Unicorn Overlord Review (PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S & Switch)

Vanillaware has to be one of the best-underrated developers. Odin Sphere and 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim are some of their best works. While title naming isn’t their best suit, they’re always funneling lessons learned from previous games, including those of other developers, into their future works. In that respect, Unicorn Overlord borrows a thing or two from other tactical RPGs. 

You’ll see inspirations from Final Fantasy Tactics, Fire Emblem, and Ogre Battle 64, among other games. Yet, even with its resemblance to others, Unicord Overlord remains a wholesome experience. In fact, the similarities only serve to enrich the gameplay further, which, coupled with Vanillaware’s signature art style and passion for the 10-year project, shoots the final outcome for the stars. 

Enough gushing, though. You can choose to play the demo to get a taste of what’s to come. It’s much faster, though, to scroll quickly over our Unicorn Overlord review for an all-around look at every sound, bad, and ugly cog (if any).

Why You Do What You Do

The fact is, Unicorn Overlord’s story isn’t the best out-of-the-box one you’ll encounter, so bear with me for a second. It tells the story of the continent of Fevrith, a land home to five kingdoms, each visually distinct. The place crawls with all sorts of people: humans, of course, elves, angels, and bestials. Hey, they’re people, too, at least in gaming. 

One fateful day, a rogue general, Valmore, attacks the kingdom of Cornia. To protect the bloodline, Queen Ilenia entrusts her son, Prince Alain, to his trusted knight, instructing him to flee the kingdom and raise the prince in exile. Meanwhile, Valmore continues to wreak havoc throughout the continent, eventually taking control over all five kingdoms.

10 years later, the prince has come of age and is determined to reclaim his birthright and rightful place on the throne. But he has to start small, executing small-scale sieges on the outskirts of towns, recruiting rival armies to his cause, and gradually approaching Cornia when he’s built a strong enough military force to defeat big bad Valmore. 

Same Old, Yet Oddly New

You’ve heard this story before, with different names and cities. On that part, Unicorn Overlord is a letdown. However, it quickly makes up for arbitrary story arcs with compelling characters. You’ll recruit over 60 characters to fight for your cause, each with unique backstories, personalities, and combat styles. 

Moreover, each kingdom has distinct unlockable NPCs to interact with, all building up to an overwhelmingly packed story mode with plenty of scenarios and dialogue to unravel. It also helps that Fevrith looks astonishingly juicy. Every battle skirmish, side quest, hidden secret, and more takes place on a sprawling map. 

Despite being in a 2.5D environment, you go through so much detail, variety, and content. The art style and worldbuilding are very much Vanillaware’s trademark at this point. You know, the signature bold and vibrant look that pops off the screen at every turn, with skewed roads, alternating terrain, environmental hazards, and even catapults and ballistas to comb through.

Closely as riveting are the character sprites, whom fans of classic tactical RPGs will adore. You control huge 2D sprites battling on-screen, starting off with just a few units of two characters and leveling up to six for maximum tactical flexibility.

Not Your Everyday RPG

The gameplay is made up of two main tasks: exploration and rebuilding towns. You’ll venture from pillars to posts, raiding settlements and liberating them in a series of small to massive-scale battle skirmishes. Afterwards, you’ll scour the map for valuable resources, uncovering secrets and bonding with NPCs. 

With the story lacking and the visuals top-notch, combat remains by far the best part of Unicorn Overlord. Mind you, you don’t actually control characters in battle. Instead, explore enemy factions, assess their strengths and weaknesses, and prepare the best unit to take them on. Once ready, battles play out automatically, with the option to fast-forward or skip them altogether.

Okay. Hold on, now. It can sound bland at first. However, as a tactical RPG, your main job is planning ahead and watching your efforts unfold. To keep things moving, Unicord Overload gives you access to all manner of unit types. You get flying wyvern riders, deadly cavalry, and towering defensive hoplites, to name a few. Every class is here, and more, whether archers, healers, spellcasters, and so on.

Similarly, enemies are as varied, and so to ensure you come out on top, you’re given a sort of battle puzzle to solve. If the enemy unit has horse riders, you can instruct your archers to strike them down, for instance. Alternatively, if you’re going up against tankers, you want to break down their shields first. 

Lord of Lords

You do so using ‘conditions,’ which are like code instructing your troop on what to do. You’ll have action items like slash or heal. Then, instigate ‘if… then’ statements that trigger an ongoing action chain, rendering the possibilities limitless. With time, the conditions grow more complex, and you unlock more classes and abilities.

At its most basic, Unicorn Overlord’s combat works rock-paper-scissors style. For instance, hunters will crush flying troops like Gryphon Knights. Keep in mind, too, that you’ll need to consider environmental aspects like terrain and unit placement. You also keep track of resources, allocating them as you see fit among your units. 

Combined, they create such in-depth systems that, once you take advantage of them, you can draw out the cheekiest ‘aha’ moments at the best times. It’s not just a game of who’s stronger than the other. But also one that takes into account several moving parts, including your unit formation, individual class strengths and weaknesses, and environmental hurdles, among others.

Also, you can be tempted to send out more robust units to war. However, each unit has an experience meter that fills up the more battles they engage in. So, to balance out your military force, each unit has to do its part toward cleansing Fevrith of all harm. In a way, Unicorn Overlord excels at trial and error, but in a way that actually recognizes your thought process and rewards you for it.

It’ll Grow on You

It gets even more fun once you factor in special skills, siege weapons, and obstacles. So, even though combat doesn’t actively require real-time moment-to-moment decision-making, the overall gameplay will constantly tug at your attentive mind. For instance, you still need to keep your territories protected. You’ll allocate some of your troops atop watch towers, who, by the way, also throw in ranged support for your allies in battle. 

With a timer inducing a sense of urgency, you’ll want all the help you can get. It can seem overwhelming at first. Either way, Unicorn Overlord’s combat is a slow-burn experience that quickly becomes addictive, easily lasting 40–100 hours over time. Supplementing the story, you’ll have the freedom to foster friendships, rivalries, and romances, too. You even have mini-games at the tavern to foster deeper connections. Depending on how much time units spend together, you can unlock deeper narratives. 

Of course, just from the sheer overwhelming number of unlockables, some characters will fade behind others. It’s easy to forget storylines just as soon as you unravel them. However, it never gets too bad, with often exciting revelations constantly thrown at you. Additionally, you’ll tinker around the moral spectrum, facing tough decisions about your rival’s motivations and whether to forgive their past aggressions and such. Never mind the sprawling content. It’s fun overall, and you’re rewarded for taking that extra step to discover more. 

Verdict

Unicorn Overlord may not be everyone’s cup of tea. It’ll likely excite fans of tactical RPGs a whole lot more. However, despite the auto-battles, it can deliver quite a deep and rewarding experience for every gamer. You only need a little more patience to get sucked into the flow. Unfortunately, the story feels lacking. But Vanillaware makes up for it with ingenious worldbuilding and gameplay. The sheer variety of things to do always keeps you busy. You often run into different enemy types while unlocking exciting allies to counteract. 

Sure, it can take a while to master. But the Unicorn Overlord is careful to give you a helping hand when you need one. You can engage in mock battles to discover your unit’s strengths and weaknesses. There’s even a meter that shows your chances of winning a fight. Even more so, you can fast-forward or skip battles altogether, so you can focus solely on planning and strategizing. And thanks to the vast map brimming with creativity, you’re always pushed to experiment and try new things. 

It helps, too, that Unicorn Overlord’s art and music constantly captivate. You always want to uncover more secrets and discover new locations, with each kingdom visually distinct and having its own set of exciting characters. Unicorn Overlord’s depth and complexity can take you by surprise. However, hours into the gameplay, you quickly discover the hidden treasure that lies within and the drastic potential to compete with the best in the genre.