When a sport comes with some extra ’16-bit soundtrack preparations’, it’s best to know precisely what period it’s championing. And Unicorn Overlord does that with aplomb; mixing the perfect bits of the olden days with some distinctive and underutilised gems from trendy gaming too.
A tactical RPG, Unicorn Overlord is the most recent sport from Vanillaware. They of Odin Sphere and 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim fame. However this marks their first foray onto Xbox consoles. And for a lot of, Unicorn Overlord ought to signify a chance to delve into their spectacular again catalogue. If they’ll tear themselves away from this new providing.
First impressions might differ nevertheless: Unicorn Overlord begins with a story of a younger boy named Alain who has been pressured into exile. The chief of the military of Cornia has laid declare to the throne, usurping Alain’s mom Queen Ilenia within the course of. In her final moments, Ilenia passes the Ring of the Unicorn to Alain and his guard Josef. It’s this merchandise that may symbolise his proper to the throne when the time is correct.
A while later, Alain is main the Liberation Military in opposition to the rebel chief, who now goes by the identify of Galerius. Alain quickly realises that the Ring of the Unicorn has one other energy; that of the flexibility to wipe the results of unknown thoughts management magic in opposition to those who battle for Galerius. With this new energy and an ever rising military in tow, he units his sights on what’s rightfully his.
Unicorn Overlord isn’t precisely breaking the mould with this story, which is considerably of a shock contemplating Vanillaware’s monitor report on this division. However different features do greater than make up for this lacklustre storytelling.
To name Unicorn Overlord a tactical RPG is a bit deceptive. Quite than controlling particular person items, you’re taking cost of a number of small teams of as much as six items in a single formation, in additional of a real-time technique style. You don’t even management the person items. As a substitute, Unicorn Overlord has ‘borrowed’ the Gambit system from Ultimate Fantasy XII and inputted it in right here, virtually wholesale. That’s not a foul factor, as a result of the Gambit system was probably the greatest issues about Ultimate Fantasy XII, and extra video games ought to implement it.
Its inclusion right here means you could tailor assault plans and methods earlier than heading into battle. When choosing a squad to assault with, you may even see how the battle will play out earlier than confirming your resolution. It negates any potential threat, however does that imply that the whole lot is performed out for you beforehand? After my time with it, I’m not positive how a lot I like this. It’s actually nonetheless pleasurable, however I by no means actually felt I needed to adapt my methods.
What’s unpredictable is simply the place your subsequent recruitable celebration member goes to return from. There are over sixty in Unicorn Overlord and they are often discovered nearly wherever: full a facet quest, build up run down cities and villages, promote sufficient gadgets to a vendor, actually wherever. There’s a mining minigame discovered on the world map and I might not be shocked if one turned up there as properly.
Many celebration members even have distinctive class varieties. That is removed from a easy rock-paper-scissors battle system, it’s extremely deep. When creating squads, you’ll discover that formation, class varieties, pace and extra should all be taken under consideration. That is seemingly the place you’ll be spending the vast majority of your time, tinkering with battle setups to seek out the right combination.
It’s additionally when deep in these menus that I used to be fairly grateful the precise battles generally is a bit passive. Between fine-tuning formations, items and Gambits/ways, there may be little time for anything.
However in fact, Unicorn Overlord has loads of extras. The overworld map is chock stuffed with secrets and techniques to uncover, loot to seek out and enemies to defeat. Progress far sufficient and you’ll even pit your celebration in opposition to others on-line within the enviornment.
There may be additionally the Rapport system, which performs out just like the Drink Hyperlinks from Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. Occasion members which are in the identical formation will type bonds over time, and reaching a sure threshold unlocks a singular dialog to be discovered on the world map. These aren’t elongated facet tales just like Drink Hyperlinks, however are insightful vignettes into the personalities of every character. For such a large forged, it’s spectacular that the writing feels distinctive and various, full with backstories and relationships.
They usually all look particular person from one another too. Once more it’s severely spectacular how we, because the participant, can recognise every member within the cutscenes. Although, there’s a complete Library that has info of each single celebration member. This trove of data contains particulars on all factions, places and extra, offering helpful data for these heading into the late sport or gamers returning after lengthy intervals away from Unicorn Overlord.
While sticking with the visuals of the characters, the general visuals are of a really excessive customary too. As soon as once more, Vanillaware have opted for a 2D artwork fashion for Unicorn Overlord, however given the character of the old-school style, all of it lends itself completely. Don’t let that idiot you although, the world map and character fashions are extremely properly detailed even in a 2D atmosphere. Battles themselves are additionally fought on the world map, so that you get loads of time to understand the work gone into it.
While the story could also be considerably missing in Unicorn Overlord, it sort of works, as a result of you’ll be much more invested within the battle system. Enjoying round with formations cannot solely yield attention-grabbing outcomes, however permits the person character tales to totally blossom. Unicorn Overlord isn’t a lot about why you’re journeying, however extra about who’s becoming a member of you, who stands in your approach and the way good you look while progressing.