‘Over War: The Night Comes Down’ is an RPG That Feels Like a Battle Strategy JRPG
For fans of battle strategy JRPGs like Fire Emblem, Over War: The Night Comes Down is a tabletop RPG with that same gameplay feeling.
Have you ever sat down to play Fire Emblem or Final Fantasy and thought, “I like this…. what if we translate it over to a tabletop RPG setting?” I haven’t, but it makes sense. The JRPG styling would work well for a TTRPG game. A D&D or BESM system would probably work fine, but what if there was something specifically for that? With Over War: The Night Comes Down, we have an RPG system specifically inspired by video games like Fire Emblem and Yggdra Unin.
Over War: The Night Comes Down
“It is the year 1472 Dracos Domini and the land of Ballark is bathed in unrest.
The armies of the Over War have descended from their floating islands to ravage the countryside, leaving disease, famine, and the byproducts of their cruel alchemical experiments in their wake.
You are a person of some minor authority. Whether you were born to this station or crawled into it, you now have control of a small band of combatants.
The nations of Ballark may have broken before the conquerors from the clouds, but you are determined that you will not fall. You will reclaim what they have taken.”
Like the games that inspired it, Over War is a strategy heavy high fantasy game of warfare with a gothic twist. Draft units, unlock new characters, and reclaim territory from a powerful enemy. It’s messy and involved in a way that’s reminiscent to the games that inspired it. But at 47 pages, the corebook is also not a terribly long system to read through or learn.
Gameplay and Character Creation
In Over War players control commanders who control their units… So by extension players will be controlling the units as well. While commanders are unique, custom characters, units are a bit more broad and over-arching. In some games there are characters and then henchmen who act as an amalgam; this is similar to that.
Commanders have the ability to recruit and restructure unities, as well as specific combat and diplomatic skills. By comparison, units are formed around their commander and made up of premade character types. Units may be made to traverse the sea or built for healing, so the right combination of units can fill out a well rounded team.
Over War is a mostly diceless game system. Instead, the emphasis is on strategy, location, and formation. Which also makes it a very visual game. Hex maps are key in knowing where your units are in relation to any enemies and using terrain to your advantage for hiding or ambush. In Over War dice are only ever really rolled for skill checks when players are ready to make a move that has a risk of failure.
Strategy games like this aren’t everyone’s cup of tea. They’re not electronically, nor in a tabletop setting. But if you are somebody who enjoys that Fire Emblem style of strategy game Over War: The Night Comes Down is a fantastic addition to the genre.
Have you played Over War? What do you think of these strategy heavy battle games? What kind of commander and units do you think you’d play? Let us know in the comments!
Happy adventuring!
