The Solo Leveling anime took the world by surprise, turning thousands into new fans and bringing back many who had abandoned the medium. With the wait for the third season growing, the community has split between those who want to avoid spoilers and those who already read the manhwa to see what’s coming next. Amid that hype, Netmarble saw an opportunity and launched a mobile game that recapped the entire story… although it was heavily criticized for its abusive gacha mechanics.
Now, that same title arrives on PC and consoles, reworked under a single-purchase model that removes its most controversial monetization. Solo Leveling Arise: Overdrive is an action RPG inspired by the source material. The story follows Sung Jin-Woo, an E-rank hunter who dies during a raid and awakens with a video-game-style system granting him quests and powers that slowly transform him into the next Monarch. This version even includes completely new narrative chapters exclusive to the game.
The story covers the first two seasons of the anime along with multiple arcs that will likely be adapted in the future, although the final four arcs of the manhwa are not included. In terms of gameplay, the focus is fast-paced combat where you can choose from four different classes, each one with its own skill tree. You can freely switch between them to shape your own version of Jin-Woo, though certain abilities remain standardized to keep the narrative consistent.
Beyond basic attacks and cooldown-based skills, there’s also a recruitable ally system that uses virtual currency. These hunters range from low to high ranks, and later on you’ll unlock the ability to summon shadows as part of Jin-Woo’s special abilities. Resources obtained from missions are used to craft and upgrade weapons and armor for all recruitable characters. Missions are divided between repeatable ones great for grinding resources and EXP and story missions that push the narrative forward.
Overall, the game is solid in terms of mechanics, gameplay, and storytelling. However, it suffers from notable shortcomings that are hard to overlook. Although it was advertised as a gacha-free game, it still includes a very similar system: you pick the character you want, spend the virtual currency, and then enter a “recruitment lottery” with a 60% chance of failure. If you fail, the currency is gone and it’s back to grinding. It’s a frustrating and unnecessary system that exposes the remnants of a design originally built for a free-to-play game.
Another recurring issue is the inconsistent visuals. During the first two-thirds of the game, cutscenes are fully animated, but later they are swapped out for manhwa panels instead of original animation. While visuals hold up for the most part, there are moments where it clearly shows its mobile origins low-resolution assets and technical limitations during heavy effects.
Solo Leveling Arise: Overdrive delivers the fantasy of playing as Jin-Woo alongside iconic hunters, but its recycled systems and questionable design choices keep it from reaching its full potential. The action is enjoyable and the expanded story content is genuinely engaging, but the inconsistent presentation and “gacha-but-not-gacha” mechanics weigh it down.
Final Score: 3/5
