Alain can wed a bride during the events of , but this will alter some portions of the game, including adjustments to the ending. It also has some gameplay benefits, as the chosen wife will perform even better in combat.
29.02.2024 - 16:40 / thesixthaxis.com / Will
As with so many fantasy adventures, Unicorn Overlord begins with everything going horribly wrong. The opening tale charts the rise of the evil Zenoiran Empire, and the crushing defeat of the nation of Cornia.
Valmore, a former Cornian general, is a suitably villainous villain here, with some true Machiavellian motivations and the most dangerous of all evil characteristics: the belief that he’s right. On his way to the throne, he slaughters the Cornian queen Ilenia, but with the foresight that all is lost she dispatches her faithful knight Josef and charges him with Alain, her young son and heir.
From here Valmore takes on the name Emperor Galerius – is this really an eviler moniker than Valmore? – and wages war upon all of the neighbouring continents, spreading his evil influence across the entire world.
Unicorn Overlord offers an intriguing take on tactical combat, mixing elements of RTS with the visual presentation of Fire Emblem, though battles play out automatically according to various predetermined rules. You deploy units from Command Points, using Valor (which is gained from defeating enemies and liberating towns and fortresses) to unleash your forces upon the enemy.
When you engage an enemy unit in battle the combat plays out based upon a series of factors. Each unit’s initiative dictates the order that they attack in, and then they use Action Points to perform actions, as well as Passive Points for any abilities that are triggered by an opponent’s moves. Combat continues till all Action Points are consumed or the opposition fall. If they’re not out, the loser will be knocked back and made immobile, giving you the chance to perform the knock-out blow.
I didn’t know how to feel about just how hands-off the combat is, but it takes very little time for its nuances to become clear. Each unit that you own has a 6×2 grid layout, and you can add characters to that grid in a variety of layouts. Depending on how you position them dictates how they respond in combat, so you can position a lead character to take the damage while your rear guard performs the damage-dealing in return, or slot them next to each other to work in tandem.
Different character classes then play into the mix, with cavalry, infantry, ranged and magic-users amongst the different options. In turn, each of these have their own skills, with new ones unlocking as they level up, suddenly giving you an array of options to choose from.
Things become really interesting when you add in each character’s strategy. Like Final Fantasy XII you can set each character’s behaviour so that they respond in exactly the way you want them to in battle, attacking, healing or using specific moves in specific situations. This looks to be a system with untold
Alain can wed a bride during the events of , but this will alter some portions of the game, including adjustments to the ending. It also has some gameplay benefits, as the chosen wife will perform even better in combat.
Divine Shards are a form of currency in . It can be used to purchase powerful late-game items, including some equipment. It also is a requirement to recruit a few people into your army.
Promptly after Unicorn Overlord’s launch, the game’s physical copies had sold out in Japan, prompting publisher Atlus to apologize for the supply shortages. Unsurprisingly, then, as per Famitsu’s latest weekly charts for hardware and physical software sales in Japan, Unicorn Overlord was the best-selling game in the region last week.
Of all the choices players must make in , one of them will be whether to free or execute Gammel. This particular choice does not really have a long-lasting effect on the rest of the campaign, but it does impact the rewards you receive and certainly affects Gammel’s fate. You can consider both outcomes before you pick, looking at the pros and cons to determine what might be the best choice.
The director of Final Fantasy Tactics and Tactics Ogre has once again rejected revival demands, suggesting fans simply play Unicorn Overlord instead.
Atlus has apologised to players in Japan after physical copies of its tactical RPG Unicorn Overload sold out.
For whatever reason, romance and marriage have become one of the most essential parts of tactics games such as Unicorn Overlord. Just like combat, however, each game handles the relationship system a little bit differently. It might seem straightforward here, but there is an extra step or two needed to fully commit and marry one of your companions. Aside from just building a strong bond with your favorite character, there are a lot of benefits to improving your relationships. Here’s a full tactical rundown of how romance works here so you can form an everlasting bond.
The recently launched tactical RPG Unicorn Overlord is so popular in Japan that its publisher, Atlus, has issued an official apology for stock shortages.
Unicorn Overlord, the new strategy RPG from Dragon's Crown and 13 Sentinels developer Vanillaware, is out now on PS5 and PS4. While it certainly isn't the highest profile release of 2024 so far, there's simply no doubting the talents of the Japanese studio behind it.
Vanillaware doesn't miss. We've been spouting that line for ages, but with the arrival of Unicorn Overlord, it rings truer than ever before. Following up on the superb 13 Sentinels was never going to be easy, but the Japanese studio has somehow manged to produce an equally excellent game three years later — and it's not even in the same genre.
Unicorn Overlord MSRP $59.99 Score Details DT Recommended Product Pros
Vanillaware’s Unicorn Overlord is out today, and as a tactical role-playing game from the team behind 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, it offers intriguing combat options, bonding between its dozens of characters and a gorgeous art style. It also has the developer’s most amount of content to date.