Evaluation: Unicorn Overlord (Nintendo Swap)

It’s most likely too early to be declaring my 2024 recreation of the 12 months. There’s lots to stay up for, particularly in my favourite style: JRPGs. However having spent upwards of 100 hours on Unicorn Overlord, I’ll be very shocked if I’ve a greater time all through the remainder of the Nintendo Swap’s twilight.

Unicorn Overlord is a tactical technique RPG from ATLUS and Vanillaware. It follows Alain, the would-be prince of Cornia had the dominion not been overthrown by Basic Valmore. Earlier than her final stand towards Valmore, Alain’s mom, Queen Ilenia, duties a guard, Josef, with defending her younger son and the Ring of the Unicorn. Valmore takes management of Cornia, locations all of the kingdoms of Fevrith below Zenoiran rule, and modifications his title to Galerius, as would all of us, proper?

Ten years later, the island of Palevia is invaded by Zenoiran forces. Josef, Alain, and some buddies are in a position to repel the assault, and we study the Ring of the Unicorn has the flexibility to dispel the magic that’s forcing one-time allies to serve below Galerius. Armed with this information and a can-do angle, Alain decides the time is nigh to assemble a military to liberate Fevrith.

The plot is usually melodramatic for the style, however not practically as heavy as what we’ve seen prior to now. All the things strikes alongside at a breezy tempo, or at the least as breezy as it may be with the entire side-battle motion at your disposal. Let’s not get into that, but, although. Let’s begin with the world map.

In most JRPGs, the map is both one thing that pushes icons round below grave narration or a method to get from right here to there with as few random battles as potential. In Unicorn Overlord, it’s a residing factor, and a key element to gameplay. Alain has to discover the world to construct his military, and there’s rather a lot to do.

Finishing liberation battles will free cities for Alain to make the most of, supplied he’s gathered sufficient assets to construct them up. Cities can present armor and provisions. Bigger cities also can present taverns the place Alain’s troops can share meals to extend rapport. You may station guards to assist gather supplies and to current with items, additionally to extend rapport. Some cities have ports that permit you to sail to secluded areas for uncommon objects or to resolve quests.

The map additionally incorporates forts the place you’ll be able to recruit mercenaries, develop your unit dimension, interact in mock battles, and extra. Quite a few relics are scattered about, a lot of which you gained’t even know the right way to use till you’re about midway by way of the sport, or deeper. One in every of my favourite moments was once I stumbled upon a hidden catapult with the suggestion to disable it. In a later battle, the enemy officer was miffed to study a catapult was down, making my victory simpler to attain. There are quite a few moments like that scattered about, making map exploration not only a rewarding endeavor, but additionally an necessary key to development.

In fact, the meat of the sport is within the battles, and there’s far an excessive amount of nuance to enter full element right here. Mainly, you’re in a position to assign models of as much as six troopers from these you’ve recruited or employed. Unicorn Overlord presents over 60 characters by recreation’s finish, all of whom include their very own distinctive talent set throughout a mess of sophistication sorts. The way you place them of their unit, the way you arm and decorate them, what expertise you give them, and the way you set off these expertise determines how efficient they’ll be in fight. It’s rather a lot to consider, and it could actually simply grow to be overwhelming if you happen to’re not continually managing who will get what new accent/weapon and who will get paired with whom.

The sport does permit you to interact in mock battles to check a unit’s effectiveness, however I discovered it simpler to simply mimic enemy models. If a battle is especially troublesome, I’d arrange a unit utilizing the enemy’s formation, then tweak it to swimsuit my wants.

However that’s simply the preparation. The battles happen in actual time on splendidly designed maps that stay numerous all through the sport’s entirety. They typically include deploying a number of models at a time to assault the enemy’s stronghold whereas defending your personal. Valor factors decide what number of models might be deployed. Extra valor is achieved all through the battle, permitting you to deploy extra models or make the most of particular expertise that may improve assaults, buff or heal your models, transport models across the battlefield, and myriad different capabilities.

It seems like rather a lot, however there’s extra. Assigning a unit’s chief determines the fundamental talent of that unit. Making a flier the chief permits that complete unit to fly over in any other case impassable mountains and rivers. However flying models are prone to arrow assaults, so switching the chief to at least one with the flexibility to repel ranged assaults is then a good suggestion…supplied you could have the valor factors to take action. Working low on valor? Decide a unit chief who has the flexibility to replenish it extra rapidly or simply use an merchandise that negates ranged assaults.

Between the obtainable unit tweaks, the valor expertise, and numerous objects you could find/purchase to make use of on the battlefield, I by no means felt I didn’t stand an opportunity in a battle. Even if you happen to don’t put together nicely, there’s often a solution to push by way of if you happen to simply pause the motion and give it some thought—there’s nearly all the time a soldier on the with a valor talent to save lots of the day.

That’s truly one in every of my two minor complaints about Unicorn Overlord. In the event you occur upon a pair unit setups that actually maximize effectivity, you should utilize them to push by way of the whole recreation with out a lot issue. I had two (perhaps three) such models, and it wasn’t lengthy earlier than they appeared able to clearing complete battle maps on their very own. Items can tire on the battlefield, however there are such a lot of methods to replenish their stamina that fatigue is just about a non-factor.

I additionally felt there have been too many soldier lessons to maintain observe of. The builders might’ve lowered this by half and nonetheless had an intricate party-assembly system. As soon as I approached the sport’s midpoint, I simply had no need to gradual issues all the way down to tinker with unit symmetry, apart from to determine who so as to add when increasing models from 4 to 5. As such, a variety of attention-grabbing characters have been barely utilized. There was simply no want.

Perhaps that’ll open up the sport to a number of playthroughs. The world of Fevrith will certainly be value further journeys, because the surroundings can also be unbelievable. The fantasy landscapes are richly illustrated and a pleasure to discover, the character designs are heroic and enjoyable (if not a bit dated in a number of situations), the music matches the world and the motion nicely, and the voice appearing is strong, for probably the most half. In brief, the sport’s design is cohesive; every half totally enhances the others.

So, sure, Unicorn Overlord is unquestionably an early candidate for my 2024 recreation of the 12 months. It achieves every little thing it units out to perform, it manages a number of surprises alongside the way in which, and solely by nitpicking can I discover something incorrect with it. Do not forget that pleasure while you first performed a JRPG or technique recreation that actually clicked for you? It’s about to occur once more.