70%PlayStation 5

Just not my kind of game.
Neither the story nor gameplay really hooked me. Plot is very cookie cutter. Most characters are just game pieces that gets an intro chapter then pretty much left forgotten. The gameplay is like an auto-battler where it's 95% prep and team/AI micromanagement and not a ton of strategy in the actual battles.
It's a pretty cozy game with cute art but not worth investing another 30+ hours to finish.

95%Nintendo Switch

Amazing

100%Nintendo Switch

Ogre battle 64 again finally! I love this game and anything like it

70%Nintendo Switch

Way too long and too much micromanagement (on higher difficulty), but still fun and incredibly beautiful.

80%Nintendo Switch

First 1/3 was amazing. The amount of admin and excess characters eventually dragged it down a bit. Really didn't need the last continent and the big bad fight was not a highlight.

90%Nintendo Switch

Super addicting gameplay really studied in all details.
The fact that unit have limited number of battles plus the fact that there is time limit really pushing the strategy part of the game avoiding you can easily break it overpowering few units.

Really a must play for strategy lovers

75%PlayStation 5

Review: Unicorn Overlord

Overall Score: 74/100

Unicorn Overlord delivers a solid tactical RPG experience that blends strategic combat with a high fantasy setting. While the game has several standout strengths, it also struggles with consistency in its storytelling and character depth, leaving it as a strong but not exceptional entry in the genre.

Graphics – 74/100

The visuals are polished with a distinct artistic style that captures the fantasy theme well. Character designs and environments look good, but they don’t always feel groundbreaking compared to top titles in the genre.

Audio – 73/100

The soundtrack is pleasant and enhances the atmosphere, though it lacks truly memorable tracks. Voice work and effects do the job but don’t elevate the experience beyond average.

Puzzle/Quest Design – 73/100

Quests and puzzles are serviceable, providing enough variety to keep players engaged. However, they tend to follow familiar patterns, with limited innovation.

Combat – 75/100

Combat is one of the stronger elements of the game. Battles are tactical, layered, and rewarding, with enough complexity to satisfy strategy fans. While not revolutionary, the system is well-executed.

Boss Battles – 75/100

Boss encounters stand out as some of the most engaging parts of the gameplay. They’re challenging without being unfair, requiring thoughtful strategy to overcome.

Plot – 72/100

The narrative feels somewhat generic, relying on traditional fantasy tropes. While serviceable, it doesn’t reach the emotional or thematic heights of the best RPGs.

Character – 72/100

Character development is limited. While the cast is diverse, their personalities and arcs don’t leave a strong lasting impression.

Pacing – 73/100

The game’s pacing is steady but occasionally uneven, with moments of excitement sometimes undercut by slower, repetitive sections.

Storytelling – 72/100

While the plot is coherent, the storytelling lacks depth. Themes and dialogue don’t fully capture the emotional weight of the events.

Mechanics – 74/100

Gameplay mechanics are reliable and well-structured. They don’t innovate heavily, but they function smoothly and provide a satisfying level of control.

World Design/Theme – 75/100

The fantasy world is engaging and thematically consistent, with good attention to atmosphere and setting. While not groundbreaking, it’s immersive enough to draw players in.

Performance/Readiness – 80/100

The game performs very well technically. With minimal bugs and strong optimization, this is one of the most polished aspects of Unicorn Overlord.

Final Thoughts

Unicorn Overlord is a competent and enjoyable tactical RPG that excels in its combat, boss design, and technical polish. However, its narrative, characters, and storytelling fall short of greatness. For fans of the genre, it offers a rewarding experience, but it may not leave a lasting impression beyond its solid gameplay foundation.

Overall Score: 74/100

90%Nintendo Switch

Very good gameplay and mechanics
not the most innovative story

70%Nintendo Switch

Disappointed my expectations but still quite enjoyable

85%Nintendo Switch

Great strategy game! I think the end felt just a tiny bit dragged out, but it was thoughtful and fun.

90%Nintendo Switch

An underrated gem! The title of the game might turn people off but this is truly a case of don't judge a game by its name. Unicorn Overlord is a triumph in the strategy turn based rpg genre.

The beautiful visuals permeates the entire bit by bit skeleton of the game and it just mesmerizing to look at.

The music arrangements give you that sense of adventure and conquer with every battle and area.

The gameplay is mix between exploring areas, setting equipment & tactics, strategizing positioning on the battle maps, and trial and error. There are so many unit types and it is amazing how in depth the mechanics go. From buffs and debuffs and turn order changing to critical hits and heals, its a joy to see your strategic flair on screen through each battle. The menus can be daunting at first, but once you get used to it, its a breeze.

The story, although a little cliché sometimes keeps going at a brisk pace with no real section really taking up too much time. You also have in addition to the main quest so many side quests, treasure maps, liberation quests to explore and discover that grant you items, equipment and money.

Anybody who is into Fire Emblem type games but with massive armies of units, Unicorn Overlord is the game for you.

90%Nintendo Switch

Great gameplay. Wonderful story. Ending drug out a little. Also a little Disappointed at the ending I saw with who I chose as my queen. Overall, great game.

75%Nintendo Switch

Fun, but repetitive (and therefore too long) and the character art certainly was a choice.

90%Nintendo Switch

A fantastic game with a system that immerses you fully in its mechanics and draws you in. Even towards the end of the game, I was still learning new things I could do with my units, and always looking for new ways to make them more efficient.

As for the story and characters, I think that while they aren´t the eighth wonder of the world, the story works quite well, although I also feel that at times the number of characters grows too large, and at some point you get a little overwhelmed by so many characters with whom you have to build relationships. Even with the time it takes to finish, I basically left all the characters from Albion aside and didn't work on any of their relationships.

As for the characters, they are all well characterized, and there are several interesting moments in their characterization. There are some characters I would have liked to know more about, such as Gerard or Alcina, but overall I enjoyed the cast quite a bit.

It may not have the presentation and aesthetics of Fire Emblem Three Houses, but it's a game with great mechanical depth that kept me playing without losing interest for dozens of hours, and that speaks volumes, especially since I enjoyed every minute of playing it.

70%PlayStation 5

Cool strategy RPG with a great art style. After playing through this fully I'm not sure SRPGs are for me.

Graphics - Vanillaware doing their thing as usual. Art style is unique. Graphics and animations were spot on. Each class looked awesome and the backgrounds were diverse and fit the themes.

Gameplay - this is where I had issues. I really like action heavy, reflex driven gameplay. I also really like turn based combat. In other words I think I prefer combat where it feels you have control. Gameplay here is very much about positioning of units and inventory management. Lots and lots and lots of inventory management. Because there are so many characters it can get frustrating, tedious and boring to constantly equip armor and weapons. There is also another layer of inventory management in the form of tactics. I ended up just using the optimise button 99% of the time but even that could've been implemented better where it optimises equipment loadouts and tactics for all characters in units with one button press than having to do this twice for every single character.

Story - overarching story was decent enough but this game truly shines in the side quest stories and individual character stories. Some are throwaway but a lot of them are quite memorable.

Sound - cool soundtrack that fits the themes and game. Nothing really standout but did the job.

95%PlayStation 5

This Game kicks some much butt if your a tactics gaming guy liike me .Super clean game love the characters ,upgrading units and being able to mix match equipment and moves and people to your liking. super underrated game Please bring a sequel .

85%PlayStation 5

A surprisingly charming and creative take on the strategy RPG genre that caught me off guard in the best way. While it wears the look of a classic tactical title, the game introduces some fresh mechanics that help it stand apart — particularly in how it handles unit-based combat.
Instead of the usual “lone hero solos an army” trope, you’re assembling full units with distinct roles and synergies. It feels more like commanding small squads of specialists than just moving chess pieces with anime hair. That approach gave battles more strategic depth and variety, and I’d love to see this style picked up in future SRPGs.
One of the game’s most pleasant surprises was how fully voiced it is — about 90% of it, in fact. I honestly didn’t expect that level of commitment, but it goes a long way toward making the world feel alive and the cast feel like more than just stat blocks with faces. And speaking of that cast...
There are a lot of characters. Like, "I lost count at 50" a lot (with about 50 slots for squads). But the developers clearly didn’t. Not only can you marry almost anyone — regardless of gender or race — but they even recorded personalized ending dialogue for your chosen spouse. And your spouse helps you take down the final boss. Truly a romanticized vision of war if I’ve ever seen one.
Now, on the slightly less serious side: none of the waifus quite stole my heart this time. There was a tsundere furry that nearly clinched the deal (she was honestly like #4, but that's way too high for me), but in the end, I went with a half-elf archer who had just the right mix of sass and betrayal. I’ve apparently got a type.
The game isn’t perfect — some mechanics could use more polish, and the sheer character count can be a bit overwhelming — but the passion behind it shines through. It’s a love letter to the genre with just enough quirks to feel fresh, and just enough weirdness to keep you entertained even when you're deep in unit optimization hell.
Solid 8.5/10. Would recommend and want to see more like this.

70%Nintendo Switch

Overstays its welcome by the end and the cast ends up being so large that there is minimal engagement to be had.

70%Nintendo Switch

What FGO would be if they cared about updating their game.

Love the animation and voice acting, I let every cutscene play out. I also let nearly all the battles play out too because of how good it looks.

Story is meh, default fantasy story. It feels old school which makes it sorta generic. There's little difficulty towards Alain on his quest, everyone just agrees with him and joins him. And almost no story branching. What decisions you make only decide if a character will join the army or not.

The fun is in the team building and the real time strategy. Had a great time mixing and matching classes to get the best team I could for a given mission.

In terms of comparing it to Fire Emblem Three Houses, the gameplay is better but the story is worse. The hand drawn animation and voice acting clears.

65%PlayStation 5

Great art and cool battles idea are nerfed by simplistic plot and repetative routine.

80%Nintendo Switch

Amazing, captivating story!
Every character is so interesting.

90%Nintendo Switch

Wowie, what a game. It's probably an 8 that hits my sicko systems brain at a 9. The presentation is classic Vanillaware beautiful art direction. Some of the backdrops are SOO evocative and fantastical. The characters are mostly well designed and a bit one-note like any other SRPG. They have Rapport though which is fun. Running around the overworld was simple but had so much charm to find stuff. The main draw was certainly the tactical system. Squad based + Gambits had me tinkering for days. I loved making Rapport-based squads primarily. Some of it was a bit obtuse and didn't work intuitively, but overall it was just so great. Gear also mattered. Small stat changes or abilities changed things fundamentally. The storyline and again the characters were a bit meh. That said, really quite impressed with the whole experience. MVPs Cavalry Squad, Blue Rose knights, Eventually Berengaria, Gloucester, Alain, Rosalinde, and Yunifi.

90%Nintendo Switch

What a nice little addictive game!
I had read many good review before playing it but i wasn't sure if that was really a game for me (knowing that in the past i was not convinced by other tactical RPH).

But it only took an hour or two and i was hook by the game play.
The graphics are simple enough but still gorgeous. The character design have a nice variety and despite the high number of character, they all feels kind of unique.

Battle system is this game biggest strenght. It is complex enough to be challenging, but also simple enough so you don't feel overwhelm by it. I really like the fact that you could customize on the go and how accessible the menu were despite all the informations that was provided.

The story might be the only thing keeping the game for having a perfect score as it is pretty simple and straightforward. Each of the 60+ possible character have their own stories, which is good, but they are pretty slim for most of it. I felt that a smaller number of character might have been better to build a more in depth story.

Overall, it is a MUST-PLAY for every RPG lover, even if Tactical RPG is not your cup of tea, you have to at leats try to demo...and you'll be hooked!

100%Emulated

A Vanillaware timeless gem.
The refinement of years and years of work that culminated in a top of the notch tactical RPG that follows the conventions of the genre but removing all the annoying things
Accessible, but not easy.

100%Nintendo Switch

Incredible game. I don’t want to spoil anything because this is legit one of the best strategy rpgs yet made. It goes like Final Fantasy Tactics, and then this, and then the rest. I’m giving it a 98/100. Only marked down because of minor story complaints and wish we could have more than 10 units. But 10 units is still 50 characters on the battlefield at once, which is way more than most srpgs. There’s just so many interesting characters that you want to use even more in the battles. This is going to influence a resurgence in the srpg genre I believe. Excellent game.

90%PlayStation 5

아기자기한 그래픽과 시원한 전투가 좋았다.
보통 난이도로 진행했는데, 레벨/돈 노가다 등을 전혀 하지 않고도 무난히 스토리를 진행할 수 있었다.
레벨 디자인이 정말 잘 되어있는 작품.

95%PlayStation 5

One of the best console strategy games I've played in a while. Maybe even ever.

85%Nintendo Switch

4小时后
我感觉是那种画质不错，游戏体验比较合理流畅，地图设计很不错，无入门门槛的。
但是，打了4小时我就有一种重复感，所谓瓶颈期未免来得太早了。
现在就是获得新英雄，去ABC点，关卡内的兵种，魔法步兵治疗兵，小中大盾，飞骑重甲，重复的操作是每一个点占领之后缴纳物资（刷收集）。
玩这游戏就像当程序员，编队=写程序，战斗=看程序跑不跑的起来。以上，重复这个过程。
看了下xhh评论区几乎人均通关时长45-60H，我不知道后续还有什么玩法，有点不妙的预感怕重复度过高。

80%Nintendo Switch

v minulej lige fantazie moja najvacsia bolest, ked mi ju myslim boomer vyfukol. moj prvy autobattler. predstav si final fantasy. nalavo tvoj tim, napravo napriatelsky a ty vyberas kto cim zautoci na koho, kto kedy lieci atd. a teraz si predstav, ze toto vsetko sa stane same od seba. a tvoja robota je byt akoby futbalovy manazer a skladat ten tim.

snazis sa mixovat rozne jednotky k sebe. a AK CHCES mozes sa hlboko piplat individualne v kazdej jednej a nastavovat priority a ktory move pri akych percentach preferovat, ale nemusis, mozes aj vibovat. desiatky postav. ale ze postav. backstory, vztahy medzi sebou, meno, tvar, historia, vsetko. na pozadi monumentalny pribeh, ktory EXTREMNE ZLY.

ale to preskocis. a EXTREMNE RYCHLO. kvoli neskutocne sviznemu UI. ja som to hral na switchi a mal som pocit, ze tie menucka mi citaju myslienky. herni developeri (a VSETCI developeri) by toto mali studovat. je to TAK nadherny pocit. jak bloodborne hrat v 60fps.

90%Nintendo Switch

Gameplay - [10]
Controls / UI - [9]
Visual - [9]
Sound / Music - [9]
Atmosphere / Story / Characters - [7]

8.8

65%PlayStation 5

Really enjoyed the 1st 20 hours, gave up because the gameplay was super repetitive.

85%Nintendo Switch

A fantastic tactics game. Great amount of complexity between all the classes, abilities, gears & combos. Could spend hours fine tuning a squad for optimal damage output, but game also has a lazy mode where it will optimize itself. Story was pretty generic, but the characters kept it interesting.

85%Nintendo Switch

Unicorn Overlord is an exception in the Japanese role playing game catalog, which has its strategic gameplay come first before its story - in regards to what lets you continue thinking about it for years to come.

Despite it being the best (S)JRPG I've ever played, there are two reasons this game isn't in my top 10 of all time.
One will be its story. It is by no means bad in any way, but it's safe in its 80s fantasy embrace, with an honest approach without many tricks up its sleeve. It's not necessarily a bad thing, as honest Arthurian stories do not come often these days, but nevertheless it leaves room for improvement in regards to its approach.
Another one would be its difficulty. Perhaps the intention of leaving accessibility to a large amount of players was the aim, but it resulted in a laughable Normal. Tactical is quite easy as well. The "true" normal difficulty among a catalog of strategy RPGs would be "expert".

I also wish they handled the romance in a "one is canon" manner, since the hands-off approach Vannilaware attempted here made things feel just a little bit disjointed when presenting that aspect of storytelling, compared to how personal and heartfelt it was during the main storyline.

The gameplay will remain a highlight for a long time, as it's rare for a system to implement such an abundance of customisable sub-classes with thousands of equipment pieces, without making it obvious which unit structures are superior. In that aspect, Unicorn Overlord presents a crazy amount of replayability and experimentation, with plenty of room for analysis, as well as flexibility in the possible tweaks. For it to shine there, it needs to be more honest concerning its difficulty.

100%Nintendo Switch

10/10

70%Nintendo Switch

-Great art style, music and audio.
-Mediocre FFIV-esque story bloated with unnecessary dialogue.
-Interesting squad building, tactic setting and inventories. Almost countless options for squads: ~25 classes (more if upgraded classes are included), 4 inventory slots each, squads of up to 5 characters, around 8 skills for each person by the end.
-Once set however, combat gameplay becomes a stomp; point and click a squad to another squad to destroy it in 1 encounter. After getting new items and spells, squads require minor reconfiguration before it gets back to stomping.
-Non-combat gameplay of collecting resources and upgrading towns is a refreshing break from the combat.
-Too long.

100%PlayStation 5

Where to start with Unicorn Overlord. It reminded me of playing Ogre Battle 64 when I was a teen. The open battlefields and setting up the units are amazing. Combos after combos after combos. Just when you think you can't create another combo boom you do. The story was great and reminded me of the feeling I got with Suikoden 2. The Valor system was really well done and the music was great. I loved this game and will come back to it after my back-log gets knocked done a little. If you want a tactic game from battle field to team setup with a good story. This game is for you.

Story - 9.5/10
Level Design - 9/10
Characters - 9.5/10
Gameplay - 10/10
Music - 9/10
Battle System - 10/10
Reply - 10/10

Rating - 9.5/10

90%Nintendo Switch

pros
+ tactical gameplay is deep and addictive
+ excellent unit variety and satisfying progression systems
+ a lot of beautiful art, music, and voice acting

cons
- some embarrassing waifu designs (where are all the scantily dressed men??)
- there's nothing wrong with the story per se, but it's brittle and is outshined immensely by every other aspect of the game. This wouldn't be an issue if there wasn't so much time dedicated to it.

90%Nintendo Switch

Excelente juego para quien busca una alternativa de un fire emblem o juegos similares, se hace pesado tantas habilidades pero es abordable

80%Nintendo Switch

orge battle style. it seems programming not tactics.
There’s a clear effort to lower the barrier to entry for the genre. As a refreshing take on its kind, it’s definitely worth trying. The highlight is the fun of assembling the optimal party and coding an unstoppable fleet

80%PlayStation 5

melhor tatics que joguei de 2024

100%Xbox Series X/S

Should be the GOTY of 2024.

75%Nintendo Switch

A neat strategy game. Story and characters were rather basic in comparison to their previous excellent game 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim. The main focus is building (eventually) 10 teams of 5 with 60+ recruitable characters to tackle maps. Each class is busted in their own way and fun to figure out team compositions that compliment each other well. Great if you love spending hours optimizing your equipment and detailing your skills priorities. The main issue is balancing; the game is ridiculously easy even when playing on tactical difficulty blind, hardly adjusting skills or equipment at all. Leader skills never matter more than overworld movement, and despite being given multiple defensive options, all enemies are long dead before archers/mages reach a tower. Appreciate quality of life like speeding up battle animations or skipping them entirely, accurate battle forecasts, and repeatable maps to level up units that need catching up, or to increase their rapport ranks through taverns.

90%PlayStation 5

8.9

95%PlayStation 5

Fantastic, unique tactics. Story starts slow but is decent once it gets going. My wife wants me to say the boobs are ridiculous

100%Nintendo Switch

A tactical RPG that uses programmable tactics, most well known through Final Fantasy XII's gambit system.
It's very well balanced game despite its rich depth and complexity, with twists and turns within battles from early on.

One of the most incredible UIs I've ever interacted with. Everything you need to level up your strategy is in the menus, and the lore pages have keywords that you can click and go directly to their pages, like URLs on a webpage.
Can save at any time, both on the overworld and mid-battle.
Level rewards are weighted towards achieving the victory condition and achieving it as fast as possible, which is great as it incentives, as the genre suggests, good tactics above grinding exp and defeating all enemies. Quite a few levels I beat by skipping most of the troops on the battlefied and heading straight for the main victory condition.
A coliseum to test your strategies against complex PvE setups, and asynchronous online ranked battles with a fortnightly rotating ruleset.

It would've been a wonderful game to play on touchscreen, if it was available.
Hopefully this is not the last that is seen of such wonderful gameplay mechanics!

70%PlayStation 5

Good game

100%PlayStation 5

Es espectacular y adictivo. Es mi primer juego de este tipo y me encantó. Ojalá saquen una secuela.

90%Nintendo Switch

Fantastic game. I the same camp as fire emblem. The gameplay is just as good, and the art is fantastic.