Overfall: Tactically Brilliant?

At its core, Overfall from Developers Pera Games is a turn based strategy game and then it’s not. Currently in Early Access on Steam Overfall is an artistic and beautifully crafted game.

As stated, it is a turn based tactical combat game but as with most games in this genre there is something to fill the void between combat instances. Overfall delivers this in the form of exploration of the open sea with 100+ locations. Diplomacy is also a major contributing factor to how your game will turn out with at least 8 different races to interact with as you wish. A strong overarching RPG element helps to craft your individual decisions in game, fight or flight is a real element here. Last but by far from the least is the combat element which needed to be strong in order to compliment such a repertoire of collective ideas that bundle this all together in to a compelling title.

To put the plot simply you must take control of two heroes on a journey across the high seas in search of their missing king. This may seem like a simple setting but the plot is one conceived from the decisions made by the player. With each hero wielding their own characteristics and thoughts each situation of diplomacy that arises can have multiple outcomes given which avenue you as the player decide to take. Primarily there is an aggressive and passive choice but not always is everything clear cut so as to not be predictable. Even choices that are made with good intentions can result in spontaneous battles due to upsetting a rivalling race, so when considering decisions, global location needs to be considered.

Speaking of global location, Overfall is carved up into bite pieces in the form of little islands on a map that is navigated by the player in a viking-esque vessel. Each individual island will give you a brief description of its terrain and inhabitants to help aid in the decision whether to stop or keep moving on to a more desired location. Each island normally consists of two parts, initial interaction with the inhabitants, then either a peaceful outcome or that of aggression. A majority of the time it was only ever one interaction before returning back to the open seas to do it all again. Interactions are not only exclusive to island visits but can also be initiated when bumping into another vessel in the ocean, be it pirates, merchants or a vessel of exploration, your actions are that the same as any interaction on an island.

In Overfall perma-death is a thing. This isn't a foreign concept anymore but something a game needs to do well in order to entice the player to keep restarting. This is achieved with some things becoming permanently unlocked like abilities and companions. This gives the ability to be able to push further and eventually aiding in the correct decisions to be made in the early steps of the game in order to overcome the more difficult situations that you have previously succumb to, enabling greater achievement and progression. I just mentioned companions; you can acquire and equip a maximum of two additional playable characters in order to help you on your quest. Different decisions that are made through progression will gain you favour within certain races and therefore unlock the ability to lure certain character types to your party to complement your overall play style. I believe there to be 36 obtainable companions from different races and all with individual characteristics and classes.

In the battle phase there are three main phases, firstly movement which differs between classes and active abilities, then the second phase is to initiate one of the three available abilities that range from adding buffs and or removing debuffs and then finally the attacking phase. Any and all phases at any stage can be skipped which introduces the truly tactical aspect of this game, all things need to be considered with each skill and ability having a set cooldown timer in the form of turns. There are so many symbols in this game that each represent a buff or debuff, trying to get your head around these at times seem very daunting but there usually is a quick guide to help understand when the mouse is hovered over the said symbol. With a better knowledge of what everything does and what the direct result of each buff does really helps in the understanding of what to do next. Another little detail that I did like, Overfall breaks up the traditional square grid battle ground with a honeycomb looking hexagon grid.