| Atomix |
Sebastian Quiroz |
95 / 100 |
03-07-2024 |
Once again, Vanillaware shows its mastery for making games. Unicorn Overlord is, quite simply, one of the best games of the year. |
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| Cerealkillerz |
Nick Erlenhof |
8.9 / 10 |
03-11-2024 |
Unicorn Overlord takes classic-looking tactical RPGs to a new level. It looks fantastic, has an addictive gameplay principle and offers an extensive pool of interesting characters with new abilities for battle. If that is enough for you and you aren’t expecting a surprising story that’s far removed from genre clichés, you’ll have a really great time here. |
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| CGMagazine |
Zubi Khan |
9 / 10 |
03-07-2024 |
Unicorn Overlord combines the stellar Vanillaware aesthetic in a tactical RPG experience that feels like a modern classic in the making. |
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| COGconnected |
James Paley |
80 / 100 |
03-07-2024 |
This is very much my kind of RPG. One where I can tend to a massive roster of fighters, a sort of garden of fantasy violence. The combat is simple to execute yet endlessly deep, with new layers constantly revealing themselves. The art direction is fantastic and the gameplay loop is terribly addictive. I found the story perfectly okay. It’s an effective vehicle for bringing me more battles in an organic fashion. I like the writing, though I recognize it’s more style than substance. Truly, Unicorn Overlord plays to its strengths. If you also long for a battle system so compelling it obliterates the rest of the game, then you can’t miss this one. |
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| Digital Trends |
George Yang |
4 / 5 stars |
03-08-2024 |
Unicorn Overlord is the strategy RPG fans of the genre have been waiting for. |
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| Forbes |
Ollie Barder |
9 / 10 |
03-08-2024 |
Overall, Unicorn Overlord is one of the best tactical role-playing games I’ve played in a good while. The tactical complexity is also carefully introduced in a fairly gentle and intuitive way. With its wonderful visuals cementing this as a definitive game in the genre and one everyone should check out. |
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| Gamersky |
Unknown |
9 / 10 |
03-07-2024 |
Unicorn Overlord is probably one of the best SRPGs of recent times. It blends real-time strategy with tactical RPG gameplay, adding many unique features from other SRPGs to make for very engaging combat. Even if its open world can be a little repetitive, it’s still a great innovation. |
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| Hobby Consolas |
David Rodriguez |
85 / 100 |
03-07-2024 |
Vanillaware once again delivers a very special product that does not show signs of fatigue within a genre that has experienced a “boom” in recent years. Unicorn Overlord is gigantic and manages to stand out based on quality and ambition, although it could have spun something finer in some points in order to become a more original proposal. |
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| IGN |
Eric Zalewski |
9 / 10 |
03-07-2024 |
Unicorn Overlord is a visual delight that’s brimming with creativity, and an absolute must-play for any fan of strategy RPGs. |
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| Kakuchopurei |
Alleef Ashaari |
60 / 100 |
03-07-2024 |
Ultimately, Unicorn Overlord excels in its graphics and art style. However, the gameplay is mostly just fun for a few hours before it devolves to becoming stale due to repetitiveness and a lot of insignificant mechanics (dating sim-like Rapport, etc.) that don’t affect the gameplay. |
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| Kotaku |
Willa Rowe |
Recommended |
03-07-2024 |
But Unicorn Overlord is not interested in that, and frankly it doesn’t need to be. This is not a game that is trying to be a narrative masterpiece; it is trying to be a mechanical marvel, and it accomplishes the latter in spades. The endlessly inventive and incredibly well-designed tactical systems at play in Unicorn Overlord make it a thrilling challenge to tackle. It isn’t just a game that longtime fans of Vanillaware should pay attention to, it’s for anybody wanting to play the next great tactics RPG. Unicorn Overlord is the game you’ve been waiting for. |
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| LevelUp |
Pedro Pérez Cesari |
9 / 10 |
03-08-2024 |
Unicorn Overlord is a must-have that fans of strategy games can’t pass up. It’s a game packed with complex systems that interact to keep you thinking about the best ways to maximize each unit in your squads. Perhaps this makes it a game that may be unsuitable for first time players, but its different difficulty levels do a good job of keeping newcomers from getting overwhelmed by so many systems and allowing veterans to dive right into the strategy. |
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| Metro GameCentral |
GameCentral |
8 / 10 |
03-07-2024 |
A wonderfully weird console strategy game that’s inspired by the past but forges its own very distinct legend, with beautiful visuals and deep but accessible gameplay. |
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| Nintendo Blast |
Juliana Paiva Zapparoli |
9 / 10 |
03-08-2024 |
Besides the overflowing charisma that’s traditional to Vanillaware, Unicorn Overlord delivers an excellent and complete content for real time strategy. It’s a shame that game doesn’t offer Portuguese support, which may keep people who don’t have much understanding in English away, and that some narrative events just happen “for the sake of progressing the story,” without much development, but even with those qualms, we get an ambitious RPG that’s very rich in content and worth checking out for enthusiasts of the genre. |
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| Nintendo Life |
Alana Hagues |
9 / 10 |
03-07-2024 |
Even amidst a huge strategy RPG boom, Unicorn Overlord stands out. It’s a smorgasbord of visual delights, intricate systems, and addictive gameplay loops that all come together to create a delightfully thrilling and deep tactical RPG. It’s so easy to get absorbed into everything the game offers, and we lapped it all up. Vanillaware has long been known for creating beautiful-looking games with unique twists on genres, but with 13 Sentinels and now Unicorn Overlord, this developer should be on absolutely everyone’s radar. |
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| One More Game |
Chris Garcia |
Recommended |
03-07-2024 |
As good as it gets for an SRPG, Unicorn Overlord fills a gap in the gaming season with its admirable package of gameplay, visual and audio design, and, to a lesser extent, storytelling. Hours and hours will be poured into finding the perfect squads and classes, valuable relationships will be built, and a continent once plunged into strife will find its feet again. |
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| PCMag |
Gabriel Zamora |
4.5 / 5 stars |
03-07-2024 |
Unicorn Overlord is a rewarding, highly strategic RPG that highlights developer Vanillaware’s gorgeous graphics style. |
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| PSX Brasil |
Francisco Maia |
90 / 100 |
03-07-2024 |
Vanillaware gets it right with Unicorn Overlord and reinvigorates a sub-genre of RPG that, for a long time, has been the target of huge scrutiny in the gaming industry. I strongly believe that it is also the best game ever created by the Japanese developer. Even though there are minor imperfections, the game is brilliant and worthy of the highest recommendation! |
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| Push Square |
Robert Ramsey |
9 / 10 |
03-07-2024 |
It’s hard to say whether Unicorn Overlord is objectively Vanillaware’s best game, but for us, it’s right up there, competing for the crown |
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| RPG Fan |
Joshua Lindquist |
92 / 100 |
03-08-2024 |
Unicorn Overlord is the most unique strategy game you will play this year, and fans of “easy to learn, hard to master” systems may be replaying it every year from now on. |
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| Screen Rant |
Cody Gravelle |
4.5 / 5 stars |
03-07-2024 |
Unicorn Overlord is a truly excellent tactical RPG that is great where it matters. Incredible gameplay makes it replayable and fascinating, while its aesthetic and world map keep Fevrith interesting. In spite of some minor stumbles in its cast of heroes, Unicorn Overlord rivals some of the best of Fire Emblem. That comparison will likely stop if Vanillaware pursues Unicorn Overlord as a series in the future; it’s very much its own game, and a memorable, great one, at that. |
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| Shacknews |
TJ Denzer |
9 / 10 |
03-08-2024 |
Unicorn Overlord might be my favorite game so far this year. I loved Ogre Battle back in the day. March of the Black Queen is one of my favorite old-school games. I never would have expected Vanillaware to capture that feeling so thoroughly and even add its own twists to make it all the better, but here we are. You get from this game what you give, and it constantly rewards you handsomely for overcoming its challenges. Between great tactical gameplay, a massive and robust cast of voiced characters, a beautiful soundtrack and art style, and a great story, this is a game no fan of tactics RPGs should skip. |
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| Siliconera |
Graham Russell |
8 / 10 |
03-07-2024 |
Unicorn Overlord combines the timeless tactical RPG genre with overworld exploration and an innovative battle system for a unique epic fantasy experience in the iconic Vanillaware style. Switch version reviewed. Review copy provided by company for testing purposes. Unicorn Overlord is, as a whole, a loving and well-crafted return to the Ogre Battle formula. If the character designs aren’t a dealbreaker for you, and we’d understand if they are — seriously, can they at least figure out how shirt fabric works? — there’s a lot of interesting tactical decisions to make. |
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| SpazioGames |
Gianluca Arena |
8.7 / 10 |
03-11-2024 |
We cannot avoid praising the courage of a small team such as Vanillaware in creating a niche and bold title like this. We loved every minute of the 60 plus hours spent with Unicorn Overlord and we’re already looking forward to Vanillaware next title. |
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| The Games Machine |
Danilo Dellafrana |
9.4 / 10 |
03-07-2024 |
Unicorn Overlord is incredible, a deep and affordable strategy game that resurrects and updates the formula of a divisive classic like Ogre Battle, dormant since the days of Person of Lordly Caliber. Beautiful to look at and listen to, magnetic and impossible to leave behind: it’s all right, apart from a few minor flaws listed in the body of the review. They really don’t make games like this any more, so don’t miss it. |
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| TheGamer |
James Kennedy |
4.5 / 5 stars |
03-07-2024 |
As a long-time TRPG fan, Unicorn Overlord is everything I wanted it to be and more. I suspect that some people will read this review and think that it sounds tedious, but that’s the thing about games that deliver such a focused experience: they aren’t going to appeal to everyone. However, by being so specific in everything it does, Unicorn Overlord ensures that those who do “get it” will be thinking of it fondly for decades to come. |
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| VG247 |
James Billcliffe |
Recommended |
03-07-2024 |
Standing on its own, Unicorn Overlord is an excellent expansion of Vanillaware’s now-trademark visual style and its newer RTS mechanics, offering both gripping strategy and an atmospheric pulp fantasy world that you’re going to want to sink hours and hours into. |
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| XboxEra |
Genghis Husameddin |
9 / 10 |
03-07-2024 |
“…Unicorn Overlord is a fantastic strategy game that is both gorgeous as it is fun. Tactics fans are in for a treat, and even those weak to the genre find this game to be a fulfilling experience.” |
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