A month after launch, Vanillaware's Unicorn Overlord hit the 500k shipment milestone. Now, six months after release, ATLUS and Vanillaware are celebrating one?? million units sol?d around 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 h??it 1M in sales until almost exactly 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 ov??er one million copies around the world, so it's heartening to see George Kamitani and the rest of the team getti?ng their flowers.

As ATLUS points out, those who want to try Unicorn Overlord f??or themselves can check out a five-hour demo. The demo is available on all platforms and save data can be carried 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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Following its March 8 launch, Unicorn Overlord has already hit a major milestone. In less than a month, the new strategy-RPG from developer Vanillaware managed to surpass 500,000 shipments globally (via Gematsu). 

To ring the celebratory bells, Atlus shared an accolades trailer: 

Battleworn

Prior to this, Vanillaware also exceeded one million copies worldwide with side-scrolling action-RPG Dragon's Crown, and that was before it hit PlayStation 4. It's a good thing, too, because back in 2013 Vanillaware founder and lead artist George Kamitani described it as th?e developer's most expensive project to date. 

The key takeaway from all this is that you should give Unicorn Overlord a spin; it's excellent. There are no shortage of avenues through which you can start your tactical journey. Unicorn Overlord is currently available on PlayStation 4, Play??Station 5, Xbox ?Series X|S and Nintendo Switch. 

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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 combat, 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 captur??es nostalgia for an era of strategy RPGs long gone by, it also brims with new ideas and fresh takes on what you’d nor?mally 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 p??resent, and Zenoira has spent the better part of ten years conquering 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. Pre?dictably, 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 talk to, resources to hoover up, and forts and town?s 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 circumstance??s, 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 player 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, opening 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 witch 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 think you’ll hop back on just to gather some resources and liberate a town. Then you’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 du??mped 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 usi?ng Valor, and direct them 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 flying unit can soar over obstacles, while an archer-led unit can rain down fire to a?ssist 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 factor, as the animalistic bestral warriors get stronger when the moon’s out.

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 g?round, cavalry can lead a thundering charge through enemy ranks, elven archers call down a moving cloud of healing rain, and more. That’s not even getting? into battlefield tools, like catapults, ballistae, barricades, mines, and more.

What surprised me most about Unicorn Overlord’s bat??tles 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 the campaign placed me in really surprised me. Vanillaware designs s?ome memorable, devious battlefields to conquer.

In one, I had to hold a defensive line with barricad??es and ballistae against an advancing front, then pierce into enemy territory to rescue a unit. In another, my advance along 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 the two duke it out. You don’t have any control over what happens once the fight starts; units a?utomatically 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 p?ieces 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 labors.

Slowl?y mas??tering 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 them 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 incredibly approachable;?? on the other, I was able to lazily coast through some smaller battles on the de?fault 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 simply, 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 thr??ough to its conclusion. Some of it is at least fairly enjoyable; picking up resources isn’t the most gripping activity in the game, but seein??g 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 loc?ating cemeteries, and they drag on after a while. Those are optional, thankfully. Others, like rebuilding bridges, 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 with 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 bat??tles 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 unfold; 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-gran??ting 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 giant??s, I worry that their shadow looms larger over smaller, more fringe aspects of genre history.

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, this age of strategy g??ames, is already compelling in and of itself.

In Unicorn Overlord, Vanillaware captures 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 Switch, it felt impossible 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 d??o 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.]}

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Vanillaware's latest game Unicorn Overlord arrives tomorrow. The embargo is up, and by now, sites are already posting thoughts and takes on the latest from the studio behind Dragon's Crown, Odin Sphere, 13 Sentinels, and many other well-loved games.

And as I've written about previously, Unicorn Overlord takes an interesting approach. It's looking back on the strategy stylings of classics like Ogre Battle, utilizing real-time strategy and an overworld map, setting it apart from other recent throwback tactics projects. Units move and fight in automated conflict using logical progression that you've set up ahead of time, similar to the Gambit system from Final Fantasy XII.

In the 20 hours I've played of Unicorn Overlord thus far, I've been fairly enthralled. It's a breath of fresh air in the strategy and tactics RP??G ??genre, and feels like Vanillaware both broadcasts its strengths (art, music, design, delicious-looking food) and breaks some new ground in tapping into the past.

So, ahead of the launch, I sent a few questions over to the Vanillaware staff, to ask about their process. Why did they choose to go this route? What was the development process like? And what's up with the card game in the collector's edition? We got back some answers from Vanillaware's lead game designer Wataru Nakanishi and game director Ta??kafumi Noma, as well as Atlus producer Akiyasu Yamamoto, to learn about al?l that and more.

With Unicorn Overlord, there are reports indicating it was in development for 10 years. What was that like, and
was development ever influenced by other projects the studio worked on throughout the decade?

Wataru Nakanishi, Lead Game Designer: Although it was a very long-term project, I did not work on it for the entire 10 years, but rather participated in the development of other projects in between, such as Odin Sphere Leifthrasir and Dragon's Crown Pro.

One project that had a direct influence on me was 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, which I was developing at the same time. When designing the Valor Skills for Unicorn Overlord, we incorporated elements of the meta?? skills system use?d in that title as an example.

How did you decide on the scenario and setting for Unicorn Overlord? Did the setting idea come before
deciding on making a strategy game, or vice versa?

Takafumi Noma, Game Director: We set out ??to make a tactical RPG first and foremost. The general framework for the world, like its setting, and world map were developed next. It wasn’t until the later stages of development that we created the story and detailed characters.

The combat system of Unicorn Overlord is very intriguing, in the way it asks players to establish logic and priorities for what units will automatically do in battles. Why did you opt for this, over having direct command inputs for each unit?

Nakanishi: We wanted the focus of the game to be on troop building and the importance of? preparing for battle. It would probably be overwhelming to have to give direct commands to all the units marching at the same time (laughing). The battle system itself was a result of our pursuit of combining strategy and ease of understanding.

Akiyasu Yamamoto, Producer: The project was proposed initially to ATLUS as a Tactical RPG with network elements which remained at the core of the game thro??????????????????????????ughout development. The result is a unique Tactical RPG, offering a deckbuilding like experience that, even among Vanillaware, could only be brought to life by the minds of Noma-san and Nakanishi-san.

Why did you choose to forego tiles, and instead use a field map? How did that affect the way you think about
the world and battle maps?

Yamamoto: Perhaps you mean to point out that this type of game is not so common to see from a Japanese studio? As you’re probably aware, the strategy (tactical) RPG market here is quite different from that in the west. For example, the RTS genre has never really caught on here like it has with the numerous PC titles, indie titles, and more. But to return to your question, Unicorn Overlord does indeed stray from the “mainstream�Japanese SRPG tile-based system. To put it simply, the creators of UO had a true passion for the '90s tactical RPGs they played growing up, and wanted to create a new game system based on their experience with said games. If one were to draw a family tree of the evolution of gaming, I think you would find Unicorn Overlord would naturally sprout out from the same branch ?formed by those tiles which influenced i?t.

How did you go about creating some of the factions you interact with in Unicorn Overlord, like the elves and
angels? Were there any favorite factions to work on, amongst the team?

Noma: Since the guiding motif was 90's fantasy, I thought I couldn'??t leave out the elf.? Initially I was thinking of using elves and dwarves which were common to Japanese TRPGs from that era, but after researching the original Norse mythology, we decided to stick to elves and dark elves instead.

Regarding the angel, although the original setting itself was abandon?ed during the production process, the design remained, and I think it ended up being put to good use. I think each staff member likely has their favorites, but I personally like all?? races, so I don't have a favorite faction.

Unicorn Overlord is heading to PlayStation, Xbox Series consoles, and Switch, but not to PC - is there any reason in particular you chose not to aim for PC at launch? Has there been any discussion about a PC port later on?

Yamamoto: As a publisher, we would like to deliver it to PC users as well, but pe??r our agreement with Vanillaware, we are only releasing on console. In other words, the??re are no plans to port it to PC currently.

There’s been a resurgence in tactics games lately - including games like Triangle Strategy, the Tactics Ogre remaster, and even Mario + Rabbids. What do you think of this, and how do you think Unicorn Overlord stands out from other games of this style?

Nakanishi: As an SRPG fan, I am very pleased. Not only completely n??ew titles, but also remasters of old titles a??re essential for the survival of the SRPG genre. I for one am very thankful for the recent trend of many SRPG titles being released.

This title, which was created in the midst of all these masterpieces, is full of unique elements such as field parts and battle systems. I believe that both fans of SRPGs of the past and those who have never played SRPGs before will enjoy this titl??e.

Yamamoto: Going back to your previous question, the market for “tile-based�SRPGs has been well explored by major developers and historical IPs for decades. What really drew ATLUS to Vanillaware’s proposal for Unicorn Overlord was how it was a blue ocean opportunity that avoided the red ocean of tile based SRPG. We ourselves had played many tactics games in the 16-bit era of the 1990s and were ????moved by the proposal from Noma-san and Nakanishi-san, which led to the development of this title.

Vanillaware is well-known for its art style, especially its food. How did you decide on what kinds of food to have
in Unicorn Overlord, and does it vary by in-game region? Did you ever make any of the recipes yourselves?

Noma: At first, we wanted to be realistic and envisioned a scene of soldiers sitting around a campfire and?? eating porridge as their rations. However, we also wanted the food to look delicious to boost morale, so we asked Shigatake-san, who has done cooking animations for our past productions, to do the cooking animation again for this game.

We asked Shigatake-san to choose the types of dis??hes himself. He chose dishes that looked delicious and made us want to eat them, while emphasizing visual differentiation. The dishes that can be eaten differ depending on the region in the game, so we hope that you will look forward to that as well in your adventures. Unfortunately, I have never actually made any of the in-game recipes myself�(chuckles).

13 Sentinels had a fairly winding story with multiple viewpoints, while Unicorn Overlord looks to follow one narrative thread through the prince Alain. How did that shift your way of thinking about the story of this game, and what would you say the defining characteristics of Unicorn Overlord’s narrative are?

Yamamoto: First, I’d like to point out that although both are developed by Vanillaware, the director of both titles is different. Where 13 Sentinels came about as Kamitani-san’s vision of an adventure game, the genesis for Unicorn Overlord was rooted in Noma-san’s passion for the elements from the SRPGs from the '90s that left an impression on him. Things like giving as much gravity to the emotional connection with the characters involved as their actual battlefield functions and performance. Therefore, this work explores the story of the more than 60 unique characters and their motivations for joining the liberation army. It highlights how e?ven the seemingly weak can bring change to the world by raising their voices and working together against tyranny and injustice. To me, that’s the real message of this story.

I’m really interested in the card game that’s included in the collector’s edition of Unicorn Overlord. How did that
come about, and was this something the development team worked on themselves?

Yamamoto: It came about when our publisher, ATLUS, asked Vanillaware if it would be possible to create a deluxe version for users who wanted to continue to enjoy the Unicorn Overlord world outside of the main game. As for accessor?ies, it would be difficult to use something metal for logistical reasons, so we requested a paper one, and the idea we struck upon was a card game. It was the first time for ATLUS to make such an accessory, but we were able to make it a reality by consulting with a long established company that handles card games and other physical games in Japan.

The reason for the extensive size is because th??????????????????????????e main game itself was created by staff who enjoy deck building and thinking-type card games. The accompanying card game was designed by Mr. Maeda who is a graphic designer at Vanillaware. Please note that although the setting and character classes are shared with the main game, each can be played independently, and this does not mean that you cannot fully enjoy the main game without playing the card game.

Unicorn Overlord is out for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and 5, and Xbox Series X|S o?n March 8, 2024.

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When I bring up the "tactics RPG," it feels like there is a certain image that comes to mind: grid-based, turn-based, isometric, or top-down, with units hopping up and down terrain to bonk each other on the head with swords and magic. The sheer popularity of games like Final Fantasy Tactics, Tactics Ogre, and Fire Emblem have cemented as much.

Maybe this is my own biases speaking, but hearing "(insert name here) Tactics" immediately brings that image to mind, and it's held true for several variations of tactical spin-offs. After playing the demo for Unicorn Overlord, Vanillaware's latest, it is clearly falling in the strategy side of the genre; rather than another Tactics, it's hearkening back to a different branch of the Ogre series: Ogre Battle.

It's a really interesting approach to see Vanillaware take. While Ogre Battle had a huge impact on the industry, Tactics Ogre and FFT felt like they eclipsed it. But in seeing this team tackle those ideas, systems, and even the framing of the story, Unicorn Overlord feels like a spiritual successor, years later.

Life in real-time

To start, Unicorn Overlord is a strategy RPG. In the demo�a href="//jbsgame.com/unicorn-overlord-gets-a-swit??ch-demo-today-with-save-data-carryove?r/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">out now on Switch, PlayStation 4 and 5, and Xbox Series X|S—the game basically starts at the beginning, giving you a brief prolo?gue and a few tutorial??s before dumping you out into the main continent of Cornia.

You are Prince Alain, the heir to the thr?one of Cornia, living in exile after a former general broke ranks and overthrew your mother, establishing the Zenoiran empire. Years later, the entire world has slowly fallen to Zenoira. Alain, his trusty advisor Josef, and a slew of friends and companions now make up the Liberation Army, seeking to wrest Cornia back for its rightfu??l ruler.

Already, we're into some fairly standard ideas. And if I have anything to nitpick about the demo, it's that the main plot is what you'd expect: knights and warriors fighting to regai?n control from the evil, mind-controlling empire.

The appeal of the early areas are in their open approach. After a friend is taken hostage, Josef warns Alain that the Liberation force is not up to the task of a rescue just yet. Instead, he should venture around the co??ntinent, establishing a foothold and recruiting allies, eventually building a ?force strong enough to forge ahead.

So you run around the world in real-time. All around Alain, NPCs wander around, waiting to gossip or provide helpful tips; different resource nodes pr??ovide lumber or ore, to turn in for reconstruction efforts in war-torn towns you've liberated; and even some treasure waits to be discovered, deep in ruins or graveyards.

There's a sense of place here that already sets it apart from other games. While I miss the intricate, detailed battle maps of a tactics ??game, what I get in its place is the feeling of a persistent world and campaign. When I wander into enemy territory, I have to be wary of patrols. Eventually, I can start a battle stage, shuffling me into a mode where I can deploy my forces and charge forth. When this happens, enemies throw up barricades, man towers, and hole up in garrisons dotting the path between my base and the objective.

It's really impressive to see the ways that Vanillaware plays with terrain and locale, in these situations. A swampy land has an eerie mood to it, yes, but also makes for an interesting strategic puzzle to solve when I have to actually direct troops across it. I loved the enclosed, walled city of Barbatimo, which sat at a crucial crossroads for my campaign. It looked like what I would imagine a critical juncture point would in Unicorn Overlord's worl??d. Laying siege to it was as tricky as I would've h?oped.

Automatic battles

Combat in Unicorn Overlord is, essentially, an auto-battling affair. When units of opposing forces meet on the field, they go into conflict, backed up by any nearby ranged or magical units. And by unit, I mean a squad: moving bodies on the board of Unicorn Overlord are actually multiple different soldiers, comprising a sin??gle "unit." So if my knight is leading a band alongside a healer, housecarl, and archer, that's who goes i??nto battle.

Then, the two forces clash in an automated battle, where the logic of your own Final Fantasy XII Gambit-system tactics goes toe-to-toe with the enemies'. Units spend their active and passive point allotment as?? you've told them to,? and whoever wins advances forward.

It works really, really well. While having a lack of control in battle might feel a bit concerning, the amount of influence?? you exert beforehand is massive. Actions can be given conditions, like "use this attack, if there's a flyi?ng enemy on the field," or "activate this if someone drops below X health threshold." It activates the strategy part of my brain, rather than the immediate act-and-react of tactics.

A lot of Unicorn Overlord is thinking ahead, in terms of moves, time, actions, and strategies. In one fight, I had to ensure my units had a good spread of magic damage?, to deal with all the heavy armor on the other side of the field. In another, I needed to roll out a unit with a leader who could break down barricades first, to clear the way for my cavalry.

Constantly, I faced choices based on what the enemy was doing, how much time was left, and what state my units were in. Individual unit stamina can drop fast, and an overworked unit can leave itself open to an enemy strike, so I even had to take that into account.

Back to the past

With all this in mind, I was already fascinated. And after doing some research, I wanted to see how much Unicorn Overlord pulled from the past. So, I went and booted up Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen. It's kind of amazing to put the two side-by-side; it makes it quite evident where Vanillaware drew inspiration from, for its ??real-time overwor??ld strategy.

That's not to say it's all Ogre, though. Pieces of Unicorn Overlord also dredged up other tactics giants; the stats and level-up screen, as well as using the "Talk" function on the battlefield, all reminded me of Fire Emblem. And the aforementioned logic-tactics add their own spin to things. Its persistent overworld gives me flashes of Heroes of Might and Magic at times.

So yes, Unicorn Overlord feels like Vanillaware rekindling an old Ogre Battle flame that's been dormant for quite some time. The last new entry was over two decades ago, after all. But my combining and wearing its influences on its sleeve like this, Unicorn Overlord still feels fresh and?? exciting, especially for those like me who missed this era back when it first happened.

It's nice to feel like pillars of this genre are getting renewed interest, and with that Vanillaware touch of art and music, too—both of which are excellent, by the way. The fairly lengthy demo gives a pretty good look at what's ahead, and now I'm more curious than ever to see whether Unicorn Overlord can stick the landing.

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March 8 is not far off now. But for those a little too impatient for then, a small slice of Unicorn Overlord is on the way for Switch owners today through a demo, to tide y?ou over until then.

Announced during today's Nintendo Direct: Partner Showcase, Vanillaware's Unicorn Overlord is getting a demo for Nintendo Switch today. [Update: Originally posted with just a Switch listing, Atlus has confirmed that the Unicorn Overlord demo will also be availabl?e on PS4, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S starting on Thursday, February 22. We've updated the piece to re??flect as much.]

You can find the listing, with the demo live now, here on the eShop.

Good ??news for those looking to hop in early, too: save data carries over into the full game. It's a nice feature for those who don't want to lose their potential progress if they wind up deciding to play the full game.

Don't lord it over me

It's nice, at least, to see a demo out for this, and with save data carrying over too. It feels like we've seen a lot more of these over recent years??, ??and for big RPGs, it's an especially nice feature. A good way to dip your toe in without committing the full way.

And there looks to be quite a bit to commit to in Unicorn Overlord. The latest game from 13 Sentinels and Dragon's Crown studio Vanillaware sees the team tackling tactics, with battles reminiscent of both Ogre Battle and Final Fantasy XII's Gambit system, somehow.

It could be a big game to dig into, so having a little time to check it out now amongst a slew of other demos and games hitting the Switch is nice. If you end up digging it, the full game of Unicorn Overlord arrives on March ??8, 2024 for PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox Se?ries X|S, and Switch.

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We're now just a few weeks out from the latest Vanillaware game, Unicorn Overlord. And with all th?e talk of fantasy tales, heroics, 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 Frostblooms. Bastor??ia 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 ar?chery to the crew if you recruit her.

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

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 also 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 o?ver time, yet still look absolutely fantastic.

Sanatio and Elgor

For our last batch of character previews today, Sa??natio is an angelic attend??ant and leader of the Heavenswing 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 h?ow evil he is. This guy has Saturday morning cartoon villain vibes, and I like it.

Overhead strategy

As for the game mechanics, Vanillaware's strategy? RPG has fields of combat (battle stages) where 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 crucial. Once two units near each other, they ca?n fight, t?hough 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 th?e 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, an??d ends when all AP is exhausted. There are also Passive Skills, which consume PP, and automatically fire under certain conditions.

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 Slice away.

It's like a version of Final Fantasy XII's ??Gambit system, expanded to accommodate a full 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 wi??th.

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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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 u??pcoming tactical RPG can build rapport wit?h each other while fighting in the same unit. Eventually, this leads to both in-battle boons and off-hours conversations.

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 somethin??g 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, Xbo??x Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch.

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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 stud??io weave an incredible narrative thread through mu?ltiple 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 Al?ain, an exiled prince gathering forces to 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 respectively, 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 these 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 Ga??lerius, and obscures his face as he does his lil' weirdo magic. My money says he absolutely does some light necromancy at some point.

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 weaknesses. Fliers may be fast, but archers can do double damage to them; a classic power-balancing move for tactics games if there ever was one.

While some are expected, others have neat unit-specific bonuses. Werewo??lves 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 move 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 adva??nced class. The example Vanillaware sent over was Alain, promoting fr??om 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 Vanillaware confirm there are Auxillary Stages. There, you can battle phantom soldiers as many times as you want, build??ing 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 the??y 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 arrives for Switch, PlayS??tation 4 and 5, and Xbox Series X|S on March 8, 2024.

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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-bit 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 i?nto 16-bit form 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 Sakimoto. 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.

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Atlus and Vanillaware have shared more details about Unicorn Overlord, the latter's new game with a strange na?me. But going off the screens and details we got today, it's worth looking beyond just the title.

Revealed during a Nintendo Direct earlier this year, Unicorn Overlord is the latest from Vanillaware, the studio behind games like 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, Odin Sphere, and GrimGrimoire. Its strategy roots are especially notable here, as Unicorn Overlord looks to be a mix of fantasy tactics and s?trategy.

The general thrust is that you, as exiled prince Alain, are gaining allies to help in your fight against a general who's stolen your throne.? It has a mix of an overworld and zoom??ed-in battles, with squads of units that can traverse the world.

Allies joining the cause

A big part of today's rev??eal is a new bundl??e of allies joining the cause. From the upstanding fighters taking Alain's side in the coming war, to a spy and witch of the swamp, it's a colorful cast to be sure.

Adorned in blue, there's the spear-toting Chloe, brave Clive, and the bulky Hodrick. Then there's Melisandre, head of House Meillet and trained as heir ?and swordswoman alike; Travis, a clandestine spy; and Yahna, a witch.

Fighting for the world of Fevrith

Taking place on the continent of Fevrith, Unicorn Overlord looks to have a lot of overworld management alongside its tactical elements. Events and quests can pop up, an??d resou?rces can be sent back to cities and forts you've brought under your control.

There's also reb??uilding ef??forts, garrisoning units, and training through mock battles. You can even mine for resources. It's a fairly decent amount of management to do, and it looks pretty intriguing too.

I'm admittedly pretty into this game, for a few reasons. For one, I'm always down to check out what Vanillaware is up to. The studio has surprised me over and over again, and I'm interested to see what they'll do next after the relative success of 13 Sentinels.

But also, this looks like a Vanillaware take on the overworld RPG style of games like Heroes of Might and Magic. The mix of tactics, broader strategy, and Vanillaware art is all intriguing enough to make Unicorn Overlord one to watch out for, once 2024 gets underway.

Unicorn Overlord is due out on March 8,?? 2024 for PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Switch.

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