Étrange Von Rosenburg has been convicted of treason, sentenced to dying, beheaded on the guillotine, and despatched to hell. What to do about it? Beat just a few demons into submission, commandeer a automobile, and take over the underworld for herself. Such is your premise for Etrange Overlord.
Oh, and there’s musical numbers.
That is simply one of many joyously bizarre video games I’ve performed in fairly a while, however we’d count on nothing much less from Sōhei Niikawa, creator of the Disgaea collection. Though it’s mainly an motion RPG at coronary heart, there are greater than sufficient distinctive components to push it alongside by way of its considerably brief runtime.
The expertise is break up into two components. First, there’s a prolonged narrative to work by way of as Étrange involves phrases along with her predicament. These primarily contain her interacting with the characters she meets alongside the best way. Some are allies who’ve joined her from the actual world (her cat, for example). Most, nonetheless, are hell’s demons and/or workers/contractors who she has bested in battle and have determined to affix her.
The beauty of these plot dumps is that lots of them embody transient musical numbers. They’re choreographed and delivered with the misguided earnestness of a highschool theater manufacturing, and I discovered myself wishing they’d been used extra usually.
However even once they’re not singing, the characters are participating and comical. Most waver between worry and awe of Étrange as her powers and dedication mix to make her a harmful particular person to be round.
That hazard, nonetheless, is helpful on the battlefield. Fight is about in small arenas by which you normally management 4 characters who should mix their powers to realize varied targets (remove the enemies, accumulate objects, seize all zones). You management one character at a time, and may swap between them at will. The opposite characters act on their very own, however you’ll be able to assign primary instructions to maintain the group centered on the set aim.
After all, every character comes with a singular skillset. You determine who to tug right into a battle at the beginning, however every degree is replayable if you wish to strive once more with an optimized get together. And you’ll need to strive once more. Degree grinding is critical, sadly, however at the least you’re given new targets to realize so you are feeling such as you’re getting one thing accomplished.
Upgrading and adjusting your get together isn’t the one step to victory, nonetheless. The principle gimmick in Etrange Overlord is the inclusion of musical lanes that present upgrades, weapons, well being, and many others. The lanes function these things in rotation like kaitenzushi, you simply want to select up what you need and put it to make use of. You’ll be able to even hop on platforms to trip the lanes to in any other case unreachable areas. Sadly, you may also seize objects chances are you’ll not want, and it might take some time earlier than they return. I realized to be very cautious about not grabbing bombs or truffles (for well being) till the second actually referred to as for them.
These lanes turn into an important a part of the pre-level technique, too. Sure, you should use collected objects to improve weapons on your characters, and you’ll receive recipes to prepare dinner for fight boosts. That may solely get you up to now, nonetheless, so that you must also customise what objects so as to add to the musical lanes. Developing on a boss that’s impervious to your commonplace weapons? Load up on bombs. Does the extent embody turrets that have to be powered up? Add some electrical energy. The assorted objects price completely different quantities so as to add, so that you’ll must juggle the objects to ensure all the things’s optimized on your strategy.
One different component, I assume, is world exploration. Between fight and narrative dumps, you’ll be able to drive round hell to select up varied objects on your weapon upgrades and recipe substances. They replenish continuously, so there’s at all times one thing to seize.
All of those items mix for a reasonably chaotic expertise, however that’s not at all times good. Regardless of the entire strategic components concerned, I discovered the battles relied a bit an excessive amount of on chaos. I’d lose a pair instances, then immediately win simply with out altering something in my strategy; issues simply bounced my means that point.
The sport additionally begins to look and play the identical after some time, even with the entire customization choices. The setting doesn’t change a lot, and the fundamental fight stays stagnant at the same time as you add new characters and talents. The net and native multiplayer element can add some spark to your gaming periods, nevertheless it’s relegated to fight periods. You can’t play by way of the story mode with a good friend, and the multiplayer arenas really embody some spoilers should you haven’t progressed far sufficient.
Etrange Overlord remains to be fairly pleasing regardless of these drawbacks, I simply discovered it simpler to get pleasure from in small bursts. I performed a degree or two, put it down for some time, then returned after I didn’t really feel like taking part in one thing extra concerned. The fundamental fight and guided development is simple to hop again into, and gaps between gaming periods make the required grinding simpler to tolerate.
Extra importantly, it’s all goofy enjoyable. The characters are charming (together with the villains), and the fairly darkish story is delivered with a joyful humorousness. In case you get pleasure from its strategy sufficient to achieve the ultimate curtain, you’ll absolutely be calling for an encore.
