Unicorn Overlord is a deep tactical gem

Tested on: Xbox series
Also available on: PS4/PS5/Switch

It takes nearly ten years between the first concept of Unicorn Overlord and its final release. Such a long development time is usually not a good sign. But there are many exceptions.

The Hunt for Baldur's Gate 3

Games that spend years and years in development hell, and then keep coming, are usually not as impressive as the original concept envisioned. Although fortunately there are exceptions. Like Baldur's Gate 3, which has navigated a lot of rough waters over the past eight years, but in the end.

This Unicorn Overlord is also such a case. A project that developer Vanillaware wanted to implement at any cost, even if it took years and years. The game itself was seen from the beginning as an ode to the tactical RPGs of the 1990s and 2000s. Think Fire Emblem, Tactics Ogre, Disgaea, and the previous Final Fantasy: Tactics.

Does this tribute come close to those highly respected classics? It's very close.

Prince Alan

Unicorn Overlord begins with a cutscene showing how Queen Elenia of Cornia was defeated by her loyal general Falmor. This means the end of the Kingdom of Cornia, and the rise of Falmor as the all-powerful Emperor Galerius.

But Elenia's final act turned out to be very important: she sent her most capable knight Joseph along with the very young Prince Alan. In this way, the Corneian dynasty is kept out of the hands of Falmor/Galerius and suddenly we are thrown another ten years back in time.

Galerius now has almost all the countries of this fantasy world under his control, but the now adult Alan is being trained to perhaps one day liberate the world and especially Cornia.

However, the story doesn't wait until Alan and Joseph feel ready, because soon the island they are hiding on is attacked by Galerius' forces. The Imperial forces were largely defeated by Alan and his friends, but not before Scarlett, Alan's best friend, was kidnapped by the enemy.

Now the prince and his army have no other choice: they must pursue and return to the mainland, where Galerius is in complete control. Together they start the Liberation Army, and begin a massive adventure that you will have a major impact on.

The story may seem a bit cliched, and Unicorn Overlord won't win any awards for best creative story of the year. However, there are enough side quests and small story moments in the plot to keep us interested.

Automatic tactics

The gameplay in Unicorn Overlord consists of two main parts, which are equally important. First there are the actual battles. You will spend a large part of your time in tactical battles against increasingly powerful opponents. Combat features some unique elements that feel familiar at the same time. You can control a number of units on the map, and each unit consists of a minimum of one character and a maximum of six characters.

At the beginning of the game, you are still limited in terms of the number of units you can control and their size, but of course you can unlock more and more options. You have complete freedom in how you put these modules together. This seems obvious, but it makes the choice (pressure) immense, especially when you're recruiting over sixty unique characters.

You can choose which characters to group together in the party, and which to deploy in the front or back row. Each character belongs to a specific class and has their own skills, and also has personal equipment (weapons, armor, and accessories) that affect their statistics and behavior.

The clock is ticking

In addition, time is also an important factor during skirmishes. Not only does each battle have a timer, so you can only progress, but the battles take place in real time. It's a bit like classic RTS games like Command & Conquer or Starcraft.

Fortunately, you can pause the action at any time to issue new orders to your troops. Your options in that area are not limited either: you can move troops, but you can also let them rest to recover stamina, you can make them liberate fortresses and cities, control weapons in the field, use items or even activate special skills thanks to courage points. This courage is again a very important element during battles. You can earn it by defeating enemy forces, and spend it to either activate those skills mentioned above or to bring new troops to the field.

Once two soldiers meet on the battlefield, the game takes you to the battle screen, where your troops give their best in a beautiful graphic style. Combat is completely automatic and the outcome is determined by the statistics, formation, items and skills of the troops you have deployed. You can even see at a glance who will win before the actual battle begins.

Living off the land

We can say a lot about the combat, because it is without a doubt one of the most in-depth tactical experiences we have seen recently in a console game. But what do you do between battles? Somewhat surprisingly, this battle-free period consists not only of menus and text, but Unicorn Overlord gives you the freedom to travel around the country as you please.

You can then travel through the map and can visit all the villages, towns, forts, mines and other locations that you have already liberated during the war. In settlements, you can buy new weapons and items for your troops, deliver goods to upgrade the town or even eat meals to strengthen the bonds between your troops.

In Fortresses, you can expand your units by spending Honor Points (earned every time you complete certain quests or activities). Furthermore, you can conduct test battles between your units to see which tactics are effective and which may lead to defeat.

During these moments when you are walking freely in this world, you will often be able to find new quests, collect goods such as food, wood, stone, and metal, or encounter new characters. This also ensures that the game doesn't just become a series of difficult battles.

You can rest, train, buy equipment and mentally prepare for the challenges ahead. We certainly appreciated that, although the added consequence is that the game can sometimes feel a bit long. We can certainly imagine that some players just want to quickly get back into the action.

Abundance

So once again, Unicorn Overlord, despite its colorful anime style, is a surprisingly spicy and deep game. We were only able to discuss a small part of everything, because in almost every battle the game manages to surprise you again.

Sandstorms that obscure your vision, mages and archers who can support other troops from a distance, characters you can talk to during battle to convince them to side with you in battle, and barricades and flying troops that can walk over all terrain. The list is almost endlessly long.

In addition, you have many unique troops, where you will have to choose your favorite one, but each of them is very powerful. Especially when you start delving into what are called tactics, which allow you to program each character individually. Do you want your knight to focus mainly on enemies with the highest hit points? Should your healer take action as soon as someone takes damage, or only when someone loses fifty percent of their health bar? You can adjust all this and more yourself to assemble the perfect units.

Forever unicorn fan

You've probably heard it already, but we're really into Unicorn Overlord. Fans of the tactical RPG genre can't help but get this game, because Vanillaware has managed to combine the best classic games with extremely easy-to-use menus and systems that ensure a smooth experience.

For our taste, we'd dare to call Unicorn Overlord a better, more refined game than recent Fire Emblem titles, and that's a pretty big compliment.

Are there drawbacks too? Not real. For some, the long story may get a bit boring and hinder the strategic gameplay. We weren't entirely satisfied with the soundtrack, which doesn't contain a single bad song, but also has a few really great songs for a game of this calibre.

Finally, you could say that the gameplay loop of combat-wandering-conversation-fighting-conversation-wandering-combat becomes too predictable after a while. Although we had no problem with that at all and enjoyed the whole experience!