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Overlord is one of those games which seems like a fable. It has that certain charm which makes you feel like you are part of a fantasy world. A game which seem to be a highly impressionable game then played in your childhood. It has soul and charm, but for all of it, it always reminds of unfulfilled potential and pretending to be more than it is.

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Overlord has a great premise. It is a colourful and has its own sense of humour. It reminds people of Fable and in some sense, might be better at it. It has its shortcomings too. Unfulfilled story telling, lacking and disbalanced combat and questionable moral choices. It is often so toothless like a fairy tale and you are left in a back of your mind wanting for more. However, what game serves is easy to digest and leaves you wanting for more. It is like chips of gaming world, except being healthy for you. Imagine that!

The best part of this game is that it is colourful. It has ageless aesthetic which was amazing then and is still great today. Base game runs solid on modern systems. Game writing have its moments and base gameplay of sending minions to do your bidding by raising an arm is very satisfying. Game nails its presentation, light humor and basic gameplay loop and for those qualities, I do believe that Overlord is a game which you should play once when you are bored and don't have anything else to play. Game lend itself incredibly well to short sessions with several teleporters being laid down on each level, giving you a safe point there and a way back to your tower. Missions themselves feel substantial and that you are progressing. Game sets very clear and meaningful goals without overwhelming you.

Overlord is a curious beast like that. Base game is damn solid and it fails in more arcane, subtle ways. Sadly, game never exploded in popularity, enjoying only modest success which proves once again that gaming industry is a poor field to do business in. Even having a consistently good product doesn't guarantee success. There are very few industries which would be as bad as gaming is.

Game is critiqued for bad controls. They are bad, but for a different reason. People say that controling your minions is hard. You become a stationary camera and then have to drag your minions in a group around tight passages. People find it hard, because it activates different part of a brain which requires you to retain spatial awareness of where your control beacon is. Most people don't have that mental capacity and thus they find it difficult. We had fallen so much that we can't visualize movement through terrain without being there ourselves. So, then you hear someone complaining about poor controls, they are probably complaining about their underdeveloped brains.

However, what is really problematic with the controls is that minions don't get properly into control group. Then game doesn't know how to control those groups correctly. Control beacon might be somewhere in between groups, stragglers might try to catch up and get stuck. It is all very finnicky. It wokrs only, because game is not too demanding when testing that feature. Then there are general issues with control groups getting stuck to their posts which you place. There is way too easy to mark wrong group. There is way too many spells to use and you have no clue where is what. Small things like that.

The greatest waste in this game is lackluster story. Game tries to tell a story of an evil overlord. However, you are the one fighting forces of evil. You are ridding the land of bad guys. People literally sheer you and admire. You are a hero with an army of evil minions which by NPCs are not even treated in a hostile manner. They are referred adorably as cherubs and liked by everyone. In the end it is revealed that you were a hero and you are betrayed. You have no agency in this game. Quests are helping towns folks with their troubles. The moral choice is ridiculous just like in Fable to the point you don't want to even take it. It is to kill everyone on sight. Like what?

Likewise, there is a distinct lack of choices during campaign. You can do meaningless evil stuff just out of spite, but it all seems so token. You are being guided by the hand by your advisor like a puppet. There is another problem, since story focuses so much on fallen heroes and vices to which they had fallen, your actions don't look evil. Hence, you lack proper set up from supporting cast to be evil. An evil in a vacuum is meaningless.

And it all ties up back to world building. You construct your evil tower, gather wealth and get your girl. However, all of that is totally meaningless. Loot pile just sits there. Upgrades are token. Your tower is just a lobby which doesn't do anything or feels alive. Nor anyone there has anything to say in between missions. Nor there is any point in picking your lady. She just goes around the tower and says nothing. All what you get is one very disappointing scene where it is implied that you have sex, but it is done in such toothless and childish approach that even young teenagers would be left severely disappointed. This really highlights what is wrong with this game. It is just so toothless, play once, enjoy and forget it kind of the experience.

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This game reminds me of someone who has epic ambitions, executes game well, but lacks vision, talent or personality to pull off something truly amusing. It is one of those games which plays well, is unique and is worthy of recommendation to anyone interested in it. If only it had more spice and was more risque.

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