Review of "Unicorn Overlord," a simulation RPG with a bottomless sense of fun. Ultra-royal adventure warfare x open world x creative battle system!

The protagonist is an exiled prince!　He and his friends stand together to take back the world that has fallen into the hands of a great evil!

Unicorn Overlord" is a new simulation RPG from Atlus and Vanillaware. Atlus, the creator of "Persona", "Shin Megami Tensei" and many other popular titles, and Vanillaware, with its uniquely beautiful graphics, have produced such masterpieces as "13th Airborne Defense Circle", "Dragon's Crown" and "Odin Sphere". Unicorn Overlord" is a new title from the same team, which offers an ultra-royalistic story, a rich fantasy worldview, and the strategy of a well-crafted simulation RPG.

Let's start with the storyline.

The story takes place on the continent of Febris, which consists of five nations. The war that erupts as a result of the rebellion of General Valmor in the Kingdom of Kolnia eventually covers the entire continent and takes over the world.

The protagonist is Alayne, a young man who survived as a prince of the exiled kingdom of Kolnia and became the leader of the Liberation Army. With the legendary "unicorn ring" entrusted to him by his mother, Queen Irenia, he raises the banner of his army to lead his people. Will Alleyne and the friends he meets be able to restore this world that has fallen into the hands of a great evil? ......

A continent ruled by a great evil, an exiled prince, a liberation army, encounters and bonds with friends, and a legendary ring entrusted to him by his mother, this is a story that will draw players in and keep them hooked. The game's story and Vanillaware's charming hand-drawn visuals are a perfect match, creating a high sense of immersion in the world of the story.

The game takes place in a vast open world!　Run freely and complete numerous quests!

The player's objective is to control the main character, Alayne, and lead the Liberation Army to defeat the new Zenoira Empire ruled by Emperor Galerius. To achieve this goal, players will explore a vast field, challenge battles on stage, and train their own army while completing numerous quests.

It should be noted that this title uses an open world system for its fields. Instead of following a predetermined storyline in a linear fashion, players can freely run around a vast field and complete quests in any order they wish, giving them an extremely high degree of freedom. For example, if you meet certain conditions, you can even challenge the final battle from the very beginning of the game.

In the simulation RPG genre, where it is important to steadily develop one's army, the adoption of an open world system that allows players to enjoy a free strategy seems to be a rather rare case, and it made for a fresh gameplay experience.

There are many different quests on the field.
Starting with the "MAIN QUEST " to progress the main storyline, there is the "SUB QUEST " where you will meet new friends and characters, the "FIELD QUEST" to collect items and visit locations, and the " LIBERATE QUEST " to liberate towns and forts controlled by the Zenoilah army. There are also "liberatequests " to liberate towns and forts controlled by Zenoira's army, "treasure quests" to find hidden treasures by relying on clues on treasure maps, etc. Some of them involve battles, while others do not, providing a great variety of gameplay.

As mentioned earlier, this is an open-world game, so players are free to choose the order in which they conquer the quests they discover. The player can gather friends through "sub quests," increase the number of bases where equipment and items can be purchased through "liberate quests," and build up his army's strength as he goes along, which is the kind of fun you get from RPGs.

The liberation army led by the main character, Alain, starts out small with only a few members, but as mentioned earlier, as you complete quests, you will meet new friends and grow into a larger and larger army . The number of characters who join the army in this game is said to be over 60, which is a surprisingly large number. The fantasy-like worldview makes it interesting that the characters you meet are not only humans, but also elves, beasts, angels, and other various races.

In addition, players can deepen their interactions with characters through battles, meal events, gifts, and other forms of communication. As you get to know them better, you will be able to see special conversation events called "intimacy conversations," and you will be able to improve your strength by including them in the same unit, so it is important to actively interact with them. In particular, the "intimacy conversations" allow players to learn more about the inner lives and backbones of the characters, which are usually hidden from view, and this will greatly increase their attachment to the characters as well as their immersion in the story. The game is designed to provide an interesting ensemble drama that is unique to this title with its large number of characters.

Another key point of the story is that there are aspects of the story in which the player is left to make choices. These choices are not usually light ones, but rather serious ones, such as whether to forgive or execute the enemy general who has cornered the player. By daring to leave these serious decisions in the hands of the players instead of following a straight path, the author feels that this work's gravity is further enhanced.

The battle progresses in real time!　Unit composition and skill combination are the keys to success!

It is no exaggeration to say that the real thrill of a simulation RPG lies in the battles. Let us introduce the battle system of this work.

In this title, units of both sides march against each other in real time. The stage is cleared when victory conditions, such as the destruction of enemy generals, are met within the time limit set for each stage. Allied units can launch from "bases" indicated by blue flags, but when launching an attack, they consume "Brave," which is displayed in the upper left corner of the screen. Brave is increased by destroying enemies, liberating facilities, and picking up fallen items, but it is also consumed when using a skill called "Brave Skill," so it must not be wasted.

Once a unit is launched, the cursor is used to specify the destination and enemies, and movement instructions are given. This part of the game has the feel of a real-time strategy game, and the time limit makes for a gripping experience.

When the player comes into contact with an enemy, he or she encounters the enemy and selects "battle" to enter the battle. The order of action within the battle is determined by each character's "action speed," and when the turn comes around, the character's "active skill" is activated by consuming AP (active points). The battle ends when all of the characters' AP are exhausted or one of them is wiped out.

In addition to active skills, characters have "passive skills" and PP (passive points) to activate them. Passive skills have set activation conditions such as "when attacked," "when other allies attack," "at the start of battle," and "at the end of battle," and are automatically activated when the conditions are met. In other words, all active and passive skills are automatically activated, and basically all battles proceed automatically, which is a major feature of this title's battle system.

Some people may be concerned that the auto-battle system, in which everything proceeds automatically, may not have enough strategic elements. However, this is not the case at all. On the contrary, there is a wide range of things that players need to think about.

The first thing to consider is which characters will be organized in a unit that can consist of one to five members. Each character is assigned to a class, and there are weapons and skills that the character excels at, as well as compatibility with other classes. For example, a fighter is strong against hunters, a hoplitei specializes in physical defense, and a sheik has a high evasion rate. The number of soldiers in the game is a whopping 60 or more, so organizing them requires a great deal of deep thinking.

The "strategy" that can be set for each character is another element that players must consider. In particular, up to two skills can be set for each character, with very detailed conditions such as " which position in the formation to use," " what percentage of HP or less to use," " which type of troops to use first," and so on. This makes the game more like a deck-building card game, and allows players to enjoy the fun of thinking and trial-and-error. The "leave it to me" function, which automatically sets up strategies and equipment, is a nice feature that allows players who find it difficult to make settings to enjoy the game with peace of mind.

At any rate, although the battles in this title are based on an auto-battle system, there are plenty of elements and strategies to think about, and players will never get bored.

The battle scenes, which are depicted with Vanillaware's unique smooth-moving, beautiful animation, are sure to be powerful and compelling, but I strongly felt that the real thrill of this title's battles lies not in the battles themselves, but in the preliminary stages, such as the trial and error stages of unit organization and skill strategy settings. I strongly felt that the real thrill of the battles is not in the battles, but in the preliminary stages of the battles: the trial-and-error stage of unit composition and skill strategy setting.

In addition, there are plenty of other elements for training and development, such as the experience-based level system, the aforementioned formation bonus based on character intimacy, and the class change system that promotes players to higher classes.

The game also has a "fighting arena," which allows online battles and offline battles for one player, an element not often seen in simulation RPGs, and the volume of play is unfathomable. For those who like to play, there are also collection elements such as an "archive," in which content related to the countries and people who appear in the game is added one after another as the story progresses.

Unicorn Overlord" is a great title recommended for a wide range of players, from simulation RPG beginners to experienced players!

So, we have delivered our first impressions of "Unicorn Overlord".

The "Unicorn Overlord" is full of charm and fun, with a rich and royal story, beautiful graphics, more than 60 unique characters, a free and vast open world, and a battle system that combines high strategy and originality. The game offers four levels of difficulty, from CASUAL to EXPERT, so everyone from simulation RPG beginners to experienced players can enjoy the game at a difficulty level that suits them best. If you are interested in this title, you can play the first part of the game for about 5 hours and try the "demo version" which allows you to carry over your saved data to the full version.

Unicorn Overlord" for PS5

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Title information

■" Unicorn Overlord

• Release date: March 8, 2024 (Friday)
• Supported platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation4, PlayStation5, Xbox Series X|S
• Price: Normal Edition 8,778 yen (tax included)
• Limited Edition: 17,578 yen (including tax)
• Downloadable luxury edition: 13,178 yen (including tax)
• Genre: Simulation RPG
• Players: 1 (with online play elements)
• CERO: C (for ages 15 and up)

Official game website: ##

Nero Hyakkabe

Writer who buys too many games. Currently has more than 300 games in his stack. Also a novelist. His works include "Todorouni tantei no chozen taru jikenbouki (Roaring Luck Detective's Chosen Case Book: Detective Annihilation Hall Murder Case)" (Seikai-sha) and "Yubisaki kaidan: 140 kanjaku no kaihon (Yubisaki ghost stories: 140 scary stories) (PHP Kenkyujo).
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about.me: https://about.me/nero100kabe/

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