New Unicorn Overlord Art Shows off Some of the Best of Its 60 Classes
This is not your typical adventuring party.
Getting too much information about an upcoming game before it’s released can spoil some of the fun. Sometimes it’s better to just wait it out and let yourself be surprised when you finally get your hands on it. But as much as I tell myself that, I can’t stop devouring every scrap I can about Vanillaware’s next strategy RPG Unicorn Overlord. The latest dispatch gives us a closer look at how its unique classes will work in combat, but leaves enough tantalizing gaps that I can still tell myself I’m not ruining anything.
The basics of Unicorn Overlord’s class system don’t look too much different from other strategy RPGs. If you’ve played games like Fire Emblem, Unicorn Overlord’s ability to upgrade units into advanced classes and the rock-paper-scissors system that gives some classes natural advantages over others should look familiar. But Unicorn Overlord shines in the details.
Unicorn Overlord adds some creative classes to its tactical battles.
If I can sum up why the new reveal makes Unicorn Overlord look so exciting, it’s this: One of its classes is a werewolf. Yes, alongside your clerics and archers, you’re free to add a bunch of werewolves to your party. If that’s not cool enough, they also get more powerful at night, and for some reason, they have swords. I’d think their superhuman strength and claws would make a sword redundant, but what do I know?
Unicorn Overlord will have more than 60 classes, and this update makes that fact a little more exciting. On top of the werewolf, we also got a look at classes like the elven fencer, which can shield allies along with its attacks, and the shaman, a magic user that can debuff foes and — just as importantly — wears an extremely cool skull mask. While there will almost certainly be some duds in the mix with 60 different options, it seems clear that Unicorn Overlord’s classes won’t just be carbon copies of each other with slightly different swords.
Upgrading classes and building teams looks like a big part of Unicorn Overlord’s strategy.
As Vanillaware fans have come to expect, Unicorn Overlord’s classes are also set about by their gorgeous art. The latest release offers a look at a few of its classes’ in-game appearances, and they show a developer that’s always excelled at art working at the top of its game. With so many different classes to illustrate, Vanillaware is stretching the visual range of its depictions, from heavily armored flying knights to elven mages in flowing fabrics.
Along with generic classes, Vanillaware is also showing off a few main characters from the game. As impressive as Unicorn Overlord’s class art is, its named characters get even more love, with striking original designs. A pair of allied elves wear cloaks that bear resemblance to the attire of Dragon’s Crown’s elven archer, while a new antagonist is decked out with armor and a shield that look like they were forged from a spiky iron maiden. And while some characters are posing in a way that suggests pinup art more than battle stances, Vanillaware has definitely toned down the… let’s call it creative anatomy of some of its Dragon’s Crown characters.
A pair of elven twins are among the new allies revealed for Unicorn Overlord.
There’s still a lot we don’t know about Unicorn Overlord and I’m happy about that. From what we’ve seen so far, I feel pretty confident that it will be Vanillaware’s most complex, strategic game yet. It looks like a return to form after 13 Sentinels, which was predominantly a visual novel, but also an expansion of the strategy gameplay the developer has dabbled with before.
I’m still hoping there’s enough left unexplained that Unicorn Overlord will be able to surprise me when it comes out — but I won’t look away the next time there’s a batch of gorgeous screenshots to pore over.
Unicorn Overlord will launch on March 8 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation consoles, and Xbox Series X/S.
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