Unicorn Overlord

Unicorn Overlord combines real time strategy with auto battling to create an incredibly unique game, and it also looks absolutely incredible.

Unicorn Overlord is a cleverly designed Tactics RPG whose strategic systems will hook its player early on. The openness of the map warrants a quest that is full of objectives that are all self-fulfilling and purposeful to complete. It does a fantastic job at teaching its tactics mechanics and excels at allowing its players to find their way to strategize against the countless enemy types to encounter. Unicorn Overlord’s captivating gameplay loop will trap its players into wanting to do everything they can to optimize their units. The narrative is not as interesting as its name ensues, but Vanillaware has proved that the name should be remembered as one of the strongest Tactics RPG to stand on its own. I cannot recommend this game enough to new or veteran tactics RPG players.

Unicorn Overlord’s story may not have thrilled me, but I still can’t recommend it highly enough to strategy fans. Every time I found myself longing for more character depth or a less predictable story, those critiques were washed away by the next hour-long battle pushing my strategic abilities to their limit. It’s hard to focus on shallow character dynamics when every brain cell is focused on developing the perfect set of tactics to pull off a clutch victory, after all. The sheer joy of leading your army to victory through nothing but clever planning is hard to overstate, and I’m convinced it will make Unicorn Overlord a new classic of the strategy genre in years to come.

Overall, Unicorn Overlord is one of the best tactical role-playing games I’ve played in a good while. The tactical complexity is also carefully introduced in a fairly gentle and intuitive way. With its wonderful visuals cementing this as a definitive game in the genre and one everyone should check out.

Vanillaware once again delivers a very special product that does not show fatigue within a genre that has experienced a "boom" in recent years. Unicorn Overlord is gigantic and manages to stand out based on quality and ambition, although it could have been a bit finer in some points in order to become a more original proposal.