It’s arduous to write down a overview of Unicorn Overlord: the sport is large, and after over 30 hours I’ve lined little greater than half its map, traversing grasslands, desert, winding mountain paths, and a magical forest on my prince’s conquest to liberate the fantasy land of Fevrith and reclaim his throne. It’s arduous as a result of loads of the video games I’ve seen folks evaluate Unicorn Overlord to — Ways Ogre, Ultimate Fantasy Ways — had been launched earlier than I used to be born. I used to be frightened about not getting it, not connecting with the supposed enjoyable of spending hours in menus when the techniques video games I performed most rising up with a DS discovered their wider enchantment by way of different programs, like romance. And it’s arduous for me to write down a overview of Unicorn Overlord as a result of I’d should cease enjoying it lengthy sufficient to write down.
Unicorn Overlord’s map of Fevrith is an open world of 5 kingdoms that sprites discover from overhead. The presentation is much like Sq. Enix’s use of HD-2D however with extra painterly environmental artwork. It’s right here that Unicorn Overlord makes its strongest break from conference, foregoing a standard level-based construction. When battles occur, they occur on this map at this scale, simply with shadowy borders boxing within the space and new UI components. When battles start, sprites are deployed at forts and cities; siege weaponry and barricades are laid; and forests, roads, rivers, and mountains all develop into a part of the strategic puzzle.
Characters don’t struggle alone, however in items. Every consists of characters, whether or not distinctive to the story or customizable mercenaries-for-hire, on a 2×3 grid. Once they collide, the size shrinks from a sprite on the big map to the character inside every unit to deal with tactical mechanics. Every character in a unit makes use of a mixture of lively and passive skills distinctive to their class to deal harm, assist allies, and debuff foes. With many, many variations on fantasy fight archetypes, from hoplite to witch to gryphon rider to elven archer to angelic knight, there’s no easy solution to break down fight. Sort benefits exist however unit composition makes for problems, like a hoplite defending a lancer from a gryphon knight. The location of items on their grid might be much more necessary. There are primary methods like holding tankier lessons in entrance, however some lessons might exploit that with skills designed to penetrate the again row.
Picture: Vanillaware
In menus, there’s tools, in addition to customizable “techniques” that allow you to set up priorities and use-cases for every character’s expertise, permitting gamers to tailor move-sets to every distinctive unit mixture. Whereas the location is finally left to the participant and may change the tide of every battle, you too can simply press a button within the menus to optimize tools and techniques. And in a battle preview display (à la Into The Breach), you possibly can see the anticipated harm dealt and acquired from a battle and regulate the location of items to have an effect on the end result. There’s additionally a complete “rapport” system, which boosts characters with a robust relationship gained by preventing collectively and sharing presents or meals within the tavern. Many characters have dialogue to unlock with each other alongside the way in which as effectively, similar to Fireplace Emblem.
This massive scale, combining technique gameplay with a 2D RPG, gives the look of transferring armies and making progress on a marketing campaign. As the sport’s massive, massive forged of characters be a part of from the areas and cities you struggle for each inch of, these battles imbue the world with a way of place and expansiveness. As an alternative of a house base like some citadel or college to truly work together with characters, they’re discovered the world over you struggle to reclaim, they usually have properties and household there.
With exploratory quests, smaller skirmishes, facet quests that unlock new characters, the rapport system, and progressing the principle story, Unicorn Overlord is paced maybe too effectively. I discover myself leaping round to all its constituent components, losing a wet Saturday enjoying the sport within the Change’s handheld mode on my associate’s sofa: yet another battle; simply have to clear up these query marks on the map; effectively, all these new rapport conversations can be found; let me simply put all this new tools on my military; effectively, I may go to the tavern whereas I’m by a citadel.
Picture: Vanillaware
Picture: Vanillaware
Picture: Vanillaware
There’s quite a bit happening, nevertheless it doesn’t really feel unwieldy. The sport finds a cautious steadiness in what particulars it provides you and what management it’s prepared to optionally take away for simplicity’s sake. Taking part in on the traditional issue, I’ve confronted challenges however met them. I’ve even began fussing with the techniques sub-menus to fine-tune unit combos, one thing I by no means thought I’d need to do. It’s approachable to somebody who doesn’t come to Fireplace Emblem or Valkyria Chronicles for difficult, punishing gameplay with childhood reminiscences of tactical prowess.
When not within the over world or logistical menus, there’s the stage. These are units quite than ranges, locations for fight and dialog. These phases are the place Unicorn Overlord comes all the way down to the human scale, with fights animated in actual time so you possibly can see how your techniques really pan out. However these scenes present greater than that: In Fevrith, wind blows by way of fields of grass and kicks up mud. Flames flicker, water wheels flip. Waves crash and boats rock as birds soar. In a single battle a fairytale forest is remodeled right into a fiery furnace, and after my elven archers use magical rain to extinguish the flames, the battles are fought beneath lingering smoke within the ash and wooden. Whether or not in battle or dialog, characters in these scenes are animated and voiced in vigorous methods. It brings drama to style and funding to archetypes.
The massive plot is a reasonably generic fantasy story a few prince’s quest to liberate his kingdom, reclaim his throne, and unite the folks of Fevrith by way of kindness and rebuilding efforts. I’ve some emotions about preventing for the monarchy to uphold the earlier established order, however a reasonably, orphaned prince guided by his unwavering sense of noblesse oblige is what shojo is product of. Whereas there are not any headpats and rapport conversations aren’t a complete relationship sim, Unicorn Overlord tries to stir comparable feelings. Persona and emotion are carried behind inflection, tone, and humor as characters struggle or converse, and past good performances and considerate translation, the voice route of the dub forged is stellar. And as a lot care goes into animating, effectively, character into every character, with bespoke physique and facial actions in battle and speech.
Picture: Vanillaware
This even carries over into animated character portraits of voiceless dialog bins. There’s a craft to illustrated character portraits that doesn’t lend itself effectively to 3D, however Vanillaware’s signature painterly artwork fashion works effectively with speaking even delicate expressions. There are such a lot of little animations throughout the sport’s UI and baroque components within the victory and save screens. It’s spectacular how the sport does all this whereas not slowing down or drawing consideration to itself. (Besides the meals. The meals is simply displaying off.)
After my first 10 hours of Unicorn Overlord, I emerged from its tutorial space feeling excited and daunted by the world forward of me. Issues had constructed mechanically and narratively on high of one another, and I needed extra, however extra can imply various things. Over the following 20 hours, nothing radically modified. It wasn’t extra the way in which Vanillaware and Atlus’s final outing, 13 Sentinels, turned. However what it did do was dole out new locales, items, and story threads that compelled gameplay and exploration ahead. Every new space has required some remodeling as a consequence of topographical constraints (just like the slender mountain passes of Drakenhold) or new items that fully reshuffle my military. Unicorn Overlord has managed to keep up itself for the previous 20 hours, and there’s at the very least that a lot to go. It’s a unique sort of development, however one which followers of the early sport will hear rung as reward. It ought to terrify them a little bit too.
Unicorn Overlord was launched March 8 on Nintendo Change, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Sequence X. The sport was reviewed on Nintendo Change utilizing a pre-release obtain code offered by Vanillaware. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These don’t affect editorial content material, although Vox Media might earn commissions for merchandise bought by way of affiliate hyperlinks. You’ll find further details about Polygon’s ethics coverage right here.