Intro
Unicorn Overlord is a tactical RPG developed by Vanillaware and published by Atlus in Japan, and Sega worldwide, for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4/5, and Xbox Series X/S. The developer is known for games such as Odin Sphere, Dragon’s Crown, and 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim. The purpose of this review is to share my experience and help the reader better understand the game before buying it.
Gameplay
The game combat is divided into two parts: the tactical isometric view part, where you deploy and command your units, as well as use the character’s valor skills and items. The second one is the turn base fights, which are automatic, however, the player can change beforehand the tactics the characters will use in battle, such as skill priority, skill conditions, equipment, and much more. Unicorn Overlord is not just limited to combat, you also explore the Overwolrd, like old Final Fantasy titles, if you have played them. There the player will find battles, as well as new allies, shops, cities, items, and other secrets. It’s in this moment you can change your units formations, equipment, upgrade the units classes, and unlock more units/increase unit size.
The game employs an interesting mechanic for each class similar to Pokemon/Rock-paper-scissors, but a little more complex. Thief units are good at dodging attacks, however, truestrike units(attacks that bypass dodging) destroy them. Cavalry units take increased damage from flying units, which take increased damage from arrows, and sometimes magic, the list goes on. It’s also good to note that terrain influences units behavior. Flying units can fly through anything, cavalry units move faster on roads, but slower on forests. Infantry units are balanced in that sense, they are slow, but don’t suffer many drawbacks.
In the beginning, it’s extremely fun, since every new battle means a new character, new mechanic, or both for you to explore, however, this slows down as the game advances. I won’t consider this a problem, since there can be no game with infinite content.
The gameplay is excellent. The combat system makes you think, especially in higher difficulties, because of the terrain, weapons, and ambushes the enemy can employ. Also, your units have stamina, so you can’t just let them battle forever, they have to rest, use an item, or capture an enemy post to recover stamina, and item usage is limited, at least in the difficulty I am playing. The immense variety of characters, classes, and skills also come into play here. The amount of units and strategies you can make is insane, and the class upgrade system makes you feel accomplished and yearn for what your upgraded character can do. Despite all my praise for the game, I must say that it gets repetitive down the line. Once you start getting fewer new units and the cost for upgrading gets higher you just do the same thing for some battles until you can change something, but I don’t think in any way that this spoils the experience,, the good outweighs the bad here.
Narrative
The game narrative at its core is very simple, at least, until the part I have played. I won’t give any spoilers here, but it’s pretty black and white, good vs evil. The great variety of characters adds to the narrative. The units gather “rapport” between their members, which can unlock some cool interactions, as well as each new addition you get to the army usually has a history and a well-made one. I like that the game has you choose the fate of some villains/opponents you defeat, which can sometimes create a moral question. That choice can be to spare/kill them or something else, but I think that is a choice lacking in games. I haven’t finished the game yet, so I will update this once I have more information.
Graphics and Audio
Unicorn Overlord has an anime-style drawing and an extremely well-made one. Every character has an incredible design, and the animations are also impeccable, especially considering the number of characters and classes. The fight scenarios are also beautiful, and the Overworld/Stage parts of the game have a pixelated design. There are also some “cutscenes” that are more dialogues between members of the army that reuse some of the animations, however, the real deal is in the combat animations. They are fluid, have good VFX, and are unique.
The sound effects are nice, nothing out of the ordinary in my opinion. The soundtrack is magnificent, especially the combat ones, making the combat feel more agitated and exciting. The voice acting is impeccable as well. The voices fit the characters and don’t feel out of place. It’s good to mention that I played in Japanese.
Longevity and replayability
I don’t see much replay value at the moment I’m writing this. As I said before I still have to finish the game, so I don’t know if it has some kind of new game+ or similar, but the game is long, especially if you do everything you can, and I’m not even talking about achievements here, just the game itself. There is a multiplayer mode, however, you don’t play against other players, just against a unit they have uploaded. I still have to experience said mode, so I will update this post with more details when I have, but I think you shouldn’t buy the game, based on this. The multiplayer appears to be a plus at best and the real experience will be the history.
Conclusion
I will add my conclusion, along with my grade, once I have finished the game. I would like to add that, like everyone, I have to buy and play the game on launch, so it takes some time to do everything I need to complete this review.
Ótima análise, parabéns! Minha avaliação é 5.