New Langrisser Tactics RPG Appears to Borrow Heavily from Unicorn Overlord’s Style

I’ve been keeping a close eye on the return of Langrisser, a once-obscure tactical RPG series that has been silent for nearly a decade. The last game was released on the 3DS, and prior to that, many entries never made it to Western shores. A set of remasters in 2020 allowed fans to revisit the first two titles, though they came with some questionable art and design choices. Now, Langrisser is back with a new installment, and the initial impressions aren’t great.

After the teaser trailer dropped last week, I held onto some hope that Langrisser: Sea of Sword might be the revival fans have been waiting for. Unfortunately, the trailer was mostly confusing, save for the eye-catching anime character designs at the end.

One thing it did capture from the ’90s JRPG era was that familiar feeling of embarrassment, hoping no one else was around to see me watching it. Langrisser is known for its grid-based strategy gameplay, so I decided to hold off on my judgment until a proper gameplay trailer was released.

Now that the gameplay trailer for Langrisser: Sea of Sword is out, it hasn’t improved my outlook. While it features the series’ signature blend of turn-based map tactics and multi-unit skirmishes reminiscent of Advance Wars, the rest of the presentation—from the art style to the overworld exploration—feels like a knockoff of Vanillaware’s impressive Unicorn Overlord. Additionally, the game is listed as free-to-play on Steam, hinting at a monetization model that could involve gacha mechanics and microtransactions. The cringe factor with the anime aesthetics is also present.

Surprisingly, many comments on the trailer are quite positive. If it were just one of these issues, it might be easier to overlook. Even if Langrisser turned out to be a cringe-worthy imitation of Unicorn Overlord, I’d still be curious. Would I shell out $60 for it? Maybe. But a free-to-play grind focused on scantily clad characters? I have plenty of other games on my plate.

After all, there’s already a free-to-play Langrisser game available on mobile. Perhaps Langrisser: Sea of Sword will surprise us and turn out to be a fantastic tactical RPG. I’d love to be proven wrong, but I’m not holding my breath.