Solo Leveling: ARISE OVERDRIVE Review — Flashy Action RPG for Fans, but Always‑Online Woes
I spent dozens of hours with Overdrive: slick, kinetic combat and faithful Solo Leveling moments — but persistent always‑online restrictions, anti‑cheat and co‑op bugs hold it back. Buy if you love the IP and action RPGs; wait if you need offline reliability.
Solo Leveling: ARISE OVERDRIVE turns the webtoon into a button‑mashing, combo‑heavy action RPG that mostly nails the power‑fantasy feeling. It’s an evolution of the mobile Arise formula — prettier and deeper in combat — but the game ships with some frustrating online and quality‑of‑life baggage.
At its core Overdrive is fast, flashy action: dodge into 'Extreme Evasion', parry for counterattacks, and chain skills from a branching skill tree that leads to eight job advancements. Combat feels weighty and satisfying — think action‑RPG meets some Souls‑like timing with hit‑spark fireworks. The Monarch Awakening gives Jinwoo dramatic, screen‑clearing abilities, while other hunters and shadow summons change your playstyle substantially. There’s a robust weapon crafting loop: you farm monster parts and craft named weapons from the manhwa, which is oddly satisfying even if drop rates can feel stingy. Story mode retells familiar arcs and adds new chapters and some nice cinematics, though many cutscenes still lean on manhwa panels. Co‑op raids for four players exist, but right now they’re hit‑or‑miss: matchmaking, sync bugs and odd boss hitboxes make group play buggy. Performance is generally fine, but large winter/forest gates can tank FPS on some rigs; the kernel‑level anti‑cheat also caused complaints about stutters. Importantly, Overdrive removes gacha microtransactions — gear and hunters are earnable — but the progression loop is grindy and some systems (weapon scaling, artifact mechanics) aren’t explained clearly. Devs have been responsive and promised an offline mode and stability fixes, so the experience may improve with updates.
Overdrive is a fun, often thrilling Solo Leveling action RPG with a great core loop, but technical and online design choices drag down the experience. If you’re a fan and can live with forced online play for now, you’ll get your kicks — everyone else should wait for fixes or a sale.
Pros
- Satisfying, combo‑heavy combat that actually rewards timing and builds.
- Faithful Solo Leveling fanservice: weapons, bosses and new chapters feel authentic.
- No gacha or pay‑to‑win — everything is earnable by playing.
Cons
- Always‑online requirement and kernel‑level anti‑cheat cause connection/stutter issues and feel unnecessary for a primarily single‑player game.
- Co‑op and some mission systems are buggy: sync problems, bad hitboxes and lost checkpoints have bitten players.
Player Opinion
Players praise the combat, animations and the fact that the game ditches mobile gacha monetization — many feel the PC version is a truer action‑RPG. Criticisms focus on the always‑online design, the intrusive anti‑cheat, performance dips in big areas and buggy co‑op that can break runs. Fans who want Jinwoo‑style power fantasies and Souls‑like timing will likely enjoy it; anyone who needs offline reliability or polished multiplayer should wait for patches. Devs appear responsive and have signaled offline and stability fixes, which is encouraging.