'Unicorn Overlord' review: An old-school tactical RPG with modern updates
If you're a fan of Vanillaware games, know this: Tomorrow is an event. It marks the first new game from the developer since 2019's "13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim" and the first tactical role-playing game the team has made since 2011's "Grand Knight's History." In this visually impressive adventure, you'll rally your troops and fight enemies in challenging battles with a variety of units. If you love games like "Fire Emblem" or "Final Fantasy Tactics," then this is a game you should have on your radar.
"Unicorn Overlord" is set to debut on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and Nintendo Switch March 8. No matter which current-generation video game console you have, you'll be able to play it.
Atlus provided me with a code to try out "Unicorn Overlord" ahead of the multi-platform game's release. I completed the game on PlayStation 5 so I could share my thoughts on it -- and whether it's worth your time and money.
Read on for my take on Vanillaware's newest game. Or, if you've already made up your mind (hint: the game is worth it) tap the button below to pre-order a copy.
Why I love 'Unicorn Overlord'
"Unicorn Overlord" focuses on the exiled Prince Alain of Cornia, who seeks to free the continent of Fevrith from the despotic Zenoiran Empire. As you lead the Liberation Army, you'll march through five nations, freeing them one village or fort at a time.
While the story is pretty linear aside from some key divergent points, "Unicorn Overlord" could be classified as an open-world game. While you can easily beeline through the game by moving from required battle to required battle, there is a vast amount of side content and secrets to find as you explore the world map.
You also might want to take the time to help rebuild the areas you liberate. Ten years under the Zenoiran Empire has left most settlements in ruin. By delivering supplies to rebuild, you can gain helpful items and gear and unlock new services.
Going out of your way can also score you new recruits for the Liberation Army, as well as side stories that help build out the lore of Fevrith. From a practical point of view, you'll want to get as many units as possible, because your combat strength largely depends on party composition.
Each character, or unit, has its own level and equipment, which influences its individual strength. However, you'll rarely use a lone character. Instead, you'll group up to six characters into a party, which can then be deployed to a battlefield.
Combat is played from a top-down perspective, much like that seen in "Fire Emblem." However, unlike "Fire Emblem," which largely depends on a rock, paper, scissors-style system, "Unicorn Overlord's" combat is a bit more complex. Party composition is crucial to victory, as different classes synergize with each other to significant effect.
For example, if you have some cavalry units and you want to prevent them from getting hit, you can place them on the back row and put a thief, which naturally has high evasion, on the front row. So, when enemies attack, your thief will easily dodge most foes, which leaves them open to counterattack by your cavalry units. On the flip side, a party consisting of hunters, who can hit thieves with their bows, and griffon knights, who are strong against cavalry, can counter the previous party easily.
However, fighting is only partially hands-on. You're in charge of maneuvering parties across the battlefield, but once they engage in combat, their actions are automated based on gambits you can set (or that can be set automatically). Unfortunately, this is where the game's interface gets a bit convoluted.
You'll eventually have an enormous number of units on your roster, and you'll have to equip each of them with gear and gambits. There's an optimize button that can be helpful, but there's no way to make it affect just gear or just gambits. Instead, it'll change both, which can be frustrating; some character's gambits are not set properly by default. The solution is to not auto-optimize units that you've set custom gambits for, but it's easy to accidentally fudge this when you're handling 60-plus units at a time.
Of course, as a Vanillaware game, "Unicorn Overlord" features magnificent 2D sprites for each character. These are truly the pinnacle of 2D art in gaming and give the game a retro charm while also being impressively contemporary. Even more remarkable is that each unit has a wide array of animations, negating the traditional weak point of sprite-based productions.
'Unicorn Overlord' final thoughts
Any fan of classic tactical RPG should adore this game. It feels like a step back to the golden age of sprites with the quality-of-life features of a contemporary game. It's also a great entry point to the genre and presents a challenge without requiring long grinds and ridiculous levels of min/maxing.
