It can be very hard to make yourself stand out in the very crowded landscape of JRPGs. Vanillaware has proven time and time again that it is able to do exactly that. When you see a Vanillaware title, you know it’s one of theirs just based on the presentation alone. Vanillaware has nailed down this perfect 2D sprite aesthetic that is used across each of their games. To me, it is undeniable that their team is one of the best we currently have making video games today. I feel it’s important for me to express this early on because I firmly believe that Unicorn Overlord is the best product we have seen from Vanillaware in every single possible way.
In the past I have really enjoyed Odin Sphere and Dragon’s Crown. I was a huge fan of the criminally underplayed 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim. But something clicked the moment I booted up Unicorn Overlord for the first time. I knew that this would be special.
Unicorn Overlord is an unapologetically complex and highly fantastical tactical RPG. It’s similar in a lot of ways to classics like Final Fantasy Tactics and Fire Emblem, but it maintains its own identity throughout the entire experience. You play as Prince Alain as you and a band of rebels you meet along the way have to liberate the land of Fevrith. When out of combat, you’ve got a really fun topdown map you wander around. This is where you meet NPCs, get side-quests, purchase equipment from blacksmiths, armourers and merchants. After you’ve got supplies and new armaments to take into battle you can find optional fights around the over-world to get resources and experience for the tougher story battles. Some of these battles are over before you know it, some of them will take you upwards of 30 minutes plus. It’s always good to make sure you’ve done enough wandering and resource collecting to make sure you’re prepared for the much longer battles ahead of you.
Combat in Unicorn Overlord is extremely unique and requires way more thinking ahead than most games in the tactical RPG genre. Alain and his units are all under your command. Alain and other units form small squads that fight together. Each squad can eventually have up to 6 units once fully upgraded. You can place each squad member onto one of 6 positions. There is a front row and a back row each with 3 spots. Things get even more ridiculous when you take into account that there’s something like 60ish classes in total. The fights themselves are actually played through cutscenes based on which units you’ve placed and where you’ve placed them. You don’t have to watch the battle if you don’t want to. There is a little preview before each battle telling you how much damage you will do and how much damage you will take. If you bring their health to 0 then you don’t need to watch. But if you lose the fight it’s actually worth watching to see what exactly went wrong. After seeing how you’ve messed up, you can adjust your units and focus on picking better classes more suited for the fight.
When it comes to classes – you’ve got the regular stuff like warriors, clerics, archers. But then there’s also some weirder classes like gladiator, gryphon knight and shamans. Each class has strengths and weaknesses that you have to take into account when getting into a fight. Units like hunters tend to do well in the back row due to their range, while units like fighters thrive in the front row so they can attack enemies up close. You can also choose what you want your units to do depending on where they are situated on the grid. You can give a cleric some tanky armour and put them in the front row so they can be both a tank for the backline and a healer. You could also put the cleric in the back row and give them orders to buff your units and heal only when someone has been damaged a lot. This type of hyper precise decision making is what keeps every battle interesting and different. You’ll always need to scramble the units as no one team comp will work for every single battle.
What I find most interesting about the combat in Unicorn Overlord is that it does not have a grid for movement. Both the player’s units and the enemy units are moving constantly. You can always halt the battle to adjust where each of your squads will go. Will you make them walk toward an oncoming enemy unit and force them into battle? Will you instead send a squad off to liberate a small town by defeating a major enemy leader in battle? What about sending a squad to a previously liberated bridge or town to rest and heal? Do you send a squad to combat the enemy running toward the position you’re supposed to defend? There are lots of decisions to be made at any moment. Sometimes it feels like you’re spinning a lot of plates at once and trying to figure out exactly how to tackle a battle. I have lost several battles and was able to quickly realized what the mistake I made was. Once I figured out how to remedy my mistake, I was able to quickly turn things around and get the win. I really enjoy the fact that the unit organization and shotcalling is as interesting and complex as the actual battles themselves are. Not many tactical RPGs can say that their movement is intriguing and requires constant thought.
I could sing praises about all the intricacies that combat in Unicorn Overlord has to offer, but I’d like to move over quickly to the soundtrack and overall presentation. The music in this game is sublime top to bottom. This is a major step above every game Vanillaware has given us and many of those OSTs are littered with bangers. I can see myself using the soundtrack as some pretty great hype music once I start working out regularly again. Not only is the soundtrack great but the art style and overall look of Unicorn Overlord is top notch. In battles and cutscenes the characters have terrifically animated renders and sprites. Vanillaware has knocked it out of the park in terms of character designs and animation. If a Unicorn Overlord artbook exists, it would be worth every single dollar.
If you’re into long tactical RPGs with a great sense of progression, then you don’t need to look any further. Unicorn Overlord is a special game made by a special developer. Everyone who plays a game made by Vanillaware knows that quality is always at the forefront of the experience they provide. Not only do their games look good – they play good. Unicorn Overlord looks great and plays AMAZING. I cannot recommend this game enough. Dragon’s Dogma 2 and Balatro have completely taken over my life. Unicorn Overlord was the only thing that could actually pry me away from either of those games. I cannot wait to see what Vanillaware has for us next.
Unicorn Overlord is a must play.
