Unicorn Overlord Review
What is it that draws people to the strategy genre? Is it planning ahead? Is it puzzling over the best course of action? Is it the orderly nature of grids and linear movement? Or, going off the Fire Emblem series, is it helping an unlikely group of sellswords and mercenaries become super best friends? Whatever it might be, Unicorn Overlord has ‘it’, an X-factor that ensures that it’s an early entry for strategy game of the year.
The kingdom of Cornia is at war, though it’s a war started in that most dastardly of fashions – duplicity and deception. Queen Ilenia is betrayed by her trusted adviser, General Valmore, who kills her and drives out her young son Alain before embarking on a conquest of Cornia and its neighbouring kingdoms. Unicorn Overlord truly begins when Alain comes of age, with the prince returning to Cornia and building an army that might free his homeland from the clutches of tyranny.
If medieval fantasy is your thing, Unicorn Overlord’s narrative will wrap you up as well as any book by Tad Williams or George R.R. Martin. The push and pull of dramatic events are perfectly weighted, and the steady stream of encounters and battles then meaningfully move the story along. Besides that, there’s a heap of side quests, character interactions and interesting asides that are well past being footnotes in the central tale. I haven’t enjoyed a strategy RPG as much as this in a long time, and fans of Fire Emblem, Triangle Strategy and Final Fantasy Tactics will find much to adore in its twisting tale.
That story would be for nought if the tactical action didn’t match up to it, and Vanillaware have crafted something that feels genuinely unique amongst the current crop of strategy RPGs. To be clear, my initial impressions weren’t all that positive, and it almost runs the risk of turning players off thanks to the simplicity of the opening action. Thankfully, just before you lose interest, it grabs hold of you and then doesn’t let go for the next fifty hours. This is a
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