Urge for food whetted.
For me, essentially the most thrilling announcement to come back out of this week’s Nintendo Direct Accomplice Showcase was the instant availability of the Unicorn Overlord demo. Via quite a few coaching movies, SEGA and Atlus have been constructing the hype for this technique RPG for some time now. So, Wednesday evening, I put away my goings on (after AEW Dynamite, anyway) and dug into this latest title from the workforce at Vanillaware.
My ideas? I’m hooked. However earlier than I checklist off the explanations, right here’s slightly on why I knew I’d be. Unicorn Overlord is a tactical RPG on a grand scale. Set within the fantasy world of Fevrith, the sport follows Alain, a would-be prince now exiled when the dominion is overthrown by Normal Valmore. Alain seeks to reclaim the throne, however might want to unite the person international locations of Fevrith to take action.
A corrupt ruler to face, a military to construct, a world to discover, a tense political local weather to navigate…it sounds fairly Hearth Emblemy, doesn’t it? Effectively, it’s, nevertheless it’s a lot extra. Let’s check out what I’ve already discovered by way of the demo.
The demo is timed, so how far you get will rely on how rapidly you progress. You’ll get 5 hours, which is greater than sufficient to whet your urge for food for technique gaming goodness.
After all, your progress will carry over to the total recreation ought to once you determine to purchase it. Nevertheless, it doesn’t appear to be there shall be any bonuses for individuals who tried the demo earlier than shopping for.
We get our conventional act of heroic sacrifice right away, with a extra stunning flip of occasions quickly thereafter. In case you’re as into JRPG melodrama as I’m, Unicorn Overlord seems to be positive to fulfill.
The overworld is a residing factor right here. Not like different tactical RPGs that simply shove icons round a map as a narrator speaks, Unicorn Overlord prices you exploration. There are gadgets to search out (designated and hidden), characters to talk with, and enemies to interact or keep away from.
Conversely, there are not any cities…at the very least not but. You’ll see and may work together with cities and buildings on the map, however simply to tug up menus for getting/promoting gadgets, recruiting mercenaries, chartering ships, and so forth. Increase these cities makes them extra helpful to you, a singular spin that retains the sport energetic once you’re not engaged in fight.
Talking of mercenaries, you get to customise them! The sport offers you loads of plot-driven characters to regulate, however you even have the flexibility to rent reinforcements with some choices for altering their look. Oddly, when naming them, it’s a must to choose from a predetermined checklist. A lot for my concept of naming characters after members of the band Unicorn. Sorry, ABEDON!
Why the necessity for mercenaries? This begins our string of fight bullets, beginning with engagement. Overworld battle eventualities occur in actual time, with you deploying squads of 1 to three combatants (within the demo) for engagement. Every squad will be custom-made with the troopers of your alternative, together with the place they’re positioned on a 2×3 grid. That placement shall be decided by who’s on that grid. Archers and healers within the again, after all. Fighters and guards within the entrance. Possibly. In case you’re going up towards an enemy that may assault a complete entrance line, you could wish to transfer a decrease protection attacker to the again. I discovered I didn’t should tinker a lot with placement within the demo, nevertheless it’s apparent that’ll change into extra necessary as I get deeper into the sport.
Who’s preventing collectively in these squads is necessary, as teammates will construct rapport with each other the extra they struggle collectively. The sport makes it clear who can share rapport and the way far they’ve progressed.
The preventing animations we’ve seen are simply that: animations. Like Hearth Emblem, the gameplay focuses on figuring out who ought to struggle whom, and ensuring the precise squad is inside vary. You may see the probably results of the struggle earlier than you have interaction. You probably have a number of squads inside attain, you’ll be able to cycle by them to find out which is able to obtain the very best outcomes.
Every squad has a frontrunner that may be assigned for numerous bonuses. You probably have an archer main a squad that’s inside attain of a struggle, you’ll be able to name in a volley of arrows from his/her squad to do harm earlier than you even have interaction. How cool is that? Different management abilities embody the flexibility to maneuver quicker on the world map, cross over mountains and rivers, and so forth.
The battle eventualities are timed. When you have interaction the enemy and begin transferring your squads round, you’ve a restricted period of time to assert victory. The demo is beneficiant with the time supplied, providing you with loads of choices to relaxation your squads (they’ll get tuckered out) and to compensate for errors as you unfold them out for engagement.
That’s barely scratching the floor of what the demo highlights, however 11 bullet factors is my conventional stopping level. I didn’t even get to the sport’s lush graphics, the ethical dilemmas (already with the powerful decisions?), the intricate merchandise/ability administration, and the sidequests that show you how to construct up the territories you’ve freed. Unicorn Overlord offers you numerous to absorb inside the first few hours, nevertheless it’s additionally manageable…for now. I’ve a sense it’ll get fairly difficult fairly rapidly.
However I’m trying ahead to that. The demo is a transparent indication that Unicorn Overlord will preserve avid gamers busy for fairly a while. Exploration and fight are equally addictive and rewarding, and we’ve already met a handful of participating characters. I’m greater than prepared to fulfill extra and dig deeper into Fevrith when the sport releases digitally and bodily on March eighth.
For extra info on Unicorn Overlord, go to unicornoverlord.atlus.com/.