Vanillaware tackles fantasy tactics in Unicorn Overlord next March

Gather your most lavishly animated food and settle in for a new Vanillaware reveal. Unicorn Overlord is a fantasy tactics RPG arriving on March 8, 2024.

Vanillaware has told fantasy stories in games like Odin Sphere and tackled real-time strategy, like 13 Sentinels and GrimGrimoire, so this seems like a perfect union. The studio has previously tackled tactics in Grand Knights History for the PSP, but that particular game never got officially localized for the west.

Unicorn Overlord, meanwhile, has got some big classic tactics vibes, but with Vanillaware’s signature approach to art. That means everything from gorgeously detailed characters and worlds to, I can only hope, incredible food. No one does food quite like Vanillaware.

There’s an overworld exploration layer, as well as the on-the-ground action, where it looks like parties of units square off in tactical battles. It reminds me a bit of Ogre Battle 64, somehow.

Per the trailer’s description, you’ll traverse the world and build up an army with over 60 unique characters, building renown amid the five nations.

Really, just the pairing of fantasy tactics and Vanillaware alone had my interest. But strange name aside, Unicorn Overlord looks pretty fantastic in the footage we saw today. Hopefully that holds true as we near a release date on March 8, 2024.