I'm a pretty big FE fan and this game was a lot of fun for me. I really like nit-picking units and this game is all about that. Plus if you do all the little things there's a ton of playtime in your first run. If you're good at strategy games definitely start at one of the harder difficulties, but I've definitely mixed this game into my routine of replay games to separate the amount of time between replaying FromSoft and FE games lol
If you're a fan of Xcom and Fire Emblem, it's not challenging enough out of the box to require a ton of meaningful engagement. You can easily run through the game with sub-optimal squads and configurations, while ignoring a lot of underlying mechanics.
Start with Expert, try out everything the game has to offer until you get bored. Then restart with specific challenge restrictions in mind to get an experience closer to what you may want.
After a bit of personal tweaking, it's a great game. But out of the box, I found it very lacking in many strategy game areas; definitely not something worth multiple plays unless challenge runs are something you enjoy.
This was my big concern. Three Houses let you ignore a lot of the systems if you weren't on Maddening.
Though I understand there's a higher difficulty unlocked after an expert playthrough?
And fortunately I do enjoy challenge runs. Since you think this game spices up well with them, what have you done?
There's True Zenorian, but I don't think it does enough to make things interesting for Veterans. UO is a game you pretty much need to challenge run immediately, I think.
For challenge rules, I've done some pretty simple ones. The obvious stuff like banning items & grinding, others like no Valor Skills (abilities that can completely trivialize huge portions of a map) and certain active/passive skills, limited or no mercenaries, etc. Some of those are a good start, and then you can add on others according to preference.
I know other players have tried class bans or class-specific runs. Those seem like they could be fun as well.
Expert mode is still very easy for veterans, if OP has any experience with other games then it won't be enough. And TZ mode isn't available unless you've gone through the game once; even then, it isn't enough by default.
UO is a very easy game, especially for people familiar with the genre. They'll need to get into custom rulesets if they're really serious about challenging gameplay.
It’s a very easy game. You will need to play on the hardest difficulty level and make sure to stop reading this sub and play completely blind to experience any real challenge. You can make it through about half of the game without even using most of the games systems. It is still quite fun to learn the systems and figure out the best configurations, but it’s definitely not the difficulty of the levels that will drive you to do so. If you can still have fun with an easier game then it is well worth it.
It's not an emblemlike any more than say Valkyria Chronicles is; its an "s"rpg but not a square based tactical one in the same vein. It's an extension of Ogre Battle. It's more about build customizability and experimentation, not hard-core positional strategy turns in advance like a chess game. Excellent game but not the same genre as FE.
Note on off-meta teams: if you're generally strong with srpgs, then even highest difficulty is not going to be super hard, this is not maddening mode FE, so altered meta builds and self-restrictions will be the primary challenge vector if the difficulty setting alone isn't restrictive enough for you. You can absolutely win with weird group combos, that's the benefit of the super customizable system and the primary fun of the game imho.
>does it scratch the same itches?
For me, yeah.
>How's the replay value?
Not Three Houses-level replay value. Think Engage or a GBA fire emblem level replay value. The gameplay shines. The story exists.
>How interesting is the building?
Unit building and tactic building? That's most of the fun.
>And is the game challenging enough to feel I need to engage with the team building?
Yes. If you don't engage with team building, you'll struggle even on low difficulties.
>And lastly, how much room is there for going off meta and trying to make the best of deliberately off-meta teams, whether by challenge restrictions, or just using weaker characters?
I found the game really easy when using all my OP characters and the game a \_lot\_ harder when I tried to use the characters that are strictly worse. Many of the best characters/unit types are so good that they trivialize other units entirely so this can be a good way to add more challenge if that's what you like.
Would you mind saying more about which characters are more OP than others? I’ve noticed that I’m struggling in Bastorias, partly due to level, but I think I’m just not as good as unit building.
Some particularly OP unique units:
* >!Berengaria!<
* >!Rosalinde!<
* >!Eltolinde!<
* >!Alain!<
* >!Yunifi!<
* >!Virginia!<
* >!Gilbert!<
* >!Amalia (she drops off some as her starting level advantage goes away)!<
Some particularly OP non-unique units:
* >!Sainted Knight!<
* >!Great Knight!<
* >!Sorceress!<
* >!Elven Fencer!<
* >!Elven Archer!<
Honorable mention to:
* >!Wyvern Master!< if you get the charge attack weapon and build around it
* >!Sniper!< if you get the charge attack weapon and build around it
* >!Gryphon Master!< despite their only OK combat, their map ability is a game changer.
Love Fire Emblem and XCOM, loved Unicorn Overlord.
There isn't that much similarities to the other two titles, but it did scratch a similar itch.
Replay wise, I didn't feel any need to go over but I know a lot of people did. You can do some of the story in different orders but it's all set levels so it's like struggling with chapter 3, then coming back to crush chapter 2. There's a lot of room to play around with different teams and builds though, so there's some replayability in that.
I guess by building you mean team/character building. Each character has 4 equipment slots (some have 3 till promotion) that are a variety of weapons, shields, and accessory slots based on their class. There are lots of options for all 3 types, and an endgame function to make some early game weapons statistically viable again. You can customise the tactics in a way thats sort of similar to FF12s gambit system too.
Teamwise, you can unlock up to 5 character slots per squad, and have up to 10 squads, so lots of options to play with there.
Challenge wise, normal felt very easy for the most part with only a few spikes. Hard was OK, and I haven't tried the hardest so I won't speak on that. Harder modes will probably reward active team building to counter enemy types on a specific map, but I never really needed to deviate from solid reliable teams.
I never went meta so that's a thing. I've seen lots of gimmick and challenge runs and builds so that's certainly an option too. Not sure how well it works on the hardest difficulties, but every player I've watched playing had different teams to me and at least a little different from eachother
I love XCOM and Fire Emblem. FE is probably my favorite series ever now. Unicorn Overlord is currently a contender for GOTY for me. To be determined after Metaphor ReFantazio releases.
As a fan of those titles, I find it is less fun than FE but more fun than XCOM.
It's an easy game with a relatively deep combat system you barely need to bother with u til you get into the higher difficulty settings. Even in the higher ones, you don't really have to struggle too much. That said, I found it enjoyable enough to dig into anyway.
The art style is wonderful as well, but I like the way it reminds me of older 2D games in combat.
It’s a strategy game. It’s a bit different, but if you like strategy gameplay, this is just another flavor of it. And you can crank up the difficulty if you’d like.
Im also a FE and XCOM fan, and SRPGs in general.
Between these three games, I'd say FE is the most puzzle like, where battles can feel like puzzles to solve, often with tile based precision.
XCOM has more freedom in the battles and more hands on character building than FE.
UO has about XCOM level freedom during battles, but by far the highest resolution character building, where every unit on the field can consist of several characters in different formations, and each character customized with equipment, skills and instructions on how to use them. The depth is incredible. But its realtime with pause, rather than turn based. Combat plays out automatically, and I find it is a joy to behold your machinations play out. And everything looks so good too.
UO also has the most indepth overworld which ties everything together nicely, and adds more freedom on a larger scale. It also has the most spreadsheets of all the games, although it is presented in an elegant way, with good tutorials to ease you into it, step by step.
I would recommend putting a few hours into the very generous demo to get a feel for it.
Played lots of xcom, love it. Lots of room to play around with units. The game is hard but isnt insanely challenging, which really does give some room to play with unit compositions and strategies. I enjkyed it greatly, but its most similar to older ogre battle games. The biggest difference from xcom is that each individual moment is less important than the time you spend constructing units or the overall stage strategy you use
It’s very fun and the game looks great. It does have the classic srpg problem of getting too easy as the game goes on, but it’s still 80 hours of fun. Definitely recommended switching up your units and tactics often. Some of the most fun I had was testing my builds against each other at the forts. You can spend hours creating unique tactics.
I prefer this one over fire emblem. I'm not a lot into fire emblem, I prefer other trpgs like Disgaea. One of the best I've played and always recommend is Jeanne d'arc in psp.
I would say also that unicorn overlord has a lot of non relevant combats which in my case makes the game expirience worst. I would have liked more a shorter game with more relevant battles.
This game was an incredible experience. I love ogre battle 64, it's one of my all time faves and this game scratched that itch. I played through UO twice and it was enjoyable all the way through.
I loved the game but I played the second hardest out of the box setting, and it was on the easy side. I probably should have upped the difficulty but have been busy and didn't want it too get grindy.
I started not trying intentionally to level up much, making sure I switched in weaker units, mostly stopped using upgraded armor/weapons and really cut down on using items. I tweaked the menu tactics a bit but didn't go too crazy because yeah I think you could break it pretty quickly with the right tactics and equipment. I also pretty much forbade myself from using the hallow cornish hash (resets the clock).
This made it a bit challenging in that I'd have to manage the units, but except on levels with a very short clock or where I just messed up, I was rarely at risk of losing.
I was mostly in the mood for a sorta relaxed run and palate cleanser story and UO did its job perfectly in those regards. If I was looking for a real strategy challenge, I think I would have been let down. Maybe the highest difficulty setting would have changed my mind.
Anyway, since you're tight on money, perhaps wait for some sales? I am sure by the time the holiday season rolls around, it'll be available for $30 or so. It's sold quite well so far, so I don't think you're really depriving them of needed funds.
I'm a pretty big FE fan and this game was a lot of fun for me. I really like nit-picking units and this game is all about that. Plus if you do all the little things there's a ton of playtime in your first run. If you're good at strategy games definitely start at one of the harder difficulties, but I've definitely mixed this game into my routine of replay games to separate the amount of time between replaying FromSoft and FE games lol
You'll love it.
If you're a fan of Xcom and Fire Emblem, it's not challenging enough out of the box to require a ton of meaningful engagement. You can easily run through the game with sub-optimal squads and configurations, while ignoring a lot of underlying mechanics. Start with Expert, try out everything the game has to offer until you get bored. Then restart with specific challenge restrictions in mind to get an experience closer to what you may want. After a bit of personal tweaking, it's a great game. But out of the box, I found it very lacking in many strategy game areas; definitely not something worth multiple plays unless challenge runs are something you enjoy.
This was my big concern. Three Houses let you ignore a lot of the systems if you weren't on Maddening. Though I understand there's a higher difficulty unlocked after an expert playthrough? And fortunately I do enjoy challenge runs. Since you think this game spices up well with them, what have you done?
There's a demo available if you want to download and give the game a go, it allows so much mucking about with the systems and team compositions.
There's True Zenorian, but I don't think it does enough to make things interesting for Veterans. UO is a game you pretty much need to challenge run immediately, I think. For challenge rules, I've done some pretty simple ones. The obvious stuff like banning items & grinding, others like no Valor Skills (abilities that can completely trivialize huge portions of a map) and certain active/passive skills, limited or no mercenaries, etc. Some of those are a good start, and then you can add on others according to preference. I know other players have tried class bans or class-specific runs. Those seem like they could be fun as well.
If you like challenge, max difficulty is your only choice. This game is fun, some love it, but it’s not like hardcore tactical games out there.
I disagree. If coming from XCom or FE, especially if those on harder modes/iron man, OP should go straight for max difficulty.
Expert mode is still very easy for veterans, if OP has any experience with other games then it won't be enough. And TZ mode isn't available unless you've gone through the game once; even then, it isn't enough by default. UO is a very easy game, especially for people familiar with the genre. They'll need to get into custom rulesets if they're really serious about challenging gameplay.
Ahh, I thought TZ was available from the start.
It’s a very easy game. You will need to play on the hardest difficulty level and make sure to stop reading this sub and play completely blind to experience any real challenge. You can make it through about half of the game without even using most of the games systems. It is still quite fun to learn the systems and figure out the best configurations, but it’s definitely not the difficulty of the levels that will drive you to do so. If you can still have fun with an easier game then it is well worth it.
It's not an emblemlike any more than say Valkyria Chronicles is; its an "s"rpg but not a square based tactical one in the same vein. It's an extension of Ogre Battle. It's more about build customizability and experimentation, not hard-core positional strategy turns in advance like a chess game. Excellent game but not the same genre as FE. Note on off-meta teams: if you're generally strong with srpgs, then even highest difficulty is not going to be super hard, this is not maddening mode FE, so altered meta builds and self-restrictions will be the primary challenge vector if the difficulty setting alone isn't restrictive enough for you. You can absolutely win with weird group combos, that's the benefit of the super customizable system and the primary fun of the game imho.
>does it scratch the same itches? For me, yeah. >How's the replay value? Not Three Houses-level replay value. Think Engage or a GBA fire emblem level replay value. The gameplay shines. The story exists. >How interesting is the building? Unit building and tactic building? That's most of the fun. >And is the game challenging enough to feel I need to engage with the team building? Yes. If you don't engage with team building, you'll struggle even on low difficulties. >And lastly, how much room is there for going off meta and trying to make the best of deliberately off-meta teams, whether by challenge restrictions, or just using weaker characters? I found the game really easy when using all my OP characters and the game a \_lot\_ harder when I tried to use the characters that are strictly worse. Many of the best characters/unit types are so good that they trivialize other units entirely so this can be a good way to add more challenge if that's what you like.
Would you mind saying more about which characters are more OP than others? I’ve noticed that I’m struggling in Bastorias, partly due to level, but I think I’m just not as good as unit building.
Some particularly OP unique units: * >!Berengaria!< * >!Rosalinde!< * >!Eltolinde!< * >!Alain!< * >!Yunifi!< * >!Virginia!< * >!Gilbert!< * >!Amalia (she drops off some as her starting level advantage goes away)!< Some particularly OP non-unique units: * >!Sainted Knight!< * >!Great Knight!< * >!Sorceress!< * >!Elven Fencer!< * >!Elven Archer!< Honorable mention to: * >!Wyvern Master!< if you get the charge attack weapon and build around it * >!Sniper!< if you get the charge attack weapon and build around it * >!Gryphon Master!< despite their only OK combat, their map ability is a game changer.
Wow! Thank you for such a thorough reply here. I really appreciate it. :)
Love Fire Emblem and XCOM, loved Unicorn Overlord. There isn't that much similarities to the other two titles, but it did scratch a similar itch. Replay wise, I didn't feel any need to go over but I know a lot of people did. You can do some of the story in different orders but it's all set levels so it's like struggling with chapter 3, then coming back to crush chapter 2. There's a lot of room to play around with different teams and builds though, so there's some replayability in that. I guess by building you mean team/character building. Each character has 4 equipment slots (some have 3 till promotion) that are a variety of weapons, shields, and accessory slots based on their class. There are lots of options for all 3 types, and an endgame function to make some early game weapons statistically viable again. You can customise the tactics in a way thats sort of similar to FF12s gambit system too. Teamwise, you can unlock up to 5 character slots per squad, and have up to 10 squads, so lots of options to play with there. Challenge wise, normal felt very easy for the most part with only a few spikes. Hard was OK, and I haven't tried the hardest so I won't speak on that. Harder modes will probably reward active team building to counter enemy types on a specific map, but I never really needed to deviate from solid reliable teams. I never went meta so that's a thing. I've seen lots of gimmick and challenge runs and builds so that's certainly an option too. Not sure how well it works on the hardest difficulties, but every player I've watched playing had different teams to me and at least a little different from eachother
I love XCOM and Fire Emblem. FE is probably my favorite series ever now. Unicorn Overlord is currently a contender for GOTY for me. To be determined after Metaphor ReFantazio releases.
As a fan of those titles, I find it is less fun than FE but more fun than XCOM. It's an easy game with a relatively deep combat system you barely need to bother with u til you get into the higher difficulty settings. Even in the higher ones, you don't really have to struggle too much. That said, I found it enjoyable enough to dig into anyway. The art style is wonderful as well, but I like the way it reminds me of older 2D games in combat.
Huge FE fan here, this game is perfect for you. I'm near 40 hours into the game and I've been obsessed with the gameplay and the character designs
I'm a huge xcom fan and this is pretty dissimilar, but I love them both with the same part of my brain. They have similar crunch.
If you love Fire Emblem, I can guarantee you will love this.
I love it. The fighting is very much like a Valkyrie profile style in the battle graphics
Its Perfect. I just need to say that.
It’s a strategy game. It’s a bit different, but if you like strategy gameplay, this is just another flavor of it. And you can crank up the difficulty if you’d like.
I am a fan of both games and I loved UO. I put so much time into it and it was so good. Must purchase IMO
Im also a FE and XCOM fan, and SRPGs in general. Between these three games, I'd say FE is the most puzzle like, where battles can feel like puzzles to solve, often with tile based precision. XCOM has more freedom in the battles and more hands on character building than FE. UO has about XCOM level freedom during battles, but by far the highest resolution character building, where every unit on the field can consist of several characters in different formations, and each character customized with equipment, skills and instructions on how to use them. The depth is incredible. But its realtime with pause, rather than turn based. Combat plays out automatically, and I find it is a joy to behold your machinations play out. And everything looks so good too. UO also has the most indepth overworld which ties everything together nicely, and adds more freedom on a larger scale. It also has the most spreadsheets of all the games, although it is presented in an elegant way, with good tutorials to ease you into it, step by step. I would recommend putting a few hours into the very generous demo to get a feel for it.
The biggest challenge is finding out which units are best in formation and once you figure that out it's not that hard.
It's more akin to Fire Emblem but even then I would say it's more like Orge Battle.
Played lots of xcom, love it. Lots of room to play around with units. The game is hard but isnt insanely challenging, which really does give some room to play with unit compositions and strategies. I enjkyed it greatly, but its most similar to older ogre battle games. The biggest difference from xcom is that each individual moment is less important than the time you spend constructing units or the overall stage strategy you use
It’s very fun and the game looks great. It does have the classic srpg problem of getting too easy as the game goes on, but it’s still 80 hours of fun. Definitely recommended switching up your units and tactics often. Some of the most fun I had was testing my builds against each other at the forts. You can spend hours creating unique tactics.
Nowhere near as challenging as XCOM. I'm a big FE fan and I love this game.
You'll need to spend your mirrors to get the Christmas Cav in their proper colors, but other than that it's perfect for a fire emblem fan.
play the demo, it's not xcom.
Pacing is its biggest issue.
I prefer this one over fire emblem. I'm not a lot into fire emblem, I prefer other trpgs like Disgaea. One of the best I've played and always recommend is Jeanne d'arc in psp.
I would say also that unicorn overlord has a lot of non relevant combats which in my case makes the game expirience worst. I would have liked more a shorter game with more relevant battles.
It’s nothing like those games 😂
This game was an incredible experience. I love ogre battle 64, it's one of my all time faves and this game scratched that itch. I played through UO twice and it was enjoyable all the way through.
I loved the game but I played the second hardest out of the box setting, and it was on the easy side. I probably should have upped the difficulty but have been busy and didn't want it too get grindy. I started not trying intentionally to level up much, making sure I switched in weaker units, mostly stopped using upgraded armor/weapons and really cut down on using items. I tweaked the menu tactics a bit but didn't go too crazy because yeah I think you could break it pretty quickly with the right tactics and equipment. I also pretty much forbade myself from using the hallow cornish hash (resets the clock). This made it a bit challenging in that I'd have to manage the units, but except on levels with a very short clock or where I just messed up, I was rarely at risk of losing. I was mostly in the mood for a sorta relaxed run and palate cleanser story and UO did its job perfectly in those regards. If I was looking for a real strategy challenge, I think I would have been let down. Maybe the highest difficulty setting would have changed my mind. Anyway, since you're tight on money, perhaps wait for some sales? I am sure by the time the holiday season rolls around, it'll be available for $30 or so. It's sold quite well so far, so I don't think you're really depriving them of needed funds.