Unicorn Overlord - Tactical RPG by Vanillaware

[Grunker]

Odd. I watched like 5 reviews and multiple of them specifically named crit as something you set up units to do deterministically.

Well, there's some units where you can reach 100% crit-rate due to their skills having an innate crit-rate buff. But evasion and crit are still working the same as in any other game (beyond guaranteed crits/evades), where you simply roll the dice with your accuracy vs their evasion, and each characters crit-chance. That's how most fights end up swinging one way or the other. You can actually see the hit chances when hovering over enemies in the bottom right, iirc.

Codex > reviewers for accuracy

Err, yes they are? If you have 30% chance to crit, it's rng whether or not you crit.

Odd. I watched like 5 reviews and multiple of them specifically named crit as something you set up units to do deterministically.

You can do that if you have guaranteed crit abilities or effects

Makes sense - but one guy specifically said it was 100% deterministic

 

[Grunker]

Like he even says "there is no RNG, no surprises, no *big crit moments*" or something to that effect

 

[Saark]

Yeah that's just wrong. There definitely is RNG, it's actually a major part of the game I would say, and there are some specific fights (without spoiling too much) where you can cheese fights by simply rolling the dice until you dodge all of the attacks against you. It's deterministic in the sense that redoing the same fight won't give you different results unless you change a variable. It's somewhat similar to the the deterministic loot that some games have put into chests to disincentivize save-scumming, where the random contents of a chest are rolled once and then kept without you being able to reload for better results, only in UO you can reroll it by changing variables. But without changing variables, outcomes remain the same, yes. All RNG results are predetermined the moment you engage a fight (as they have to be already calculated for the quick battle and battle prediction).

Spoiler

Fights in the Arena in the second area of the game end up being re-rolled on their RNG everytime you engage them. So the cheese-strat there ends up being taking 0 damage while dealing at least one damage to the enemy team, as that would be considered a "win" and you move on to the next fight. So you simply stack evasion as much as you can on a single character, and re-try the fight until all hits miss. Unless the enemy has true-strike, of course, then you gotta find another way to cheese.

You notice this difference in outcomes the easiest, by checking the fight-prediction for any given fight, then doing another fight elsewhere on the map. The result of the first fight will likely have changed, despite it being the same units, with the same gear, the same buffs and the same formation, but because another fight happened, the outcome gets re-calculated and RNG might be different this time around.

That being said, the outcome of fights is rarely decided by this RNG, so I could see how someone might come to the conclusion that it is just the choices of the player that dictate the outcome of any given fight (and to an extent, that's the case). It's not until the later parts of the game where bigger squad sizes and more actions per unit end up making the fights a lot more complex and as a result, tiny swings can have a major effect (i.e. a crit could kill a unit that otherwise lives with low HP, getting healed back up, and then ends up using their remaining AP/PP to deal some serious damage). But since most crit-based units reach close to 100% with very little investment, or get guaranteed crits from buffs, this rarely comes into play. It doesn't start becoming noticable until you regularly fight flying units which have an inherent 50% dodge chance against any melee attacks, that can turn the tide of battle one way or the other if you get lucky or unlucky.

 

[Jaedar]

Like he even says "there is no RNG, no surprises, no *big crit moments*" or something to that effect

What he probably meant is "the combat preview is 100% accurate".

Anyway, not to tell you how to practice your hobby, but maybe you should spend an hour playing the demo instead of looking at all those reviews?

 

[Grunker]

Like he even says "there is no RNG, no surprises, no *big crit moments*" or something to that effect

What he probably meant is "the combat preview is 100% accurate".

Anyway, not to tell you how to practice your hobby, but maybe you should spend an hour playing the demo instead of looking at all those reviews?

It's hard to play demos while at work. And either way, Codex corrected it, didn't they?

 

[Saark]

It's hard to play demos while at work. And either way, Codex corrected it, didn't they?

I'd argue that relying on the codex for reviews is almost as insane as relying on games journalists. Definitely seconding the demo suggestion though. You get to play the prologue and then get 5 or 6 hours to just play the game, and there's no restrictions to that at all. Once that time is over, you can buy the game and import the demo-save to continue where you left off. This is how every game should release, imo.

 

[Grunker]

It's hard to play demos while at work. And either way, Codex corrected it, didn't they?

I'd argue that relying on the codex for reviews is almost as insane as relying on games journalists. Definitely seconding the demo suggestion though. You get to play the prologue and then get 5 or 6 hours to just play the game, and there's no restrictions to that at all. Once that time is over, you can buy the game and import the demo-save to continue where you left off. This is how every game should release, imo.

Codex as a whole maybe, but trusted posters? No place has the deets on stuff like this place stuff, especially when it comes to subjective judgment. The people who actually come here for game discussion and post in niche game threads are the GOATs. It's the sole reason I still come here.

 

[Yosharian]

Yeah the fight preview is a little controversial. Perhaps the highest difficulty should have had it turned off?

If we had a PC version we could mod that in...

 

[Saark]

Codex as a whole maybe, but trusted posters? No place has the deets on stuff like this place stuff, especially when it comes to subjective judgment. The people who actually come here for game discussion and post in niche game threads are the GOATs. It's the sole reason I still come here.

Fair enough. It's still the only place I come to for information and opinions as well, I've just grown more cynical and jaded over the years as the place has become a bigger refuge for shitposters like Andhaira or Wyrmlord than it's ever been. At least both of these still had actual opinions on games.

Yeah the fight preview is a little controversial. Perhaps the highest difficulty should have had it turned off?

I think so as well. While I think the fight preview basically removes the need for save-scumming, you typically just avoid fights entirely if you were to take any damage from it, until you get enough healing and resurrection spells that you can just not care about it. But even a single lost unit makes most squads unable to fight properly in the early and mid-game, so avoiding damage altogether is paramount early on, and the preview lets you do just that. The caveat to removing it would be that I think most of the game would have to be redesigned in terms of balancing if the battle preview didn't exist. While you could simply drag out most missions whenever you lost a unit, in a game that is already an easy 50-80hrs of playing it might end up feeling tedious instead of challenging. Most fights would end up becoming battles of attrition with multiple rounds of combat, simply to minimize loss of HP.

 

[Grunker]

Codex as a whole maybe, but trusted posters? No place has the deets on stuff like this place stuff, especially when it comes to subjective judgment. The people who actually come here for game discussion and post in niche game threads are the GOATs. It's the sole reason I still come here.

Fair enough. It's still the only place I come to for information and opinions as well, I've just grown more cynical and jaded over the years as the place has become a bigger refuge for shitposters like Andhaira or Wyrmlord than it's ever been. At least both of these still had actual opinions on games.

Completely agree.

 

[Tehdagah]

 

[wolfbane]

All RNG results are predetermined the moment you engage a fight

It’s very similar to Fire Emblem in this regard. There’s some degree of RNG, but the combat preview is always accurate (when you’re actually about to fight) in UO, while only being pretty accurate in Fire Emblem.

Fire Emblem is less reliant on RNG in general, compared to say D&D games, but a big part of the strategy is trying to boost your crit chance through various means (Killer weapons, increasing your luck stat, etc)

Unicorn Overlord lets you have a bit more control because it has many more equipment slots, and you can stack more crit boosting stuff there. Crits are also less meaningful in this game, I’d say.

 

[Abu Antar]

I platinumed the game today, at 60 hours. For me, it's an 8.5/10 game. I do wish that more missions were like the one in the post-game, though. The final fight was fun, and I was not prepared for the final boss gimmick. I had to git gud on that one. It wasn't a problem once I optimized my focused boss unit, and gave them proper equipment, though. I like that some fights where results showed your unit was going to get beaten could be totally different if you mucked around with unit placement, and what moves to use. I stuck with the first units that I got, and once they were full, I didn't even touch what I presume are better characters. Not many bestrals and angels in my team. I saw that there is a fight you can do after doing the post game mission. I beat here, and she shows up on several other locations on the map. Are the fights exactly the same, and do you get anything for fighting her multiple times?

 

[Reinhardt]

I stuck with the first units that I got

same as me

 

[Reinhardt]

I beat here, and she shows up on several other locations on the map. Are the fights exactly the same, and do you get anything for fighting her multiple times?

no, she fields full party of regional units in each region. rewards are dews.

 

[Yosharian]

Elves are way stronger than Angels or Bestrals I think

 

[Jaedar]

Elves are way stronger than Angels or Bestrals I think

What little I saw of bestrals did not impress me, but Ochlys is hella gud as an evasion tank. No idea if it's just her or if there are more angels like that.

 

[rashiakas]

wyverns / gryphons are way better then ochlys tho, bc they also deal damage

 

[Abu Antar]

The only bestrals I used were Bertrand and Ramona.

My main crew was Alain, Travis, Aubin, Adel, and then I'd swap healers.

 

[Reinhardt]

why adel and not clive? clive is earlier!

 

[Abu Antar]

why adel and not clive? clive is earlier!

I liked Clive, but I put him in a unit that was lacking, and he was one of two people carrying that unit.

 

[wolfbane]

Clive with a magic spear can solo many units

 

[Reinhardt]

why adel and not clive? clive is earlier!

I liked Clive, but I put him in a unit that was lacking, and he was one of two people carrying that unit.

i hope at least in monica unit?

 

[Abu Antar]

why adel and not clive? clive is earlier!

I liked Clive, but I put him in a unit that was lacking, and he was one of two people carrying that unit.

i hope at least in monica unit?

Idk, I'll take a look at them later. Disc is still in the console.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

wyverns / gryphons are way better then ochlys tho, bc they also deal damage

Wyvern-riders and gryphon-riders need someone in the front rank to bear the brunt of attacks; Ochlys is quite effective at providing that defensive capability, with some support and offense as well.

What little I saw of bestrals did not impress me, but Ochlys is hella gud as an evasion tank. No idea if it's just her or if there are more angels like that.

There's a second recruitable feathersword character in the England Albion region, as well as members of three new angel classes.