Unicorn Overlord
Developer(s)Vanillaware
Publisher(s)Sega
Director(s)Takafumi Noma
Producer(s)Akiyasu Yamamoto
Designer(s)Wataru Nakanishi
Programmer(s)Takafumi Noma
Artist(s)Takafumi Noma
Composer(s)Mitsuhiro Kaneda
Platform(s)
ReleaseMarch 8, 2024
Genre(s)Tactical role-playing
Mode(s)

Unicorn Overlord[lower-alpha 1] is an upcoming tactical role-playing game developed by Vanillaware and published for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S by Atlus in Japan and Sega worldwide. Set on the continent of Fevrith as it is consumed by war, the story follows exiled prince Alain as he gathers allies to take back his kingdom from the rogue General Valmore. Gameplay follows Alain and his army units fighting in large-scale battles, with field movement and battles taking place in real-time.

The concept for Unicorn Overlord was created by Takafumi Noma in 2014. With company founder George Kamitani's blessing, Noma took on the roles of director, programmer and lead artist. The aim was to create a modern version of classic tactical games from the 1990s. Production took roughly ten years due to overlapping with other Vanillaware projects.

Premise and gameplay

A battle encounter in Unicorn Overlord.

Unicorn Overlord is a tactical role-playing game set on the fantasy continent of Fevrith; the plot follows the exiled prince Alain as he gathers an army from across Fevrith's five kingdoms to reclaim his throne from the rogue General Valmore.[1] During exploration, the player guides Alain across an overworld to enter towns, use services such as blacksmiths and merchants to outfit his army, and engage in story or optional battles. In areas not controlled by Alain or his allies, enemies represented with sprites also wander the overworld. All the characters, locations and sprites are displayed using 2D art.[1][2] The overworld is freely explorable, allowing players to tackle some events in different orders.[3]

Combat is split between movement of troops across large battlefields, and combat when two units meet.[1] All combat takes place in real time, but the player can pause to change their strategy and check on units.[3] Battlefield settings include open field areas, and urban environments such as towns and cities which alter gameplay. Combat parties are formed from multiple units with assigned character classes, with their arrangement on a grid influencing their abilities and combat efficiency.[1][2] There are three difficulties which players can select, and after a certain point an online multiplayer arena is unlocked separate from the main story.[2]

Development

The design concept for Unicorn Overlord was created by Takafumi Noma of Vanillaware in 2014, almost exactly ten years prior to release. Noma had been approached by company founder George Kamitani after production ended on Dragon's Crown (2013) to create a new fantasy-themed video game. With Kamitani's encouragement, Noma led the project and acted as director, character designer, and lead programmer.[4] The designer was Wataru Nakanishi, while Akiyasu Yamamoto of Atlus was producer.[3] Production moved slowly due to Vanillaware working in parallel on other projects including ports of earlier titles, and 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim. Noma needed to personally join the 13 Sentinels team to help with programming.[4] The music is being handled by a team from Basiscape led by Mitsuhiro Kaneda.[5]

Noma created the gameplay concepts with Nakanishi, who described the process as the two making things up as they went and receiving advice from Kamitani.[4] As Vanillaware had emulated the arcade beat em' up design for Dragon's Crown, Noma wanted Unicorn Overlord to emulate the classic tactical RPG titles of the 1990s without drawing specific inspiration from any of them.[3] The gameplay was designed to give a sense of speed, focusing on an overhead perspective, player freedom, and real-time movement and combat.[4] While Noma had mostly been a programmer with Vanillaware, he was also a keen illustrator, and took the opportunity to lead character design for Unicorn Overlord.[3] The illustrations were completed early on, and helped get the project approved by Atlus. Noma noted that some of his design priorities had changed, with the key art focusing less on key characters and more on the common soldiers in the final version. As with other Vanillware projects, the art focused on 2D designs, contrasting against the 3D graphics dominating the games industry. He described the world design as inspired by 14th Century Europe blended with Japanese fantasy elements.[4]

Unicorn Overlord was first teased with a short movie included in the commercial demo disc 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim Prologue.[4][6] Kamitani confirmed that the project was nearing completion in January 2023, calling it Vanillaware's biggest project to date.[7] The game was officially announced, together with Japanese and Western special editions, in September during a Nintendo Direct. The special editions include an art book and soundtrack disc.[8] It is to be published by Atlus in Japan, and parent company Sega worldwide.[2][9] A full soundtrack album will release in Japan alongside the game.[5]

Notes

  1. ↑ Japanese: ユニコーンオーバーロード, Hepburn: Yunikōn Ōbārōdo

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Sal, Romano (September 20, 2023). "Unicorn Overlord details story, world, characters, and game systems". Gematsu. Archived from the original on September 25, 2023. Retrieved September 25, 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 感想：『ユニコーンオーバーロード』神ゲー説。フィールドを自由に旅して地域を解放して、集めた資材で街を復興。めちゃ強な敵の通せんぼもあるらしい!?. Dengeki Online (in Japanese). September 20, 2023. Archived from the original on September 25, 2023. Retrieved September 25, 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 ［TGS2023］多くの人にSRPGの面白さを届けたい。アトラス×ヴァニラウェアの新作「ユニコーンオーバーロード」開発者インタビュー. 4Gamer.net (in Japanese). September 22, 2023. Archived from the original on September 24, 2023. Retrieved September 25, 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 『ユニコーンオーバーロード』インタビュー。ヴァニラウェアが10年温めていた新生SRPGは、90年代の名作をリスペクトしながらも挑戦的なタイトルだった. Famitsu (in Japanese). September 25, 2023. Archived from the original on September 25, 2023. Retrieved September 25, 2023.
  5. 1 2 Bueno, Daniel (November 1, 2023). "Unicorn Overlord Soundtrack Available to Pre-Order in Japan". Siliconera. Archived from the original on November 1, 2023. Retrieved November 2, 2023.
  6. ↑ 『グリムグリモア OnceMore』開発のヴァニラウェアにインタビュー。当時の赤裸々な開発秘話から、オリジナル版の企画書も特別に大公開！. Famitsu (in Japanese). October 12, 2022. Archived from the original on December 6, 2022. Retrieved December 21, 2022.
  7. ↑ Romano, Sal (January 26, 2023). "Vanillaware fantasy game teased in 2019 at end of development, George Kamitani says". Gematsu. Archived from the original on January 26, 2023. Retrieved September 25, 2023.
  8. ↑ Romano, Sal (September 14, 2023). "Atlus and Vanillaware announce tactical RPG Unicorn Overlord for PS5, PS4, Switch, and Xbox Series". Gematsu. Archived from the original on September 14, 2023. Retrieved September 14, 2023.
  9. ↑ "Atlus and Vanillaware Announce Unicorn Overlord". Anime News Network. September 15, 2023. Archived from the original on September 15, 2023. Retrieved September 25, 2023.


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