When we think of tactical JRPG, what we have in mind would be something like Fire Emblem or Final Fantasy Tactics where we move our units on the map and than end our turn letting the enemy units move. This is no longer the case in Unicorn Overlord since everything is real time.

Much like in Fire Emblem, you will still be deploying units onto the battlefield but time flow in real time. The enemy unit are always moving even if you don’t move your. This is somewhat similiar to Diofield Chronicle which Square Enix experimented with.

However, worry not, you can pause the game anytime to issue your command which introduce a layer of strategic depth that cannot be achieve with turn based one. For example, waiting for the enemies to reach certain area to ambush them.

Combat screen is similiar to Fire Emblem where your unit will carry out the fight themself while you can watch. The biggest different here is that you can assign skill, skill order, when to use the skill like Final Fantasy XII Gambit system, giving you finer control on your units. You also have to take into account skill point that will be consume when the unit use them in combat.

Unlike Fire Emble, a unit didn’t consist of just one or two character. You can field up to 5 characters after upgrading making for unique combinations and tactics which is for you to test out. Each character type have advantages and weakness so you have to take that into account too when forming your unit.

Apart from the unique combat system, the rest are standard Tactical JRPG affairs. You can equip weapons, armors and accessories for your unit. You can bond with them like Fire Emblem relationship system call Rapport. 

You can move around on the overmap to take on visit towns, repair and help towns, take side quests and main quests. The map in Unicorn Overlord is huge with unique culture and environments for you to see.

Tactical JRPG

I have always been a fan of Vanillaware art since Muramasa: The Demon Blade. Vanillaware knows how to make beautiful art that will suit the theme of the game and It is no different for Unicorn Overlord. 

The art is totally pleasing to the eyes. Combat effects are not overdone. Characters and backgrounds look not only gorgeous but fitting for the theme of the story. The cutscene and story telling look beautiful too with fluid animation that are a reminiscent of 13 Sentinels Ageis Rim.

The music is good and pretty much suitable for the era and the theme the game is set in. However, the tracks are not as memoriable and can get repetitive fairly quickly.

Voice acting is solid for Japanese voice with suitable voice for each character. No one voice feel too old while the character look young, etc... I don’t really like the English voice thou.

Probably the weakest part of the game is the story. It a generic bad guy overthrow the kingdom and takeover the world where the hero and his resistance force have to fight back control.

Having a generic story isn’t bad in itself if the flow of the story is good with interesting macro stories which Unicorn Overlord sorta of have but the story progress very slow with a lot of filler battle to tackle in between. You might have conquered a big city and the needle only move a few millimeter kind of scenerio despite each region having it own unique problem and scenerios going on.

Rapport (character bonding) moments are hit or miss. Some have generic kind of story while other have a more interesting story. Due to having a huge number of unique character you can encounter or recruit, the characters don’t get a lot of time to shine either and the bonding moments are just to supplement this issue.

Unicorn Overlord Review

Reviewed After : After 60 hours

Played On : Nintendo Switch

Final Score

7.5