Unicorn Overlord review

Vanillaware retains its long-running reign, with the studio delivering another enchanting experience.

Osaka-based Vanillaware confidently pushes genres in innovative directions. 2007’s GrimGrimoire adapted the mechanics of real-time strategy games – placing them on side-scrolling, two-dimensional playfields. Both 2009’s Muramasa: The Demon Blade and 2013’s Dragon’s Crown fused role-playing elements and hack-and-slash action, providing a refreshing injection of longevity. And then there’s 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, which managed to intermingle elements from adventure games, RTS titles, and even visual novels into a non-linear storyline. That’s a feat that remains unrivaled four years on.

Curiously, the studio’s latest, Unicorn Overlord, doesn’t make a notable first impression. Largely, this stems from a reliance on Western fantasy and a plotline that initially feels mundane. With its magical ring, familiar categories of humans, elves, and beasts, and classes of swordsmen, archers, and witches, almost every element feels familiar. And likely, you’ve seen the story of an audacious queen putting her son in the custody of her trusted knight before confronting a mutinous, despotic general. Since the jump cut happens within the first 15 minutes, it’s not surprising to learn that he’s found leading a rebellion ten years later.

Alain Rhymes with Plain

As the game’s central character, Alain is a bit underdeveloped, as the five act, roughly 50-hour narrative follows a hero’s quest for retribution. But here’s where Vanillaware works their narrative magic: almost every one of the game’s 60 recruitables are more interesting. From convicts to clerics, spies to sexy swamp witches, Unicorn Overlord’s secondaries are the real stars of the game- providing personality that Alain’s lacks.

Some of these characters become a part of your team from completing a side quest. But others join up after Alain is confronted with a variety of different ethical quandaries. Do you forgive a murderous bandit pleading for a second chance when you feel that the decision could come back to haunt you? The moments when you deliberate over an execution are brilliantly pensive. I couldn’t wait to revisit them across future playthroughs.

And here’s the thing: your choices have consequences. If you put someone to death, they’re permanently gone from the game, and you’ll never know the impact they’ll have on Overlord’s world. Elect to spare them and the outcome may not radically change the trajectory of the overarching plot. But you will witness consequences – like when an enemy general showed a bit of mercy after speaking to one of Alain’s charismatic allies.

Reform, Redemption, and Other Tales

Sometimes, Vanillaware pulls at the heartstrings, reconnecting us with a personality that we might have disregarded. Meeting up again hours later, Alain might observe the lifepath they undertook, and these ‘stories within a story’ provide the kind of satisfaction found in first-rate storytelling. Beyond providing interesting backstories and remarkable reunions, the game’s secondaries flesh out the game’s world. Across each area of Fevrith, you’ll distinguish cultures, and perspectives, all helping form a rich history that many tactical role-playing games neglect.

Overlord is also quite skilled at plotting the trajectory of its story. At first, it seems as if Alain and a handful of his close companions are facing insurmountable odds. But as you begin freeing towns from the tyrannical grip of oppression and earning the respect of those around you, you can feel the momentum of a mounting revolt. As Alain can enlist additional characters to his cause with his intensifying admiration, there’s a pleasing sense of progression across the campaign.

Plenty of Tactical Scenarios

Unsurprisingly, every recruitable doesn’t have a significant backstory, but there is enough noteworthy character development to entice you into assigning like-minded allies to the same unit. But depending on the difficulty setting you opt to play on, you will eventually have to strategize, creating specialized teams for the multitude of situations Overlord throws at you. And compared to most TRPGs, there are a lot of thought-provoking scenarios.

Sporadically, you’ll be tasked with capturing garrisons or taking control of weapons like ballistae and catapults, each providing their own distinct advantage. Of course, your enemies aren’t pushovers and often have the same motivations. As such, some of the enjoyment stems from creating a strike team suited for conquest, whether it’s a burley detachment prepared to besiege, a lightning quick cavalry, or simply a flying unit who can sail over the heads of adversaries.

Synergy Leads to Success

Unicorn Overlord’s battles are split into two components. The first part plays out like a real-time strategy game, as you build and command ten different squads of up to six characters. You’ll plot their movement on the map, and they’re follow your orders unless you decide to pause the game and redirect a group of allies. Once they encounter the enemy, Overlord displays a sideview perspective of the encounter.

The second part of Overlord’s conflicts play out automatically, with success hinging on unit composition and formation, as well as individual character skills. Synergy is imperative, with classes exhibiting abilities like defending their partners or automatically issuing a counterattack any time one of your allies is assailed. At first, Vanillaware keeps these confrontations simple, mirroring the archetypical ‘rock scissors paper’-style showdowns that are common in gaming.

But before long, the number of variables increases, which surges the number of strategic possibilities and also the difficulty of proper preparation. That said, if you’re a strategy fan, mechanics like equippable items that offer advantages when certain conditions are met might keep you invigorated. Conversely, if micro-managing isn’t appealing, there’s the chance that the late-game showdowns can grow tedious. Fortunately, you get a prediction of how well you’ll fare in battle, and it’s possible to skip these combat sequences.

Conclusion

Of course, jumping past battles will sidestep one of Overlord’s biggest delights. As with Vanillaware’s previous efforts, every visual asset is meticulously drawn, contributing a painterly appearance that supplies a storybook quality. From battlefields that resemble detailed dioramas to intricately detailed animation that portray Wagnerian wrath of gryphon riders or simply an energetic staff swing before thumping an opponent, Unicorn Overlord is filled with visual enchantment. And while there’s some unvoiced dialog, the game’s vocal performances, bassy sound effects, and Basiscape’s exquisite soundtrack help make up for the omission.

Much like Vanillaware previous efforts, Unicorn Overlord is a miraculous effort that melds together a multitude of different mechanics. The game’s inspirations are plentiful and its innovations are abundant, resulting in an experience that can feel familiar but consistently keeps you on your toes with battlefields that brim with creativity. While the game might push at traditional genre classifications, Overlord will likely be remembered as one of the best tactical role-playing experiences of the year.

Unicorn Overlord was played on PlayStation 5 with review code provided by the publisher.