Urge for food whetted.
For me, essentially the most thrilling announcement to return out of this week’s Nintendo Direct Accomplice Showcase was the quick availability of the Unicorn Overlord demo. By way of quite a few coaching movies, SEGA and Atlus have been constructing the hype for this technique RPG for some time now. So, Wednesday night time, I put away my goings on (after AEW Dynamite, anyway) and dug into this latest title from the group at Vanillaware.
My ideas? I’m hooked. However earlier than I checklist off the explanations, right here’s a bit of on why I knew I might be. Unicorn Overlord is a tactical RPG on a grand scale. Set within the fantasy world of Fevrith, the sport follows Alain, a would-be prince now exiled when the dominion is overthrown by Common Valmore. Alain seeks to reclaim the throne, however might want to unite the person nations of Fevrith to take action.
A corrupt ruler to face, a military to construct, a world to discover, a tense political local weather to navigate…it sounds fairly Fireplace Emblemy, doesn’t it? Effectively, it’s, however it’s a lot extra. Let’s check out what I’ve already discovered by way of the demo.
The demo is timed, so how far you get will rely on how rapidly you progress. You’ll get 5 hours, which is greater than sufficient to whet your urge for food for technique gaming goodness.
In fact, your progress will carry over to the complete sport ought to if you resolve to purchase it. Nevertheless, it doesn’t appear like there will likely be any bonuses for many who tried the demo earlier than shopping for.
We get our conventional act of heroic sacrifice immediately, with a extra stunning flip of occasions quickly thereafter. Should you’re as into JRPG melodrama as I’m, Unicorn Overlord seems to be certain to fulfill.
The overworld is a dwelling factor right here. Not like different tactical RPGs that simply shove icons round a map as a narrator speaks, Unicorn Overlord prices you exploration. There are objects to search out (designated and hidden), characters to talk with, and enemies to interact or keep away from.
Conversely, there are not any cities…a minimum of not but. You’ll see and may work together with cities and buildings on the map, however simply to drag up menus for purchasing/promoting objects, recruiting mercenaries, chartering ships, and so forth. Build up these cities makes them extra helpful to you, a novel spin that retains the sport lively if you’re not engaged in fight.
Talking of mercenaries, you get to customise them! The sport offers you loads of plot-driven characters to regulate, however you even have the power to rent reinforcements with some choices for altering their look. Oddly, when naming them, you must choose from a predetermined checklist. A lot for my concept of naming characters after members of the band Unicorn. Sorry, ABEDON!
Why the necessity for mercenaries? This begins our string of fight bullets, beginning with engagement. Overworld battle eventualities occur in actual time, with you deploying squads of 1 to three combatants (within the demo) for engagement. Every squad might be custom-made with the troopers of your selection, together with the place they’re positioned on a 2×3 grid. That placement will likely be decided by who’s on that grid. Archers and healers within the again, after all. Fighters and guards within the entrance. Possibly. Should you’re going up towards an enemy that may assault a complete entrance line, chances are you’ll wish to transfer a decrease protection attacker to the again. I discovered I didn’t should tinker a lot with placement within the demo, however it’s apparent that’ll grow to be extra vital as I get deeper into the sport.
Who’s combating collectively in these squads is vital, as teammates will construct rapport with each other the extra they combat collectively. The sport makes it clear who can share rapport and the way far they’ve progressed.
The combating animations we’ve seen are simply that: animations. Like Fireplace Emblem, the gameplay focuses on figuring out who ought to combat whom, and ensuring the precise squad is inside vary. You possibly can see the possible results of the combat earlier than you have interaction. When you have a number of squads inside attain, you may cycle by way of them to find out which can obtain the perfect outcomes.
Every squad has a pacesetter that may be assigned for numerous bonuses. When you have an archer main a squad that’s inside attain of a combat, you may name in a volley of arrows from his/her squad to do injury earlier than you even have interaction. How cool is that? Different management expertise embrace the power to maneuver quicker on the world map, cross over mountains and rivers, and so forth.
The battle eventualities are timed. When you have interaction the enemy and begin shifting your squads round, you may have a restricted period of time to assert victory. The demo is beneficiant with the time offered, providing you with loads of choices to relaxation your squads (they will get tuckered out) and to compensate for errors as you unfold them out for engagement.
That’s barely scratching the floor of what the demo highlights, however 11 bullet factors is my conventional stopping level. I didn’t even get to the sport’s lush graphics, the ethical dilemmas (already with the robust selections?), the intricate merchandise/talent administration, and the sidequests that allow you to construct up the territories you’ve freed. Unicorn Overlord offers you numerous to soak up inside the first few hours, however it’s additionally manageable…for now. I’ve a sense it’ll get fairly sophisticated fairly rapidly.
However I’m trying ahead to that. The demo is a transparent indication that Unicorn Overlord will maintain players busy for fairly a while. Exploration and fight are equally addictive and rewarding, and we’ve already met a handful of participating characters. I’m greater than prepared to fulfill extra and dig deeper into Fevrith when the sport releases digitally and bodily on March eighth.
For extra info on Unicorn Overlord, go to unicornoverlord.atlus.com/.
