Urge for food whetted.
For me, probably the most thrilling announcement to come back out of this week’s Nintendo Direct Associate Showcase was the instant availability of the Unicorn Overlord demo. By means of quite a few coaching movies, SEGA and Atlus have been constructing the hype for this technique RPG for some time now. So, Wednesday evening, 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 record off the explanations, right here’s a bit of on why I knew I’d 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 Normal 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 Hearth Emblemy, doesn’t it? Effectively, it’s, but it surely’s a lot extra. Let’s check out what I’ve already realized through 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. Nonetheless, it doesn’t seem like there will probably be any bonuses for many who tried the demo earlier than shopping for.
We get our conventional act of heroic sacrifice right away, with a extra stunning flip of occasions quickly thereafter. For those who’re as into JRPG melodrama as I’m, Unicorn Overlord seems positive to fulfill.
The overworld is a dwelling factor right here. In contrast to different tactical RPGs that simply shove icons round a map as a narrator speaks, Unicorn Overlord fees you exploration. There are gadgets to seek out (designated and hidden), characters to talk with, and enemies to interact or keep away from.
Conversely, there aren’t 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 gadgets, recruiting mercenaries, chartering ships, and so on. Build up these cities makes them extra helpful to you, a novel spin that retains the sport energetic 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 manage, 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 record. A lot for my thought 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 could be custom-made with the troopers of your alternative, together with the place they’re positioned on a 2×3 grid. That placement will probably be decided by who’s on that grid. Archers and healers within the again, in fact. Fighters and guards within the entrance. Possibly. For those who’re going up towards an enemy that may assault a whole 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, but it surely’s apparent that’ll change into extra vital as I get deeper into the sport.
Who’s preventing collectively in these squads is vital, as teammates will construct rapport with each other the extra they struggle collectively. The sport makes it clear who can share rapport and the way far they’ve progressed.
The preventing animations we’ve seen are simply that: animations. Like Hearth Emblem, the gameplay focuses on figuring out who ought to struggle whom, and ensuring the suitable squad is inside vary. You possibly can see the seemingly results of the struggle earlier than you interact. In case you have a number of squads inside attain, you possibly can cycle via them to find out which is able to obtain the very best outcomes.
Every squad has a pacesetter that may be assigned for numerous bonuses. In case you have an archer main a squad that’s inside attain of a struggle, you possibly can name in a volley of arrows from his/her squad to do harm earlier than you even interact. How cool is that? Different management abilities embrace the power to maneuver quicker on the world map, cross over mountains and rivers, and so on.
The battle eventualities are timed. When you interact the enemy and begin transferring your squads round, you could have a restricted period of time to assert victory. The demo is beneficiant with the time supplied, 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 decisions?), the intricate merchandise/talent administration, and the sidequests that aid you construct up the territories you’ve freed. Unicorn Overlord offers you numerous to soak up inside the first few hours, but it surely’s additionally manageable…for now. I’ve a sense it’ll get fairly difficult fairly rapidly.
However I’m wanting ahead to that. The demo is a transparent indication that Unicorn Overlord will hold avid gamers 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/.