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| NinjaGuyX explores the musical madness of Etrange Overlord in his review. |
I didn't expect a musical when I started this game. Your cousin is evil? A musical. You get sent to hell? A musical. You steal a war machine? A musical. But the strangeness does not stop there, let's dive in!
The Story of a Glamorous Witch in Hell
The story follows Etrange, a noblewoman who gets beheaded after being falsely accused of assassinating the King. Somehow, even though she did nothing wrong, she ends up in hell. The thing is, hell is not ready for Etrange von Rosenberg of the Rosenberg house. She is an incredibly powerful magic caster who can take down just about anything in her path.
Nippon Ichi's games have always had a charming quirkiness to them, and Etrange is no exception. Her personality is unique and genuinely entertaining. She decides to make hell her own personal paradise, and we occasionally get a peek into her inner thoughts, and it is pretty great. Along the way, she encounters people who try to stop her, but after she defeats them, they join her side. It is actually very Wizard of Oz when you think about it.
Mission-Based Arena Combat
Gameplay-wise, there is surprisingly not a ton to it. This is a mission-based game with arena combat. You are dropped onto an overworld where you will mostly move from mission to mission, though there are sparkling spots to grab some money or items.
There are also optional side story sections you can watch, and some of them even reward you with new recipes.
Managing Your Characters and Note Streams
Each mission throws you into an arena where you select four characters, then race against a timer to take down all opponents. You have got one attack button and a dash to dodge enemies, and you can swap between characters on the fly, which is genuinely useful. Need healing? Swap to your healer. Simple, but it works.
Most missions are a race to eliminate enemies or a boss within the time limit, but occasionally they will mix things up, like capturing outposts, which adds a nice layer of strategy. Surrounding the arena are note streams that drop useful items: attack and defense boosts, healing, throwable bombs, and a unique special attack for each character that is very satisfying to pull off.
Customizing Your Hub and Equipment
Back on your vehicle hub between missions, there is plenty to manage. You can cook before each mission for buffs, which is very Monster Hunter, upgrade your allies' equipment with specific materials, and customize your note streams to stack the buffs you want.
Visuals and Performance
The art style is also a highlight for me. Those little chibi characters give off strong Nintendo 3DS era vibes, and it fits the game's silliness perfectly. The graphics are light enough to run on lower-end machines and handle the on-screen chaos during battles without breaking a sweat.
Going into Etrange Overlord, you will want to set the right expectations. This is a story-first game, with gameplay taking a backseat. The arena fights can feel a bit repetitive, and they are short and sweet by design. That is not necessarily a bad thing; it is still fun, but do not come in expecting deep strategy. A lot of it is just mashing the attack button for a couple of minutes, then hopping back into a genuinely entertaining story.
The Etrange Overlord Experience Is Delightfully Weird
I came away from Etrange Overlord with a really positive impression. It is exactly the kind of delightful weirdness you would expect from a Nippon Ichi game; there were moments where I had no choice but to laugh. The difficulty is on the lower end compared to something like Disgaea, but there is still a bit of strategy and preparation involved before each battle, and that worked for me personally.
That said, if you are hunting for a challenge, this probably isn’t your game. If you want to see how I handle more difficult titles, you can check out my other game reviews to see what fits your playstyle. Etrange Overlord is for people who want to sit back and enjoy a story about a glamorous witch taking over hell, and honestly? That is enough.
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