Review: Unicorn Overlord Is a Feudal Endeavor

Two sibling sequence have seen very totally different paths because the SNES period, regardless of each being equally acclaimed. Techniques Ogre might have solely managed to dwell a bit longer itself, but it surely birthed a world of comparable isometric turn-based ways titles. Ogre Battle, however? It didn’t ever lengthen its squad-based real-time technique affect very far exterior its personal borders. So Unicorn Overlord is a welcome, refreshing return to the beloved system.

Vanillaware and Atlus? These are seasoned, trusted fingers, totally able to recapturing that magic within the fashionable period. And with such an extended break since we’ve seen something prefer it — the nods towards a number of the concepts in Symphony of Battle however — there’s additionally numerous room for the builders to form programs with out worrying in regards to the trivialities of precedent.

In Unicorn Overlord, you management Alain, a rightful inheritor to a kingdom, and also you wander round releasing the continent from an evil empire’s management. Like many Japanese video games set in a world of Western fantasy, Unicorn Overlord is blissful to enjoy tropes and callbacks. It reminded us of Fireplace Emblem in numerous these methods. The Ogre video games have been well-known for storytelling, and this sport’s writing understands the construction and cadence of its inspiration. It doesn’t fairly stick the touchdown on making selections and competing factions really feel three-dimensional, but it surely tries.

When you by no means performed Ogre Battle — and it’s been a long time, so that you’re forgiven should you haven’t — a primer: Unicorn Overlord is a real-time technique sport with the flexibility to pause. Maps are smaller than a standard RTS, however as a substitute of big armies, you deploy crafted squads of as much as 5 items every and set them with gear and transfer logic to behave on their very own once they meet on the battlefield.

The gameplay works greatest on the sport’s bigger, extra elaborate maps, with many alternative paths to observe and environmental components to contemplate. The world map is the tactical map, which each creates a sense of immersion and saves Vanillaware from having to make much more artwork belongings. There are even just a few alternatives to scout out missions beforehand, approaching them from totally different angles. These have been neat! We want there have been extra.

It takes a bit to work as much as that, understandably, and also you’ll additionally discover tiny skirmishes peppered about to liberate every city. These are normally too compact and easy to supply many choices to gamers, and the sport would in all probability be higher off with out them. (It’s effective if the cities went away with them; there are so many.) Fortunately, the repeatable maps for gaining expertise have totally different configurations for selection, as you’ll in all probability must cease at them occasionally to catch up the again half of your group.

The best way that Unicorn Overlord retains throwing items at you means you’ll usually have full squads with out going out of your method to rent mercenaries. That may be good! However it does maintain you from spending your funds on somebody new and interacting with what is perhaps the commonest constructing sort.

It additionally implies that constructing a clockwork squad with orders and circumstances might get pushed again a bit as you’re consistently including and altering the cogs. There’s numerous good circumstances you’ll be able to apply to those strikes! And we want we’d been in a position to work together with this technique extra usually. More often than not, although, going by means of all these menus and issues would take longer than simply grinding a replayable skirmish map, and the pure stat improve of leveling is usually simpler.

The sturdy character look customization taking cash you want for gear isn’t nice, and hiring and promotion slowing your progress to full five-unit squads is a disgrace too. Often video games have too many currencies; this will likely have benefited from one or two extra.

Talking of character look, a few of these designs are notably egregious, particularly within the generic recruits of the identical class you could simply maintain up subsequent to one another and examine. Guys put on protecting armor and have a complete vary of physique sorts. The ladies? They’re all small, they’re all cute, and sometimes they present up for conflict in fetish gear. A lot of this sport is enjoyable and good, and the Vanillaware artwork type is genuinely lovely, however this has obtained to cease. It makes it powerful to advocate to anybody when there’s a lot of this and it’s unavoidable, irrespective of how compelling the technique gameplay manages to be.

The aesthetics, character design apart, are top-notch. Vanillaware has numerous expertise constructing worlds in simply this kind of type, and the Unicorn Overlord model seems to be and runs nice. We reviewed the sport on the Nintendo Change, and we by no means encountered any efficiency points or technical downgrades typical in multiplatform titles. Usually video games with such elaborate artwork therapies don’t deal with the consumer interface with as a lot care, but it surely’s clear that Vanillaware spent numerous effort on making issues as clear and usable as potential. Which is useful! Particularly contemplating what number of discovered it powerful to strategy traditional Ogre Battle releases.

Carrying the entire package deal is a superb Basiscape soundtrack, doing its greatest to remind you of all of the video games it ought to. It’s a bit Techniques Ogre and a bit Valkyria Chronicles, with a observe that appears like “Adagio for Strings” added to the combination for some purpose.

Beating Unicorn Overlord on Tactical problem will take roughly 50 hours, and should you desire a play type with extra micromanagement, you could possibly lengthen your time with it for just a few dozen longer. There’s a web-based area performance right here, which might be enjoyable as a post-game method to attempt to optimize your clockwork squad directions to the utmost. It doesn’t look like a giant focus for the sport, although.

Unicorn Overlord is, as a complete, a loving and well-crafted return to the Ogre Battle system. If the character designs aren’t a dealbreaker for you — and we’d perceive if they’re — there’s numerous fascinating tactical selections to make.

Unicorn Overlord, developed by Vanillaware and printed by Atlus, launches March 8, 2024 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Sequence and Nintendo Change.