Overfall is a turn-based RPG from indie developer Pera Games that launches March 1 on Steam Early Access with a particularly engaging community hook: a robust Story Builder system crammed full of assets to help you build your own narrative in a world ravaged by time and war.
iDigitalTimes spoke to Ibrahim Yildirim, co-founder and CEO of Pera Games , to learn more about what makes Overfall so unique. It begins, says Yildirim, with Overfall’s dual pillars of diplomacy and action. Both of these tactics are equally important to triumphing in the strange new world of Overfall.
“In Overfall, you find yourself in a quirky situation, taking control of two heroes who have just come back to Dys, their homeland, from an impossible mission, only to see that everything they knew about Dys has changed. Their king is missing, the world is in a state of chaos, and they do not know anyone because apparently, three centuries have passed as they went through the portal. Therefore, what they need now is not only action, but also diplomacy in order to get the help of powerful races and adventurers around the world,” says Yildirim.
In Overfall, the player sails from island to island in an archipelago world, encountering a myriad of races, quests and companions on their journey to find the elusive citadel. Both hostile and diplomatic choices prove fruitful, and new classes and traits expand your choices to ensure you have a new journey every time.
As far as selecting your hero, character selection is “more fun than critical,” says Yildirim. Traits, equipment, personalities and abilities will change the course of encounters and battles, and no combinations are inherently superior to others. This means your selections are more about your personal taste level than any min-maxing. It all depends on how you would like to approach the story and which side of Overfall ’s narrative you’re interested in exploring.
In fact, you level up by choosing how you want to explore the narrative. The choice between diplomacy and action is what shapes your character, leading to a game where choice isn’t a tacked-on afterthought but an critical cornerstone for progression. “Our characters do not gain experience or level up. The stories you encounter and the choices you make in conversations and battles will affect the outcome for your character builds. And yes, every playthrough will be different because there are tons of choices and outcomes,” says Yildirim.
Pera Games has big hopes for the Overfall community, which they plan to support by making the Story Builder as easy and fun to use as possible. Hearty mod kits, such as the mod kit that accompanied the launch of XCOM 2, are a proven way to lure your community in and keep them invested, but it’s rare that a game will provide so many story tools to its audience. Yildirim says they have plan to provide new stories to their community even as they enable that community to create new stories of their own.
“If everything goes well, we plan to work with well-known writers who can create story packs for Overfall, almost for each month. These packs will be completely for free. We already have a list of writers and will continue to make this list bigger. As in, let’s say a popular writer agrees to work with us and will provide a story pack with something around 50 to 100 new encounters, which we will implement into the game as a pack for our players to enjoy during their adventures in Overfall,” says Yildirim.
Pera Games have also provided a Writing Style Guide by writer Chris Avellone (who worked on Icewind Dale , Planescape: Torment and Pillars of Eternity ) to help budding game writers create a compelling, flavorful narrative that fits into the Overfall universe. While there’s plenty in Avellone’s guide that’s specific to Overfall , there’s a lot of strong advice about game writing that’s easily transferable to a self-made game on RPG Maker , TyranoBuilder , or Ren’py.
If you’re interested in giving Overfall a whirl, check out the Overfall store page on Steam for a perfectly reasonable asking price of $9.99. Overfall is available on PC for Windows, Mac and Linux.
