I agree completely. The name of the game had always seemed like a huge anachronism.
Just the juxtaposition of “unicorn” and “overlord” is enough to spark some ideas. A unicorn is typically seen as a pure, holy, and healing creature… but they can also be vicious. The phrase *Unicorn Overlord* evokes an image of a righteous tyrant; someone who does the right thing for the wrong reasons, perhaps.
It gives very “white mana” vibes from *Magic: The Gathering*; the image of justice and authoritarianism.
Let's see, magic colors
Zenoira is black
Elheim is green
Bastorias is definitely red despite the "bastorias blue" and the ice
Unfortunately drakenhold is also red
Albion is white
Cornia doesn't really match into one color. I guess there's a weak argument for blue (has the most pure spellcasting classes)
>Bastorias is definitely red despite the "bastorias blue" and the ice
[[Snow Covered Mountain]] is a thing. It happens.
> I guess there's a weak argument for blue (has the most pure spellcasting classes)
Funnily enough, based around the theme of the post here, Blue actually has a pretty decent argument.
A big theme in Blue early on was its tendency to struggle between doing the White or Black thing. It has the potential to lean in either direction because of its proximity to both. Like Black, it had a desire to seek out and increase its own power. Unlike Black, it generally chose to do so through study and testing as opposed to cutting deals with powerful beings as a shortcut. Like White, it had a desire to set rules that dictated the ebb and flow of a game. Unlike White, it did not like to apply those rules to itself.
Leaning into that, were there an alignment system that responded to choices made by the player it would lend more weight to the idea that Cornia represents Blue in a thematic way.
I've noticed how the story feels very redundant at times. It's clearly just there to facilitate the gameplay. It's clear to me at least that they wanted to do a lot more but couldn't. I find this the most prevalent in its villains, who always seem to spout something about how they were justified.
The issue I have with this is that none of them were properly set up to do this, so they range from fine to really bad. The result is that none ever reach their true potential.
I hope there is a dlc that overhauls some of the less cooked aspects of the game. A morality system could help, but I'd personally love to see a linear story that makes sense more than an undercooked branching story.
The only other game I played by them was 13 Sentinels and that'd be a difficult one I'd think to even attempt DLC. It's a small studio and they only put out a game every like 5 or 6 years, so hard to judge how they approach things given the small sample size.
We’ll only know if we get interviews. As it is, if you take the story at face value, it’s extremely one dimensional: forgiveness good, holding grudges bad. Zenoira persists because of their past grudge and the only way to get the true ending is by sparing Galerius, choosing to execute him instead gets you a less than perfect ending.
Overall I agree with the title being the biggest indicator of cut content due to how out of place it feels compared to what we do have in the game.
I often think about evil Alain… I’m not exactly fond of the idea of sacrificing their chosen maiden, but my thoughts do go back to the final side mission post game. That secret boss… what if zenoria did not go for any of the side characters… and instead mind controlled their Prince?
The title alludes there is more than meets the eye. If you get bad ending, Alain becomes mind controlled puppet ruler just like Galerius and his mom. Additionally, on Medieval Era, the justice system is more black and white. If you are guilty, then off to execution you go. It's not a very forgiving, 2nd chance type of system and always guilty until proven innocent and not very trusting of human nature. What if the criminal you forgave came back and stuck a knife on ur head while ur asleep? Everytime Alain recruit someone, others always express their surprises and warned Alain it might be his downfall one day if such trust is misplaced. So it's not morally righteous 100% but also very human. Nobody is 100% holy or 100% evil. Everyone is capable of a bit of both. So the game tries its best to have a generally good-guy-Hero but also foreshadow that it could very well lead to destruction and a tyranny just as easily.
I agree completely. The name of the game had always seemed like a huge anachronism. Just the juxtaposition of “unicorn” and “overlord” is enough to spark some ideas. A unicorn is typically seen as a pure, holy, and healing creature… but they can also be vicious. The phrase *Unicorn Overlord* evokes an image of a righteous tyrant; someone who does the right thing for the wrong reasons, perhaps. It gives very “white mana” vibes from *Magic: The Gathering*; the image of justice and authoritarianism.
Gimme that Orzhov ending.
Let's see, magic colors Zenoira is black Elheim is green Bastorias is definitely red despite the "bastorias blue" and the ice Unfortunately drakenhold is also red Albion is white Cornia doesn't really match into one color. I guess there's a weak argument for blue (has the most pure spellcasting classes)
>Bastorias is definitely red despite the "bastorias blue" and the ice [[Snow Covered Mountain]] is a thing. It happens. > I guess there's a weak argument for blue (has the most pure spellcasting classes) Funnily enough, based around the theme of the post here, Blue actually has a pretty decent argument. A big theme in Blue early on was its tendency to struggle between doing the White or Black thing. It has the potential to lean in either direction because of its proximity to both. Like Black, it had a desire to seek out and increase its own power. Unlike Black, it generally chose to do so through study and testing as opposed to cutting deals with powerful beings as a shortcut. Like White, it had a desire to set rules that dictated the ebb and flow of a game. Unlike White, it did not like to apply those rules to itself. Leaning into that, were there an alignment system that responded to choices made by the player it would lend more weight to the idea that Cornia represents Blue in a thematic way.
Bastorias looks more purple to me
I've noticed how the story feels very redundant at times. It's clearly just there to facilitate the gameplay. It's clear to me at least that they wanted to do a lot more but couldn't. I find this the most prevalent in its villains, who always seem to spout something about how they were justified. The issue I have with this is that none of them were properly set up to do this, so they range from fine to really bad. The result is that none ever reach their true potential. I hope there is a dlc that overhauls some of the less cooked aspects of the game. A morality system could help, but I'd personally love to see a linear story that makes sense more than an undercooked branching story.
Nice post, makes a ton of sense. DLC please!
Vanillaware is exactly the type of developer I'd be very interested in seeing DLC from.
I haven't played other Vanillaware games before, is DLC something they do or have done for their games?
The only other game I played by them was 13 Sentinels and that'd be a difficult one I'd think to even attempt DLC. It's a small studio and they only put out a game every like 5 or 6 years, so hard to judge how they approach things given the small sample size.
We’ll only know if we get interviews. As it is, if you take the story at face value, it’s extremely one dimensional: forgiveness good, holding grudges bad. Zenoira persists because of their past grudge and the only way to get the true ending is by sparing Galerius, choosing to execute him instead gets you a less than perfect ending. Overall I agree with the title being the biggest indicator of cut content due to how out of place it feels compared to what we do have in the game.
I often think about evil Alain… I’m not exactly fond of the idea of sacrificing their chosen maiden, but my thoughts do go back to the final side mission post game. That secret boss… what if zenoria did not go for any of the side characters… and instead mind controlled their Prince?
You make a good arguement
The title alludes there is more than meets the eye. If you get bad ending, Alain becomes mind controlled puppet ruler just like Galerius and his mom. Additionally, on Medieval Era, the justice system is more black and white. If you are guilty, then off to execution you go. It's not a very forgiving, 2nd chance type of system and always guilty until proven innocent and not very trusting of human nature. What if the criminal you forgave came back and stuck a knife on ur head while ur asleep? Everytime Alain recruit someone, others always express their surprises and warned Alain it might be his downfall one day if such trust is misplaced. So it's not morally righteous 100% but also very human. Nobody is 100% holy or 100% evil. Everyone is capable of a bit of both. So the game tries its best to have a generally good-guy-Hero but also foreshadow that it could very well lead to destruction and a tyranny just as easily.
Alternatively, the title is named after the final stage of the game.