Unicorn Overlord is a masterfully crafted video game. The player is given as much or as little to do as they wish, with every new nation, stage, backstory, and time-engrossing side venture all weaving into one another in a way that never feels forced. All of this is actualized with music and visuals to consistently dazzle and delight as the world is delved into deeper. This pacing is crafted with incredible flexibility such that one player may spend minutes doing something another will spend hours on and both finding their time well spent. Combat is a constantly shifting bout of delightful visuals as tactical options and classes keep things enticing. It takes a special title to reach all gaming sensibilities and Unicorn Overlord does so with such style and flair that everyone should test it for themselves.
Vanillaware lives up to its reputation by giving us one of the best strategy games of recent years. It may not be perfect, but it borders on perfection slightly, offering us in the process an experience that I could qualify as sublime.
This game brings a lot of aspects of classic games and modernize it for today's generation of consoles and it is a overwhelmingly enjoyable experience.
Unicorn Overlord might be my favorite game so far this year. I loved Ogre Battle back in the day. March of the Black Queen is one of my favorite old-school games. I never would have expected Vanillaware to capture that feeling so thoroughly and even add its own twists to make it all the better, but here we are. You get from this game what you give, and it constantly rewards you handsomely for overcoming its challenges. Between great tactical gameplay, a massive and robust cast of voiced characters, a beautiful soundtrack and art style, and a great story, this is a game no fan of tactics RPGs should skip.
Vanillaware hits the spot with Unicorn Overlord while reinvigorating an RPG sub-genre that, for a long time, was neglected in the gaming industry. I strongly believe that it is also the best game created by the Japanese developer. Even though there are small imperfections, the game is brilliant and deserving of the highest recommendation.
From beginning to end, the game feels crafted, balanced, and deep, without sacrificing approachability. Set aside preconceptions from the unusual name, and you’ll find an epic well worth exploring.
A wonderfully weird console strategy game that’s inspired by the past but forges its own very distinct legend, with beautiful visuals and deep but accessible gameplay.
Let me be very clear. All of u can nitpick this game as much as you want. But it IS better than Fire Emblem, XCOM2, FF tactics, Total War, Tactics Ogre, Starcraft 2, Disgaea, Triangle Strategy, etc.
If we are talking raw content, substance, replayability, and rpg depth, then yes, objectively, as of now, this is in the top 3. Easily. Arguably number 1. And its almost not close. I didnt care for dragons crown, but theyve nailed this game. Word is it took 10 years to develop. And it shows.
The game is great. I love the world, I love the characters, i love the graphics. But the plot is so lame and predictable. Moreover there are so many characters that you can assing to your team that at some point you just get bored and instead of thinking what units you should use, you just buff your main units with potions and EXP to charge to the finish of the game. Anyway it is nice to have game of this genre on PS5.
Gorgeous looking game, hyped and bought before finishing demo.
The game definitely took risks on some unique tactics gameplay. A pity that it became a chore with no reasons left for me to continue after 7,8 hours...
Game has more characters than any, yet none left an impression more engaging than the wobbling bobble heads on a car dashboard. Story is as generic and exciting as brushing my teeth, with no surprise or tension ever felt, most who passed 5th grade can guess everything from the start. dialogues didn't help in this case either, since the English localization is as superfluous and off-putting as someone random on the street to stop you and talk about their kid's college fund with the uncanny tone of Shakespeare, and following you for hours non-stop.
Strategy(scratch that) tactics part is unique, and fun, for the first few hours, until I messed around with most of the mechanics, items, abilities, simplistic conditional clauses, semi exploitable combos, class progression, battlefield maneuvers, repeat repeat repeat, it felt more like doing taxes than most strategy games that keep things fresh for years.
In the end it felt utterly uninteresting (5 of 10) as an RPG (let alone JRPG), and kinda playable as a Strategy(scratch that) tactical game
(7 out of 10, bonus +1 for taking risk innovating, -1 for holding me hostage to the bloated intellectually sorry-rear storyline that makes it not a strategy game, which it is not, but I rather not to give it a 5 for the efforts dev put in)
Simply put, it ain't fun, adding itself to the pile of games I would never finish. Since buying this game, had a blast finishing undertale instead, a simplistic yet beautifully written emotionally engaging experience, which makes coming back to this game even more of a headache.
Opportunities could make this game fun:
1. a sandbox mode that save me from all the boss-has-decided-so-here-it-is story, and the instead-of-a-few-well-written-charaters-like-a-sane-person-boom-heres-60-wobble-head-with-names characters, just be a strategy(scratch that) tactic game and leave player alone to whatever shenanigans.
2. I understand the choice to not allow direct combat control and direct character attributes control, (because you bloated the game with so many elements it would take forever to do anything if player to control manually), it also takes away the agency and engagement that makes a strategy(scratch that) tactical game FUN to mess around in...
What a wasted potential, and holy smoking jazz balls I complained a lot.
Play demo before buying the game. Vanillaware game does not mean that it was made by same people. Story is boring. Jrpg with a bad story is a bad jrpg.
An unfortunate miss from Vanillaware. A lackluster story, middling characters, and bland Ogre-Battle-Wannabe gameplay leave the entire package soured. To add insult to injury, even at the highest difficulty the game is easy and wildly unbalanced in favor of the player. Hopefully Vanillaware does better with their next.
SummaryFrom the masterminds that brought 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim and Odin Sphere, ATLUS x Vanillaware presents the rebirth of tactical fantasy RPG. Fight against fate and embark on a royal adventure to regain your reign alongside trustworthy allies. Unicorn Overlord combines the timeless tactical RPG genre with overworld exploration and innovat...