#dragonic-overlord-the-rebirth

[zenathered]

I have something to confess. I have failed final fantasy. Rebirth came out and I got absolutely sidelined by the Dragon’s Dogma 2 / Unicorn Overlord tag team. Forgive my transgression…

[iriyaices]

Can the others from the departed realm see Kai or similar? Maybe not appear as a ghost but at least "visit" the ur remembrance place on the day? Also I'm guessing their spirits are in the departed, what do they think of immortal Kai?

I didn't think about that at all. God, that's a good idea!!

I think that all spirits can visit people in the living world if they light a lantern in The Day of the Departed!!

When they died it was before the ninja split up. I like to think that during deaths in their first year this day didn't exist yet but soon after Ninjago split up, FSM thought it would be a good idea to start a culture to remember people who lost their lives to Overlords. At first it was just lighting candles [but later in the future it developed into a lanterns] That was the first time they saw Kai !!

They could see Kai, but Kai couldn't see them. That certainly doesn't stop him from talking to them, of course. They were very confused when Kai turned into a half-dragon but after Kai told everything [and cried of course, why not?] They were definitely happy that Kai was still alive, but their hearts were also broken that their family had to live without rest in peace [Immortality is more of a curse than a blessing. If you ask me] Not to mention the concern for Kai's mental health, who definitely tries to commit suicide whenever he can.

Kai lights the fire for them every year. They all had hope that one day they would meet again. They waited for rebirth more than anything

[dailydemonspotlight]

If you want more confusing demons to work with, I highly recommend Seth

Seth - Day 43 (Request)

Race: Vile

Alignment: Dark-Chaos

May 21st, 2024

Ancient Egyptian mythology is weird, even as far as most mythologies go. Vastly different tales and retellings form a winding game of telephone that makes the truth of already obscure myths hard to track, but if one thing is for sure, the myths we do know about paint a fascinating picture of intertwined lives and cycles of life, death, and rebirth. If there's one group of figures prominent throughout, however, it'd have to be the central pantheon, and easily the most antagonistic of that group could be extrapolated into today's Demon of the Day, Seth.

The desert winds are controlled by this divine lord of chaos, one who represents and stands for the great sands of Egypt, sandstorms, and the harsh reality of nature and survival as a whole. Set could easily be seen as the main villain of Egyptian mythology, but like most things in mythology, it's not quite that simple- in Ancient Egypt, he actually appeared to be a figure who was cruel but not ignoble, and even assisted humanity at times. Earlier versions of the myth of Ra state that he actually helped fight off the great serpent Apep when the sun god traveled through the murky depths of the afterlife during night, but this appears to have been phased out as time went on.

A part of why Set is now viewed as outright evil, as many historians believe, is due to his role as an usurper- Set was a prick, to say the least, even in his more sympathetic iterations. In the myth of Osiris, a myth commonly seen as the most important in Ancient Egyptian literature, he is the one who was responsible for the death and mutilation of Osiris due to wanting the throne the god of Fertility held. Of course, Osiris's sister-wife Isis, (yes, Egyptian mythology had a lot of incest. I don't know why,) ended up recovering the pieces of Osiris... save for, ehm, the family jewels, but Set's role in this story has not gone unnoticed throughout the years.

Set was bastardized, quite simply, and literally, into being an outright villain. This isn't to say he wasn't an absolute prick, of course, but as the mythology went on, he went from a foul-mannered but still noble figure to a character comparable to the Devil. Ironically, he ended up getting intermixed with his mortal enemy Apep, and given his lack of a physical animal that isn't... ambiguous, to say the least, a lot of depictions of him end up portraying him as a serpent or dragon himself. An ironic twist of fate, given his hatred of the dragon he was eternal enemies with, but alas, that's what history does to you.

Also notable is Set's association with foreigners and xenophobia- due to his added-on role later in Egyptian history as becoming the god of vagrants, he became inherently more villainous due to the xenophobia prevalent throughout a good majority of history, not just in egypt. Even now, the fear of foreigners paints him in an even deeper shade of black, making him look as though he was a villain through-and-through.

In SMT, his first depiction actually dates back before even the first game- no, he originates in Digital Devil Story 2, wherein he ends up teaming up with Apep and Typhon and becoming the main villain of said story. Now, I haven't read the Digital Devil Story series, unfortunately, but from what I can tell, his depiction in the series has mostly gone unchanged from the origin of the series itself. True to the common conflation of Set and Apep, the depiction of this overlord of desert sands is very draconic, being a black wyvern. In earlier games, he was even more explicitly snake-like, as noted in his portrayal in DDS2.

In Megami Tensei, up until SMT II, his design was almost Dragon Ball adjacent, which is frankly bizarre to me, but I kinda dig it.

Throughout the series, Set has been a powerful physical attacker typically in the mid-late game, and he's appeared in almost all entries to-date, including spinoffs like Persona. He's a very important figure in the series as well, having some story significance to my knowledge in one or two of the games, specifically in, you guessed it, SMT II.

Overall, Seth's appearance and lore make a fascinating deep-dive into mythology, as well as the history of Shin Megami Tensei in and of itself!

[equinoxts2]

Senaverse Lorepost: Generations of the Gods

Kulo Sena is most definitely coming back! I just couldn't leave it - I think we all knew that. But I do intend to retcon the setting somewhat, so I can fit in some of the ideas I had for my new WIP. Here's a lorepost showcasing this idea fusion!

This lorepost focuses on the four generations of divine entities on Juvash. The gods of their world are a team, don't compete for followers or influence, and have a role more like counsellors than overlords when dealing with mortals. They are there to guide and comfort, not to dictate how mortals live.

The first generation, the overall power that guides Juvash (although it doesn't consider itself a "higher power" as that implies hierarchy, a concept the gods sort-of understand but view as a mortal quirk) is the Eternal Continuum of Omnipresent Love. Usually just called Love or the Aether, it is a force that flows through all of creation, powers the aether beacons at the heart of each community and generally connects all things. A person's conscience is said to be their "voice of Love."

The second generation is the Binding Principles, the eldest of the five sibling pantheons that walk the lands today. These five gods were the first to emerge from the Aether, and their overall role is to balance the core essences of the Senaverse. They are the ones who brought change and chaos to a formerly static Spirit World (this is my twist on the classic "order from chaos" creation myth) and allowed life to flourish. This does not make them greater than the other four pantheons, just older. They are: Essence, representing what simply is on an innermost level (the core of a thing's nature and identity), and Potential, representing what could be. These two were the first to encounter each other, and are the only couple in the pantheons. The Storm, god of intense emotion, passion and enthusiasm, and the Stillness, god of inner peace, mindfulness and calm. And Harmony, the only god who takes the form of a construct, and who keeps the balance in all things.

The third generation consists of the other four pantheons: the Electria Dragons, gods of the eight elements (or nine, depending on who you ask); the Seven Sages, representing various aspects of knowledge and wisdom; the Skyborn, gods of the mind and celestial things; and the River Fortunes, who guide the flow of time. Team sheets look something like this:

Electria Dragons: Freshwater, Air, Fire, Earth, Stone, Metal, Saltwater, Wood. All of these are pretty much what they say on the tin, as well as covering certain concepts associated with their elements: innovation and breaking new ground for Metal, family bonds for Wood, creativity for Air, and so on.

Seven Sages: The Seeker, god of the pursuit of enlightenment and self-awareness. The Transmuter, god of the cycles of life, death and rebirth, and transformations in general. The Wayfarer, god of travel, new experiences and love of adventure. The Observer, god of mental discipline, endurance and knowing the right time to act. The Holder, god of the comfort of ritual and familiarity. The Shuffler, god of games and strategy, who is particularly fond of showing up the arrogant. The Beguiler, the outcast of the pantheon, said to have betrayed its siblings for forbidden knowledge and power.

Skyborn: Sola, god of the suns, celibacy and asexuality, and victory. Luna, god of the moons, romance and pleasure, and supernaturals - particularly shapechangers. Astral, god of the stars and prophecy. Tempest, god of weather and protection, said to be the parent of voidbeasts. Aethera, god of dreams, love, innocence and childbirth.

River Fortunes: Fate, god of events that are meant to happen, and the one who mostly ensures that the River of Time keeps flowing toward enlightenment. Chance, god of luck and chaos. Choice, god of free will, decisions and the wisdom to choose rightly. Destiny, god of heroes and legendary figures. Eternity, the god who acts as an intermediary between the three worlds: the Spirit World, the Void, and the physical world of Juvash.

Last but not least, there's the fourth generation: the local pantheons. These are ascended heroes and ancestors, who stick around to guide their communities instead of passing to the Spirit World. They understand what it's like to be mortal, so are often turned to for help solving problems of the sort that living people grapple with. Kulo Sena has a local pantheon of fourteen and a half (who are a ramble for another day) known as the Court of Belyala.

And... whew, that was a lot of rambling! Back to CAS I go - see you around!

[shinigami-striker]

The 2024 Game Awards Nominees | Monday, 11.18.24

The upcoming 2024 Game Awards show will premiere on Thursday, December 12, 2024 (in less than a month from now) at the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles, so we've got less than 24 days to vote for which video game(s) will go home with any award they've been nominated by each category.

But first, the nominees (by category) down below:

Game of the Year:

Astro Bot

Balatro

Black Myth: Wukong

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

Metaphor: Refantazio

Best Game Direction:

Astro Bot

Balatro

Black Myth: Wukong

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

Metaphor: Refantazio

Best Narrative:

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth

Metaphor: Refantazio

Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2

Silent Hill 2 (2024)

Best Art Direction

Astro Bot

Black Myth: Wukong

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree

Metaphor: Refantazio

Neva

Best Score and Music

Astro Bot

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

Metaphor: Refantazio

Silent Hill 2 (2024)

Stellar Blade

Best Audio Design:

Astro Bot

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2

Silent Hill 2 (2024)

Best Performance:

Briana White (Final Fantasy VII Rebirth)

Hannah Telle (Life is Strange: Double Exposure)

Humberly Gonzalez (Star Wars: Outlaws)

Luke Roberts (Silent Hill 2 (2024))

Melina Juergens (Senua's Saga Hellblade 2)

Innovation in Accessibility:

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

Diablo IV

Dragon Age: The Veilguard

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown

Star Wars Outlaws

Games for Impact:

Closer the Distance

Indika

Neva

Life is Strange: Double Exposure

Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2

Tales of Kenzera: Zau

Best Ongoing:

Destiny 2

Diablo IV

Final Fantasy XIV

Fortnite

Helldivers 2

Best Community Sport:

Baldur's Gate 3

Final Fantasy XIV

Fortnite

Helldivers 2

No Man's Sky

Best Independent Game:

Animal Well

Balatro

Lorelei and the Laser Eyes

Neva

UFO 50

Best Debut Indie Game:

Animal Well

Balatro

Manor Lords

Pacific Drive

The Plucky Squire

Best Mobile Game:

AFK Journey

Balatro

Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket

Wuthering Waves

Zenless Zone Zero

Best VR / AR:

Arizona Sunshine Remake

Asgard's Wrath 2

Batman: Arkham Shadow

Metal: Hellsinger VR

Metro Awakening

Best Action Game:

Black Myth: Wukong

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

Helldivers 2

Stellar Blade

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2

Best Action / Adventure:

Astro Bot

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown

Silent Hill 2

Star Wars: Outlaws

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom

Best RPG:

Dragon's Dogma 2

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth

Metaphor: Refantazio

Best Fighting:

Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero

Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising

Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics

MultiVersus

Tekken 8

Best Family:

Astro Bot

Princess Peach: Showtime!

Super Mario Party Jamboree

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom

The Plucky Squire

Best Sim / Strategy:

Age of Mythology: retold

Frostpunk 2

Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess

Manor Lords

Unicorn Overlord

Best Sports / Racing:

F1 24

EA Sports FC 25

NBA 2K25

Top Spin 2K25

WWE 2K24

Best Multiplayer:

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

Helldivers 2

Super Mario Party Jamboree

Tekken 8

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2

Best Adaption:

Arcane

Fallout

Knuckles

Like A Dragon: Yakuza

Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft

Most Anticipated Game:

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach

Ghost of Yotei

Grand Theft Auto VI

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond

Monster Hunter Wilds

Content Creator of the Year:

Caseoh

Illojuan

Techo Gamerz

Typical Gamer

Usada Pekora

Best Esports Game:

Counter-Strike 2

DOTA 2

League of Legends

Mobile Legends: Bang Bang

Valorant

Best Esports Athlete:

33

Aleksib

Chovy

Faker

Zywoo

ZMJJKK

Best Esports Team:

BiliBili Gaming (League of Legends)

Gen.G (League of Legends)

NAVI (Counter-Strike 2)

T1 (League of Legends)

Team Liquid (DOTA 2)

...and more to come before the upcoming Game Awards in the coming weeks!

[callmearcturus]

@icecreamvi replied to your post “amazing how i can tell you what most places GOTY...”:

whats ur bets so far?

​1. Persona 3 Reload

2. Animal Well

3. Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth

4. Balatro

5. Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth

It's just the year of the +60 hour RPG. Hades II would be on the list but 1.0 isn't gonna be until 2025 most likely.

The rest of the list will be filled out with Helldivers II, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, Metaphor: ReFantazio (if it's good), Silksong (if it comes out), Dragon's Dogma II, and Unicorn Overlord for the TRPG nerds.

[ms-katonic-of-tamriel]

Prodigal Dragonborn Meta

Been rereading it and something hit me about Miraak reconciling with Lucien.  Something that didn’t fully occur to me at the time as I was speedwriting it.

But it’s a really significant moment for him.  Miraak of old would have reclaimed the mask, put it back on and walked out of Lucien’s life without a word, that’s if he’d even bothered to find Lucien in the snow at all.

But that didn’t happen.  Miraak is glad to get the mask back but the Saviik reflex kicks in and he instinctively turns to Lucien, only to realise Lucien wasn’t lying about finding the mask horrifying, and that’s when the realisation hits: Lucien would never have loved his old self.  Which he sort of knew anyway, he’s not stupid.  But that was where it hit home.  He looks back at the mask and realises if he wears this full-time, goes back to his old Evil Overlord ways, he’ll lose Lucien.  And possibly might even live long enough to see Melinda coming for him again with Lucien helping her.

That’s the moment he makes a choice.  That’s the moment that seals his redemption.  That’s where he looks back and realises he was happy as Saviik, in a way he’d never been as Miraak.  That the Augur was absolutely right about him finding no solace in knowledge.  That ruling the world isn’t worth it if he’s ruling alone, and he’d rather have Lucien.  And so he turns to Lucien and says maybe he doesn’t need to wear this all time, does he?  Just during battle or travelling or special occasions.  It’s a negotiation, but also a subtle asking for permission, and it’s at that point even Lucien the Oblivious realises perhaps all isn’t lost.  Minutes later, they’re back together, and it’s all very emotional... but it confirms Miraak as a heroic saviour figure who’s going to save the College and rule it well.  And it also tells Lucien that yes, you can trust your partner.  He’s not turning evil.  He still loves you, loves you more than the mask.  They really are a stronger couple for it.  Strong enough that when Miraak finds his cult again, he’s got the confidence to take the mask off once he’s feeling secure enough in his authority, and Lucien, while terrified, feels secure enough to ask him what on earth he’s going to do with them, and trusts him enough to believe the honest answer: “I don’t know.”

I’m really happy with the way it turned out, and how it just sort of resolved a lot of the themes earlier on in the story, i.e. Lucien adoring Saviik but being frankly unnerved by the idea of dating Miraak and trying to reconcile the two, and Miraak as Saviik rediscovering his past and feeling horrified about it - shouting ‘FAANI SAVIIK!’ at Vahlok and reacting with horror and disgust on taking his first dragon soul post rebirth.  The whole thing really shows how far he’s come.

[ketsu-cerise]

Actually relevant take to the post above. If unicorn overlord was gonna be on psvita they should have put it on psvita. Considering all the other games were not only on Psvita, but their DEFINITIVE EDITIONS were on it, it only makes sense for them to have the full library on the vita. That said I can say the same about aegis rim but it's more of a visual novel than an actual game like unicorn overlord. Anyways please play odin sphere: Leifthrasir, dragons crown, and muramasa rebirth and all their dlc it's absolutely worth it and they're all such fire fuckin games.

Amazon

NSFW + bonuses here: Patreon

[loresleepless]

I’ve played multiple jrpgs this year: ff7 rebirth, like a dragon 8, unicorn overlord and more, but I have to say Romancing Saga 2 Remake was my dark horse.

So many features and customization for a game that was originally released in 1993 is astounding to me. Genuinely amazed I had never heard much about the franchise until this year.

It’s a simple premise, but I eat up the avatar legacy gimmick every time. I can’t stop singing this game’s praises. My only hope is that the next installment rides this high with even more of what I loved to offer.

[bigcheesecakecandy]

2024년 게임 평가: 기대와 실망이 공존하는 현장

[maximuswolf]

Help me decide on a new game

Help me decide on a new game Help me decide on a new gameI’m just looking for something fresh to play following an exam. I’m kinda bored of DD2 and beat Rebirth, PoP already. My backlog is a bit embarrassing: I’m halfway through Like a Dragon, Star Ocean 2R, Alan Wake 2, Baldur’s Gate 3 and Lords of the Fallen. I love JRPGs and Souls games. My most anticipated of the year is Elden Ring DLC. I’m currently caught between Stellar Blade (love Nier and DMC), Unicorn Overlord (looks unique) and Persona 3 Reload (loved Royale). Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated! Submitted April 25, 2024 at 08:38AM by chemicologist https://ift.tt/CK0lj3z via /r/gaming

[oyunistan]

Japanese Monthly Sales: FF7 Rebirth is No.1, Princess Peach and Unicorn Overlord also ranked

In terms of game software sales, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth ranks first with 310,596 copies, followed by Princess Peach Showtime! was in second place with 104,820 units, and Rise of the Ronin was in third place with 84,785 units. In addition, Dragon's Dogma 2 and Unicorn Overlord also made it into the ranking, making the top 5 monthly software titles all new titles for the first time in 2 years and 5 months. https://bit.ly/3TYVcMx

[veebs-hates-video-games]

And now the Switch counterpart for the previous post, this time with all the Switch games I've started playing in the past five years but haven't finished but also am at least pretending I'll get back to eventually.

Hades is one I did technically finish, but only the main story the one time. I do want to play more and get some more of more people's stories and unlock some more stuff, but I just keep having other stuff to do. Great game though, and I'm looking forward to the sequel.

Final Fantasy 12 is one I keep going back to every once in a while. I do genuinely like a lot of stuff about it, but I inevitably run into something really annoying about it too every several hours and then take a break for a few months or a year. I do plan to finish it eventually though, and I'm slowly getting closer.

Bayonetta 2 is a lot better than the first game, which had some great ideas but just felt to me like it wasn't quite done figuring out what to do with them. I stopped like halfway through because reasons and haven't picked it up again yet at least partly because I feel like it would benefit from being on the TV instead of handheld, but I can't see the TV well enough.

Theatrhythm Final Bar Line is another one with the TV problem. I could play it just fine handheld, but the music in it deserves better than the built-in speakers, and the headphone jack is just awful quality. Unfortunately I can't see the TV and don't have my little audio box I run the Switch through so I can use my headphones with it while it's docked.

Tears of the Kingdom is also another TV victim. It's pretty low priority for me to get back to because I really don't love the direction they've gone with BotW and TotK, but it at least partially solves a lot of the problems I had with BotW so I've enjoyed it more. It's completely unplayable handheld for me though because the control setup is bad with a pro controller and literally unusable on the joycons, so it's on hold indefinitely until I can do something about that.

Dragon Quest 11 is so painfully slow replaying the first dozen hours that I already did in the demo on my computer a few years ago, and it makes it hard to work up the motivation to push through it. A lot of stuff about it is great though, and I really enjoyed this stuff the first time through, so I'll deal with it eventually. Probably.

GrimGrimoire OnceMore (or GRiMgRiMoiRe OnCeMoRe if the logo is anything to go by) is something I wanted to finish before Unicorn Overlord comes out, but that's almost definitely not happening. I got sidetracked and stopped playing it for a few months and totally forgot how everything works, and it's really not very forgiving of that. We'll see if I can remember how to video games one of these days.

Disco Elysium does so many things so well even though it's really not my usual kind of thing. I just haven't felt like my brain is in the right place for it lately.

Baten Kaitos is still fun 20 years later. I've been taking a break though because my ADHD brain decided it was time to do something else after like the first dozen hours or so. I'm in no rush with it because I've already played it before forever ago, so it'll get there when it gets there.

Kirby and the Forgotten Land has kind of made me like it less as it goes on. Like it's still plenty of fun, I just kept finding more little annoyances toward the end and lost my momentum. I've finished the main story and rolled the credits and everything, but I only made it partway through the postgame stuff before needing a break.

Jack Jeanne I'm actually actively working on, or was as of a day or two ago. I may or may not need a break because it takes forever to go through all the different routes, and after doing the neutral route first I don't like the individual character ones quite as much. That first time through that first route was my favorite thing so far this year though.

Egglia Rebirth is one of those things I go back to for a few hours a couple times a year. I still really like a lot of things about it, but it gets a little grindy and repetitive trying to do too much at once, and my brain is not suited to coming back to games for like half an hour or an hour once a day for days or weeks in a row. I need to do like 12 hours straight in a single sitting and then not touch it again for six months, which is really not the ideal way to play this.

Fire Emblem Warriors is also another few hours every few months game. I have an overly complex spreadsheet that I built off one of the existing ones online but added a bunch of stuff to it and enhanced it, and slowly checking stuff off is satisfying. I'm a good chunk of the way through history mode, but it'll take approximately forever to finish everything if I ever do.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is also a few hours every few months between other games. I already finished it a while ago and am just going through the story again on NG+. I still really like the characters and story, but this experience is quickly making the combat system become possibly my least favorite in the entire series, when before I felt like every game got better than the previous one.

The House in Fata Morgana I guess can be included too. I finished the actual main story last year and it was great, but I'm still pretending I'll try to get through the extra side stories and stuff one of these days. We'll see, I guess.

Between these lists in these two posts I'm at least theoretically in the middle of playing like 30 games. Why yes, I do have ADHD and a variety of other weird things going on in my brain. How did you guess?

[jcmarchi]

How The Developers Of Unicorn Overlord Are Making A Return To Fantasy

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/how-the-developers-of-unicorn-overlord-are-making-a-return-to-fantasy/

How The Developers Of Unicorn Overlord Are Making A Return To Fantasy

Vanillaware makes excellent games, from GrimGrimoire to Odin Sphere to Dragon’s Crown. However, it wasn’t until its 2019 release, 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, that the developer’s name became synonymous with “you should play this team’s games.” It’s hard to tell what, exactly, made 13 Sentinels the breakout title for Vanillaware, shipping more than 1 million copies worldwide as of August last year, making it the studio’s best-selling title. The easy answer is probably its beloved story, both in how it plays out and how it’s infused into the game’s real-time strategy mech combat.

Publisher Atlus and Vanillaware released it in 2019, so when the team announced its latest title, Unicorn Overlord, last September, it was easy to conclude that this was the studio’s next big focus. And it is, but curiously, I learned in an exclusive preview of the game Vanillaware conceived it during the development of 13 Sentinels, with its creation handled in parallel with that game, albeit with a different team and director.

“[It] was not a change of genre, but rather a team effort to create a worldview that was originally based on the premise of a fantasy,” lead game designer Wataru Nakanishi tells me over email after I watch roughly an hour of live Unicorn Overlord gameplay. Notably, the game isn’t a response to the sci-fi modern action of 13 Sentinels as I expected; the team wanted to make another fantasy game, which checks out considering that’s where its roots lie, dating back to its debut game, 2007’s GrimGrimoire. Looking at Vanillaware’s history, it’s 13 Sentinels that stands out as the oddball fit, with most of the studio’s games falling into the fantasy camp.

Nakanishi says Unicorn Overlord is Vanillaware’s spin on the tactical fantasy RPG, and that’s immediately clear in the opening hour. Protagonist Alain is around 10 years old in the prologue, when he and the Queen of Cornia, Ilenia, witness a rebellion at the hands of one of her trusted generals. Worried about the kingdom’s fate and bloodline, her most trusted knight, Josef, is tasked with spiriting the prince away to safety. The main game’s story picks up 10 years later; Crown Prince Alain is around 20 years old, living on the island of Palevia, where he’s grown up since the rebellion. While sparring with his friend Lex, a ship flying Zenoiran colors sails into the harbor and it’s clear they mean no good.

Immediately, I’m in love with the score, which oscillates between medieval choruses and an orchestral mix of horns, winds, and other instruments typical of the genre. Nakanishi tells me the independent music group Basiscape, who scored 13 Sentinels under the direction of composer Hitoshi Sakimoto, is returning to create the musical soundscape of Unicorn Overlord, this time under Mitsuhiro Kaneda, who also worked on 13 Sentinels’ score. Nakanishi says Kaneda’s score has a “newness that befits the name, ‘Rebirth of tactical fantasy RPGs,’” which is something the team mentions various times when discussing the game. The statement is a bold one and, taken at face value, almost arrogant. But Nakanishi clears it up humbly.

“[That statement] reflects the fact that this is a challenging title created in the tactical RPG genre, which we have always loved, with new challenges, and that we want to convey this to our players in a straightforward and correct manner,” he says. “We are making various efforts to make the game accessible to people who have never played this genre before.”

After my hour of gameplay, that’s a somewhat tall order. The genre is historically one of the more complex to get into, and my initial impression of Unicorn Overlord is that newcomers might find it overwhelming, perhaps even odd at first. You don’t necessarily control the individual fights that happen in combat encounters – instead, you determine where you want to move on the “tactical battle map.” Bumping into an enemy makes battle inevitable, but before said battle takes place, you can essentially look into the future to see how it plays out by checking unit formation, which skills they have set up, and more.

After all checks are in place, and after checking with a statistic measure that tells you how they might fair in battle in a Fire Emblem-esque way, the battle begins; you do not participate but instead, watch what happens. Success comes from active skills, which use points regenerated between skirmishes, and passive skills, which trigger in combat when certain conditions are met. For example, one passive skill I see heals a unit’s character at the end of a battle, a critical tool as health does not regenerate between bouts.

Back on the beautifully illustrated tactical battle map, I watch a complete battle stage, which features its own win-loss conditions, play out. The player first interacts with the Command Post, where they deploy units based on Valor points they have available to spend. Vanillaware tells me liberating towns and fortresses and defeating enemies earns more of these. You can also spend these points on special Valor Skills, which apply unique buffs inside and outside combat. From here, Unicorn Overlord plays almost like a board game, where you must tactically place your various units on the map – each comprised of different characters and companions with their own use case – and move them accordingly.

Admittedly, it’s all quite confusing as I’m thrown directly hands-off into the mix, but I do witness many tutorial messages and screens we skip over for the sake of time. Nakanishi assures me Unicorn Overlord features a lot of in-game support, including “tutorials, recommended composition examples, automatic equipment, strategy settings, and switching difficulty levels so that as many people as possible can enjoy the most exciting parts of the game […] without becoming overwhelmed.”

Once an encounter begins, either by your own unit running into an enemy or vice versa, an initiative order determines when combatants attack, and the entire battle continues until the enemy (or you) are defeated or all combatants run out of action points. In the latter scenario, the side with the most health remaining claims victory. The more of it I see, the more I appreciate its cinematic approach – I, the player, set the pieces onto the board and then watch the strategic planning (or chaos) pay off, hopefully in a win. Nakanishi says the draw of this type of gameplay is immersion.

“[In] the case of tactical RPGs, the combination of a strategy element, in which you have a bird’s eye view of the battlefield and make precise, step-by-step moves, and the role-playing element, in which you become attached to the characters living in the world and fight alongside them, is a game genre that offers the greatest sense of immersion,” he says. “This is the main attraction, and the team places great importance on this kind of game experience.”

After a few fights in this preliminary stage early in the game’s opening hours, we liberate a Palevian town under Zenoira, switching it from a red flag to our blue flag, picking up two Valor points in the process. This newly liberated town is now a base from which we can deploy units. We advance through the stage, using Josef to cover extra ground as movement takes place in real time, and he moves the fastest, while swapping allies in and out of various units once two units are within the radius of a special green circle on the tactical battle map. Vanillaware says it’s essential to take advantage of this feature, as damaged allies might need to fall back while more adept ones, like a companion that uses magic (or magick as it’s called in the game), or another with high stamina indicated by the number on an on-screen shield, head to the front of a unit’s pack.

Within each unit is a player-created makeup of classes, too, which might determine how you advance them on the tactical battle map. Horseback cavalry are excellent against Infantry, a standard soldier, as are Knights. With their great shield, Hoplite classes offer high defense. They are suitable for protecting an area or unit, so countering with a high agility class is extra important when facing one.

Outside of fights, players can use items to heal or buff companions, change a loadout and equipment, and more. And all of this – the combat of Unicorn Overlord – is just one half of the experience, with the other being exploration.

“On the overworld, big goals are always clearly presented, and players decide on their own how to achieve them,” Nakanishi says. “Facilities such as towns and forts around the world are controlled by the main enemy called the New Zenoiran Empire, and while exploring the overworld, you can recruit allies, procure equipment and items, and make preparations while liberating towns. Various quests and events will occur along the way, but it is up to the player to decide in what order and how to complete them, so depending on the situation of the troops […], you may sometimes have to avoid them or postpone them.”

On that note, Vanillaware expects players to roll credits at 50 hours, but completionists can expect upwards of 100.

I’m not entirely sold on the combat and exploration, but that’s because I haven’t yet played it for myself. It looks interesting from a mechanical standpoint, and it’s certainly unique. If Vanillaware has made one thing clear in its portfolio, it’s that the studio has little regard for trends; it marches to the beat of its own drum within familiar genres, even if they’re niche.

“Games that we find interesting from the bottom of our hearts tend to be from genres that are considered niche,” Nakanishi says. “So rather than intentionally choosing those genres, it’s because we just happen to like them. However, no matter the genre, it is meaningless if the customers who purchase it cannot find it interesting, so we always focus on ensuring the game we’re producing is understandable and enjoyable to play.”

Niche or not, Unicorn Overlord is a treat for the eyes. Classic SNES RPGs of yesteryear inspire Vanillaware this time around, Nakanishi tells me, and the studio wants Unicorn Overlord to look like one of those games but on a modern platform, complete with a full suite of English or Japanese voice over. The art design, born from a single piece of concept art, is meant to evoke that period’s games, somewhere between retro and painterly. That piece of art is also the game’s title screen. “Based on this illustration, the character designs for battle were decided, battle backgrounds were drawn, and the overall art style came together,” he adds.

All of this only scratches the surface of what I saw in that first hour of Unicorn Overlord gameplay. There’s plenty of story crammed into it – a story not worth spoiling here since the narrative is a big draw for many Vanillaware fans – and an intense number of menus RPG fans will surely love digging into the minutiae of. There are more than 60 companions to recruit freely throughout the campaign, depending on how you tackle the game’s more open nature of progression, and lots of great music and visuals to accompany it if what I’ve already heard and seen is any indication. In short, there’s still a lot of game to uncover in Unicorn Overlord, and even after an hour and a lengthy interview, it feels as if I’ve barely wrapped my head around this tactical fantasy RPG experience. With little time to go until its release next month, I’m excited to see what Vanillaware can do with its return to the fantasy genre, where its history began almost two decades ago.

This article originally appeared in Issue 363 of Game Informer

[cannoli-reader]

I don't think the searchers were all interrogated. Some of the deaths seem to have been pretty quick, like going overboard on a ship. I think the Black sisters thought they had enough with their take from Tamra and then just set about eliminating the searchers ASAP. The idea that they would have done anything had they found their targets other than bring them to the Tower would be beyond the thought process of any Aes Sedai.

Actually, what I think happened was that they panicked on learning about the Dragon's Rebirth and immediately went on the offensive without thinking it through. Otherwise, once they know who the searchers are, just keep tabs on them and let them bring the Dragon to the Tower.

Also, I don't think they cancelled the bounty, because of the whole PR issue for the Tower, because the authority of an Aes Sedai is extremely useful to the Black Ajah (e.g. see Liandrin with Amalisa) and also because they prioritize the White Tower themselves, and have been through the same indoctrination process. Look at the discussion Perrin is told about, debating a proposal to try to breed more channelers. A key proponent and a critic of the proposal were both Black sisters. They care about building up the Tower, just as other sisters do. And they would not want to deal with the fallout of the Tower reneging on a promise to one of the most universally sympathetic groups in existence: newborn babies and their mothers, intersecting on a Venn diagram with military dependents and widows & orphans of soldiers. In New Spring, while Sierin disapproves of the bounty, she lets the program stand for that very reason.

I don't think you can call Tamra's plan a success. The Dragon Reborn was going to be found, one way or another. The reason to search for him was to get him firmly under the Tower's control, which never happened, because he was raised in a community that cultivates stubbornness and has no overlords to teach its people the habit of subservience. Every moment Rand spent in the Two Rivers was an axe-blow to any hopes of the White Tower controlling him.

While we're at it, I really need to vent about how foolish this whole hunt for the baby dragon was. The illogic of Hears prophecy -> wants to hide prophecy -> starts manhunt as poorly disguised baby compensation program just annoys me.

The baby compensation amount is ridiculously high. Yes, to attract any woman who perhaps wasn't very interested in the money, but it screams desperation.

The method of acquiring data is sloppy. Accepted are NOT good scribes, as evidenced by Moiraine having to transcribe most of the entries. They also focus on the wrong details, because they don't know what is actually important, because keeping the birth of the Dragon Reborn secret is really important. But here we get stuck in a quagmire of casting a large net -> too much data with not enough detail, while casting a tighter net -> getting caught and losing the secret. Which is why using Accepted to accomplish this task was foolish.

What would have been a better plan?

First option that comes to mind is to do nothing. This has the advantages of not signaling that you are looking for someone important to the Black Ajah. It protects your secret most thoroughly.

Of course, then you can't protect interfere with the Dragon Reborn as he grows, because you don't know who he is. (Not that they succeeded in this goal anyway, which leads us back to Do Nothing as a reasonable response.)

Really, if the goal was to find Rand secretly, sending your Warder seems like the best course of action. In the moment of the prophecy, this should have been the very first response. Oh, what's that? She didn't have a Warder? (Gnashes teeth. Unprepared Aes Sedai, as usual.)

But back to the census. If what they really wanted was a high-quality list of babies born on Dragonmount, it would have been much, much better to have actual clerks do the work. White Tower wants a census, they have their reasons, no one's going to be suspicious about such an academic pursuit. Clerks doing clerk work? Also very not suspicious. Normal boring stuff. Nothing to see here.

All of this to say, Tamra doesn't impress me as being very slick. She painted a target on her back unnecessarily, especially since Do Nothing was a perfectly reasonable strategy.

[yogsandchaos]

Fuck it! Niche Minecraft Youtuber to watch if you like specific Dream Smp Characters! I have a lot of beloved niche Minecrafters I love and struggle to raise attention for so I have decided that I'm finally going to make this list, it’s an incomprehensible list hanging on by threads! but its a list!

Do you like Jschlatt? Do you like Evil, Capitalism, and Drama? Try William Strife! The Corporate Evil Overlord Capitalist with plenty of evil and dramatics a-plenty. One of the, if not the, original Minecraft Capitalist characters! With a hatred of magic, a love of money and tech, and the inability to ever be wrong Strife has managed to craft a hilarious yet oddly engaging parody of Capitalist America. Going strong for nearly a decade you may actually recognize him if you were in the Fallout scene back in the early 2010's for his guides! Strife has done plenty of Minecraft though and it's one of the things he's most known for. If you don't mind long run series mixed with some mod tutorial stuff I highly recommend checking out Solutions in Chaos for his infamously hilarious interactions with one Alex Parvis. Though if you don't have much time or tolerance for long run series his most recent series of Solutions and Order along with Crossroads may be something to enjoy. Or if you just like dick jokes you could just visit his streams, that's always an option as well.

Are you a fan of Wilbur Soot and Karl Jacobs? Do you crave death and rebirth and the horrors it brings but also a multiverse worth of interconnected yet not connected at all stories? Try Lyinginbedmon! Storyteller of a multiverse of themselves and our resident Master of Horror this Fox has dozens of stories and falls from glory to share. Do you wish to watch a Shinto Priest delve deeper into corrupting magics and slowly begin to wonder just how much the gods are hiding from them? Try Yokai Village! Do you want to watch a man trapped in early 2010's Nether struggle to survive and uncover a deeper story then they ever thought was there? Nether Expedition! Do you want to watch a Maid deal with the zombie apocalypse? Try Maid-ing Do! Do you want to watch a banished Werewolf Knight turned mercenary deal with their vampire racism? Knight of Fangs! Do you want to see the life and fall of the Witch in the Woods going from charming if odd neighbor to a betrayed horror monster seeking nothing but vengeance for what has done to them? Chaosville Season 2 and then Witch in the Woods! Or if you want something a bit shorter you can watch a Fae deal with a dragon witcher and strange magics effecting them, there is always the ongoing Clockwork & Memory.

Do you like Eret? Do you like a royal air and a sense of duty? Intense shitpost mixed with intense dramatic moments? Try Kirindave! Admittedly a bit of a weaker connection but that's just goes to show how enigmatic the Storm Sage really is. With a good sense of story telling and the charisma of something you really should not trust Kirin is quite a force to be reckoned with. Unfortunately they haven't done much Minecraft on their own channel in awhile and their content is much more focused on mod exploration along with being an admin of various servers then actual plot. However you will feel when that plot hits, there's a reason their fans tend to portray their character as a god. If you want to learn why you don't mess with the forest, I recommend Minecraft The Hard Way, but if you want a bit more plot in your learning of mods, Sunless is quite a good even if it never got a proper ending.

Do you like Ponk and Foolish? Do you like gorgeous builds mixed with strange yet curiosity inducing lore? Do you like mad science/doctors? Try Lucian V. Ghost! With several series under their belt and the smoothest British voice I've ever heard Lucian specializes in short series with lots of Lore and high production values. With their series Ghost Labs and the sequel and still in-progress Ghost Industries, enjoy videos about strange mods with an immensely hilarious cast. If you want something a bit more SMPish though, Chronobreach and it's on going sequel World of Madness is a great introduction to the strange and morally dubious lore of Ghost Industries. They also have the ongoing series Unlikely Reunion that is nothing but lore, and cool robots.