Solo Leveling: ARISE OVERDRIVE

Solo Leveling: ARISE OVERDRIVE is a premium adaptation of the popular Solo Leveling IP, aiming to deliver a faithful and engaging experience for fans. The game features fluid and responsive combat with crafting and progression systems reminiscent of Monster Hunter, and it eschews gacha mechanics in favor of earning everything through gameplay. Visually, it captures the anime and manhwa aesthetic with improved animations and voice acting. However, the game is marred by a mandatory always-online requirement, causing frequent disconnections that frustrate players, especially in solo play where server errors can cause lost progress. The story presentation relies heavily on manhwa panels and lacks depth and immersion, disappointing those expecting a richer narrative. Level design and menus are criticized for being repetitive and laggy, while co-op features are limited and buggy. Despite these flaws, the game shows potential if developers address stability, offline mode, and gameplay polish.

Overall, it is recommended mainly for Solo Leveling fans willing to tolerate current issues, while others might want to wait for improvements or discounts.

Highlights

The game’s combat is widely praised for being fast, fluid, and responsive, with satisfying parrying, dodging, and counterattack mechanics. Visuals and animations are faithful to the anime and manhwa, providing an immersive fan experience. The crafting and upgrade systems add depth and long-term progression without gacha elements, appealing to grind-focused players. Voice acting and some cinematic scenes enhance storytelling moments. The co-op mode, although limited, offers a way to ease the grind with friends. The game runs reasonably well on mid-range PCs and Steam Deck, with ongoing developer efforts to improve technical stability.

Criticisms

A major point of criticism is the always-online requirement in a predominantly single-player game, causing frequent disconnections, lost progress, and frustrating server errors. The lack of offline mode is seen as anti-consumer and detrimental to the game’s longevity. Menus are laggy and cumbersome, diminishing user experience. The story feels rushed, overly reliant on manhwa panels rather than immersive cinematics, and confusing for newcomers. Level design is repetitive and linear, with invisible walls and disconnected dungeon segments. Co-op is buggy with issues like black screens and control freezes. The camera system and lock-on mechanics are problematic, and the anti-cheat software causes performance issues. Overall, the game feels unfinished and in need of polish.