If somebody informed me there’s an upcoming techniques RPG filled with anime-inspired characters, I might instantly reply, “Hell yeah, give it to me” and absolutely anticipate it to be a brand new Hearth Emblem. Or I would hope for an additional Valkyria Chronicles. As a substitute, what’s filling that void is Unicorn Overlord, the following joint from Japanese developer Vanillaware. Whereas it is best recognized for the cult side-scrolling action-RPGs Odin Sphere and Dragon’s Crown, and most lately the mind-bending story-driven 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, it touched on the technique style with GrimGrimoire. Nonetheless, Unicorn Overlord is breaking floor for the studio with a newfound emphasis on techniques inside an intensive RPG basis.
After taking part in via a four-hour preview demo, I got here away impressed with its deep, interconnected techniques and difficult battles, but additionally as a result of it is completely different. It is a pretty recent tackle a techniques RPG, mixing real-time technique parts with the mechanics of a turn-based auto battler. On the battlefield, you management singular models that encompass as much as six celebration members inside and direct a number of models in actual time. And once they encounter an enemy unit, they have interaction in a predetermined fight sequence that performs out primarily based on every particular person’s class, expertise, and tactical presets. On the coronary heart of the technique is the way you assemble these models and the way they match up in opposition to enemies they encounter. It appears easy sufficient initially, however even simply within the opening hours, the tactical layers repeatedly revealed themselves, giving me a lot to chew on.
With a mixture of knights, cavalry, heavy defenders, mages, Pegasus-riding warriors, and nearly some other fantasy-based combatant you may consider, there’s way more than a rock-paper-scissors weapon triangle to contemplate. Assist models with heavy shields on the frontline can soar in entrance of enemy assaults to soak injury, clerics within the again can restore HP to maintain an ally alive mid-sequence, and nimble thieves can draw enemy consideration to then dodge their hard-hitting assaults. Some lessons and weapon varieties are after all efficient in opposition to sure others, however you should additionally take into account elements like positioning throughout the unit or the particular skills outfitted on particular person troopers because it all impacts how they behave in battle. Popping out victorious in an encounter is dependent upon who takes essentially the most injury, so fights are simply as a lot about killing enemy models as they’re about successful the warfare of attrition, leaving them motionless on the sector for a short second and susceptible to follow-up encounters.
At a sure level in my demo, I may set particular parameters and logic sequences for what the person models do primarily based on the situations of the combat. For instance, I set certainly one of my knights to prioritize utilizing an assault ability that restores HP upon a kill, however they’d solely use it in the event that they’re in a position to goal an enemy beneath 50% well being. Or I can set my priestess to prioritize assault spells and solely forged heals if an ally is beneath 25% well being. Extrapolating that idea throughout the multitude of lessons and the advanced dynamic of how your models and enemy models are constructed makes my head spin, however in a means that has me desirous to unravel its nuances.
Though the layers piled on in simply the opening 4 hours, it hardly ever felt overwhelming because of the way in which it ramps up in doling out new mechanics. It does not simply clarify issues to you in tutorial popups, however in making you have interaction with the very techniques and techniques it is introducing to you, the complexities of its gameplay develop into digestible. I would take one thing like that without any consideration, however contemplating how a lot you need to juggle and the way tough battles can get, those that might not be as in-tune with techniques video games will not be left behind. The opposite facet to determining what works and does not work is seeing it really unfold in battle. Watching your models in motion gives the form of suggestions that helps you visualize the techniques you place collectively in menus, supplying you with concepts for if you return to the drafting board.
Watching battles play out is a part of the enjoyment of Unicorn Overlord, too. Vanillaware’s signature painterly artwork fashion was a side of 13 Sentinels that elevated its storytelling, and right here, these visible qualities have matured to provide its characters and setting a definite look that assist Unicorn Overlord be greater than a typical fantasy world. It is also within the expressive animations in fight that enliven your models to enrich their charming and/or grizzly looks–and like all good techniques recreation, I began to kind attachments to sure characters and unit formations primarily based on my experiences with utilizing them in battle, as if to kind my very own headcanon outdoors of the story itself.
As for the precise story, the marketing campaign begins with the overthrowing of a queen named Ilenia. However she herself is a fierce warrior with a loyal band of knights–and so, that is the setup for instructing you the fundamentals of fight whereas showcasing what highly effective models are able to, and letting you play via a coup to tee up the remainder of the story within the course of. After combating a shedding battle and ordering survivors to flee, Ilenia entrusts the mysterious Unicorn Ring to her most trusted Knight named Josef and has him take her son to security. The sport flashes ahead 10 years and that son, Alain, is now recruiting allies throughout the continent, main an rebellion to take again the throne. So, what looks as if customary fare for a fantasy story is carried by the nice character designs, endearing artwork fashion, and stable voice performances, though I do anticipate some twists and turns to maintain its projected 50-hour marketing campaign fascinating.
If it feels like Unicorn Overlord leans closely into the gameplay expertise, effectively, that is as a result of it does. That is to not say there is not a narrative value exploring, it is only a recreation with completely different priorities than Vanillaware’s earlier one. Whereas I am unable to get too detailed on narrative parts fairly but, it gives simply sufficient intrigue to offer an fascinating context to hunt out the following battle and discover its sprawling overworld; that latter of which is able to occupy a major chunk of the prolonged runtime.
Exterior of story cutscenes and commanding troops in hard-fought battles, you may discover the overworld to handle cities, tackle aspect quests, and navigate hostile zones on the way in which to your subsequent goal. Perks like objects, forex, and sources to improve your models’ capabilities all incentivize you to interact with issues outdoors the crucial path, and these had a noticeable affect on fight effectiveness–just having the ability to develop the soldier capability of your models is important for staying afloat in the principle story’s fights. Alongside the way in which, you can even rebuild outposts or drive bandits away to assist villagers and recruit them to the trigger. It additionally appears that many of the recreation’s fight encounters happen on the very overworld you progress in, so there is a seamlessness within the core techniques gameplay and the areas you discover, which additionally speaks to how expansive the total recreation could also be.
I am prepared to wager technique diehards are going to feast on Unicorn Overlord, particularly as a result of it is making an attempt one thing new with its techniques gameplay and revitalizing the basic Ogre Battle basis for a brand new technology. I really like me a great techniques RPG as effectively, however Vanillaware’s aesthetic is simply as placing because it’s ever been, and the melding of these two elements looks as if a successful combo to me. We’ll see the way it all comes collectively when Unicorn Overlord releases on March 8 for PS4, PS5, Xbox Collection X|S, and Nintendo Change.