If somebody informed me there’s an upcoming techniques RPG stuffed with anime-inspired characters, I might instantly reply, “Hell yeah, give it to me” and totally anticipate it to be a brand new Fire Emblem. Or I’d hope for one more Valkyria Chronicles. Instead, what’s filling that void is Unicorn Overlord, the subsequent joint from Japanese developer Vanillaware. While it is best identified for the cult side-scrolling action-RPGs Odin Sphere and Dragon’s Crown, and most lately the mind-bending story-driven 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, it touched on the technique style with GrimGrimoire. However, Unicorn Overlord is breaking floor for the studio with a newfound emphasis on techniques inside an in depth RPG basis.After taking part in by way of a four-hour preview demo, I got here away impressed with its deep, interconnected techniques and difficult battles, but additionally as a result of it is completely different. It’s a reasonably recent tackle a techniques RPG, mixing real-time technique parts with the mechanics of a turn-based auto battler. On the battlefield, you management singular items that include as much as six occasion members inside and direct a number of items in actual time. And once they encounter an enemy unit, they have interaction in a predetermined fight sequence that performs out primarily based on every particular person’s class, abilities, and tactical presets. At the guts of the technique is the way you assemble these items and the way they match up towards enemies they encounter. It appears easy sufficient at first, however even simply within the opening hours, the tactical layers repeatedly revealed themselves, giving me a lot to chew on.
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Now Playing: Unicorn Overlord – Announcement Trailer
With a mixture of knights, cavalry, heavy defenders, mages, Pegasus-riding warriors, and nearly some other fantasy-based combatant you’ll be able to consider, there’s far more than a rock-paper-scissors weapon triangle to think about. Support items with heavy shields on the frontline can bounce in entrance of enemy assaults to soak injury, clerics within the again can restore HP to maintain an ally alive mid-sequence, and nimble thieves can draw enemy consideration to then dodge their hard-hitting assaults. Some lessons and weapon sorts are in fact efficient towards sure others, however it’s essential to additionally think about components like positioning inside the unit or the precise skills outfitted on particular person troopers because it all impacts how they behave in battle. Coming out victorious in an encounter is determined by who takes probably the most injury, so fights are simply as a lot about killing enemy items as they’re about successful the warfare of attrition, leaving them motionless on the sphere for a short second and susceptible to follow-up encounters.At a sure level in my demo, I might set particular parameters and logic sequences for what the person items do primarily based on the situations of the combat. For instance, I set considered one of my knights to prioritize utilizing an assault ability that restores HP upon a kill, however they’d solely use it in the event that they’re in a position to goal an enemy under 50% well being. Or I can set my priestess to prioritize assault spells and solely solid heals if an ally is under 25% well being. Extrapolating that idea throughout the multitude of lessons and the advanced dynamic of how your items and enemy items are constructed makes my head spin, however in a method that has me desperate to unravel its nuances.Although the layers piled on in simply the opening 4 hours, it not often felt overwhelming because of the best way it ramps up in doling out new mechanics. It would not simply clarify issues to you in tutorial popups, however in making you have interaction with the very techniques and techniques it is introducing to you, the complexities of its gameplay grow to be digestible. I would take one thing like that with no consideration, however contemplating how a lot you must juggle and the way tough battles can get, those that might not be as in-tune with techniques video games will not be left behind. The different side to determining what works and would not work is seeing it really unfold in battle. Watching your items in motion presents the sort of suggestions that helps you visualize the techniques you place collectively in menus, supplying you with concepts for whenever you return to the drafting board.Watching battles play out is a part of the enjoyment of Unicorn Overlord, too. Vanillaware’s signature painterly artwork fashion was a facet of 13 Sentinels that elevated its storytelling, and right here, these visible qualities have matured to present its characters and setting a definite look that assist Unicorn Overlord be greater than a typical fantasy world. It’s additionally within the expressive animations in fight that brighten up your items to enhance their charming and/or grizzly looks–and like several good techniques recreation, I began to type attachments to sure characters and unit formations primarily based on my experiences with utilizing them in battle, as if to type my very own headcanon exterior of the story itself.As for the precise story, the marketing campaign begins with the overthrowing of a queen named Ilenia. But she herself is a fierce warrior with a loyal band of knights–and so, that is the setup for educating you the fundamentals of fight whereas showcasing what highly effective items are able to, and letting you play by way of a coup to tee up the remainder of the story within the course of. After preventing a shedding battle and ordering survivors to flee, Ilenia entrusts the mysterious Unicorn Ring to her most trusted Knight named Josef and has him take her son to security. The recreation flashes ahead 10 years and that son, Alain, is now recruiting allies throughout the continent, main an rebellion to take again the throne. So, what looks like customary fare for a fantasy story is carried by the nice character designs, endearing artwork fashion, and strong voice performances, though I do anticipate some twists and turns to maintain its projected 50-hour marketing campaign attention-grabbing.If it appears like Unicorn Overlord leans closely into the gameplay expertise, effectively, that is as a result of it does. That’s to not say there is not a narrative value exploring, it is only a recreation with completely different priorities than Vanillaware’s earlier one. While I can not get too detailed on narrative parts fairly but, it presents simply sufficient intrigue to offer an attention-grabbing context to hunt out the subsequent battle and discover its sprawling overworld; that latter of which can occupy a major chunk of the prolonged runtime.Outside of story cutscenes and commanding troops in hard-fought battles, you may discover the overworld to handle cities, tackle aspect quests, and navigate hostile zones on the best way to your subsequent goal. Perks like gadgets, forex, and sources to improve your items’ capabilities all incentivize you to have interaction with issues exterior the essential path, and these had a noticeable influence on fight effectiveness–just with the ability to increase the soldier capability of your items is important for staying afloat in the primary story’s fights. Along the best way, you may as well rebuild outposts or drive bandits away to assist villagers and recruit them to the trigger. It additionally appears that many of the recreation’s fight encounters happen on the very overworld you progress in, so there is a seamlessness within the core techniques gameplay and the areas you discover, which additionally speaks to how expansive the complete recreation could also be.I’m keen to guess technique diehards are going to feast on Unicorn Overlord, particularly as a result of it is attempting one thing new with its techniques gameplay and revitalizing the traditional Ogre Battle basis for a brand new technology. I like me techniques RPG as effectively, however Vanillaware’s aesthetic is simply as placing because it’s ever been, and the melding of these two features looks like a successful combo to me. We’ll see the way it all comes collectively when Unicorn Overlord releases on March 8 for PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch.