it, aided by randomly generated names during skirmishes that ooze personality backed by satisfying character customization. The campaign has a matching atmosphere, following the story of your strongest warriors on their campaign against the forces of evil during uncertain times. The title brings it all together with 3 battlegrounds that each have their own mechanics and atmosphere. The campaign brings these together by offering battles that mix these map types up to keep you on your toes, given the unique mechanics of each environment such as the magical urns in the Crypt maps.
The emphasis on using your environment in battle makes for fun and interesting gameplay. Knocking over trees and pillars, kicking enemies into streams or ponds and even pushing them into each other is always advised and yields strong rewards. Playing the game on Classic difficulty is challenging combined with the random nature of maps, especially given that they are randomly generated again if you retry combat or lose. This roguelite aspect makes choosing the best play the first time always advisable.
The Local Warlord
Whether it be Skirmish or Campaign mode, constructing your base is fun and essential to building an army that can crush all opposition. At the beginning you are given your local base, but as you progress and conquer both enemy army and local rabble alike, you will discover a world full of opportunity. From Peasants, to Trolls, to Heroes, the world of Fort Triumph yields worthy opposition and bountiful treasures. Enemies drop potions or more during combat and the rewards in the open world give huge boosts to your economy or army that can give you the edge in your conquest. While there is no multiplayer, Fort Triumph boasts 4 factions with different advantage and growth options, putting their own spins on an already unique combat system. Whether it be the hulking Earth Guardian trolls or the tenacious Humans, it is fun and satisfying to see your technology in action and how it works against your opponents.
Your army can be as unique as your faction in Fort Triumph. While each hero conforms to one of 4 archetypes, each level in their experience brings fun and unique customization options. From gaining an extra action in a turn, to healing nearby allies after successful kills, building your fighters is fun and adds undeniable flavor to the experience. Due to the semi-random nature of progression, even two characters of the same class can end up wildly different. This offers for a ton of avenues for experimentation. Add treasures such as the War Mask that increases speed and power or the various potions found within the world and you will find yourself as engaged with building and gearing up your forces as you are with using them in battle.
A Triumphant Experience
Fort Triumph is a one-of-a-kind experience. It is fun to watch the world literally crumble at the might of your strategic prowess and heartbreaking to watch your forces fall against your enemies. The smallest advantage could yield the biggest rewards, giving each decision weight that gives even the smallest ones an empowering feeling. The 4 factions are fun to learn and seeing the nuances in their societal advantages is engaging and fun. The level of polish and fun personality makes this a great title for everyone to check out. The character customization and base-building is a fun and rewarding experience for the hard-core strategy fan as well. If you are looking for chaotic fun with a destructive edge, pick up Fort Triumph.
