Overview – developed by SuperNiche, Gemdrops and BROCCOLI, with publishing by NIS America, Etrange Overlord is a mission based action RPG, mixing tactics, real time battles and lots of sweets. As Étrange von Rosenburg, embark on an adventure through Hell itself as she tries to live her best life, with musical set pieces along the way. This title is available for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation and Steam, with a link to each version of the game at the bottom of this review.
Disclaimer: Before I get into the review, I would like to thank NIS America for providing the copy of Etrange Overlord that was used for this piece, via the Keymailer Service. The provision of this software has not influenced the contents of this review, all thoughts and opinions contained within are my own.
Now with the introductions out of the way, let’s get into the review, starting with the story (details taken from the official website). Please note, I will be omitting some details for the game in the review, as I do not want to spoil any of the secrets or surprises of the experience.
Story – Lady Étrange von Rosenburg is framed and executed for a plot against the royal family, waking up in Hell. Unfazed by this turn of events, she encounters demons that attempt to persecute her, combatting them with her dark arts. Through her power and charisma, Étrange quickly amasses followers, while encountering denizens of hell and those tied to her previous life. The curtain rises on the adventures of a most gorgeous and elegant villainess.
Gameplay – Etrange Overlord is a mission based action RPG, where the player travels through hell, completing mission objectives to progress. Hell itself is split into segments, making up a large overworld map, which will be opened up by completing missions. These missions are shown on the map as towers or buildings, with flags flying above them. Each of the areas of hell has multiple locations to conquer with the next opening with each victory.
The missions themselves will have a variety of objectives that can be applied to them, with the most common being enemy annihilation. In these missions, the player must defeat all the enemies within a time limit, with many of them having a boss monster appearing at the end. Then there are the more challenging objectives, like defending a specific character or capturing designated zones. All of these missions have a time limit to complete them within.
When starting the missions, the player will be able to deploy a party with a maximum of four characters. The player can alter the formation of the party for the most part, but there will be missions that have fixed members. Before the missions begins, the player will see what the core objective for the mission is, but there will be additional challenges that can be cleared. These will be obscured when starting the mission, but will be shown at the end of it.
During the missions, the player will control one of the party, moving around the battlefield and fight off enemies with their attacks. All characters have a combo attack that they can use, with characters either having a melee strike or ranged attacks. Many of the objectives can be cleared by relying on just the standard attacks, but some will require more involved methods. This is where the LANE and gadget systems come into play.
LANEs are the manifestation of musical energy, which carry support items along them for the player and party to grab. The support items consist of attack boosts, shield bonuses and health recovery, which will give the player an edge in battle against the demonic horde. There can also be items like bombs, which can be grabbed and thrown at enemies for big damage. There will also be platforms that can be ridden on, which will let the player cover dangerous gaps.
Within some of the battlefields, there will be gadgets that appear like catapults and energy generators, which will need to be activated before use. The gadgets can be important to success in missions, especially during some of the more challenging boss battles. This is due to bosses having weak points which need to be hit, these can lead to the enemy being stunned for a time. When an enemy is stunned, their defense will drop completely.
During the battles, players can pick up special items that will give them super attack charges. These will allow the player to unleash an ultimate attack with that characters, with a cinematic flourish before unleasing their ultimate skill. It is possible for party members to be defeated, having their health depleted and incapacitating them. If this happens, the player will have a chance to revive them, but this can be risky if they are surrounded.
The player can switch between party members, allowing for various tactics to be deployed in the battle, it can also be helpful to keep characters from being defeated. A.I. controlled party members can have one of three directives applied to them, with Gadget, Victory and Enemies as options. The Gadget command has them focus on using gadgets, Victory directs the party to focus on the objective, with Enemies telling them to seek and destroy.
At the end of a mission, the player will receive rewards for clearing the objective, as well as bonuses for completing the bonus challenges. If the player fails the mission, either through defeat of by running out of time, there will be two options. The first is the retry option which will restart the mission, letting players give it another go. Then there is Give Up, which will return the player to the overworld, this will let players prepare before challenging it again.
Throughout the experience, there will be story scenes that push the narrative along, with Étrange interacting with different characters. There are also additional scenes that will add some additional drama and intrigue, building the atmosphere of the adventure. During the course of the game, there will also be musical numbers, where Étrange will sing about the events and her adventure. These elements add more fun and whimsy to enjoy.
The last thing to discuss is the base, which allows the player to access various facilities. In the base, the player will be able to use the shop, where various supplies can be purchased, using funds earned during play. Then there is the cooking station, where foods can be made to provide buffs for the party, which will last for a limited time. As the player makes their way through the game, additional features and facilities will be added to the game.
The last thing to discuss is the Multiplayer modes for Etrange Overlord. This adventure can be played by up to four players, offering both online and local co-op play. As the story progresses, there will be multiplayer challenges that can be played. These challenges are separate from the main game, with their own gimmicks and elements, adding more play value. However, there will be spoilers for the experience so proceed with caution.
Now with the gameplay covered, it is time to discuss the other elements of the game, starting with the controls.
Controls – There is an easy to use control scheme for this release, offering players a layout that is fairly comfortable to play with both regular controllers and the Joy-Cons. All of the inputs feel snappy and responsive, with little in terms of delay or lag during play. There is also the inclusion of on screen prompts, showing what to press to perform actions. As this is a real-time combat action RPG, everything works well and is a lot of fun to play.
Difficulty – there is a fairly challenging difficulty curve for this release, with the tight times for some challenges that can be a little rough. Sadly, the A.I. can be a little awkward during play, not making the most intelligence choices and getting swarmed. Thankfully, for those who may struggle a little, there is an option for players to activate Sweets mode, which will ease the difficulty of play. Thankfully, failure doesn’t punish the player too much.
Presentation – from a visual perspective, Etrange Overlord is gorgeous, with artwork/designs for characters and environments that really pop off the screen. There are elements of the characters and art style, alongside the setting feel like they would fit in a Disgaea title. This is likely due to the original creator of the strategy RPG being involved. Everything runs flawlessly on the Nintendo Switch 2, but I was unable to test it on the previous system.
Alongside the outstanding visuals, there is the sound which is a big part of the experience. There is a fantastic soundtrack, with music that has elements of classical, medieval fantasy and orchestral compositions. These work very well to build the atmosphere of the experience, which is combined with the musical set pieces that round it out. There is only Japanese voice acting, which is performed well and has a charm to the characterisations.
Final Thoughts – As a fan of Disgaea, this title really appealed to me as the creator of the series is behind it, with the premise or a musical RPG being rather unique. When I got to play the game, I was not disappointed, as there is a lot of fun to be had with the action, alongside a story that was just as entertaining. The action of battle was responsive, with smooth reactive attacks and special moves that were exciting, making it a joy to jump into battle.
There are a few hiccups with the game sadly, like the A.I. that can make less than intelligent decisions, as well as the fairly tight time limits. But, aside from those issues I had with the experience, the rest of the experience is well polished. There is a lot of content on offer, as well as the multiplayer adding even more value. I am happy to recommend this release to everyone, as it is a very fun time, with silly humor and a unique premise.
In the end, I give Etrange Overlord a final score of 4.5/5. This is a very good action RPG, with reactive and fast paced action, unique gameplay mechanics, a charming cast of endearingly odd characters and a narrative that is bolstered by the musical set pieces. If you want to check this release out for yourself, a link to each version of the game will be below.
Link to Nintendo Switch version (HERE)
Link to PlayStation version (HERE)
Link to Steam version (HERE)
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