Unicorn Overlord aims to bring tactical RPGs back to the ‘90s

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By Andrew Webster, an entertainment editor covering streaming, virtual worlds, and every single Pokémon video game. Andrew joined The Verge in 2012, writing over 4,000 stories.

More than just about any other game studio, Vanillaware is known for its style. At the same time, the developer is constantly shifting between genres. It originally made waves with the side-scrolling action RPG Odin Sphere, and more recently released the sci-fi epic 13 Sentinels, which is part visual novel, part turn-based mech-vs-kaiju combat. Holding all of these disparate ideas together is Vanillaware’s incredible 2D art, along with a clear to desire to experiment.

Given how the studio loves to jump around so much, it’s probably not too surprising that its next project, Unicorn Overlord, will be a grand-scale tactical RPG inspired by the classics. Ahead of the game’s launch next March (it’s coming to PlayStation, Xbox, and the Switch) I had the chance to ask producer Akiyasu Yamamoto a few questions about how the game came about, and what it’s like building a new fantasy universe from scratch.

This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

Which aspect came first: did you start with the idea of making a new tactical game, or did that genre stem from this new fantasy universe?

Yamamoto: The former. We’ve always been fascinated by tactical RPGs, RPGs, and tactical games from the ‘90s, the era of the 16-bit systems. Presently, tactical RPGs are dominated by well-established IPs, and there haven’t been many brand-new titles emerging in the consumer market. With our determination and love for tactical RPGs, we decided to create Unicorn Overlord by remixing elements that excited us in both digital and analog games transcending