Overture

About

Overture is a single player casual role playing game. It was developed by Black Shell Games and was released on February 2, 2015. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

"Overture is a single-player Role Playing game that combines action-adventure and roguelike elements for intense and challenging gameplay. Explore vast randomly generated dungeons, engage in difficult boss fights, and collect an arsenal of weapons and loot. With 24 character classes and a chiptune soundtrack, Overture promises a delightful and immersive experience, but be warned: it will 'kick your butt and not apologize'."

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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73%

Audience ScoreBased on 783 reviews

gameplay52 positive mentions

grinding63 negative mentions

Fast-paced and addictive gameplay that keeps players engaged.
Variety of classes and characters to unlock, each with unique abilities.
Challenging difficulty that provides a sense of accomplishment when progressing.

Visual clutter makes it difficult to see projectiles and enemies, leading to cheap deaths.
Grind-heavy mechanics require unlocking all characters before upgrades can be applied.
Lack of a tutorial or clear instructions on gameplay mechanics can be frustrating for new players.

gameplay
180 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
64%
7%
The gameplay of the game is characterized by fast-paced, chaotic action that blends roguelite mechanics with bullet hell elements, offering a mix of fun and frustration. While many players appreciate the simple controls and variety of characters, some criticize the repetitive nature and grindy gameplay loop, which can detract from the overall experience. Despite its flaws, the game provides an addictive challenge that appeals to fans of the genre, though it may not hold long-term interest for everyone.
- “A solid bullet hell roguelite with varied characters and great fluid gameplay.”
- “The gameplay itself is smooth, fast-paced, rewarding, and frustrating (in a good way).”
- “Fast-paced action, tons of deaths, challenging gameplay!”
- “The currency gain is so low, and the gameplay loop is so boring that you will spend a lot of your time trying to optimize getting enough currency per run rather than trying to complete the run itself.”
- “However, the boring gameplay loop and grindy nature of the game makes me feel the need to recommend against playing this game.”
- “The gameplay is so basic you've seen it all in the first minute.”
music
128 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
57%
40%
3%
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with many players praising its catchy chiptune soundtrack that enhances the gameplay experience. While some find it repetitive and suggest it doesn't match the game's quality, others highlight it as a standout feature, describing it as energetic and immersive. Overall, the soundtrack is often regarded as a significant positive aspect, with many recommending the original soundtrack for its nostalgic appeal.
- “I love the intense, high-energy soundtrack as well.”
- “The soundtrack is absolutely amazing and I hope they add more to it.”
- “The music is great and varied enough to keep you from getting bored of it.”
- “This game really doesn't deserve this music, and I have no idea how they got someone to compose a whole score for this game unless it was at gunpoint, which it most definitely was.”
- “The whole whopping 3 different loops I've heard in the whole game is kinda a letdown... being someone who is a music producer, I can make 3 cheap loops like the ones in this game in about 20 minutes... put more effort in, devs!”
- “The graphics come from a tileset (fine, they serve their purpose), the music is repetitive, and the control is surprisingly crisp.”
graphics
103 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
57%
13%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with many players criticizing them as cluttered, confusing, and reminiscent of poorly executed retro styles that hinder gameplay. While some appreciate the nostalgic pixel art and its ability to convey fast-paced action, others find the visuals overwhelming and difficult to navigate, leading to frustration. Overall, the graphics are seen as a significant flaw, detracting from the otherwise engaging gameplay experience.
- “Bright chunky graphics, upbeat chiptune soundtrack, white-knuckle gameplay with light RPG mechanics.”
- “The graphics are clear-cut (which I think is important in 2D games) and the soundtrack is fantastic.”
- “Great 16-bit visuals are accompanied by an equally awesome soundtrack, add that with simple but addictive gameplay and you have a great game worthy of your time!”
- “The other big flaw is the graphics are a mess.”
- “Overture's muddle of sprites, decals, and graphical effects assault the senses and make it entirely too difficult to see what is happening.”
- “The graphics are unbearable; the screen is a constant smear of flashing colors and exploding particles that obscure everything else.”
grinding
63 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The reviews overwhelmingly criticize the grinding aspect of the game, describing it as tedious, repetitive, and lacking meaningful rewards. Players express frustration with the high costs of upgrades and the necessity of extensive grinding to progress, often feeling that the gameplay loop becomes monotonous and unfulfilling. While some acknowledge a certain appeal to grinding for dedicated players, the general consensus leans towards it being a major flaw that detracts from the overall enjoyment of the game.
- “Furthermore, upgrading characters is tedious, boring, unrewarding and starts to feel like an MMO grind but without any palpable feeling changes to your characters.”
- “However, the boring gameplay loop and grindy nature of the game makes me feel the need to recommend against playing this game.”
- “But as you play more and more that feeling that you'll never get beyond the first three floors and are stuck grinding more infinitesimal stat increases that you know, deep down, will never give you the edge to win the game, gradually eats the fun out of the experience.”
replayability
28 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
39%
50%
11%
The game offers significant replayability due to its diverse range of characters and classes, each providing unique abilities and playstyles. While many players appreciate the variety and the potential for endless gameplay through randomly generated dungeons, some note that the grinding required to unlock characters may detract from long-term engagement. Overall, the consensus is that the game has high replay value, particularly for those who enjoy exploring different strategies and character combinations.
- “Tough but extremely replayable.”
- “It's totally as they said: 'infinite replay value'.”
- “Hands down this game is awesome with 24 characters and random dungeons; it has lots of replay value.”
- “What is far worse though is that though the game has 'replay value', a lot of that comes from the large amount of grinding and the idea that each character has that grind.”
- “I would talk about replay value, because this game has a lot of it thanks to the massive amount of characters (many similar, never the same), but from what I have played I see that the amount of time spent to achieve the first victory is already high enough, because upgrades seem essential, so I don't know how many people would play it again with another character, if not just to try it out.”
- “[*] not a lot of replay value”
story
27 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
11%
78%
11%
The game's story aspect is largely criticized for its lack of depth and motivation, with many players noting the absence of a compelling narrative or backstory to engage them. While some express a desire for a more developed storyline to enhance the gameplay experience, others find the action enjoyable enough to overlook the narrative shortcomings. Overall, the consensus is that the game prioritizes gameplay over storytelling, leaving players wanting more in terms of narrative content.
- “This would allow personality, story, and an incentive to finish the game with each character.”
- “Moral of the story: you never know what life has in store for you, and if I had given up when all odds were against me, I wouldn't be where I am today.”
- “On the plus side, the action was good and I'd love this game if it had a less steep learning curve and more of a story.”
- “The biggest drawback here is that there is only one game mode, and it doesn't have any particular story or motivation for the player to continue.”
- “There's no story whatsoever here; you pick a class and you go kill things.”
- “If you seek a story and/or eye-candy, look elsewhere.”
stability
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
75%
The stability of the game has received mixed reviews, with some players reporting frequent freezes and bugs that hinder progress, while others have experienced a smooth, glitch-free experience. Overall, the game appears to have significant stability issues for some users, particularly during critical gameplay moments, while others find it relatively stable.
- “No glitches were encountered in my entire playtime.”
- “Bug free (it seems so far).”
- “Game freezes about a minute or two in and I have to alt+F4.”
- “Game seems to be rather buggy, couldn't even progress down the first floor.”
- “How many games regale you with their shiny water and copious offering of exposed breasts and then when you actually play them it's just a buggy, incomplete, boring trainwreck?”
optimization
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
28%
43%
The game's optimization is widely criticized, with users reporting severe performance issues, including drastic FPS drops even on high-end PCs during intense moments. While some players acknowledge attempts by the developer to improve performance, the overall consensus is that the game suffers from poor graphical optimization, leading to a frustrating experience.
- “Very well optimized.”
- “The developer has tried fixing this, and it's usually fine but extreme activity will still cause performance problems.”
- “Very little else, and terrible performance no matter your PC specs.”
- “Not a bad game, but a basic one with a rough performance experience too.”
- “Fairly weak graphical optimization.”
humor
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is highlighted by its amusing victory screen and the comically random names of creatures, such as "Hilda the Disgruntled." Players find the randomly generated maps contribute to the game's comedic value, making it enjoyable even after numerous playthroughs. Overall, the game is praised for its funny elements alongside solid gameplay.
- “Each creature has a comically randomly generated name like 'Hilda the Disgruntled' or something of that nature, leaving this bullet hell style game at least a little humorous.”
- “Randomly generated maps make the game funny even after hundreds of replays.”
- “So overture is pretty much funny to play, and I recommend this game to anyone.”
monetization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization strategy of the game has been criticized for its frequent random popup ads promoting the developer's other titles, which detracts from the gameplay experience. While it lacks microtransactions, the grindy nature and ad interruptions suggest a model more suited for mobile app stores.
- “Grindy as hell, random popup ads every so often (for their other games) after you die; it seems like it more belongs on the app store.”
- “Why are there ads for other games they made?”
- “It's very similar to Realm of the Mad God, but single-player and without microtransactions.”
character development
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Character development in the game has been criticized for being lackluster and disappointing, with reviewers noting that it fails to deliver a compelling plot, engaging graphics, or meaningful progression. Overall, the character development system does not meet expectations and feels underwhelming.
- “It is not a masterwork of plot, graphics, character design, progression, or sound.”
- “Whatever these +5 stages in character development are, they're more disappointing than anything I could compare to.”
emotional
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players express frustration with the emotional impact of gameplay, noting that poor visibility during intense moments detracts from their experience. The mechanics, where enemies can inflict damage simply by touching the player, contribute to a sense of helplessness and heighten the emotional tension.