Conveyor Belt Catastrophe
Arriving in the hellish underworld that is hell itself Étrange von Rosenburg has been falsely accused of assassination of a king, once she arrives she finds that hell is just as bad as life itself as the denizens look to give her a hard time, little do they know Étrange has a power worthy of a god and hell is in for a rough time if they think otherwise.
Etrange Overlord is a hectic action JRPG created by Sohei Niikawa who is the creator of the Disgaea series and Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure. Being a fan of the tongue in cheek humour of these games, I knew I would have a lot of fun with Etrange Overlord and I was not wrong. While the game does have some minor negatives I will touch on the game delivers a quirky story with some fun mechanics.
The games design is comparable to its Disgaea counterpart with character designs baring a striking resemblance. Étrange von Rosenburg who finds herself attracting the army of the underworld due to several unsuccessful attempts from the demons themselves in showing her who is boss. Her flippant remarks and unwillingness to bow down to the demons and their assumption she is weak makes for a funny story and as more demons become unsuccessful she builds an army only ever stronger with her will to take over the underworld.
Etrange Overlord has Étrange von Rosenburg explore hell by moving across the map. The map consists of towers which act as the games gameplay sequences, engaging with the tower allows you to play a stage where you will fight in a mini arena against other foes. You fight in real time against other foes and must take them all out in order to win mixing it up with some boss fights and enemy foes joining your party as part of the story, mechanics start of simple and will begin by simply attacking however as the game opens up you will have others who fight with you with new game mechanics opening up which allow more freedom and ways to fight within each battlefield.
The core mechanic here is the conveyor belts denoted as music sheets that transport items, power ups and even hazards along its lanes. You can collect these power ups and use them to your advantage such as restoring health and throwing bombs to deal massive damage on the field. The way in which they are laid out can be helpful or ultimately put you at a disadvantage depending on the arena as much later stages become way more hectic with more going on, the hazards can be used to your advantage however such as luring a boss with a shield into them so you can remove it and dish out loads of damage while they are in a weakened state. Lanes can be customised later on which allows you to take control of how much and what can be on these lanes. Other points on the map consist of optional cutscenes, while optional they can unlock a recipe which can be useful from a gameplay perspective. The map has some interaction where you can pick up items and mow down fences and bushes for some optional loot also.
The cast of Etrange Overlord is varied and each character compliments the group in their own way, there is no customisation here and each cast of character has meaning, whether they were an enemy before or a human from the overworld they all play a part in Etrange Overlord and each character has their own strengths and weaknesses. Cat Smith which is Étrange von Rosenburg’s faithful pet from the beginning is good at dishing out close range damage while Étrange von Rosenburg herself fights at long range.
While each character has their own play style and can compliment each other within battle situations the game is not overbearingly difficult and even in small difficult situations the battle can be won with some quick thinking, Etrange Overlord is a game that is suitable for playing in short bursts and so far I have not found any features that break open the game or super bosses like in Disgaea, it is a pick up and play game with a great story, the sound and music is great however I am saddened at the lack of English Voice Acting in the game, the game is still very much fun and the humour is not lost on this fact.
Another negative is the noticeable lack of any tutorial, when you are thrust into battle you are on your own to figure out the controls and while there is a help section detailing characters and how things worth there are some things I am still unsure of such as what the “Eww Bugs” Mode does in the menu as an option. Aside from the Solo experience Etrange Overlord does contain a multiplayer mode although I have been unable to try this due to being able to find other players as the game is not fully available as of the time of writing this review. Overall the game has been very enjoyable with no performance issues to report, the game although set in hell itself is very colourful overall and has the distinct style that fans of the Disgaea series will have grown to love. If you are looking for something without all the added features and customization of something akin to Disgaea then Etrange Overlord may just be worth your time.
A PlayStation 5 Review Code was provided by NIS America. This review is featured on OpenCritic
