Reign supreme in a supreme game: Unicorn Overlord.

A cursory glance at the screenshots or the cover of Unicorn Overlord will lead one to believe that it’s a modernized Ogre Battle. If you place the two games side by side, then it’s easy to see the homage and the inspiration. Unicorn Overlord is so much more. Elements of the Ogre Battle series are there, but so are elements of Final Fantasy Tactics, Shining Force, and Brigandine. Of course, there are original pieces and features mixed in. It’s an understatement to say that everything came together beautifully. The one-two combo of Vanillaware and Atlus has always been successful: Vanillaware crafts stunning games while Atlus provides fantastic localization. However, Unicorn Overlord exceeded every expectation; so much so that I’m confident that this will be my favorite game of the year. It is one of the very few modern games that made it to my personal top ten favorite games of all time.

Unicorn Overlord takes place in the land of Fevrith. In the Kingdom of Cornia, general Valmore has betrayed his kingdom and launched a surprise attack on the capital of Gran Corrine. Queen Ilenia, a mighty warrior in her own right, entrusts her son, Alain with a special signet. With the help of Josef, the kingdom’s most faithful knight, Alain safely flees to the tiny island of Palevia. Years pass, and Valmore takes the name Galerius while simultaneously destroying any opposition. Galerius rules Fevrith under the banner of the ancient kingdom of Zenoira. As the years continue to pass, Alain has spent his time honing his abilities under Josef’s close watch on the small isle. Zenoiran soldiers eventually find the rightful heir, but are immediately cut down by Alain, Josef, and some of their trusted allies. That same day Alain takes leadership of the Liberation Army. He vows to avenge his mother, overthrow Galerius, and restore Fevrith to its former glory.

The story in Unicorn Overlord is familiar but interesting. The familiarity of an evil monarchy with a sneaky sorcerer behind the scenes serving a dark god should resonate with every gamer. The real stars are the characters. Alain might be one of the best main characters I’ve seen in a while. His leadership, kindness, charisma, and determination make him worthy as a crown prince. I was cheering for him from the start. He’s not alone in his journey of liberation. In what can only be described as a case of “Suikoden Syndrome”, Alain recruits a massive army of unique faces that want to see Zenoira fall. Unlike Suikoden, however, Alain’s massive retinue isn’t composed of faces that have one or two lines of dialogue for the entire game. No, you’ll get to know every single member of Alain’s army. This is in part to them all having a role to play, but also due to the Rapport conversations. As Alain and his soldiers fight and share meals together, their relationships build. Rapport conversations will be unlocked during the process. These provide extra character development; so much that you can tell that the developers cared about every face getting a chance to shine. The large number of characters means multiple opportunities to build relationships. The possibilities are nearly endless. Near the end of the game, anyone that has max Rapport with Alain can serve as his second in command.

The term “endless possibilities” is applicable throughout Unicorn Overlord. I realized this during my eight hours with the demo. The excitement from the demo poured into the main game, and it was pretty amazing how addictive the gameplay loops maintained themselves until the end of my 60-hour play time. Once all the prologue and preliminary expositions ended, I took control of Alain and his crew. I was able to walk around the world map and speak to the NPCs of liberated town. I like it when strategy RPGs do this, so we were already off to a good start. There’s always something to discover on the world map outside of chatty NPCs: hidden treasures, raw materials used to rebuild towns, monuments, ruins, extra battles, and more that make slowly but surely uncovering Fevrith an exciting constant. The size of Fevrith was much bigger than I expected, thus the exploration was always at a high. I’d love to get into the finer details of what else is available while journeying through Fevrith, but I think readers get the point that this world map is more than a device to navigate Alain from story point A to story point B.

Indeed, I want to take some time to talk (gush) about combat. Going back to when I was playing the demo, I’ll admit that I was initially cautious about Unicorn Overlord’s combat. In my experience, Real-Time Strategy (RTS) games are hit or miss. There’s no in-between and there’ve been more misses than hits. Obviously, Unicorn Overlord is a hit, but let me break it down. Using a resource called Valor, Alain can deploy his troops. Following this, you can navigate them through the battlefield. The goal is simple: capture an enemy’s fort while taking care of anything along the way. As your army goes through the warzones, they can capture smaller forts or bridges to gain more Valor, and in turn, deploy more troops. Some battlefields have structures or treasures that provide additional boons. Naturally, battlefields are filled with enemies. Encountering an enemy will lead to a battle in which your preset troops and their abilities will activate.

Your army consists of a squad of your recruits that have a distinct class. Each class has a strength, weakness, and a set of unique skills. They’re arranged on a grid that influences their abilities and their potency. No stone was left unturned here. The number of classes is through the roof, and as a result, the number of ways to position your troops and build your perfect squad are infinite. I spent so many hours arranging, rearranging, and testing out my troops until my army was perfect for my play style. By the end of the game, I amassed such a massive army that I had to sadly bench a few characters. Thankfully, it took a while to get to this point. Unicorn Overlord does a great job of easing players into all its features. Going further into the details of combat would make this review more loquacious than it needs to be so I’ll end this part by saying there are multiple difficulty options. This makes Unicorn Overlord accessible for all players.

We can’t mention a Vanillaware product and not talk about presentation. Those that are familiar with their graphical handiwork will come in knowing what to expect. And yet, somehow, Vanillaware managed to make this game look even more stunning than their previous ones. The level of detail, shading, color, contrast, and pigmentation ranging in the simple menus to the most intricate battle scenes is unparalleled. One of my favorite but subtle features is designing your own heraldry for your units. Those with an affinity for artistic creation can spend many extra hours getting their flag to look just right. If that’s not your thing, then you’re still treated to the usual breathtaking 2D magnificence. The music catalogue is epic; a perfect fit for a story about a medieval war across a fantasy landscape. Basiscape, the musical company founded by composer Hitoshi Sakimoto, was behind its mastery.

It’s always fun to review a game that you really enjoy. There are a few minor things I’d change about Unicorn Overlord, but they don’t need to take up review space. My time with it was something special; I wasn’t expecting a game released in 2024 to bring me so much enjoyment given the current landscape of gaming. When the game ended, there was a bit of sadness that the journey was over, but I’m confident that I’ll play again to try new team set-ups and see other Rapports. Like I said, this game has made it to my top ten favorite games of all time. I try to replay those often. The land of Fevrith will be revisited again. Gamers of all experience levels and tastes should check out Unicorn Overlord. It borrows just the right amount of stuff from other games while maintaining its own unique grandeur.

Overall, 10/10: Unicorn Overlord is Vanillaware and Atlus at its finest. Truly, the gaming world is now a better place because of it.