You read that right. Those looking for a way to bring the ATLUS JRPG series to their tabletop don't have to wait anymore for an official game. Shin Megami Tensei - The Roleplaying Game: Tokyo Conception first rele??ased in Japan in 2004, but despite its positive initial reception, it has only reached Engli??sh-speaking markets this year via LionWing Publishing.

LionWing is well-known for translating Japanese-published RPGs and bringing them to this side of the world, with notable entries to their catalog including Fledge Witch, Convictor Drive: Armored By Grief, and Eldritch Escape: Tokyo. Back in March, it was announced ?that they'd be collaborat??ing with ATLUS to finally bring Tokyo Conception to new regions, and the wait is finally over.

Naturally, the main source of inspiration for the game is Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne, released in 2003. Tokyo Conception is, by design, a TTRPG adaptation of Nocturne. It brings players back to the Vortex World Tokyo seen in Nocturne, navigating complex relationships with the Reasons, or ?perhaps creating one for? themselves.

Central to the game's loop is its negotiation system, inspired by the one from the franchise, which has players try to communicate with Demons to get them to join their side. Iit wouldn't be an ATLUS game without a lot of little freaks to fight or tame, and Tokyo Conception boasts nearly 100 pages of ?Demons to deal with, inclu?ding everyone's favorite little creature, Jack Frost, and horrid abomination Mara.

A major part of the marketing for Tokyo Conception has been the myriad number of ways that the game perfectly simulates the video game that it descends from, now wrapped up and ready for your table to bring its own flair to it. It's an incredible time to be an SMT fan, between this new RPG release and their new?? board game that just sailed ??passed its Kickstarter goal.

Shin Megami Tensei - The Roleplaying Game: Tokyo Conception released digitally on November 12th, with links rolling out through Drive-Thru RPG. Pre-orders for the physical book are still open, with a wide variety of variant covers, and they are supposed to ship out in early 20??25. LionWing has promised that those who pre-order the physical edition will get immediate access to the digital PDF, so you don't have to wait to start fighting your Demons.

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Atlus' most recent JRPG, Metaphor: ReFantazio, comes out today on October 11 and yet it still man??aged to sell so many copies that it broke an unexpected record for? the company.

On both its official website and its social media accounts, Atlus revealed that Metaphor: ReFantazio has sold more than 1 million uni?ts worldwide. The company also thanked their fans for all their support and celebrated this huge milestone with an adorable new illustration of?? one of the main characters of the game, Gallica the fairy.

This is a monumental achievement, not only because of the speed in which Metaphor: ReFantazio reached these sales numbers, but also because it cemented it as the fastest selling video game in Atlus' history. This record was previously held by Persona 3 Reload, which sold the same amount of copies in one week back in Febr??uary. That's rig?ht, Atlus broke its own record twice within the same year, meaning that 2024 has been extremely successful for the company.

Metaphor ReFantazio is shaping up to be one of 2024's best JRPGs

In its official announcement, Atlus also boasted about the positive reviews that Metaphor: ReFantazio has been receiving, with its PlayStation 5 version and its Xbox Version currently sharing a score of 93 points on MetaCritic, while its PC version holds a score of 91 points in the same aggregator website. The company also reported that this game received the award for "Future Category" in both the 2023 and 2024 editions of the Japan Game Awards.

On the other hand, JRPG fans are excited about the release of Metaphor: ReFantazio, with many players who got early copies claiming that it's the closest thing to a hypothetical Persona 6 they have played in years. This is not surprising, considering that several key figures who are famous for their involvement on both the Shin Megami Tensei and the Persona series also worked on Metaphor: ReFantazio, like director Katsura Hashino, c??haracter artist Shigenori Soejima and music composer Shoji Meguro.

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One of my most anticipated releases of the year, Metaphor: ReFantazio, is set to release in just over two weeks. Ahead of the upcoming launch, Atlu??s and SEGA have released a massive roughly five-hour demo that covers the entire prologue of the RPG. The demo is available now for PS4 and PS5 on the PlayStation Store, Xbox Series X|S via the Microsoft Store, and on PC via Steam.

First things first, don't worry. With a five-hour-long demo, surely you aren't going to want to play through those?? five hours again in about two weeks when the full game releases. Thankfully, your progress from the Prologue Demo will transfer to the full release of the game.

It ?appears the demo is pretty meaty, featuring the RPG's first four dungeons, seven of the over 40 classes, also known as Archetypes and six of the followers that accompany the Protagonist by joining your party.

If you're unfamiliar with Metaphor, think Shin Megami Tensei or Persona set in a new medieval fantasy world that mirrors the contemporary real world. With beautiful landscapes and stylish anime cutscenes, not to mention the same lengthy expansive story that Atlus fans have come to expect from their RPGs. I don't have the time, but screw it I'll find time fo?r this one.

I normally don't bother with demos unless I'm really on the fence about a game, mostly just due to time constraints. But for Metaphor: ReFantazio where I already know I'm going to get it, AND the demo progress carries over to full launch, this is like an early Chr??istmas.

Those interested in checking out the demo now can do so on your respective platform. Metaphor: ReFantazio is set to launch on October 11.

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A month after launch, Vanillaware's Unicorn Overlord hit the 500k shipment milestone. Now, six months after release, ATLUS and Vanillaware are celebrating o?ne million units sold aro??und the world. 

Following the initial announcement, the official ATLUS West account shared the good news along with a special illustration. Vanillaware?'s Takashi Noma cooked up the following piece of art featuring Berengaria, Melisandre, and Rosalinde just for the occasion.

Unicorn Overlord first launched for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch on March 8, 2024. Its 500k triumph arrived shortly after on April 1, doing so at a faster pace than Vanillaware's previous strategy/visual novel outing, 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim. For further comparison, 13 Sentinels didn't hit 1M in sales until almost ex??actly three years after its global launch.

Hopefully, this simply means that Vanillaware is getting the proper commercial recognition to back up all of its critical praise. 2013 side-scrolling action-RPG Dragon's Crown also moved over one million copies around the world, so it's heartening to see George Kamitani?? and the rest of the team getting their flowers.

As ATLUS points out, those who want to try Unicorn Overlord for themselves can check?? out a five-hour demo. The demo is available on all platforms and save data can be c?arried over to the full game. Like all Vanillaware games, the art direction is absolutely stunning, and thankfully there's also a pretty darn gripping strategy game underneath it all. 

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Atlus' next big RPG Metaphor: ReFantazio looks to be a visual treat from its imaginative fantasy locations to its illustrious menu UI. Hopefully, you meet the Metaphor: ReFantazio PC system requi?rements to make this game look glorious on your monit?or or TV.

Metaphor: ReFantazio PC system requirements - minimum specs

To run Metaphor: Fantazio at 720p resolution with 30 frames per second (FPS), you'll need the following specs, according to the game's Steam listing:

• OS: Windows 10
• Processor: Intel Core i5-3470 or AMD FX-6300
• Memory: 6 GB RAM
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti, 4GB or AMD Radeon R7 360, 4GB or Intel Arc A310, 4GB
• DirectX: Version 11
• Storage: 93 GB available space

The game's developer Atlus and the publisher Sega also say that you require a CPU with AVX support. You can check if your Intel processor has this functionality by looking up the Instruction Set Extensions from the CPU Technologies tab in the Intel Processor Identification Utility ap??p. Most modern compu??ters should have AVX support.

Metaphor: ReFantazio is fairly beefy with 93GB of storage being taken. However, it's smaller than other RPGs like Starfield or Final Fantasy XVI.

Recommended specs for Metaphor: ReFantazio

If you?? want this gorgeous Atlus game to run with 1080p resolution at 60 FPS, you'??ll need the following:

• OS: Windows 10
• Processor: Intel Core i5-7600 or Ryzen 5 2600
• Memory: 8 GB RAM
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970, 4GB or AMD Radeon RX 480, 4GB or Intel Arc A380, 6GB
• DirectX: Version 11
• Storage: 93 GB available space

You'll want to at least match the recommended specs for this game because our preview said "It mi??ght be one of the most stylish?? games [..] in some time."

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Metaphor: ReFantazio has a lot of legacy behind it. It’s a new franchise, sure, but it has Persona’s Katsura Hoshino i??n the director’s chair, with longtime collaborators Shigenori Soejima and Shoji M?eguro on-board too.

It feels inevitable for Metaphor: ReFantazio to draw comparisons to Persona, and by extent, Shin Megami Tensei. In some ways, it feels familiar, like a new branch sprouting from the trunk of Atlus RPGs, but ?in others, it adds a distinct twist. For as often as Metaphor: Re:Fantazio felt like Persona's distant cousin, it spent just as much time delivering a fresh re-imagining of what this style of role-playing game could be.

We got an offer to fly out and check out a new demo of Metaphor: ReFantazio, as well as ask its creative leads some questions, ahead of its October 11 release date. My takeaway is that, even with trepidation in places, Metaphor loo??ks like it could be a fascinating new branch of Atlus�RPG tree.

For the king

The first slice of my demo was pretty similar to the opening slice of Metaphor I’d already seen earlier this year at Summer Game Fest, albeit with some extra content on either end. The game opens by questioning what “fantasy�means, and whether fantasy can affect—maybe even become—reality. Then, it asks for your name. Not the protagonist’s, mind, but your name. Put a pin in that, I guess?

From there, it’s a bit of a drip-feed of info and details. You start in the middle of a journey, with a fairy companion named Gallica accompanying your hero. The hero has a voice in this game, which is a pleasant change of pace; hearing them talk to characters in dialogu?e adds a bit of life to the in-game avatar, and creates some textual distance between player and character in a way I dig.

Your convoy to the city of Grand Trad is soon brought to a halt, though, as bandits ?demanding “tribute�strike. After killing one passenger, Hulkenberg—the tall and stoic elven warrior who later joins the party—draws her weapon and coldly delivers the line: “You drew steel. I take it you are prepared to die by it?�Excellent.

I’m going beat-by-beat because, early on, Metaphor has some strange pacing. Its framing shifts pretty rapidly from the jump, between the meta-narrative introduction, the present time with the story’s hero, and flashbacks that inform the hero’s past and current quest. You are trying to make contact with someon??e who can help you take down a foe in the shadows, and so you infiltrate the ranks of the guard to find your man.

Over the course of the opening hours, the plot stirs up slowly, maybe a little shakily, then comes into focus. It’s a compelling setup, though j??umping around between flashbacks and the present can make it feel a little erratic.

What carries Metaphor early on is this brilliant fantasy world. In the year 785, the United Kingdom of Euchronia is sitting on the precipice of chaos; the king is dead, and tensions between different classes and races are boiling over. Anxiety, as director Hoshino told previewers in a pre-recorded video, is a core theme of Metaphor: ReFantazio. Where is it born from, how does it ferment, and what kind of cruel monsters does it bring to life? Embroiled in this is your ??hero, a candidate for the throne among many, as different leaders vie for public attention and causes in a competition for the kingdom’s future.

It’s a magical, high fantasy world that feels so easy to get lost in. The first demo introduced me to the setup, but the second half opened up and put me in the midst of what feels like the bulk of Metaphor’s classic Atlus loop: deal with time constraints, navigate travel restrictions, and use the calendar to chart a course. Days and nights allow the same distractions as a Persona game might, and different NPCs populate the world during different hours. In the day, I pick up a new side quest from a character that’s likely to become?? a social link; at night, I spend time speaking with a devout member of a persecuted religion, gaining greater understanding of what matters to them.

Shades of Persona and Shin Megami Tensei are obvious to see here. The “royal virtues�are like personality traits: Courage, Wisdom, Tolerance, Eloquence, and Imagination open up conversation checks. In one case, I deduced the best course of action with ??a character thanks to my Wisdom. It was nice to see the check openly acknowledged by the game, rather than hidden until I’d picked my conversation choice.

Time after time

The?re are also ticking clocks. 11 days until an important story event, eight to a deadline, one month to complete a quest. Not everything is time-ga??ted, but the tension of its constant advance as you do things, and erase time off the clock, is ever-present. It takes time to talk to people, to explore dungeons, even to travel from city to city on your quest to become the next king.

I could see it easily leading to choice-paralysis, or a worry that you’re misspending your time. During a translated Q+A session with the leads behind Metaphor: ReFantazio, another press attendee asked about that stress, and th?e answer from lead daily system planner Azusa ??Kido was interesting:

“So as you play through the game, I do understand that some people might be overwhelmed by the volume,�said Kido. “But I also think that is the fun and entertainment element as well, where we’re traveling to unknown cites and unknown territories, and we are on this journey with limited time, where we do have this mission in mind.�/p>

Deciding on what to d?o each day, and the next day, and the day after, is a style of decision making that can be fun. Each experience with the game can be different. Even at the preview event, I would walk away from the set-up and start talking with other press members, leading to conversations about everything they saw that I didn’t see, even within our allocated slice.

Personally, I think it works. It’s an interesting twist on Persona’s calendar system, with the added wrinkle of travel and physical distance. Planning and routing became really important; spending a day going to a small town for a rare ingredient wasn’t worth it, but if that town sat on the path to a dungeon I wanted to clea??r, now I’m hitting two birds with one stone.

Travel feels like a major part of Metaphor, another fresh layer to the formula. As a candidate for the throne, you have a gauntlet runner, a giant ship that literally uses mechanical limbs to “run�across the ground. Despite looking a bit strange, it’s quite a bit faster than walking, and it al??lows ca?ndidates to move freely and (mostly) safely between locales. Even while you’re traveling, you can still spend time with comrades, gaining extra points in your Royal Virtues. You can even cook for some bonuses, which leads to some really fun dialogues with characters like Hulkenberg and Strohl.

Take heart

When it comes to combat, a lot of what I said in my previous preview stands here. The nuts and bolts of it feel very Shin Megami Tensei, with characters i??dentifying weaknesses and striking f?or a Press Turn-style system. Though some of the elements might be here or missing, the basics will feel immediately familiar.

What really surpri?sed me were the ways Atlus found new room to expand this combat set-up, especially in coordination with the Archetypes, which function as “jobs�for each character. In one fight, I was taking on a giant treasure-hoarding fiend, and I had learned through an informant back in town that it’s distracted by gold. If I went in with the Merchant class, I could use one of its ??abilities to scatter cash and make the beast lose actions.

There’s a lot happening in concert there that’s interesting: an informant that provides hints about upcoming boss fights, for a price; jobs and abilities that don’t rely on just elemental advantages; and encounter-specific mechanics that, again, don’t rely on basic weaknesses and resistances. A front and back row system reminded me of Final Fantasy VI, and one bout even had me dancing my party members betwe??en rows to dodge certain attacks.

Metaphor showed some decent variety in the slice I saw. In one fight, I had to take out two boss enemies at the same time, or one could revive the other, forcing me to vary up my usual single-target tactics. In another, I noticed one of my characters had an ability specifically meant for dealing with type resistances, opening up new avenues of attack. In all these ways, it feels like Metaphor: ReFantazio is going to feel ve?ry familiar, but not like a? full-on repeat.

Real-life anxieties

Of course, the climate that Metaphor is launching in is hard to ignore. It’s a game about a heated election contest between candidates, amid a pretty eventful election year in the United States. This isn’t even me making a fresh observation; it’s something that the development team actively called attention to. In a pre-recorded video shown to previewers, Metaphor director Katsura Hashino said that when the team started, they didn’t realize it would overlap with real-life events like it has. “We continue to be surprised by the strange similarities between our real world and the world of Metaphor.�/p>

Still, Metaphor: ReFantazio does deal with issues of race, class, and more. It might be pure coincidence that the timing lined up as it did, but Metaphor’s story is certainly grappling with recognizable areas of historical conflict and friction between p??eople. Anxieties, you might call them.

“One of the themes of this title is anxiety,�said Hashino. “As we considered ideas and themes, we realized we wanted to explore the idea of people realizing their inner strength, as well as finding their anxieties and fears by finding common ground with others.�/p>

Of course, Atlus grappling with these topics will surely draw real-world comparisons, same as any conflict where one could draw parallels to real-life. Producer Junichi Yoshizawa stressed that there “aren’t any specific real-life events�that impacted or inspired this game. But when looking at the anxieties of this world, lead scenario planner Yuichiro Tanaka said the team tried to dig into what?? brings about clashes in the world, and put the focus on people’s minds, hearts, and the anxiety surrounding it.

When addressing the themes of Metaphor, Hashino says you might call the game a “culmination�of the development team’s experience. It does certainly have a heart-changing vibe to it. You campaign for your cause, and help those in need. When you transform into your Archetype, the unlocking cutscene shows a character tearing their heart out of their chest and screaming into it lik??e a microphone, amplifying their beliefs and principles. It owns.

To a new world

With this round of previews, it feels like I’ve gained a solid grasp on what Metaphor: ReFantazio will play like in the moment-to-moment gameplay. There are certainly obvious shades of its Atlus predecessors, and even hints of other franchises and broader high fantasy tropes. It all melts together in the big pot labeled Metaphor.

It would feel silly to start out saying this isn’t just a high fantasy Persona, only to end this piece still drawing comparisons. Hell, at one point I compared Metaphor's relationship to SMT with the Ivalice spin-offs of Final Fantasy. But what I’ve found is Metaphor: ReFantazio both draws on a?? lot of legacy, and forges its own design path forward. Time constraints are here, but with a fresh twist. Battles are still familiar but have their own flavor, with a set of mechanics that feels old and new, but?? all its own. Even having the main character form bonds, but not lock into any dating or romance, is a novel twist.

In a year where the high fantasy genre is well-served, Metaphor: ReFantazio could end up being a standard-bearer. Everything feels like it’s in place, and I left my preview feeling like Metaphor was now easily m??y most anticipated game of the fall season.

There’s still a lot of this world left to see, but I’m certainly eager to hop in a Gauntlet Runner and go find it. Metaphor: ReFantazio will be out for Xbox, PlayStation, and PC on October 11, 2024?.

_{[Travel and lodging for this preview were provided by the publisher.]}

The post Hands-on: Metaphor: ReFantazio is a grand culmination of the R?PGs that came befo??re it appeared first on Destructoid.

The Metaphor: ReFantazio English voice cast will sweep you off your feet as these actors have featured in grand adventures like Honkai: Star Rail, the Like a Dragon series, and Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker. Atlus usually doesn't miss whe??n it comes to its casting decisions.

Who's included in the Metaphor: ReFantazio English voice cast?

Metaphor: ReFantazio features the?? voices of acclaimed actors inside the voice-over industry. They include the followi?ng:

• The Protagonist - Caleb Yen
• Strohl - Stewart Clarke
• Hulkenberg - Kristin Atherton
• Gallica - Alejandra Reynoso
• Heismay - Phillipe Spall
• Eupha - Emily Burnett
• Junah - Emma Ballantine
• Louis - Joseph Tweedale
• Neuras - David Monteith
• More - Greg Chun
• Grius - Gordon Cooper

What have some of these voice actors worked on before?

Caleb Yen, the voice behind the lead character, is no stranger to the protagonist role. He voiced The Trailblazer in Honkai: Star Rail. He's also voiced Taichi in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, Genshin Impact's Gaming, and Karaku in the Demon Slayer anime series.

Stewart Clarke, who voices Strohl, was Final Fantasy XVI's Dion, Horizon: Forbidden West's Ethan Reed, and Eygon in Valkyrie Elysium. He also has experience as an actor on the West End theatre scene, with one example being Perchik in Fiddler on the Roof.

Alejandra Reynoso plays Gallica in Metaphor: ReFantazio. Reynoso has voiced Liko in the Pokemon Horizons: The Series, Neon in Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, and Saryu in Nier: Re[in]carnation.

Lastly, Philippe Spall, who portrays Heismay, performed as Monsieur Courbet in Downton Abbey, Amnesia: The Bunker's Toussaint Beaufoy, and Hernet in the Netflix The Witcher series.

The post Metaphor: ReFantazio English voice cast, listed appeared first on Destructoid.

Atlus has announced via its Japanese site that they are dropping veteran voice actor Toru Furuya from the cast of Metaphor: ReFantazio. While the statement only says that they’re dropping the actor for “various reasons,�it most likely has to do with reporting by Shūkan?? Bunshun that alleged the actor had a four-and-a-half year affair with a much younger fan.

Toru Furuya posted a message on Twitter back in May to apologize to fans. In his statement, he confirmed the affair with the fan, who was reportedly 37 years younger than him, as well as the fact that he, at one point, struck her. He a?lso reportedly coerced the woman into getting an abortion after she became pregnant.

Following the reporting, many companies chose to distance from the actor, with the Showroom streaming service dropping his program and his appearance at Momocon 2024 being canceled.

Toru Furuya is a prolific voice actor, with roles going back to the �0s. He’s lent his voice to characters such as Yamcha from Dragon Ball, Amuro Ray in Mobile Suit Gundam, and Tuxedo Mask in Sailor Moon. He also, for a time, voiced Mario in the anime movie Super Mario Bros: The Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach!, as well as various commercials.

Atlus has stated that they’ll announce who is filling the role in July. Metaphor: ReFantazio is slated to be released on October 11, 2024.

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Even if you don't know much about the band Slipknot, it's nearl?y impossible that reading the name doesn't immediately make the images of various immensely cool and gruesome ma?sks flash in front of your eyes. These masks aren't just bought in a secret section of a Halloween store than only metal musicians have access to. They are are designed by, among other wizards of gore, this man called Jim Ojala.

Ojala stepped out of his comfort zone - Hell, I'm assuming - to accept Atlus' challenge and create masks based on a few characters from the upcoming Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance. You can witness the process and t??he results below:

Ojala explains the steps of his process, which is great, but some of the results look just too good for the common mortal to achieve. Gurulu's ??mask, for example, looks like it's made from the actual skull of a fantastical creature that Ojala just captured and butchered somewhere. It's neat, and wise that Ojala has made this cool video to prove his demon-slaying innocence.

Loup-Garou's mask also looks cool, probably the most Slipknot-ish one of the bunch, as it looks like a spicier version of your regular Werewolf. The coolest takeaway for me, however, is that some of hi??s masks look even scarier on the inside. Check out how Daemon's insides provide just the perfect blueprint for an evil version of? Sonic The Hedgehog:

You will be able to experience Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance, when it comes out on June 14 for Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Homemade Slipknot-esqu?e mask optional, of course.

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The fantasy adventure Metaphor: ReFantazio has a launch date locked in. Atlus has confirmed that its contest for the throne will kick off? on October 11, 2024.

Shown off in today's showcase, Metaphor: ReFantazio might look and feel a bit familiar to fans of other Atlus RPGs like Shin Megami Tensei or its spin-off series, Persona. The team working on it includes SMT 3 and Persona 3 through 5 director Katsura Hoshino (Persona 3 and 5), composer Shoji Meguro, and character artist Shigenori Soejima. While it's a new IP, you can definitely see the SMT and Persona influences at play here.

Al??ongside the trailer, we got a big showcase, detailing just how this role-playing adventure will play out.

Competing for the kingdom

The story follows your name-able protagonist, who becomes a candidate in the ra??ce for the throne ??of this fantasy land. With a fairy helper, a traveling base called the Gauntlet Runner, and a full party, you'll eventually build up both a strong force for fighting enemies and a loyal crew to bolster your campaign.

Travelling between towns links in some interesting time management concerns, and the player seems to have some freedom in how they approach various quests and challenges. O??f course, there are also opportunities to hang out with your allies while getting around the world. It seems like there's definitely some room for socializing of some kind.

In a surprising departure from the norm, Metaphor: ReFantazio mixes action and turn-based role-playing mechanics. You can strike and dodge on the overworld, then hit a button to leap into full-on turn-based combat. Getting a "Squad" strike without an enemy noticing you enables a first-strik??e round. It's an interestin?g mix, but one I'm really keen to check out.

Each party member can confront their anxieties to gain Archetypes, which are essentially classic RPG jobs that also allow the fighter to transform for greater power. Like a Persona, essentially. Add in some flashy special moves, and the Metaphor team seems like it's got some intere?sting ideas on how to tackle an evolution of its spiritual predec?essors' styles.

There's also an absolutely gorgeous UI and some great character art, plus plenty of bonds to form, this really does seem to be an interesting twist on a familiar foundation. Even if it ends up just being a dark fantasy setting for an SMT-like RPG, I'm pretty okay with that.

Metaphor: ReFantazio heads to Xbox ?Series X|S, PC, and PlayStation 4 and 5 on October 11, 2024.

The post Metaphor: ReFantazio locks in an Oc??tober release date, showcases more gameplay in t??railer appeared first on Destructoid.

Now that we've had time to look to the past with Persona 3 Reload, it's time to see what some of the folks responsible for that series are up to next. We have a lot to learn about the first RPG from the recently formed Studio Zero, and we now have a special Metaphor: ReFantazio livestream to look forward to in less ??than a week. 

Atlus just revealed its late-month plans, lining it up for a 3:00 pm PT/6:00 pm ET kickoff on April 22, 2024. It's all set to go down on the official Atlus West YouTube channel and Steam with Studio Zero dire??ctor Katsura Hashino. According to the announcement, Hashino will show off "never-before-seen gameplay," in a stream with English subtitles and dub?bed audio.

Shaping your destiny in style

Metaphor: ReFantazio was first announced during the Xbox Games Showcase in June 2023, with more platform confirmations following close behind. Studio Zero promises a full-scale fantasy RPG from the minds behind the Persona games. From the looks of it so far, it also boasts the stylish designs �from the world to the characters, enemies, and user interface �we've com??e to expect from the team. That includes staples like character designs from Shigenori Soejima and the music of Shoji Meguro. 

For now, we'll have to wait and see what the stream reveals, and look ahead to Metaphor: ReFantazio dropping on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Windows, and St??eam this fall. 

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Few studios manage to hook my attention quite like Vanillaware does. Each of Vanillaware’s games is singular and unique in its own way, but still carries the identifiable hallmarks of its developers�art, thinking, and approach. So with Vanillaware returning to tactics in Unicorn Overlord, I knew I had to see how it fared.

Unicorn Overlord feels like it’s reaching into the past, but in a different manner than most. Rather than drawing on the tiles and turn-based tactics of Tactics Ogre, the inspiration of its sibling Ogre Battle is clear as day. It’s apparent ??throughout the tense real-time strategy, the carefully laid-out overworld map, and the tiny squads of units running headlong into each other before zooming down to the melee, resolving comba?t, and swooping back out overhead.

Yet there’s also the Final Fantasy XII Gambit-style system of tactics, a meta-layer of resource collection and allocation, and Vanillaware’s unmistakable style. As much as Unicorn Overlord captures nost??algia for an era of strategy RPGs long ?gone by, it also brims with new ideas and fresh takes on what you’d normally expect.

Essentially, if you’re looking for a fresh and vibrant take on directing tiny little units around in strategic battles, Unicorn Overlord is it.

Unicorn Overlord (Switch [reviewed], PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S)
Developer: Vanillaware
Publisher: Sega/Atlus
Released: March 8, 2024
MSRP: $59.99

Setting the stage for Unicorn Overlord’s story doesn’t take too long. The player takes on the role of Alain, an exiled prince of Cornia, in the lands of Fevrith. A decade prior, Alain and the knight Josef fled the capital after one of Cornia’s generals staged a coup and overthrew the kingdom, donning the name Galerius and the banner of Zenoira. Jump forward to the present, and Zenoira has spent the better part of ten years conquerin?g the known world. A run-in with some Zenoiran scouts kick-starts the rebellion efforts, and?? the older Alain, trained in war under Josef’s tutelage, is ready to set off and reclaim his throne. 

The Liberation Army, as it’s dubbed, starts out small with just Alain, Josef, and the prince’s childhood friends. Predictably, the group grows as Alain and company reclaim land across Fevrith. Landing in Cornia, then spreading out to nations like the arid Drakenhold, verdant Elheim, frigid Bastorias, and the serene religious hideaway ??of Albion.

Here’s where the uppermost layer of Unicorn Overlord takes place. On its overworld map, large nations are divided into smaller regional chunks, populated with NPCs to ta??lk to, resources to hoover up, and forts and towns waiting for liberation. After winning a battle in the region, you free it from Zenoiran control, and can then spend collected resources to rebuild towns, returning them to their former glory.

Of course, in these circumstances, the Liberation Army can be seen as an invading force in its own right,?? and I was happy to see Vanillaware engage with the idea that Alain’s quest to reclaim his throne doesn’t always come off as benevolent. Granted, Alain is still the good guy, and Zenoira is always evil enough at the end of the day to offset any moral grays in a victory. Some of my favorite side quests at least broach these topics though, and encourage the play??er to grapple with the repercussions as they storm their way across fields and forests towards the next city.

New character recruits also emerge from these quests, either on the side or as part of the main story, and many of them are incredibly memorable. Most of their characterization happens in their personal quests or Rapport conversations. Fire Emblem fans will be familiar with how units can build relationships by fighting together in one unit, openi??ng up brief vignettes of the pair bonding. 

Though they’re unvoiced and fairly short, the Rapport conversations contain some of my favorite little character moments?, whether it’s the lancer Chloe and half-elf archer Ridiel sharing a fun conversation, or Clive and another cavalier discussing what it means to be knight. The writing shines here, too; while it’s solid throughout, the crafted barbs and lofty musings shine brightest in character-specific missions, where the art and story combine to craft memorable additions to Alain’s forces. The dark-elf resistance fighter Rosalinde, swamp witc??h Yahna, radiant knight Monica, and bulky hammer-swinging Mordon were among some of my many, many favorite fighters to get to know.

The loop of conquering new territory and acquiring new units, then rebuilding towns and reinforcing unit relationships, and finally gearing up for the next fight creates a whirring, humming engine at the core of Unicorn Overlord. It’s so, so easy to t??hink you’ll hop back on just to gather some resources and liberate a town. Then y?ou’re still awake, hours later, deep into the next leg of the Liberation’s advance.

As for the main story of Alain reclaiming the throne and taking? down Galerius, it’s not a stumble, but it does tread a lot of familiar territory for fantasy fans. The prince and his childhood friend Scarlett both contain surprising, magical power, and they must harness it to undo Zenoira’s hold on Fevrith. A lot of lore gets dumped at the 11th hour, and though there are some twists, the more affecting revelations happen between fighters in your army than on a broad scale. I’ve got story qualms, but a lot of them fall away once the battle music kicks in.

Swapping from the peaceful overworld layer into the actual combat, Unicorn Overlord plays like a real-time strategy game. Deploy units from your home base using Valor, and direct th?em around the field to battle others, fighting for ground and territory leading all the way to the enemy’s command ??post. It’s straight-forward, at the outset.

As the campaign goes on, Unicorn Overlord starts to introduce all the wrinkles of this strategy layer. Units, made up of anywhere from a single character to a squad of five, act as a single entity on the board. Their movement and traits are determined by the “leader?�of the squad; a f?lying unit can soar over obstacles, while an archer-led unit can rain down fire to assist another unit in battle.

Units have stamina, determining how many fights they can engage in before needing to rest. Terrain types, like a forest, can slow units but also offer cover. The day-and-night cycle even starts to play a facto??r, as the animalistic bestral warriors get stronger when the moon’s ou??t.

Then, incorporate Valor moves. You can spend Valor accrued from winning fights and seizing control points to deploy more units, or you can spend it to enact special abilities. Warriors can smash the ground, cavalry can lead a thundering charge through enemy rank?s, elven archers call down a moving cloud of healing rain, and more. That’s not even getting into battlefield tools, like catapults, b?allistae, barricades, mines, and more.

What surprised me most about Unicorn Overlord’s battles were the map designs. The complex tactical bouts �we’ll talk about them soon, don’t worry �were something I already expected to really enjoy tinkering around in. But the variety of objectives and interesting situations th?e campaign placed me in really surprised me. Vanillaware designs some memorable, devious battlefields to conquer.

In one, I had to hold a defensive line with barricades and ballistae against an advancing front, then pierce into enemy territory to rescue a unit. In another, my advance al??ong a coastal region was beset by warships that could call in reinforcements, so I dispatched my fliers to cut them off. Even on smaller maps, conquerable in under a minute, there are clever set-ups and ideas to play around with.

And then we have the actual fighting itself, which has probably drawn in a wealth of tactics fans and FFXII die-hards alike. When a unit enters battle, their squad squares off with another, and t?he two duke it out. You don’t have any control over what happens once the fight starts; units automatically spend their Action Points (AP) and Passive Points (PP) to strike, heal, counter, buff, and do whatever they can to emerge victorious.

Their actions are determined through a logical list of if-then statements you set up beforehand. And let me tell you, this screen is where you can spend a lot of time in Unicorn Overlord. Abilities are ?gained through leveling up, promotion, and through pieces of equipment, and most of them have some kind of qualifier. A spear thrust might do more damage if the unit is at max health, or a special sword strike might recoup the AP spent or heal the unit if it kills its target. So naturally, you’d want to set logic for this: “use only when health is at 100% or higher�for the former, and “prioritize targets with less than 25% health�for the latter.

You can set a certain number of these logical steps for each character, within each unit. And as your army grows, so too grows the number of tactics you’re tinkering with during battles. It might seem overwhelming, and it is, but in a really good way. Where this system could’ve so easily been arduous, Vanillaware makes?? the tactics screen feel like fine-tuning a high-end car before the big race. I’d hit a wall of combat, a match-up I thought my unit would lose, but after a few minutes spent optimizing my positional layout and tactics, I’d instead emerge victorious. It feels incredibly rewarding to see a unit storm their way across the field, annihilating any foes along the way, and know its success is the fruit of all your labo??rs.

Slowly mastering all these systems and using them ??in concert to achieve victory on the battlefield feels incredibly good. I’d have moments where units formed a united front, shoving back an invading force or cleverly skirting enemy lines. In one region, I spread all my units out, focusing the??m on type match-ups that favored them �archers picking off fliers, gryphon knights sweeping through cavalry, etc. �and then brought them all down on a fortified boss. It came together like it was written that way. My prince and his band of units stormed the gates, backed up by a hail of arrows and rain of magical fire, with healers in the back keeping everyone alive.

Those moments are where Unicorn Overlord shines, and it delivers them more often than not. It speaks volumes to this game’s combat that I’m itching for a New Game Plus option, to even further advance this army and face greater challenges. There are higher difficulty levels, but that does lead to one wrinkle I have: if you’re familiar with tactics games, you might find the standard difficulty a bit too easy as time goes on. On one hand, it makes Unicorn Overlord incredibl??y approa??chable; on the other, I was able to lazily coast through some smaller battles on the default setting.

Battles are also where Vanillaware’s art truly shines. The story scenes will feel familiar to anyone who’s played something like 13 Sentinels, Odin Sphere, or the like. And of course, the food looks great. But battles really shine. Unit animations are gorgeous, and all the strikes have their own flavor and differences between different weapons and types of attack. During one battle in a rainstorm, I watched at the slowest speed I could because of how gorgeous it was when lightning cracked across the sky, cloaking my army in stark shadows. It was, quite simpl?y, striking.

Where Unicorn Overlord really stumbles?? for me is the repetition. There is a lot of it, over the 50 or so hours I put into seeing the campaign through to its conclusion. Some of it is at least fairly enjoyable; picking up resources isn’t the most gripping activity in the game, but seeing all that lumber and stone turn into renewed life for towns I had just liberated was always pleasant.

Each region has sets of side quests that repeat though, like finding a specific door, or greeting stone carvings in a certain order, or locating cemeteries, and they drag on after a while. Those are optional, thankfully. Others, like rebuilding bridge??s, aren’t so optional if you want to liberate every town, and you’ll need to play the dreaded quarry mini-game to get a bunch of stone for those bridges. I was fairly done wi??th the quarry game after my third go at it, and when I learned that’s how I would have to uncover all the treasure maps for more optional treasure, I decided I  just wouldn’t chase any more maps.

Repetition strikes again in battles where, for as gorgeous and rewarding as they are, I started fast-forwarding and eventually smashing the skip button on a lot of them. For certain match-ups or story-crucial battles, I’d zoom in and watch the fight unfol??d; but when I’m 25 hours in and my level 25 squad is about to roll over a level 19 unit of random faceless infantry, I don’t need to watch it all play out. I’m glad the option is there to skip, because otherwise, some of the longer fights in this game would’ve felt way too arduous.

Menus and navigation were also a source of frustration for me. It was difficult to sort through all the units I’d accumulated, certain information I wanted wasn’t easy to surface, and Unicorn Overlord throws a lot of everything at you, all the time. Finding where my experience-granting military treatises were, so I could level up a character that was lagging behind others, was always a?? bit more frustrating than I felt it should have been. I badly crave a way to see which fighters were not already assigned to a unit. Even moving tactics around and altering them can get pretty finicky at times. Quality-of-life features would go a long way towards alleviating some of the little annoyances, as you do spend a lot of time in the menus.

For all these moments and more, though, I just can’t help but love Unicorn Overlord. As an avid RPG follower, it’s been easy to see the trend of nostalgia-driven releases, from remasters and remakes, to spiritual successors, to games clearly inspired by the golden ages. But every time we elevate the giants, I worry that their shadow looms larger over smaller?, more fringe aspects of genre his?tory.

Ogre Battle is by no means small, but it is a side of the tactics and strategy RPG genre we simply don’t see as much of compared to Tactics Ogre, whose blueprint would be foundational for the tile-laden turn-based tactics of the future. To see Vanillaware celebrate this era, t??his age of strategy games, is already compelling in and of itself.

In Unicorn Overlord, Vanillaware c??aptures that style, paints over it with its signature artstyle and music, and infuses it with new life through its battlefield strategies and logical auto-battles. It’s an impressive mix of new and old that defines its own identity and place in the genre’s history.

For any wrinkles I ran into, Unicorn Overlord bowled them over with sheer vision and ambition to be itself, and mostly nailing it. When I was playing Unicorn Overlord late at night on my OLED Sw?itch, it felt imposs??ible to put down. I was always eager for one more battle, to push just a bit further, to continue optimizing and enhancing and building this dream army. To see it roll out against insurmountable odds and still manage to emerge victorious.

Unicorn Overlord is Vanillaware’s custom-built device for capturing the heart of anyone who’s loved watching tiny units bash against each other on a map. It puts a lot of love into each of those units, from what they do and how you can manage them,? to their art and direction, down to making each new addition feel impactful. It’s a campaign full of strategy goodness, and I can forgive some quality-of-life nitpicks and repetition when the end result is just this damn good.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

The post Review: Unicorn Overlord appeared first on Destructoid.

During today's Xbox Partner Showcase, Atlus revealed Persona 3 Reload Episode Aigis, The Answer, will in fact be coming to the RPG after all. It will be part of a 3-wave Expansion Pass for Persona 3 Reload that includes BGM sets and Velvet cost??umes as well. While the cosmetic content releases next week and in May, The Answer releases in September.

Persona 3 Reload: Expansion Pass

The Expansion Pass is split into three waves. The first wave releases on March 12 and includes a Persona 5 Royal EX BGM Set and a Persona 4 Golden EX BGM Set. Then, in May, Expansion Pass owners will receive the Velvet Costume cosmetics and a new BGM Set. Finally sometime in September, Episode Aigis, The Answer, will be released. The Answer is essentially post-ending DLC to Persona 3 wh??ich expands the?? story and adds some new content as well.

Surely, not everyone is going to be happy with this news. For starters, many were shocked to see that Persona 3 Reload would not include The Answer in the base game. Also, choosing to bundle it into an Expansion Pass that features some music and a few costumes with a $35 price tag seems a bit steep?? when ??the base game was already $70.

Xbox Game Pa??ss Ultimate subscribers will get access to the Expansion Pass for free through January 31, 2025.

Persona 3 Reload: Expansion Pass will be available starting March 12 when the first BGM wave drops. It will cost $34.99 and be available on Steam, Game Pass, Xbox One, Xbox Ser??ies X|S, PlayStation 4, and PlaySt??ation 5.

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After making a brief appearance on the Korean rating board a couple of days ago, Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance has officially been revealed in today's Nintendo Direct. Fea??turing all-new s??tory content, the popular JRPG is set to hit PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC in just four months on June 21, 2024.

According to Atlus, players will venture back into a post-apocalyptic Tokyo with an all-new storyline featuring new locations, demons, and choices in Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance.

Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance will be available in both physical and digital formats on J?une 21, 2024.

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We're now just a few weeks out from the latest Vanillaware game, Unicorn Overlord. And with all the talk of fantasy tales, her??oics, and war on the horizon, we should probably examine how battle actually works in the world of Vanillaware's strategy RPG.

The latest bit info dump sent out by Atlus and Vanillaware does just that, as well as detail some of the more strange and fascinating allies Prince Alain can recruit in his quest to liberate the world of Unicorn Overlord. It's not all swords, bows, and magic, after all. We've got bestial races to recruit, and they've got quite a bit of Vanillaware flair. Plus, a combat system that reminds me of the Gambit system from Final Fantasy XII? Let'?s take a look, starting with the characters:

Yunifi and Nigel

We'll start with our?? two human characters. The former, Yunifi, is part of the Bastorian resistance group, the Frostb??looms. Bastoria looks to be a frigid area, largely populated by animal-like (bestral, here) races, but we'll get to that in a moment; Yunifi looks to bring some archery to the crew if you recruit her.

Nigel, meanwhile, is leader of the Knights of the Sacred Heart. He's got an imposing presence, and I'm curious where his allegiances lie. He's definitely got some rival energy going on, at the lea?st.

Ramona, Morard, and Dinah

Now we're talking. Ramona is the leader of the Frostblooms and descendant of the owl bloodline, and adoptive mother to Yunifi. Owl mage! Love this! We als??o have Morard, a lion bestral from the Frostblooms and all-around beefy boy. That big axe looks terrifying.

Dinah rounds out our potential bestral allies today, a captain of the Snowpetals and lance-wielding warrior. It's really interesting to compare these designs to, say, Dragon's Crown or Odin Sphere and see how Vanillaware's fantasy designs have ??changed over time, yet still look absol??utely fantastic.

Sanatio and Elgor

For our last batch of character previews today, Sanatio is an angelic attendant and leader of the Heaven??swing Knights. We knew there were winged fliers in this game, but the idea of a full-on heavenly host of a faction somewhere in this game is super intriguing to me.

And for an enemy, we've got Elgor. He's a knight, he's big, he'??s mean, and he's got a nasty spiked shield. Apparently, none have seen his face and lived to tell of it. I just dig how evil he is. This guy has Saturday morning cartoon vill?ain vibes, and I like it.

Overhead strategy

As for the game mechanics, Vanillaware's strategy RPG has fields of combat (battle stages) w?here war is fought in real time. Units can contain multiple characters, and deploy from towns to venture forth and fight.

It looks like managing where these units are, in a macro sense, is going to be cr?ucial. Once two units near each other, they can fight, though players can "swap" one unit for another if they're close to each other.

Units can also enact large-scale strategies and effects on the battlefield. Capturing a certain area may let you summon cyclones to your aid, in a move that feels very Dynasty Warriors.? Or your own units can rain arrows or slash a blade wave across the the? field.

If you lose a battle or need to recover stamina, you can wait and rest, but this does leave you open to enemy attacks. And what happens when you engage in close combat, rather than map-scale posturing? It's time for logic.

What to do, what to do

Look, there is a specific type of person this sort of thing appeals to. If you've scrolled this far down in a news post about an upcoming fantasy strategy RPG, you're probably at least somewhat that kind of person. So, welcome. This is the tactics screen in Unicorn Overlord.

Battles in this world play out automatically, according t??o what tactics each unit has set. Sides will take turns using their Active Skills, metered out by AP, and ends when all AP is exhausted. There are also Passive Skills, which consume PP, and automatically fire under certain con?ditions.

So let's say you want your warrior to stab. Great! Put that Slice skill at the top of the order. But if their Heal skill is below it, they won't ever move past the logical priority of Slice coming first. So, bump Heal up, and give it a condition, like "if the Target is below 50% HP." Now, they'll Heal if that condition is met, and otherwise Sl??????????????????????????ice away.

It's like a version of Final Fantasy XII's Gambit system, expanded to accommodate a ful??l squad in battle, and I'm really interested. With enough units, soldiers, and skill variety, there could be so many variations and potential set-ups to experiment with.

We'll see how the fights come together on March 8, 2024 when Unicorn Overlord hits PlayStation 4, PS5, Switch,?? and Xbox Series X|S.

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The outstanding Persona 3 Reload sales have led to it being the fastest-selling Atlus game in its history. One million copies of Persona 3 Reload were sold in its first week, according to Atlus.

"Persona 3 Reload sold 1,000,000 copies worldwide within its first week, becoming the fastest-selling game in ATLUS history!" said Atlus West on its Facebook page. "A huge thank you to our community for your incredible support!" Additionally, the publisher seems confident about its future lineup because it says "We look forward to breaking mo??re record?s with you" in the message as well.

Despite the game being available on Xbox Game Pass day one, that doesn't seem to have affected its sales in the slightest. In fact, the potential wo?rd of mouth may have even helped.

Reception seems to be positive, too. On Steam, the current review score is Overwhelmingly Positive with a 97% rating. Additionally, it has an 88 Metacritic score from 61 critics as of the time of writing.

Persona 3 Reload is an updated version of the original PS2 game, for better or for worse. It has an all-new UI, a talented voice cast, updated graphics similar to Persona 5, and both remade tracks and new music. It also lets you control all of your party members during battle rather than the AI taking measures into its own hands. The Persona 3 Reload sales prove there's still interest in this gang's adven??tures in Tartarus and beyond.

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Few things are consistent in games. Studios often change and shift over the years, bringing in new ideas and retiring old concepts. But bless Vanillaware, their food has never stopped looking incredible, as the latest trailer for Unicorn Overlord shows.

The most recent entry in Atlus and Vanillaware's series of instructional videos, introducing various gameplay elements in Unicorn Overlord, ?covers unity and relationships within your party. It's a big army, and as we all know, love can—and will—bloom on the battlefield.

Allies in Vanillaware's upcoming tactical RPG can build rapport with each other while fighting in the same unit. Eventually, this leads to both in-battle boons and off-hours conv??ersations.

Bon Appetit

While you could just fall in love through combat, food is also a fast way to someone's heart. And Unicorn Overlord certainly seems to have that in spa- oh my, Margherita pizza, my favorite! ??Vanillaware, how did you know?

In all seriousness, food has long been the secret weapon of Vanillaware's art department, and I'm glad to see their fantasy fare has not dipped in deliciousness. Eating meals, as well as gift-giving, is another way to up those bonds and forge new ones in Unicorn Overlord.

Between all this comradery and all the possible classes that could await, Unicorn Overlord is looking like something tactics sickos should keep an eye on. We're not far out from release, either. The latest? from Vanillaware is due out on March 8 for PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch.

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I would have loved Persona 3 Reload when I was 14. Around there, I'd say I was most in love with the series, and Persona 3 stood at the top. I'd go as far as saying that with the first NieR and Metal Gear Solid 3, Persona ?helped shape what I thought st??ories in games could be.

It's no longer 2013, and more stories have come along that further shaped my tastes. I've admittedly fallen out of love with Atlus due to being relatively disappointed by more recent releases. 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim might rank among my favorite games ever, but it only published that title with Vanillaware developing. While I regard some of Atlus' RPGs among my favorites, revisiting Persona 3 cam?e with a worry I didn't feel with any other remake I've played.

When seeing Persona 3 Reload's inclusions, it made me worry that it'd just be a cleaner release with a few of my issues from prior versions resolved. Now that I've finally played it, my prevailing thought is that I'm playing the best release of Persona 3's worst version. There are genuine improvements here, but there's always this feeling that somethin??g's missing, stopping it from feeling close to its def??initive version.

Persona 3 Reload (PlayStation 5 [reviewed], Xbox Series X|S, Steam)
Developer: Atlus
Publisher: Sega
Released: February 2, 2024
MSRP: $69.99

The never-ending climb

Something I can genuinely praise Persona 3 Reload for is how fun combat is. It took its successors' improvements and built upon them even more. This means that while it lacks some elements introduced in Persona 5, Reload recontextualizes others in a meaningful way.

Baton ??Pass is now Shift and functionally remains the same, but is as slick as ever to use. Nothing's more satisfying than striking an enemy's weakness and then using Shift to attack with another? party member who has another foe's weakness.

Showtime also returns as Theurgy and is significantly better here. Instead of activating somewhat randomly, each character has a Theurgy gauge tha?t fills when accomplishing s??pecific actions that relate to that character's personality. One character might have theirs filled from aiding party members, while another might need to strike weaknesses.

Another improvement I've seen is how boss encounters are handled. I revisited Persona 3 Portable at a point where my playthrough overlapped with the one in Reload. I ended up fighting the same boss in both versions, getting a direct look at how the versions compare. While I cheesed the boss in Portable due to its surprising lack of resistances and having an overpowered persona, the same boss in Reload had some tension. There were more resistances to account for, and I had to reinvent my strategy! It was honestly a moment Reload shin?ed for me even if it was an incidental moment.

It's not as easy to farm stat-boosting cards in Reload, and fights that needed updating got just tha??t. Balancing combat is ?a specific area it really seems the developers made significant efforts to improve upon the original.

The biggest improvement for me in Persona 3 Reload's combat is having the Kouha and Eiha spells from Persona 5. It's small, but it makes the light and dark elements consistently useful, and I l?ove them.

I would say Reload is an overall easier time than FES and about the same as Portable. This comes down to having the direct party control lacking in the original Persona 3 and FES while remaining a more balanced experience than Portable.

What I'm less in love with is how other parts of Reload handle its source material. It doesn't introduce new issues, but some ??old ones per??sist.

Too much time on my hands

Exploration and free time in Persona 3 Reload remain fund??amentally unchanged from the previous versions. It's around here where I find the remake lacking some of its potential.

Compared to Persona 5's Tokyo or Persona 4's Inaba, Tatsumi Port Island doesn't have much to do. Reload improves it by expanding the activ??ities, but only in the dorm.

These new dorm activities are nice and give extra opportunities for players to hang out with party members. They range from cooking and gardening to watching TV and reading and offer anything from boosting social stat?s to gaining new items, which are s?mall but nice rewards.

If done enough times with specific party members, they even offer a new passive buff corresponding to the cha?racter. Yukari, for instance, will have healing spells that cost less MP while Aigis' ??physical abilities strengthen.

There's also a communal computer, but it's almost a non-factor since programs and online links unlock at a snail's pace. I like the potential for something like this returning in a future entry with more of a focus on unlocking new items in stores and combat?? maneuvers.

Players also have access to the Iwatodi Strip Mall at night, giving more op??portunities to boost social stats. This is with previously available activities such as working in Changall Cafe and hanging out with specific characters.

While having nightt??ime activities is helpful, it makes it ea??sier to max out all social stats relatively early. It's an ironic drawback that giving more options makes most of them redundant sooner, but it's an inclusion I still appreciate.

Where my issues with exploration start arising is with how Tartarus was handled. In Reload and the previous releases, this massive tower works as a mega-dungeon that players spe??nd the entire game working through.

An issue that persisted throughout every Persona 3 version is that Tartarus just plain s?ucked. Each block present didn't have an individual theme so much as they offered different colored randomized corridors to trudge through.

Reload gives the blocks their own theme, but this upgrades them to be slightly better than Persona 4's themed corridors since rooms here sometimes have more shapes. Coming from Thebel to Arqa is a cool experience at first as the latter carries this strange bio-mechanical atmosphere. Once the illusion fades, however, dungeon-crawling in Persona 3 Reload returns to being something to rush through.

It makes it perfect to play with a podcast in the background, but that's not a great compliment. The Monad Doors are a fun inclusi??on that break?s up pacing with challenging fights, but Tartarus' structure is still dated.

Persona 5 also saw a randomized dungeon return with Mementos, but that felt less repetitive due to spending most time in hand-crafted dungeons. Even Shin Megami Tensei V, which also lacks many unique dungeons, had some that br??oke up general exploration.

I ??will credit the actual art design because the blocks all look incredible. I mentioned Arqa's pulsing bio-mechanical design, but Thebel's corridors recei??ved a substantial facelift. The last I'll mention is Yabbashah's mix of futuristic elegance and industrial pipes.

Persona's main appeal isn't with the dungeon-crawling, however. What I was most interested in seeing was how Atlus' first attempt at a s?ocial-sim hybrid is translated into a remake made almost 20 years ??later.

It's Persona 3, for better and worse

One of the most disheartening feelings is returning to a game you loved and realizing you don't like it as much anymore. This is overall how I felt playing Persona 3 Reload, and it doesn't feel good.

Much of this comes down to the story being faithful to its source material to a fault. This applies to the core plot and Social Links, and while Reload shares its predecessors' highs, it?? shares their lows, and the new content feels like a bandage over a ??larger wound.

To get it out of the way, the new scenes are great! I love having more time with Strega even if not much more is learned about the group, and the dorm activities with party members are full scenes that take advantage of the talented new cast. The Linked Episodes with male party members also somewhat make up for th?eir missing Social?? Links. I would have rather have had those, but I still particularly enjoyed Akihiko and Shinjiro's new scenes.

These still don't fix most issues I already had with Persona 3's story. As strong as someone like Junpei's character arc ??is, was it necessary to still have him be a creep in the first couple dozen hours? He works well as a goofball character, but any potentially early endearment ??tanks when he considers looking up Yukari's skirt.

Other scenes that occur later also lack the impact they could have had if there was more build-up. There is one that does just that due to the new content, and it would have bee??n great to see that care applied everywhere.

My biggest issue with Persona 3 Reload's narrative comes from its Social Links. The original Persona 3 was Atlus' first attempt at a system like it, and it shows. While several hold up wonderfully, the ones that suck still really suck. It's an issue punctuated by Reload remaking the base game and not including most content from Persona 3's rereleases.

While the Justice Social Link for Persona 3's male protagonist is far better and way less problematic than the female protagonist's, the others exclusive to her were overall far stronger. I figured her exclusion would have been felt in Reload, but I didn't realize how bad it was. Kazushi's, for instance, is fine as? a Chariot Social Link. He's just not as interesting as Akihiko. Meanwh??ile, Maya's story as the Hermit is off-putting, while Saori Hasegawa's is incredibly touching.

Revisiting Persona 3 Portable while playing Reload widens this disparity. This ground-up remake provided Atlus with a perfect opportunity to strengthen both Persona 3's core story and Social Links. As flawed as the former is, the extra activities and scenes help round out its cast. The latter doe?sn't get that, and? it makes this remake come off as a missed opportunity to make up for everything it excludes.

There's also the closing hours, which I always found to be Persona 3's best, and they're better here. The mix of new scenes with the original's excellent ones mesh together the best here, and it reminded me why I considered Persona 3 my favorite?? in the franchise. I just only wish that reminder came before I dumped 50 hours into this remake.

Persona 3 Reload i??s a good game. Its gameplay changes help make it accessible to a newer audience. The combat's genuinely a blast and helps dungeon-crawling be less of a slog. It just comes with the baggage of leaving behind incredible inclusions and not updating certain areas that needed it most or not going far enough w??ith updates.

It's odd to say, but I felt sad playing Reload. Not for anything occurring within it. Rather, it reminded me that I had fallen out of love with Atlus. If anything, it's fitting that Persona 3 Reload helped me realize that. Much of it is about learning to move on, and I'm going to do just tha??t??.

The post Review: Persona 3 Reload appeared first on Destructoid.

There is a sizeable pile of role-playing games arriving in 2024, making for a pretty packed start to the year. But even with Infinite Wealth, Rebirth, and more on deck, one game has continued to spur our interest in the (virtual) Destructoid offices: Unicorn Overlord.

Today, Atlus and Vanillaware are sharing more details about the upcoming tactics RPG. Vanillaware is known for a few things, depending on who you ask: incredible art, maybe, or its side-scrolling action in Odin Sphere and Muramasa, sure. 2020's 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim saw the studio weave ??an incredible narrative th??read through multiple perspectives, too.

So it's interesting that Unicorn Overlord feels like a fantasy tactics game, and targeted right at fans of the genre. It's a story about Alain, an exiled prince gathering forces t??o strike back at ?the conquering nation of Zenoira.

This latest info drop leans heavy into what tactics fans, or at least the ones working here, dig: classes, abilities, promotions, and more. Plus, some elves. Elves are pretty big right now. Let's take a look at all the details.

Eltolinde, Rosalinde, and Ithilion

These three are elven allies, who you can recruit to Alain's cause. Eltolinde and Rosalinde, left and center respectiv?ely, are sisters caught up in Zenoira's invasion of Elheim. Eltolinde chose to lead from within after the capital fell, while Rosalinde escaped and gathers forces for the counterattack.

Ithilion, meanwhile, is a swordsman who was away on mission when Elheim's capital fell. He's been leading a guerilla force since then. I already love the designs of the??se characters, and the interesting plot that could surround their individual stories.

Alcina and Baltro

We're not just seeing allies in this Unicorn Overlord info dump, but enemies too. Alcina, left, is a witch for the Zenoiran army and was previously the court sorceress of Cornia, Alain's former kingdom. She's helping out the big-bad Galerius in his schemes. While labelled a witch, the mace and shield give me big Cleric vibes, a la everyone's favorite devout princess from Baldur's Gate 3.

Baltro, meanwhile, looks like a lil' weirdo, in a good way. He's a wizard that serves Gal?erius, and obscures his face as he does his lil' weirdo magic. My money says he absolutely does some light necromancy at some po?int.

Classes, classes, and more classes

Vanillaware also sent over some details about the classes players can utilize in Unicorn Overlord. Each character has a set class, determining what they ??can do and how they act on the battlefield. Some are frontliners, others are fliers, and still more wield magical powers. As you can see from the Housecarl, Cleric, and Feathersword above (left? to right), they also have distinctive looks.

There are over 60 class types, according to Atlus and Vanillaware, and each plays into strengths and weakn?esses. Fliers may be fast, but archers can do double damage to them; a classic power-balanci??ng move for tactics games if there ever was one.

While some? are expected, others have neat unit-specific bonuses. Werewolves perform better at night, for example, and Elven Fencers are melee units who can create barriers to protect allies.

Leader by example

Alongside their battle skills, each unit has a character set as a leader, which imparts a Leader Effect. Depending on the class of the leader, the unit will gain an additional effect, and set the unit's move type. One led by a Housecarl can break barricades on the map, for example. And while Infantry and Cavalry may mov?e quick on roads, the horses of the Cavalry struggle in forests, decreasing mobility.

Finally, a promotion

Eventually, a unit can spend their accrued honors to promote to an advanced class. The example Vanillaware sent over was Alain, promoting from Lord into High? Lord. This upgrade gives him a regal steed and lets his unit cover ground faster.

Even more battles to fight

Unicorn Overlord has a campaign and story, but additionally, Atlus and Vanillaw?are confirm there are Auxillary Stages. There, you can battle phantom soldiers as many times as you want, building up sweet, sweet EXP for your party. You can also pick up Treatises, items that impart EXP, from Auxillary Stages, as ??well as items that boost specific abilities and development for your army.

It's honestly hard not to feel like Vanillaware is saying, and showing, all the right things for tactics fans with Unicorn Overlord. Its mix of world map strategy and unit tactics seemed strange at first, but I think I'm starting to see how it all comes together. With tons of class and development options that seem like they can really play out ??across the different modes, it looks like a tactics RPG with no shortage of things to do.

There's still the question of how it all comes together. But Vanillaware is one of those studios I'll always set aside some time for, especially after the excellent surprise of 13 Sentinels. What I'm seeing of Unicorn Overlord certainly makes it look like the st??udio is teed up for another sleeper hit.

Unicorn Overlord arriv??es for Switch, PlayStatio??n 4 and 5, and Xbox Series X|S on March 8, 2024.

The post Unicorn Overlord shows off elves, enemies, a??nd many, many classes appeared first on Destructoid.

It's the new year, and there's a bevy of new games on the way. One of them, Unicorn Overlord, sees Vanillaware tackling fantasy? tactics. And the little slice of music that's been shared, in 16-b?it form, certainly sets the tone.

Atlus has shared a roughly four-minute preview of selections from the 16-bit arranged music album for the upcoming Unicorn Overlord. Per the description, this album takes the music of Unicorn Overlord and rearranges it into 16-bit fo??rm for the game's Monarch Edition (a.k?.a. collector's edition).

Who better, then, to remix some tactics nostalgia than Basiscape? The studio worked with Vanillaware on 2020's excellent 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, and it's founded by Final Fantasy Tactics and Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen composer Hitoshi S??akimoto. A very fitting collaboration, I'd say.

You can get a brief clip of several tracks in the preview above, though the album itself will be part of the Monarch Edition of Unicorn Overlord. A few other goodies are also getting packed into the CE, including an artbook and full-on card game of Unicorn Overlord.

A brand-new Overlord

Part of me wanted to write this up because of the interesting legacy ties here, between prior hits and Vanillaware's approach to the fantasy tactics genre. But, honestly, another part of me just wanted to write about Unicorn Overlord.

If it weren't for the likes of Metaphor, UO would probably be my most anticipated game of this year. But it's definitely one that I think will surprise people. After all, that's what happened with 13 Sentinels, and Vanillaware? has been steadily ramping up with each new game.

We've seen combat, overworld strategy, and even romance all within the world that Vanillaware's been crafting. Tactics Ogre: Reborn whet my appetite for some classic, grim tactics, and Frieren has me eager for a mature fantasy story. Could Unicorn Overlord be that? We'll find out on March 8, 2024 when?? it arrives for PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Switch.

The post These 16-bit Unicorn Overlord arrangements stir up some tactical n?ostalgia appeared first on Destructoid.

The Persona series has been molded from RPG into many, many other genres, especially Persona 5. Dungeon crawling, dancing, though sadly no brawling; and now, with Persona 5 Tactica, it’s time for some turn-based tactics.

As I mentioned in my review-in-progress, there’s really no shortage of extra content for those who don’t want to leave the world of Persona 5. And if you want more Persona 5�/em>more hijinks, gags, and general time spent with the Phantom Thieves—then Tactica can certainly accommodate that.

On top of that, it’s a solid tactics game that even has some interesting ideas. Persona 5 Tactica is lighthearted, fun, and even hits? some solid notes near the end with its stance on fighting for your beliefs. But it also falters, often enough to note where this could have been a more rewarding tactical experience.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqAZqsAQ_UY

Persona 5 Tactica (PC, Switch [reviewed], PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S)
Developer: Atlus
Publisher: Sega
Released: November 16, 2023
MSRP: $59.99

At the start of Persona 5 Tactica, we catch the Phantom Thieves recuperating from a recent excursion in Leblanc, before they’re suddenly pulled into another dimension, a “Kingdom.�While it somewhat acts like the Metaverse of Persona 5, it’s slightly different; here, a tyrannical ruler named Marie lords over her subjects. A rebel corps of adorable hat-guys resist, led by the seemingly human bu??t enigmatic Erina; and soon, the gang also finds Diet member Toshiro Kasukabe trapped here,?? too.

Starting with just Joker and Morgana, the duo teams up with Erina and the rebels to save the o?ther Phantom Thieves, who have been enchanted (or maybe just brain-controlled) by Marie??’s magic. And then, after rebuilding the crew, it’s time to start a revolution.

You say you want a revolution?

This theme carries through the lengthy first Kingdom and onto subsequent sections, as the Phantom Thieves�excursion doesn’t end with just one big bad. I won’t go deep into where Persona 5 Tactica goes, but it does st??ay focused on ideas of power and relative peace. Essentially, how a tyrannical rule can feel so oppressive that any resistanc?e is seen as too costly, and either submission or apathy is preferable to fighting back.

It’s heartening, really, to see Persona 5 Tactica challenge those ideas, much like its Phantom Thieves did in the original game. It may feel like many of the same notes, about changing hearts and fighting for a better future, but its revolutionary ideals still feel stirring in Tactica. Newcomers Erina and Toshiro are welcome focal points,?? and their eventual twists and turns are pretty good.

On the other hand, don’t expect too much story on the Phantom Thieves�side. Some of the crew, like Haru and Futaba, end up getting a little extra spotlight as their own struggles line up with the new characters� But others, like Makoto or Yusuke, are just kind of there. Most of the Persona 5 crew is here to interact and hang out, tossing around jokes, but not necessarily taking any huge steps on their own personal journeys. Tactica is very much focused on Erina and Toshiro.

It’s told well, though the style-swapping between visual novel-like text segments, 3D-animated cutscenes, and fully 2D animated cutscenes does feel a bit odd at times. I’m not the biggest fan of the general “look�the Phantom Thieves have in P5 Tactica, ?but it wasn’t particularly egregious either.&n??bsp;

The traditional P5 style is much more prevalent in the menus and UI, which includes some gorgeous?? transition effects and a Velvet Room abbreviation that reads, “V. Room.�You know, like a car. What? It makes me laugh.

Squaring up

When it comes to tactics, Persona 5 Tactica has some pretty interesting ideas. In broad strokes, this will feel familiar to any turn-based strategy fan, but especially those who have played games like the Mario + Rabbid series. You take your turn, moving your three? deployed characters on the grid and attacking using a variety of abilities, then the enemy moves.

Individual units have a variety of skills available, including risky but potentially strong melee strikes, standard gun attacks, and of course, using magic through their Personas. In this game, Joker’s Wild Card status extends to all the Phantom Thieves (after clearing a certain mission), so everyone can equip a second Persona to expand their magic repertoire and bump ??their stats.

Most of your actions will focus around a central concept: sett??ing up the One More. If an enemy is outside of cover, or otherwise vulnerable, then not only will a hit score full damage but it will also knock them down and give the attacker another turn. (This can work against you too, by the way.) Setting up chain reactions, where one unit can ping-p??ong between targets dishing out damage and zipping across the map, is crucial.

It’s also important for setting up the Triple Threat Attack, the reward for all your tactical planning. If a unit is on a One More turn, lines extend from each Phantom Thief, forming a triangle between your trio; if the triangle sits over a downed enemy, then it lights up with fire for a Triple Threat. The Thieves commence the all-out attack, damaging the downed foe and everyone?? else caught in the area.

Triangle strategy

The Triple Threat sounds more complex than it is. Really, it’s the combination of this move and the One More that makes Persona 5 Tactica’s strat??egy feel rewarding. It can feel a bit awkward at first, as you have to think several moves ahead with everyone. One unit needs to tee things?? up, and then you have to determine how you’re going to angle your triangle position from there.

Often, it pushed me to make some risky plays. I like how freeform it feels, while also eventually forcing you to plant three stakes in the ground and cash out as best you can. There were maps where, thanks to some smart moves and careful planning, I cleared it at two turns lower than the par goal for extra rewards. Other times, I ??messed up an angle somewhere, and was left to watch my units get blasted about by Legionnaires.

The enemy units do enough to make Tactica tough, too. From support units to giant, hulking brutes, and some especially annoying shielded foes, there’s a good variety on display. I felt like enemy design hit its peak with ninja units that would force-swap places with a unit after being attacked. It could put my units way out of position, but also be used as a way to ?cleverly ?navigate the map or set up big Triple Threat hits.

Nowhere is this enjoyable aspect of the strategy more evident than the Quests, Persona 5 Tactica’s optional levels that, at their best, feel like puzzle boxes. Some of my favorite missions in P5T weren’t big fights against bosses or frantic holdouts against overwhelming odds, but Quests with simple but head-scratching objectives. “Get to the target in one turn�or “clear all enemies in two turns�maps felt like little chess puzzles that I loved c??arefully looking over.

The bummer is those rewarding little strategy puzzles aren’t what makes up the whole of Tactica. The middle of the game is where most of my favorite tactical bouts happened; the early run of missions are heavy on tutorials, and are at least an easy on-ramp for tactics newcomers. The endgame felt almost a bit too easy, and to get into why, I’ll need to delve even deeper into the mechanics of Tactica. Specifically, its stats and guns.

A demonic arsenal

Lavenza and the Velvet Room return, mostly doing what you’d expect: facilitating demon fusion and compendium management. Making good Personas for you??r party to hold is worthwhile, for the stats and for the additional skills or passives they offer. But there’s another option that unlocks a decent way into the game: fusing weapons from demons.

Guns play a significant role in Persona 5 Tactica, way more than I ever felt they did in Persona 5, and initially you just have a shop for upgrading them. Each character has their own fire type too, ranging from basic pistols for Joker and Makoto to Haru’s grenade launcher, Ann’s submachine gun, and Ryuji’s shotgun. Fusing weapons adds even more properties, from changing up the range and spread of the gun?? to adding elemental effects and, of course, adding damage.

I haven’t really mentioned the Skills system yet, where you spend reward GP from missions and Quests to upgrade each Phantom Thief individually. Really, they’re fairly strai?ghtforward; I was hoping for some more options to customize and define playstyles for each character, but they’re all meant to upgrade what they already do. Each upgrade path felt similar for cha?racters. Bump up their magic, give them extra movement squares and range, and unlock their signature skill.

Basically, there are a lot of avenues for upgrading your characters. And by the campaign's end, I felt like my characters were borderline overpowered. Granted, I had finished each Quest and been utilizing the systems put in front of me to eke out the most po??wer I could. But in exchange, the difficulty (I was on Normal) didn’t feel like it could keep pace. Heck, there were some enemies who I couldn’t knock into a downed state, because one attack to knock them out of cover and another to start the One More would take them out completely. Making Triple Threats happen became its own challenge.

In some ways, this is nice. I could see this being a very approachable strategy game for those who don’t spend a ton of?? ??time playing them. But I do wish some of the endgame stages felt like they either challenged me more, or offered greater rewards for more strategic play.

Steal your heart

Persona 5 Tactica is, by all means, a solid tactics game. It’s enjoyable, has some fresh ideas, and certainly has its own flair and character. But it also made me just a bit more aware of how this is yet another Persona 5 spin-off.

The story with Erina and Toshiro is good, but it feels like a Saturday morning excursion for the P5 gang. This is more Persona 5, but a frozen-in-time distillation of the vibes and good times with the gang, rather than a substantive addition to any of those characters�stories. And we’ve had a lot of “more Persona 5.�/em>

I’m not sure I’d recommend this to everyone, but for those who want this kind of mash-up anyways, I think they’re already on board. If you’re new to tactics games, Tactica migh?t even be a nice on-ramp towards other options that get a little more in-depth.

So if the idea of a tactics game starring the Phantom Thieves, clocking in at a neat 30ish hours, sounds appealing, then Persona 5 Tactica is for you. It’s not as deep or compelling as other options, but it’s got the style and characters you like. The ending wraps up nicely too, even if getting there is a bit drawn out at the start. I’m happy I spent some time in the tactical Kingdoms of Persona 5 Tactica myself. But I?? also think I’m ready for a n?ew crew to get the spotlight.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

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