Following the success of its Steam release last year, Fort Triumph is now available on console Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and retrocompatible with PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. Fort Triumph is a turn-based tactical role-playing game that evokes the mechanics already seen in XCOM and Heroes of Might and Magic, while adding unique settings and interactions. CookieByte Entertainment, a small studio based in Tel Aviv, has definitely piqued the interest of fans of the genre, and users have already shown high expectations for the title.
Gameplay
We say it straight: despite the great initial impressions at the start of the game, Fort Triumph fails to meet expectations. After creating our first match, we’re immediately thrown into a tutorial that is, frankly, not a tutorial at all: it shows us some basic functions but leaves the interpretation of most subsequent commands to us, some of which are essential. It was very frustrating to find out how to perform certain actions, to the point of having to pause.
Once the "tutorial" is completed, the protagonists of our story will be introduced: three young adventurers who, tired of their work, found a family and set out in search of adventures.
Battle dynamics
One of the first things we’ll be introduced to is the possibility of using the environment as a weapon to our advantage. Our heroes will have the ability to knock down trees, making them collapse onto enemies’ heads, or kick large boulders at them. Using the environment is crucial in combat because it allows the application of status effects such as stun and massive damage, which not only will cause the enemy to lose health but will also prevent them from attacking in the next turn.
Every attack we attempt will display a success percentage for that attack, the damage we would deal if successful, and any additional status effects. The percentage will also be accurate, but it leaves a strong sense of frustration when your attack, with a 90% success chance, fails three times in a row and the enemies, with their 35% success chance, hit you almost every time.
From the very first battles, it will be clear that the "Permanent Death" option is a major pain point: if we lose an hero in battle, we can re-buy them for a short period of time using "farmable" coins within the game map, but the cost is high and farming these coins is far from quick. We will therefore be faced with difficult choices: recover my level 5 hero or buy another one and skip the entire map run to gather coins?
Racing around the game map won’t be our only objective—we’ll have to defend our castle if the enemy explorers attack it. Once captured by the enemy, we’ll be forced to fight them to regain access to our resources, and believe me, it won’t be easy.
Story
The story of Fort Triumph isn't particularly original, nor is it especially bad. However, its length is questionable; playing at a "casual" pace, the story lasts approximately 4 hours, decidedly too short for a title of this kind.
Graphics
The graphical style of Fort Triumph is very simple and overall pleasing to look at.
Accessibility
I found the command explanations in Fort Triumph to be rather sparse, and I frequently made mistakes—such as skipping my turn or attacking the enemy with the wrong move—in the heat of battle, desperately trying to find the right command by pressing various buttons on the controller. I also encountered translation errors in Italian that made some phrases utterly illogical. Nevertheless, the mere intention to localise the title textually into Italian is certainly commendable, as this has become a rarity for us humble players of the beautiful country.
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