‘Over War: The Night Comes Down’ is the Fire Emblem RPG you never knew you Wanted
Over War: The Night Comes Down is a tabletop RPG inspired by the great “strategic JRPGs” like Fire Emblem, Tactics Ogre, and Langrisser.
It is the year 1472 Dracos Domini and the land of Ballark is bathed in unrest.
So begins the back title crawl for Over War: The Night Comes Down – Monarch Edition. We’ll get to the Monarch Edition part in just a second, but first things first, Over War is an RPG inspired by games like Fire Emblem and Final Fantasy Tactics. Or any of the works in Yasumi Matsuno’s oeuvre. It says so right on the tin.
And that should tell you everything you need to know about this tabletop RPG. But, just in case you’re unaware, the gist is you areplay a person of some minor authority, leading a small band of combatants against the armies of Over Night, who have descended from a series of floating islands. Featuring itch.io’s very own Kumada1, a designer who has a number of fishing ttrpgs (no really, also they’re amazing) as well as Cthork Borg, Pie Lent Hill, a survival horror pizza delivery rpg, and whose reviews on the site are as legendary as the games, the game has been out for a couple of years.
But, the Monarch Edition provides a brand new omnibus remaster of the system. And it’s out today on DriveThruRPG.
Over War: The Night Comes Down – Monarch Edition
Over War – Monarch Edition is the definitive remaster of the gothic fantasy roleplaying strategy game Over War: The Night Comes Down.
Inspired by classics such as Fire Emblem, Yggdra Union, Langrisser, and the works of Yasumi Matsuno, it combines the flexible storytelling and meaningful decision making of tabletop roleplaying with the hard tactical choices, territory control, and unit composition of strategy games.
All of this is an unusual combo for RPGs. But it kind of hearkens back to the earliest days of D&D, when Chainmail was a war game with roleplaying elements. Now this seems to be coming at it from the other side.
As the game says, you’ll control both commanders and their units. Your Commander is like your own player character, and they can recruit and structure their unit, which you’ll do by drafting from a small roster of character types, which can expand as you play the game and visit towns, build out your war camp, or make alliances.
But what about the whole “Monarch Edition” thing?
Monarch Edition is a complete remaster of the original Over War, which has been out since 2022. Monarch Edition adds new tables, resources, lore, GM tools, and solo play support, and includes all content from the Fraternization And Fortresses, Roads Of Caer Elhwyn, The Gerlac Woods, and Lake Crescent expansions.
The emphasis in all of Over War is on keeping things simple and keeping choices meaningful. Abilities just work. Attacks just hit. And good formations, tactical choices, and resource spending carry the day.
The game is available on DriveThruRPG today, so check it out!
