Unicorn Overlord Review – A Worthy Heir to Classic Strategy RPGs

Unicorn Overlord is a Real-Time Strategy RPG developed by Vanillaware and published by Atlus. It was released simultaneously on PlayStation 4 + 5, Xbox Series X + S, and Nintendo Switch in March 2024. MSRB is $60. I played the Nintendo Switch version.

I’m not shy with how much I love the Japanese developer Vanillaware. I adore almost everything about them — their painterly art style, their attention to minute details, their hefty gameplay systems; and most of all, their complex yet still elegant stories. Unicorn Overlord was my most-anticipated game of 2024. Like a child of nobility, Unicorn Overlord had large shoes to fill.

Thankfully Unicorn Overlord honors Vanillaware’s royal pedigree, for the most part. While I noticed some points that need improvement, Unicorn Overlord still weaves a compelling and unique Strategy RPG experience that will leave its mark on the genre’s history.

This is Not Fire Emblem

Fire Emblem, XCOM, and Final Fantasy Tactics remain the poster children of the Strategy RPG subgenre. And a quick glance at Unicorn Overlord‘s blue-haired prince might convince you that Vanillaware is taking up Fire Emblem’s banner. However, I can’t stress this enough: Unicorn Overlord‘s gameplay is nothing like Fire Emblem. It actually takes inspiration from a little game called Ogre Battle 64. I’m guessing that’s the first time you’ve ever heard that title, so I’ll roll up my sleeves and describe the gameplay the best I can.

Unicorn Overlord‘s biggest differences from Fire Emblem are four-fold: 1) Unicorn Overlord isn’t on a grid; your units have free movement around the map. 2) Unicorn Overlord isn’t turn-based; instead, battles carry out in real time. 3) Each unit has a “stamina” gauge that dictates how many fights they can participate in before they have to rest. While resting, they’re vulnerable. The stamina system makes you use a variety of units and not rely on any single unit. 4) Each battle has a time limit for completing the objective. Don’t worry, Vanillaware is generous with this timer; it’s really there to discourage you from playing too defensively.

But that’s just the broad strokes. The details are even more involved, making Unicorn Overlord more complex and customizable than Fire Emblem. On a Fire Emblem map, each “chess piece” represents a single character. However, in Unicorn Overlord, each “chess piece” represents a squad of 2 to 5 characters. Before marching into battle, you must carefully organize your squads — who sits on the front row, who sits in the back, and who you pair together. For example, the thief Travis has high evasion, dodging enemy attacks in the front of a squad, while the wizard Auch shoots fireballs safely from the back row. You also pick one character to be the squad’s “Leader.” Each Leader has unique abilities to use on the map. For example, a Flier Leader can ignore terrain, and a Cleric Leader can heal other squads. Carefully considering squad composition is crucial to success in Unicorn Overlord.

Once your squad touches an enemy, you zoom in for a “squad vs. squad” fight. Thankfully Unicorn Overlord provides you a forecast of how much damage you’ll give and receive, allowing you to make some last-minute changes to tilt the scales in your favor. Once the fight starts, your squad completes actions and attacks automatically. If your squad deals more damage than the enemy, then you push them back and stun their movement for a bit. If you attack that enemy again while they’re stunned, you’ll have a significant advantage and will likely wipe the squad out. However, be careful, because the enemy can do the same thing to you. Permadeath doesn’t happen, but if a squad loses all of their HP, then you can’t use them for the rest of that battle. If the enemy takes your HQ, it’s Game Over. It’s vital to position your units so that they can support each other while also managing all of the other map objectives.

Perhaps the most difficult part of the game is learning how individual characters fight. Your characters’ AI follows a “Tactics” command list, prioritizing what skills they’ll use, and when they’ll do it. The default Tactics work just fine in the early game, but it’s in your best interest to learn how Tactics work so that you can customize the list yourself. For example, I told my archer unit Rolf to prioritize flying enemies, seeing as they’re weak to his arrows. In another example, I tweaked my cleric Sharon to use her healing skill after an ally has less than 50% of their HP, making the most of her healing. You can be highly detailed with adjusting these triggers, to the point where I feel like I’m doing basic computer programming. Thankfully you can participate in several mock battles against any unit type in the game to “test” if you have sound strategies and iron out any kinks. Once you find a set that works, you can save it and use it for another character of the same class.

Speaking of classes, this game has over 50 different classes, each with their own strengths, weaknesses, and unique attributes. I’ve heard strongly contrasting comments about Unicorn Overlord‘s difficulty — some claim that it’s too easy, while others claim that it’s brutal. I think the reason why the range of opinions is so wide is because Unicorn Overlord‘s systems are just so vast and complex. If learning to play Fire Emblem is like drinking from a fire hose, then learning to play Unicorn Overlord is like drinking from a waterfall. It’s easy to misunderstand how a character works, or to forget to optimize a squad for the upcoming battle. And yet, once you figure everything out, you can create squads with the best gear, teammates, and Tactics to handle any situation that the game throws at you. This was a game made by Strategy RPG fans for Strategy RPG fans. It’s probably not a good starting point for newcomers.

As for myself, well… I’m a glutton for strategy, and Unicorn Overlord provides a gameplay feast that left me happily stuffed. The campaign tests you against a wide variety of squads, maps, and scenarios. Most of the optional battles are all rather small and basic “capture the command post” maps, while other side quests introduce unique characters and map layouts to contend with. The main quests are where the strategy shines the brightest. My favorite was a battle in the Drakenhold kingdom where I had to defend a city against a horde closing in from 4 different sides. My heart was racing as I fended off wave after wave of enemies. By the end of the game, I was wishing for more variety in the optional battles, but the map design in the main missions always refreshed me.

Actually… It’s Kinda Fire Emblem

While Unicorn Overlord‘s gameplay has little to do with Fire Emblem, I can’t say the same thing for the story. The plot feels almost like a reimagining of the first Fire Emblem with the blue-haired Marth. In Unicorn Overlord, a young prince named Alain is whisked to a faraway island to escape a general that has taken the capital. Now a grown man, Alain sets off from his island sanctuary and recruits an army of ragtag soldiers across the land, slowly reclaiming the kingdom that was once stolen from him. Most early-game characters pay homage to Fire Emblem’s archetypes, including a childhood friend / love interest that wants to prove herself (aka, Scarlet = Caeda), an older and more-experienced mentor to the prince (aka Joseph = Jagen), and two calvary units that have a history with each other (aka Clive and Adel = Cain and Abel).

The game tasks you with liberating five different kingdoms across the continent, each with their own contained plotlines. The story in the first kingdom drags with a bland, paint-by-numbers Fire Emblem plot — complete with gruff bandits, pompous enemy generals, and mind-controlling cultists. But thankfully the story perks up in the other kingdoms as you meet new characters and learn more about their struggles. I particularly enjoyed meeting Gilbert, Aramis, and Virginia in Drakenhold and seeing the tension grow and recede between them. The side quests aren’t slouches in storytelling, either. I remember a quest where I tried and failed to persuade a misguided Wyvern Knight, Hilda, who was fiercely protecting her city overrun by a plague; as well as a series of quests where I reunited the scattered Knights of the Rose, a group of lady fighters who were all desperately trying to find each other. Vanillaware’s storytelling excellence always lies in their ability to tell several simultaneous narratives at once, and the side characters certainly show why they’re still the kings of this type of storytelling.

Once you finish assisting the other kingdoms, the story focuses again on Alain and his core group of friends. Unfortunately, the game returns to weak contrivances to get the plot going. While Alain is likeable, his personality is as about as exciting as plain yogurt. He’s constantly outshone by the rest of the cast. It’s hard to care about someone as bland as he is. I didn’t finish Unicorn Overlord for his sake — I played it for all the other characters.

Speaking of characters, the game also employs a Rapport system not unlike Fire Emblems Supports. Squads that fight together earn Rapport points, and once you reach a certain threshold, two characters’ will rank up and unlock stat bonuses during battle. Some characters have unique conversations after ranking up. Sadly, these conversations aren’t voiced, and they don’t develop the characters. However, I did enjoy learning about each person’s backstory as they began to open up to each other. Not everyone has conversations at every rank, but you always at least get the stat perks. Also, fans of Fire Emblem: Three Houses will likely be disappointed in the romantic options available.

Unicorn Overlord‘s writing is a saving grace to scenes that would otherwise feel drab. The localization team adjusted the dialogue to make it sound more like old European nobility. Knights and Lords often speak with metaphors, similes, and other figurative language to help drive their point home. Some players have, oddly enough, complained about this deviation from the modern Japanese script, but I disagree with them. Which sounds more interesting: “Looks like a storm’s coming,” or “It seems Zeus’ dark anvil is forming in yonder sky”? The answer is obvious. As long as the general meaning is kept intact, I’ll always prefer elevated language in these European Fantasy settings. You know how artsy-fartsy I am; that shouldn’t be a surprise.

Outside of battle, you can freely travel around your liberated territories. Here you can gather resources, search for treasure, and reconstruct cities to unlock perks. Some of these towns have taverns you can visit, which allow you to share a meal between a few characters. Not only will the meal treat you to some of the most beautiful food ever rendered in a video game, you’ll also unlock more Rapport points. I visited as many taverns as I could and ate every single meal that I saw. I always look forward to how Vanillaware will draw their food, and this is some of their best culinary work yet.

In Conclusion

Unicorn Overlord is an impressive achievement. Vanillaware managed to create their own spin on Strategy RPGs while also honoring the titans of the genre that came before them. The gameplay systems are satisfying to learn and master — I spent hours customizing each character exactly to my liking. The art and music is just as gorgeous as past Vanillaware games. Unfortunately, it stumbles over its main plot relying too much on tropes and contrivances, but thankfully it keeps itself from falling over entirely thanks to its side characters and graceful writing. Unicorn Overlord receives my full endorsement as an avid enjoyer of this often-overlooked genre.