Turn to enough unique inspirations, and after all, a game feels completely new. That’s the feeling that comes when you play Unicorn Overlord, Vanillaware’s great fantasy adventure with tactics, strategy and storytelling. I was constantly reminded of other systems and mechanics from previous genre releases, but the resulting combination felt consistently original and entertaining even after many hours of action and exploration.
Players control a young exiled prince in a high fantasy world as he gradually gathers an army to defeat an all-powerful empire. There is a significant focus on the development of the story and characters from beginning to end. The fact that the abundant “thees and thous” frame a particularly tropical and familiar plot does not diminish the enjoyment. Instead, I loved the confident, well-written dialogue and his willingness to embrace the fun of countless long-lost siblings, costumed characters and redemptive character arcs. In the end, you can influence the outcome of the game with some interesting decisions, but this is not a game with bold narrative surprises, just well-told fantasy antics for convenience.
Unicorn Overlord is full of systems that regulate the progress and improvement of your army. Whether it’s equipment, honor, prestige, gold or character level, the main goal is to increase your army, promote your wrestlers, expand the potential size of each unit and create a team that can succeed on the field. Everything works admirably together and it’s a lot of fun to optimize each small squad unit to create unstoppable combinations of damage, defense and healing.
The actions are a fascinating mix of real-time troop movements and small unit-to-unit skirmishes. By adjusting the location of the formation and tactical decision-making of each character before a melee, you will set him up for success. However, as soon as an exchange begins, your role as a commander takes a back seat – you can no longer influence the outcome, just watch how it unfolds. Therefore, much of the gameplay revolves around the intelligent placement of units, movement, the use of items and powers before the action. I enjoyed overseeing a large and diverse army of knights, witches, griffin riders, and Elven archers as they entered into a righteous rebellion.
Vanillaware’s attention to detail and high production value stand out completely. The huge superworld from top to bottom is full of vivid and illustrated details and backgrounds. The score is magnificent and dramatic, accompanied by an enormous abundance of unforgettable voices. Above all, both the story moments and the unit actions are developed with the studio’s distinctive style of art and animation, which uses an exaggerated deformation of weapons, character curves and musculature to emphasize the atmosphere and fantasy tone.
Although I’ve really enjoyed my dozens of hours with Unicorn Overlord, the second half of the game shows some cracks in the fun. Since you can preview the outcome of each action (which is a good thing), many players will eventually do what I did and start skipping the bombastic images of a particular action to move on to the bigger action. Unfortunately, the emotion of these elaborately illustrated scenes tends to boredom.
Likewise, the numerous types of units that you recruit and face in action are fascinating at first, but eventually they become an extreme challenge to keep you in front. Imagine a game with “rock, paper, scissors”, where you can throw one of dozens of different hand signals, and you can see the dilemma. The tactical complexity is good, but in the end I found that keeping all the distinctions slowed down the pace and the feeling of mastery, instead of improving an already rich tactical simulation. Combine these two problems and after actions can seem repetitive and messy.
Even acknowledging these frustrations, I love the variety of experiences Unicorn Overlord presents and the perfect way that so many intertwined gameplay systems contribute to an overall saga of magic and debate. From start to finish, the game feels handcrafted, balanced and deep without compromising accessibility. Put aside the prejudices of the unusual name and you will find an epic worth exploring.
