Playing the demo for Unicorn Overlord & as I figured, Vanillaware still don’t miss! Yes I’m one of the 15 people who enjoyed Dragon’s Crown. Despite enjoying Fire Emblem & its ilk, my personal favorite type of tactical strategy RPGs are the ones where the units are little battalions of individual characters with customizable formations rather than the more ubiquitous style solo/duo units you get with Fire Emblem or Final Fantasy Tactics.
The very good indie game Symphony of War is the only similar tactical RPG that I’ve played recently though there might be others that just never passed my radar. As such, getting a beautifully executed tactics game from one of my favorite developers of all time is an absolute treat & I’m triply excited thanks to the fantastic & hefty demo.
Sadly I still need to finish the last 1/3rd of 13 Sentinels. 13 Sentinels is brilliant in every way but I’ve left it incomplete in my backlog for what might be a year & change now & I’m dreading that I might have to start over with a new game file since I might have absolutely lost my bearings in regards to both the story & gameplay by this point.
My only real gripe with Unicorn Overlord so far is that I wish more devs would pick a setting outside of Western/European High Fantasy for these tactical RPGs & RPGs in general to be completely honest. It’s one of the reasons I appreciate Advance Wars more than Fire Emblem despite growing up playing both. Just once I’d love to see a tactical strategy RPG game like this set in a cyberpunk dystopia or a retrofuture superhero setting or a prehistoric stone age fantasy world or within the afterlife cosmology of Dante’s Divine Comedy. Anything other than swords, knights, lords, castles etc. Vanillaware in particular would kill it with their evocative work in Muramasa & 13 Sentinels.
We wish you a happy New Year from the bottom of our hearts! We have no idea what to expect in 2024, but we wish you all bright moments and physical (and mental) health to avoid any illnesses or stressful situations, so that you can live life to the fullest.
Wishing you power, energy, love, and a lot of inspiration! Wish you find (if you haven't already) close people around you who are capable of understanding you, accepting you as you are, and supporting you.
And here is dragon Roui as a symbol of this year <3