Unicorn Overlord Preview – A tactical adventure that will auto-battle for your time
As with so many fantasy adventures, Unicorn Overlord begins with everything going horribly wrong. The opening tale charts the rise of the evil Zenoiran Empire, and the crushing defeat of the nation of Cornia.
Valmore, a former Cornian general, is a suitably villainous villain here, with some true Machiavellian motivations and the most dangerous of all evil characteristics: the belief that he’s right. On his way to the throne, he slaughters the Cornian queen Ilenia, but with the foresight that all is lost she dispatches her faithful knight Josef and charges him with Alain, her young son and heir.
From here Valmore takes on the name Emperor Galerius – is this really an eviler moniker than Valmore? – and wages war upon all of the neighbouring continents, spreading his evil influence across the entire world.
Unicorn Overlord offers an intriguing take on tactical combat, mixing elements of RTS with the visual presentation of Fire Emblem, though battles play out automatically according to various predetermined rules. You deploy units from Command Points, using Valor (which is gained from defeating enemies and liberating towns and fortresses) to unleash your forces upon the enemy.
When you engage an enemy unit in battle the combat plays out based upon a series of factors. Each unit’s initiative dictates the order that they attack in, and then they use Action Points to perform actions, as well as Passive Points for any abilities that are triggered by an opponent’s moves. Combat continues till all Action Points are consumed or the opposition fall. If they’re not out, the loser will be knocked back and made immobile, giving you the chance to perform the knock-out blow.
I didn’t know how to feel about just how hands-off the combat is, but it takes very little time for its nuances to become clear. Each unit that you own has a 6×2 grid layout, and you can add characters to that grid in a variety of layouts. Depending on how you position them dictates how they respond in combat, so
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