This is not a drill. This might be the best Tactical RPG I've ever played. The demo contains EIGHT hours of content. There is literally NO reason excuse to not download right now.
So, I'm aware of the small controversy regarding the English translation/localization. I'm thinking about doing a podcast episode addressing my feelings on that, but I'll just say here that I think the English version is just fine, for many of the same reasons I stated in our Final Fantasy Tactics podcast series. Speaking of FFT, Yasumi Matsuno got involved in a twitter thread on this very issue. It was interesting to get his thoughts on English localization. I'll get more into the weeds on this topic at a later time.
If a Unicorn Overlord podcast happens in the future I would love to hear your thoughts on that. I think there are examples in a lot of games where the translation is erroneous and completely disregards the original intent. But in this game's case and some others the people who are vocal against it either only speak one language, don't understand how the translation process works, or are so immersed in otaku culture that they have a twisted perception of how stilted and unnatural Japanese sounds when translated into English word for word.
The person that started that thread that brought all this translation drama was someone known for always being against translations and localizations of Japanese content. So it’s best to just ignore it.
You should check out this stream vod then. The streamer does a more nuanced explanation as someone who has worked in translation before on smaller projects. I think the more old english style writing isn't as much of a problem as changing character motivations or personalities. I care about the story the creators of the game want to tell. I care about their characters. Not the localizers' versions of those characters. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-fk_D7lV9Eiw.html
PT might honestly be the only contender. I’m pretty deep into FF and only saw maybe a handful of videos on Rebirth, most on the exact same topics. Not a slight at Rebirth, of course, this game just has that dense and impressive of a demo. Never played an SRPG like this before, but I am so excited.
I had this game for rubbish and I was watching some videos and screenshots and I was ok, another boring bla bla bla jrpg with tons of text-dialogues and after I played the demo, I was SO excited and I wanted the game so much! The presentation was waaay better than other titles like Fire Emblem and the 2D sprites have smooth animation and were so satisfying! Yesterday I pre-ordered the collector's edition and I haven't done this in another game yet! I haven't thrown so much money to another game before even in Zelda titles that I like SO much! And the reason is that they have another card game inside the box! Two games in one package! Very clever! I like board games and card games and I was "oh my God, I need that!!" 😄😅😉
I think a demo like this really gives an impression of confidence from the developer. They could have cut the amount of time by an hour or two and it would still be decently generous. The amount of attention this game is getting is insane and it makes me happy that that Atlus is advertising it well.
@@xxvaltielxx1789 Yeah its incredible. And they even had the guts to leave the WHOLE WORLD open in the demo as well! And these regions are HUGE. Make sure you double back to area's you have cleared from time to time, because sometimes there are places that activate once certain characters join you, and I don't just mean bonding events!
One of the cool things I appreciated was when introducing a new class type character, they made recommendations to formations to put them in. This is a great way for newcomers to get right into the game and then experiment later after they get settled into the systems.
As someone who works as a professional UI Artist in Games for over 10 years I can say that I think I never saw an UI that polished. Sure there are UIs with better UX but man this is so damn polished.
Even compared to other Vanillaware titles or like, Persona? I mean I'm not saying the UI isn't awesome, just that there's other stuff as good for a while, no?
Triangle Strategy's UI is really clean and minimalist while conveying everything I wanted as a player, but also could appreciate as someone who got a graphic design degree 15 years ago that I barely used lol And yeah, UO's makes me very happy too 😁
13 Sentinels quickly became one of my top 5 games of all time when it released years ago. So this game has been on my radar since it was announced. It's almost unfair how many great games, mostly rpgs, are being released so close together this year so far. There's no way I'm going to be able to finish Rebirth in time to be able to play this day 1. I still have the CE preordered though.
When people talk about games back in day being held back by technical limitations, people seem to refer to graphical limitations that devs wanted to go beyond with 3D and higher fidelity, photo realism etc, though I find that to be untrue. But when I look at Unicorn Overlord, this is what I imagine what devs wanted their sprite based games to look like if they weren't held back by technical limitations, being able to have incredibly detailed and intricately animated sprites. I adore Vanillaware's philosphy of pushing 2D graphics as if the gaming industry never moved away from 2D and how that would look today, they're like the last bastion of this style.
A tactical rpg from vanillaware was bound to be something special. Im kinda amazed it took this long for anything like that to arrive. We only had to get over 10 years of roguelike metroidvanias before someone tried their hand at this.
You just sold me on the game! I haven't played too many Strategy RPGs because they seemed daunting to figure out. But hearing that the tutorials are so good, combined with the steady pace, really makes me want to try this one.
I was immediately sold on Unicorn Overlord. Anything reminiscent of Ogre Battle is extremely underserved as a subgenre. Glad to hear it's executed with so much flair and competence too.
As a big Ogre Battle 64 fan, this is my most anticipated game in a long time. We've been waiting for a spiritual successor to the Ogre battle style games since 1999. (Though Symphony of War came pretty close.) Almost 25 years later and it's actually happening. Can't wait for 03/08/24.
Ogre Battle 64 is my all-time favorite game. I've wanted a successor for so long that Ive begun to consider making it myself! I am thrilled about this!
Im a big fan of march of the black queen. When I saw this I just said I will buy it. Add that this is Vanillaware. Wish this will trigger squaresoft to continue the series since Tactics Ogre reborn also sold pretty well.
Ogre Battle is my favorite series. I was not following this game at all but decided to watch a review and was thinking the whole time "Jesus is this Ogre Battle?" So hyped now
What they pulled off here is a absolutely insane. The demo alone has easily seen me continuously discovering new stuff for 50+ hours already. I haven't seen such tutorials...ever, definitely agreed. The UI, the presentation, it's a work of absolute art. The mechanical workings of the system take so much from so many places and just... perfect it.
100% agree. This game is an instant classic, and must have. This game is so addicting I couldn't wait for the hard copy. Also I have spent over 50 hours on the demo. The most the game has let me play is just over 9 hours! (Once u start a campaign it lets u finish it;) Soo good bro.
Idk what it is about 1st quarter now, but jrpgs the last 3 years have spoiled us so damn much... 2022 - Triangle Strategy 2023 - Octopath 2 2024 - Unicorn Overlord Can't wait to see what 2025 has in store for us 1st qtr!
i've been one of your audiences since the dark pixel days and i keep coming back for your insights from time to time because of your clear-cut, substantive and engaging writing. these brief videos do not demand a lot of time and as a college student, i'm really glad to consume this type of content ! can't wait for more! but don't get me wrong tho, i really really love your podcasts and i do believe it's the pinnacle content of your channel as it bridges meticulous analysis and casual conversation on the medium that is admittedly looked down upon when talking about its merit as an art form. i just missed these short snapshots of your thoughts on certain games. kudos to the channel!❤
Sounds to me like VanillaWare has done it again. I have the demo downloaded, just haven't gotten the chance to play it yet; but now that I know it's 8 HOURS LONG, I'm much more inclined to do so. Happy to see this channel talking about a VanillaWare game. Feels like we're maybe one step closer to my dream of seeing a State of the Arc podcast on 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim.
Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen, is one of my favorite games of all time. I, to this day, have very fond and vivid memories of renting the snes cart from Blockbuster time and again and playing it into the late hours as a teen. This is the re imagining spiritual successor of that game in totality and I couldnt be happier. Im only sad that it took almost 30 years of my life for this to finally be created.
@@Outsider_aaWhich I also own and love. It feels more like 64 due to the smaller scale of the maps instead of the vast mode 7 landscapes of MOBQ in my view. Its awesome regardless. Thanks for the reply.
I loved the demo, so much i got the collectors edition. They have so much faith in it, it has a whole ass card game with the collectors edition. A collectors edition with a practical item in it instead of a statue, i love it.
If I'm not mistaken I think this is something I've heard you guys talk about before, but I really like the "representative" approach the game has towards units A lot of people see a group of 2 swordsmen 1 cavalry 1 archer and think "this is silly, how is this an army?" But I really like the idea of them being hundreds of people being condensed into a single character. I think Unicorn Overlord portrays this expertly
Uh, that's clearly not what happens here. Each unit is exactly the size of the number of units present. The unit skirmishes are part of the overall battle.
@@Xoulrath_ Sorry I think I didn't make my point clear enough, if Unicorn Overlord was "real" the liberation 'army' wouldn't have 12-20 dudes freeing up towns and instead it would be thousands of soldiers marching in different battalions (aka the teams we get in game). To circumvent that narrative dissonance the creators opted to adopt the theater approach to reduce a concept or element to its barest essential to represent something greater
@@gabriela.r4311 uh no, it's just small units of 1-6 characters fighting their battles against other small units. It's a fake world. There is no need to suggest that the 6 people in a formation are really hundreds strong. There are actually strategy games out there that do have dozens or even hundreds of people represented by a single unit on the battlefield. This isn't one of them. But hey, if that's how you want to enjoy the game, then so be it.
@@gabriela.r4311 uh no, it's just small units of 1-6 characters fighting their battles against other small units. It's a fake world. There is no need to suggest that the 6 people in a formation are really hundreds strong. There are actually strategy games out there that do have dozens or even hundreds of people represented by a single unit on the battlefield. This isn't one of them. But hey, if that's how you want to enjoy the game, then so be it.
The game also has a great library with a system similar to FF 16 where you can look up a person and there are words in their bio you can click on and go to those topics. Great for lore stuff, and topics expand with new information as character’s stories expand.
I think i have done like 9 runs already and always lean in a dif direction with characters and builds. Legit the best demo i have ever played and i couldn’t possibly be more excited to get my hands on the full game
I was not paying any attention to this game before I played the demo. It completely blew me away, and when I was done with my five hours, I went and pre-ordered it.
This title is not click bait. After playing the first region (almost, theres so much to do per region its fantastic!) I can safely say that he is 100 percent right in this video. This game is the type of masterpiece that hasnt been around since the console wars spurred creators to do their best. I put down Final Fantasy rebirth for this, because despite my love for the FF7 universe, its not every day that a new franchise is born that will be a beloved classic for decades to come! Probably one for collectors to put an extra copy back! Hopefully, this game will spark off an evolving franchise. Because they truly have something special here.
The demo consumed me for an entire day straight. I couldn't be anymore excited and pumped. Always been a fan of Ogre Battle, FF12-like gambit systems to play with Tactics. The biggest issue like you said, Dragon's Dogma is right around the corner that I've been waiting for for nearly 20 years.
I'm in agreement with you. Unicorn Overlord has become my favorite strategy/tactics game of all time, and that's just from the demo playthrough. I can't wait until my Monarch Edition arrives. I already played through the demo twice and I'm really fighting to not have a third go at it lol.
You mentioned the game guiding you through the levels, which it does in a great and intuitive way, but I really love that you have a choice and can skip battles, and the weapons in shops seem designed to help you do so. The game sends you to Rolf after you get established, which is fine and good. But that first shop sells a true strike spear and a magic damage sword. If you want gryphons, you can buy the true strike sword, skip Rolf, go hit Bruno's level using Chloe with the spear to handle the flyers, and you'll have gryphons right off the bat. But the walled city with heavily armored guys is also right there, and the magic sword would let you cut through the hoplites before you get mages, if you want. I saw CoffeePotato immediately going north to where they warn you away because it's full of high level fire mages and using strategy to win the level with no anti-magic groups. I'm with you that the story isn't in-depth the way we expect from the genre (and the first boss battle has the protagonist literally state that this isn't that sort of story). The dialogue is also good enough but not Alexander O. Smith. I'd assume those would preclude a game from being S tier for me, but there's just so many mechanics, so much content, so many enjoyable systems... at some point, I think it's gonna brute force its way into my S tier like Ochlys, an ice mage, and a gryphon rider using Frenzied Flight to defeat a fire mage boss in 60 seconds despite not having any anti-magic units yet.
@@omensoffate not sure if sarcasm or not, but I'll bite 😃 That small studio did manage to port the game to every console, but not to PC - you know, the platform where games are developed on.
They are a small Japanese game dev team, a country where console is more likely to sell then pc. A small team that has had critical darling games but games that unfortunately do not sell because of a number of other game releases. It’s not surprising at all they don’t have time to learn how to port it, or even hire a 3rd party to port it (well… I’m sure if you want a bad port then it could be done quickly). If you want to make noise about it, make sure Atlus knows it.
I found about this game thanks to a YTs video on my feed (thank the algorithm), and I'm loving it, and i don't think I've ever played this kind of genre, well, maybe decades ago on old emulators, and it sucks you won't be able to enjoy it at launch and also, gotta say big oooff on Dragon's Dogma 2 brother, after 10 freaking years, we're finally back, hope time goes fast for you.
My most anticipated game and since I don't buy many games anymore, definitely one that I'm going to put a lot of hours into. I randomly came across a trailer a month or so ago (can't exactly remember) and it was enough for me to keep my eye on it. The demo came out and I realized it was Vanillaware and ATLUS. 13 Sentinels was one of my favorite games to come out in the past 5 years. As soon as I saw the art style... I knew. The music then kicked in (the one used as the bg of this video) and I was HOOKED. I played that demo and took my time for those 8 hours. I enjoyed every single battle and I am SO ready to play this game. I'll be in the middle of a move when it released but best believe, I'm going to reward myself with this game after it's all said and done. Great video!
Physical copy delay: We know you've been waiting patiently for the item Unicorn Overlord (English). Sadly, we've received information that there has been a delay in receiving the stock and the estimated time for its arrival is by the 3rd week of April.
I went in blind. After the first mission I felt I knew enough to play the game well. Starting mission two I chose to play the game on the hardest difficulty and died twice, once due to purposely using rest to see if I could interrupt the rest or if I needed to wait the full duration (had to wait the full duration). The second due to timing out. After that I managed to first clear the next two missions staying on the hardest difficulty. The fact I can play on the hardest difficulty right away and clear the missions on the first go speaks VOLUMES to how tight the balance is!! I only played the demo for roughly four hours. I was at a decent stopping point and didn't want to continue the game and stop at a time that I didn't want to. I am looking forward to having this game take over most of my free time for the next couple of months since I plan on playing through this game completely blind.
the instant i saw the squad based fighting and non grid battles i was ignoring all form of videos, only listening to a few who gave their opinions such as you did! Instantly going to buy this and sometimes you just feel you gonna enjoy a game toroughly for a long time...this being one of them. Reminds me of old times when you were able to buy a game based on the cover and images/text on the back
Ok. The overworld highly piqued my interest but you clinched the deal with 20 minute encounters. I’ll definitely check out the demo, thanks for raising awareness about this!
Act 1. This entire demo....Act 1. We alredy recruited an assload of characters, humans specifically. This is just one country and if what these screenshots online are true we are in for a hell of a ride. Elfs, Angels, Beasts, amd all the unique classs that comes with them. And need i remind everyone this comes out a week after FF7 Rebirth? The more I imagine what's to come, the more i believe how fitting the name of their army is. This is TRUE liberation.
I had zero doubt in Vanillaware when they first announced this as 'the rebirth of tactical RPGs'. What we've seen in the demo is that and more. Vanillaware took Ogre Battle 64, a sprinkle of Fire Emblem's support system, and a new take on FF12's gambit system(!!) to make something unique and challenging. I'm definitely doing another playthrough on the hardest difficulty once I beat the game. I want to push the tactics/gambit system to the limit.
I thought this looked like it was good but didn't plan on picking it up. Just bought a physical copy and can't wait to play it. This seems like the recipe for a little played cult classic that will be valuable years down the road.
5:00 I can tell you this good sir, I don't play strategy games at all. I am terrible at them. Since FF Tactics on PS1 back in the day I lovingly look in on them for the artwork and RPG and story of them but never play them because I can never get into them proper. I always hate losing and literally not really knowing why I lost and keep trying and trying to do the same battle over and over again with no idea what I could do differently. Well it is a good thing they put out a demo because this game really does allow you to learn the stuff mostly 1 thing at a time. I think this coupled with the pacing it just hit all the right notes for me. I am definitely picking it up and I can tell you for sure, it will be the first Strategy game I ever actually complete.
I've been looking forward to this game since they first showed it, I'm just sad that it isn't getting a release on Steam, at least for now, I would love to play it. Yes I know emulation exists, but yeah
This was a day one purchase since they showed this game off in a nintendo direct. But playing the demo and seeing it was an open world game was mind blowing and made it a torture to have to wait one more week in order to play the full game.
I’ve also really enjoyed the demo, and one of the most impressive things to me is that almost all the classes seem very powerful if used properly. Knights are a little too powerful and Gladiators a little underpowered, but outside of that they’re balanced incredibly well.
Flowery language is perfectly fine as long as it fits the setting and gets the same point across. I think people are just looking for a reason to be offe ded. I played the demo multiple times trying to see as much of the game as I could on Expert difficulty. The demo made this a day 1 purchase for me!
Outside of the tutorials being a tad long in text. Overall it's likely the most comprehensive and intuitive tutorial I've experienced in a game. Especially in a genre and adjacent genres seem to always have issues with teaching players, Unicorn Overlord stands out especially how it progressively provides information over the course of what I had played.
Man they are hyping this game up to the heavens! My gosh!!!! Only thing i liked about the demo was the big character art sprites in the battle sequence impressed me. Oh, the story/dialogue is awesome.
I was extremely surprised by my level of enjoyment for this game. I just kept wanting to come back to it. It's not overly complex. The battle mechanics are very Fire Emblem RPS and primarily "big number go brrr". I would never say its better than FFT and my favorite of all time. But I did have the same reaction when I encountered the treasure hunting and found a map for treasure for something in the northern region. Finally zoomed out on the overworld and realized I was only playing in this little tiny corner. So much more to explore!
Vanillaware has been my favorite studio since probably Odin Sphere. This game is impressive, truly a huge project that I cant believe saw the light of day. I did not follow whatever the controversy was, all I can say is that from the beginning I LOVED how the characters talk, feels classic and poetic. I kept the voices in japanese but the text in english. I'm 20 hours in and confident it's going to be my favorite game of the year.
I downloaded the demo, but after I purchased the collectors edition 😂😅. Wasn't aware there was a demo but I'm definitely gonna check it out in anticipation for the game coming out. Jeanne d'arc is still one of my favorites so this is right up my alley.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts about the demo!! As a fan of Vanillaware games and 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim being my RPG of that year, I am glad that Vanillaware continues to make amazing RPGs. I can not wait to own this game soon!!
Great to hear your enthusiasm man! I was very curious about the game but not sure how I would feel about the combat style. Gave the demo a shot and LOVED it. Mind you I highly recommend putting it on expert mode. I need a game like this to have some bite. Looking forward to full release. Before I finished demo I preordered the physical switch version on amazon. Excited!
I’m at the point where I just buy every Vanillaware because I want to support what they do. This makes the 3rd game of theirs in a row that I didn’t know about until a month or two before release and bought at launch. I’m digging UO quite a lot though the story is nothing to write home about. It’s especially noticeable coming fresh off of finishing Chained Echoes which had a story I quite enjoyed. It’s also somewhat distracting that both games feature a character named ‘Amalia’ who are the complete opposite of one another in just about every way.
Good point Daniel, I don’t know how Kamala can offer an opportunity to everyone when they don’t even offer it at their own party where they have actual control of giving opportunities.
That’s a lot of No’s 😮 But with Persona3, FF7 Rebirth and Dragons Dogma 2 right around the corner, this one will be sitting in the Wishlist for quite some time. But it’s good to see everyone hype over a game that I want to play. What a time to be alive!
