A Fan Game Dressed As An Epic Retelling

It’s no secret that video game adaptations of acclaimed anime series have become more ubiquitous over the years, be it on mobile, console, across all platforms, really. From Naruto-inspired fighting arenas to Demon Slayer adventures, there always seems to be an opportunity for players to immerse themselves in a hands-on medium of their favorite series. Whether they successfully land with audiences is often a battle in itself, as translating something from one medium to another is more challenging than it seems.

As luck would have it, Solo Leveling: ARISE OVERDRIVE is the latest video game endeavor for the acclaimed Korean webcomic series, with a considerably bigger scale than its mobile-based predecessor. As a huge fan of said series, I approached this game with eyes wide open but expectations realistically tempered. Netmarble Neo, the development team behind this project, doesn’t necessarily have the longest track record to reference. However, as 2025 has taught us many times over so far in terms of video games, true gems can come from the most unlikely of places.

The Online Co-Op Thing Really Needs to Stop

I’ll say it right up front — imposing permanent online co-op in a game with the words “Solo Leveling” in the name is almost hilariously ironic. And given the narrative premise of Solo Leveling’s story, it’s borderline ridiculous and almost feels like that was carelessly ignored. As soon as you finish the game’s prologue and arrive at the Hunter HQ, which acts as your all-access lobby area, online play is ever-present and unavoidable, even when you embark on missions alone.

So many games (looking at you, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7) have hopped on this online co-op bandwagon, seemingly for the sake of being as accessible as possible to a global player community. On the surface, it may seem like that makes sense for a video game adaptation of this Korean webcomic sensation, but in the end, a permanent online mode actually alienates players more than it brings them together. It can create many problems for players in different countries with different internet providers, and so forth.

Thomas Andre, Sung Jinwoo and Sung II-Hwan in one pannel

In a world where hunters stand prevalent as the sole protectors of mankind. Here are some of the most powerful hunters ranked.

Ultimately, it can lead to an avalanche of disconnection issues that subsequently ruin the experience. There’s nothing worse than being in the middle of a challenging boss fight, for instance, and your internet connection suddenly decides that it wants to stop working, rendering your progress moot. Time and again, communities express their frustration with this type of game design decision, and it’s no different here, unfortunately.

However, impressively, the developers at Netmarble Neo have already responded to player feedback and plan on deploying an offline play mode as their top priority post-release. That will certainly encourage more players to take the dive, once it’s integrated. A feather in their cap, even if the issue shouldn’t have existed to begin with.

Don’t Expect the Full Story (Yet?)

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I’d say this is where the main point of contention is, and spoilers are inevitable here because, up front, this game is unfortunately not designed for those new to the Solo Leveling universe, at all. Literally, due to the creative choices at hand here, discussing how this game works without spoilers is awkwardly impossible.

[…] online play is ever-present and unavoidable, even if and when you embark on missions alone.

Solo Leveling: ARISE OVERDRIVE starts its version of the beloved manhwa webcomic with a bang. Sung Jinwoo is fully decked out in his ominous Shadow Monarch armor, with his army of undead summons at his back. He confronts Demon King Baran on a scorched battlefield, which is one of the most consequential conflicts in the story.

Before long, however, Jinwoo’s younger self appears and dispels what turns out to be a foreshadowing dream. In the present reality, the game quickly picks up where Jinwoo’s story truly begins. Especially for those who have watched (and/or started with) the anime adaptation, things should start to look very familiar at this point. However, the very first chapter of the game is about where reliance on this version of the story sadly ends.

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The reason for that is the game only provides fragments of the story, and I mean fragments. Essentially, if you’re not familiar with Solo Leveling’s story whatsoever before this game, you’re going to get very lost and confused about what’s happening very quickly. Not only is this a Cliff Notes version of Jinwoo’s journey at best, but there are certain important moments in the story that are either skipped entirely or awkwardly introduced later (like Jinwoo’s mother and her condition).

Why this was an acceptable creative decision is unclear to me, as it undermines not only some of the emotional weight of Jinwoo’s journey, but also just flat out denies basic clarity of how and why things happen with him and other characters in the story. It certainly doesn’t need to be a verbatim, heavily animated rendition of every scene from the webcomic, but doing the opposite is another way to not only irk fans but also completely alienate newcomers. It portrays the game as fan-exclusive to those well-versed in the story and its lore. For an RPG-style game based on such an epic story, the storytelling aspect is all but abandoned for some reason.

Furthermore, those expecting the game to follow the story at least up to the current status of the anime adaptation will be sorely disappointed. While the game’s events lead up to the fateful confrontation with Baran and his dragon Kaisellin on the final floor of the Demon Castle, the credits abruptly roll as soon as that battle ends. This means that the events at Jeju Island are left out entirely, save for a super-brief tease after the credits of a hatched ant egg.

This deliberate inclusion could very well mean that a follow-up DLC for Jeju Island will come at a later date, but as of the game’s initial release, that remains entirely speculative. For now, a Beru shadow summon remains beyond reach, which was admittedly a letdown for me personally. Here’s hoping those concerns will be alleviated one day, as again, the development team seems to be very responsive so far to what fans want.

Sung Jinwoo is One of Many Playable Hunters

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One degree of flexibility in Solo Leveling: ARISE OVERDRIVE that I can appreciate is the ability to recruit and play as numerous other hunters besides Sung Jinwoo. While he certainly remains the focal point of the story, additional dungeon content can still be enjoyed in the shoes of hunters encountered at one point or another in the Solo Leveling world. The roster is a solid one with 20 different hunters to choose from, and you’ll have three to start with as part of the campaign.

It portrays the game as fan-exclusive to those well-versed in the story and its lore.

To unlock other hunters on the list, you need to make use of the ‘Recruit’ feature in the Hunter HQ lobby once it unlocks at a certain point in the story. It isn’t that easy, however, as negotiation with them often requires a very hefty amount of tokens called Hunt Coins, which take a good bit of time to earn. In other words, like other aspects of the game, this requires a good bit of grinding as well (for better or worse).

Despite that, however, I still think this feature is definitely worth it, especially in an RPG-style setting that encourages playing in teams. It allows you to form a character-based party you can rely on, even if you technically prefer playing solo.

The Dungeons Go From Fun to Formulaic

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The focal point of combat in Solo Leveling: ARISE OVERDRIVE, predictably, is dungeons. Per the lore of the Solo Leveling universe, these are accessed via portals known as “gates” that appear in the overworld, which hunters are in turn tasked with closing by defeating the threats within.

The game starts you off in dungeons pretty quickly, essentially once the prologue ends, and they’re where you’ll be when you’re not hanging out at the Hunter HQ. In other words, despite being technically deemed an RPG, this game doesn’t have a lot to speak of in terms of exploration. You’re effectively shuttled between these two preset locations throughout the game.

As for the dungeons themselves, if you’re looking for an immersion akin to what’s seen in the webcomic and/or anime adaptation, they accurately follow those settings sometimes, but not others. As you progress through the story’s chapters, the events that occur are largely accurate to the source material (albeit as a TLDR-forced version), whether it’s facing elves in the snowy mountains, the cobra beast Kasaka in the subway, or Igris in the depths of his castle.

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However, even those story dungeons don’t always hit the mark, and I found myself a bit confused, for instance, when first traveling with Kang Taeshik and co. through a sandy desert rather than deep, unsettlingly dark underground tunnels. Furthermore, that same desert-type dungeon is shared with numerous other side dungeons in the game, which left it feeling like that event in Jinwoo’s story wasn’t worth at least somewhat accurately replicating.

Total Chaos is an enjoyable game that is a bit too punishing in its survival elements.

Aside from that, while the dungeons serve their purpose well enough (EXP, gear, crafting materials, etc), they do admittedly start to feel formulaic after a certain point. You can’t stray far from the “objective path” to explore anywhere within them, and it’s largely a “Point A to Point B” scenario every time. You can gather environmental items here and there, provided they’re within the allowed space, but otherwise, your job is mob and boss-rushing. On top of that, said mobs and bosses are also a bit more recycled than they should be, often between several different dungeons that just end up feeling like the same one over and over.

Granted, if you’re a player who prefers short-and-sweet instances like these to get your rewards faster, then it works perfectly well.

Combat Shines But Still Needs Polish

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While the dungeon settings you fight your way through in Solo Leveling: ARISE OVERDRIVE sometimes feel aesthetically uninspired, one way that the game makes up for it in spades is its combat system. Whether you’re fighting as Sung Jinwoo or any of the other available hunters, hacking and slashing through mobs and ferocious beasts feels as fluid and fun as it should.

[…] the events that occur are largely accurate to the source material […]

Even better, the essential combat mechanics are pretty easy to pick up from the outset. Your HUD includes a small hotbar of fundamental attacks and abilities that evolve as you unlock more, but that hotbar remains thoroughly useful from start to finish.

To my initial surprise, the game also allows you to pick from one of a few different skill sets for Sung Jinwoo. You can have him brandish different weapons, either physical or magic-based, and they each have entirely unique styles. Despite the ‘Very Hard’ combat difficulty warning, I went ahead with Jinwoo’s classic assassin style, because immersion and all. As someone who already prefers a straightforward combat style in games, this style honestly wasn’t all that hard to pick up, and I stuck with it.

Other cool features help flesh out the game’s combat system further, such as the inclusion of additional hunters (as previously mentioned) and the expected ability to summon powerful shadows such as Igris, Tank, and Kaisel to aid you in battle. Furthermore, there are also pets to help you find valuable items, and you can also transform into your Shadow Monarch form (even if it doesn’t follow story canon at all) to boost your own attacks even more.

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All that said, the combat system as a whole admittedly could still do with more polish. Enemy targeting is very hit-and-miss (pun intended?), and focusing certain enemies within a mob is more tedious than it should be. To make matters worse, the battle camera doesn’t cooperate well when a mob or boss briefly goes off-screen for a sneak attack, which often left me getting unfairly sideswiped by something I couldn’t even see due to the camera being completely turned around.

There are other minor bugs and glitches here and there that can be fixed easily enough that don’t necessarily impact gameplay so much as immersion. For example, any time I switched Jinwoo’s outfit, his body would disappear almost entirely during certain attacks. It’s hilarious the first few times, but sadly, it seemed to happen just about every time in every battle. Too much aura, perhaps?

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One other aspect of Solo Leveling: ARISE OVERDRIVE that stands out well is its endgame-style crafting system. Beyond progressing through the story (or what there is of it) campaign, the focal point of the game seems to be grinding out top-tier gear and weapons for Jinwoo and other hunters in your roster. On top of that, there are hundreds of challenges and achievements to unlock, maxing out your skill trees, and upgrading your Army of Shadows.

In all, the endgame can definitely keep you plenty busy here, if the grind is your cup of tea. My one quip here would be that the pacing of the story campaign falls dramatically short of that endgame grind, and it should be a bit more balanced. Aside from maybe the final boss of the base story, you can get carried fairly well with semi-upgraded gear and good distribution of skill/attribute points. It left me wondering what the gear grind is truly worth the time for, unless the game plans on expanding further in terms of content.

Aside from that, one other particular aspect of the game’s item system that needs tweaking is the Drinks vendor. The consumables they provide are seemingly very useful, and purchasing one apparently always gives you a stack of five uses. However, there’s no practical way to track this usage, in or out of combat, which is strange to say the least.

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Some refinement of the game’s UI for item and inventory management could go a long way, such as making it clearer what certain items are for. While there is a Codex/Tutorial feature in the lobby, it doesn’t quite hit the mark in effectively explaining features such as these.

Solo Leveling: ARISE OVERDRIVE is clearly intended to be a love letter to the source material that’s drawn many fans across the globe for its dramatic, protagonist-driven story, fascinating lore, thrilling fight sequences, and surprisingly emotional moments. However, the creative execution of that homage in this game leaves a lot of confusion and disappointment on the story front, which should serve as its foundation rather than a botched afterthought. As a result, it almost forcibly alienates Solo Leveling newcomers, who are left without a premise to base their experience on. The combat and endgame grind does make up for it well enough, as cutting through fearsome foes as Sung Jinwoo feels satisfying and seldom gets old. Time will tell if the development team fills the holes it needs to for this game to become a true retelling of Solo Leveling, or if it remains more about fan service.