Unicorn Overlord
Vanillaware’s last decade has quickly cemented it as one of the most exciting and interesting studios operating around the periphery of traditional RPGs. 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim was a fascinating remix of visual novel storytelling and kaiju battle strategy sim, and this year’s Unicorn Overlord is an equally rewarding twist on the classic tactical RPG. Like a modern auto chess reimagining of Ogre Battle, Unicorn Overlord takes Vanillaware’s flashy art style and applies it to a dense medieval political epic that plays out across slick 2D battles and top-down real-time strategy maps. It’s like a big bowl of slow-cooked oatmeal: long and repetitive yet rich and filling. — Ethan Gach
