A Franchise That Deserved Better... Overlord 1/2 Review/Retrospective. 

Holy crap… someone is talking about overlord?! I thought everyone forgot about these games! Hell yeah, its finally getting the love it deserves.

Sooo I'm actually one of the leveldesigners of those games. Sometimes I feel nostalgic and look ot up on youtube. So some things you may find interesting to know! The games were developed by a relatively small team, ranging from 20-40 people. Because much of the game was developed on chronological order, the later levels of the first game feeling underdeveloped is kinda correct. The writing of the dialogue was done by Rhianna Pratchett, daughter of sir pratchett. She has the same vibe and humor. The legionnaires of the second game were kind of inspired by the Asterix comic books. You can see it clearly in their design. The reason that there's no proper overlord revival: the IP is in the hands of codemasters now, not in the hands of triumph studios, who made the first two games and created the concept from the ground up. In the first game you could capture slave girls. Originally there was also a plan for a slave guy in a skimpy suit, but I believed the idea was nixed. Triumph Studios is based in the netherlands. When the first game was previewed to a group of international game journalists. After the event, 3 of them asked my coworker with long hair where the nearest coffeeshop was. He decided to go with them to ensure nothing bad would happen to them. Last bit: so in the first game, when seeing Melvin at the party and your minions start to dance, Gnarl goes like 'nooooo, I'm dancing, quick do something lord!'. During the recording, the voiceactor put on the song 'I don't feel like dancing' from the scissorsisters and started singing his lines over it.

These games where gold. Some of my absolute favorites of the generation.

Greens have a super important role. They're the dps. They do like x3-4 damage over browns when they're climbing on enemies, and I'm pretty sure that they get sneak attack/invisible bonus damage too. They could absolutely melt enemies if they're hidden

Wish the Overlord series got more love and attention. Still waiting on a proper third game. Especially since they eluded to the possibility of the first games ‘protagonist’ returning. Also the way to deal with the sand worms in the first game is to feed them the exploding bugs. Clears it out and lets you grab items and tons of gold.

This series... I loved it, It was part of my teenage years, It certainly deserved way better and I always thought of what could have been an Overlord 3 A basic story, enemies, locations, even a full on concept for a side grand strategy mode where you sent swaths of your extra minions off to do evil in your name: Raid outlying villages too small to be worth your time, capture strategic locations to boost your numbers, gain resources, strengthen your minions, or unlock special quests to personally go on to retrieve powerful artifacts. It didn't directly affect the main gameplay other than the boosts which were ultimately optional barring an introduction for it. The story starting off was supposed to be a tutorial with the Overlad fighting off a new enemy that has intruded into the netherworld, the elves returning using an ancient ritual to bring forth the wrath of the mother goddess. Your defiance is ultimately futile for the sake of the tower or the overlad but you bought enough time for your mistresses and Gnarl to flee. Years pass and the elves conquer the world, no longer the drowning wimps they were but a powerful imperial force ruling the world with ‘divine right’ Here is where you choose the Heir of the Overlad to take up the mantle, a child of one of the mistresses. Each on provides a bonus to one of the three other minion tribes (Red’s, Greens, Blues) and is focused around an archtype of; Might, Minions, or Magic. Might is focused around making the overlord stronger in the fight, they are a walking apocalypse and often can take on the mightiest foes with just sheer force. Minions of course focuses on your Minions making them stronger and even more capable, become a commander of extra minions and unlock unique abilities for them. Magic turns the Overlord into a powerful sorcerer, no challenge can’t be bested with the right spell, boosting the power and variety of your magical powers. Of course while each heir is focused around a minion and arch-type you can mix archtypes and through the grand strategy system can even gain lesser buffs to the other two minion types.

I think my favorite part of this game is when you first encounter the sex cult in the Heaven's Peak tavern, a sheep comes running out of the room! FAH-REAKY!!!!!

The Overlord (kinda) lives on in Age of Wonders 4. Nothing is stopping you from making a giant armored wizard king leading a horde of rambustious goblins. A lot of the music in AoW4 sounds very similar to the soundtrack in Overlord 1/2. Makes sense, considering both series are made by Triumph Studios.

Evil always finds a way. Soon enough.

Would love to see an overlord 3. The handheld games were odd, but suffered from handheld conversion curse. The diablo like spin-off was... Not 'horrible' but very, very lacking. The prequel game was odd, but it showed that the company had sort of stopped caring at that point. Would like to see a sequel, but probably locked away in the IP vault and forgotten about as the Overlord Anime took the Overlord name.

You can still get the expansion for Overlord actually, it's on steam with the other mainline games. I never played it but seems to give the game a proper end game. That's something I always did notice with the Overlord games, they have quick pacing story wise and kinda end at a sheer drop off of a last boss fight. If I could change anything it would at least be post game content to grind through. At least Overlord 1 had that dungeon with every enemy in the game.

1. The mainline series deserves *proper remasters* , if not full on remakes. I personally prefer the original, but I acknowledge that the second game is more polished in a lot of ways 2. The lore is also pretty interesting with the implication that Good and Evil aren't just abstract concepts but actual godlike beings/forces that are constantly balancing each other out. With neither actually being inherently benevolent or malevolent. The Heroes can become corrupt, arrogant or greedy and the Overlords can be responsible rulers who actually care about their subjects 3. Fellowship of Evil has, basically, been completely disowned by the devs of the original games retconning it to be a "what if" scenario 4. If we get another game, I really hope they keep the gear and progression system of the second game, but give us back the magic of the first game. I dunno, the first game's magic actually made you *feel* more powerfull and with maxed out stats/gear your Overlord could actually be a force to be reckoned with even without the Minions. It just made progression feel a helluva lot better. I also hope they add some RTS elements into it cause I remember being really disappointed that , despite having a world map in the second game and being able to come back to areas you've conquered to basically collect taxes, there's not much to actually do aside from scripted events where you make choices based on the representatives people send your way. Which boils down to choosing to be a d!ck or not. I'd love it if those choices had more story relevance, if you could actually build structures and defenses to try and keep the land you've taken over etc. You know, to actually make you feel like you're ruling something instead of having awkwardly moved in

Man I loved Overlord, commanding all my little gremlins about, watching them armor up and me chilling in my pimp tower. Really lived up the dark lord power fantasy with a Saturday morning flavor

When my brother first introduced me to Overlord, He said "It's a WarCraft in third-person view" while laughing. To me this is western version of Pikmin. Fable 1, A Bard's Tale and Overlord has the best 2000s American-British humour.

I remember the 1st game a lot and had so much fun playing it. It covered that pikmin craving I was having around the time.

Check out the Overlord fanfictions. They can be epic. Also the elves in each game were not related. They just said they were the last to guilt trip you into helping them.

As a teenager it was my dream to become a game developer to bring the series back and some others I liked😢

I describe Overlord as "Pikmin, but for bastards"

Overlord I Raising Hell is one of my favorite games of all time. Overlord II is a lot of fun too.

Dang I still have this one on my steam account. This brings back so many memories it was a lot of fun. Definitely deserved a lot better

I think it would be amazing to see a modern Iteration. But with a bit of Civilization building and leading an actual army of Minions (And possible other underlings.) in military campaigns kinda like Suikoden or something.

Ive alway consider the overlord games as pikman for adults but I know most overlord games can be bought on GOG

I put so many hours into every one of these. I just love the franchise, man.

I loved the Overlord games and i wish they would make some new ones and continue the epic stories.

I'm 11 1/2 minutes into this video, where you just introduced the reds. So this is like Pikmen but with goblins and humor.

a while ago some one called Overlord "Pikmin, but for metal heads" and I think that 100% fits the game lol

I agree. Haven’t even started the video yet, but I agree. I may be a tad biased though.

in my head canon, this takes place in the fable universe

Damn... RU-vid recommends hitting me with the nostalgia! Overlord is such a tragic franchise. It deserved so much better that it got!

I loved Overlord, the general tone, the dialogue, Gnarl and the minions were utterly glorious. Especially the minions. I miss those crazy little bastards...

these game is my childhood and ıt is underrated

While it may not help console players, Good news for anyone who wants to play it on PC, the whole franchise is available on steam including the raising hell DLC. Either way great video, love it when this IP gets some love.

My favorite game as a kid this and goblin commander

love these games

You should do more retrospective videos!

That’s odd that consoles can’t get the DLC anymore since it’s available on digital storefronts on PC. This is why complete editions with all the content on disk are important for preservation.

Such a cool series. Sooo mych potential. A reboot/remaster could do it some good but thise are such a gamble right now, wouldn't trust EA right now. One of my Overlord 1 saves got hard locked in the Dwarven mines. I think I teled back to the tower too fast and unspawned a wheel 🛞 (part?). Maybe linked with a cutscene but it's been a while. I tried the demo for 2 but never got it. I blame League, but unsure. Maybe just cheap and/or broke. Getting the urge to go seek it out.

the thing to be challenging would keep your top minions alive one that wear or use bosses gear .

The games main mechanic of being an Action RTS is what I want to see someone try to expand on. The Fable series Aesthetic isn't terrible but not my major preference. A 3d RTS game where you play a general controlling the army like Mount and Blade but more mythical. You could start as a soldier before rising into higher positions like in Dynasty Warriors Empires, but the leading positions would be something more, like Overlord or a Saint/Saintess, or a King, or an Elven Lord. The armies you lead can be primarily 1 or mixed depending on the actions you take. I remember there was a game being made that does something like this back at most ten years ago before the project ended up being scrapped. (Sadly I don't remember the name anymore)

for a game thats a parody of evil and what not, the fact you can be a legitimately good person is awesome, unironically probably one of the best rpg systems ever made

It's main issue was timing, it came out in a golden age for gaming, where first person and sandbox games were king and a lot of quality games were being released on a nearly weekly basis.

I grown up playing these games

my wishful thinking idea for Overlord 3 was the third overlord coming back from the infernal abyss with an army of the undead and hes out for revenge against the minions and anyone they call overlord, even if that means his own son, and he'd talk finally lol

Much as I miss Overlord, Dungeons 3 and Dungeons 4 kind of scratches the itch Overlord leaves, having a more classic RTS style to it with more minion options in the form of orcs, nagas, demons, undead, and even corrupted versions of enemy heroes instead of just goblins, but it also brings up the idea of having a base that you have to defend in each location as you ravage the countryside, burn babies and kick houses. Very much has the cartoon evil of Overlord nailed down, even if it's made absurd for the sake of comedy. There's also a small niche of the two fandoms that likes to ship the MC of Dungeons 3 and 4, Thalya, with the Overlord. In fact, the character of the Absolute Evil, the personification of Evil that corrupts Thalya and empowers her, greatly resembles the Overlord, from the Sauron-esque armor with no discernible face and glowing eyes, to the fact that the bulk of his forces consist of goblins that are heavily abused; there's actually a mechanic where you can smack a worker with the 'Hand of Evil', the floating disembodied hand of the Absolute Evil that acts as your cursor, dealing damage to the worker in exchange for making them work faster for a few seconds. Still, nothing can replace Gnarl and the Minions in my heart...

OVERLORD?! MY CHILDHOOD

Still waiting overlord 3

Honestly, I do hope there will be an official overlord 3.(I don't count fellowship of evil cuz reasons) Because that is one of my childhood games that I loved. But I wouldn't mind if they didn't... I would be afraid what would happen to the games legacy if they did.

Fucking love the aesthetic

I have a physical and have never played it but I bought it because as a kid I always thought the concept seemed bad ass

If overlord got announced a sequel today I’d lose my shit

I love the subject and ambition, but your videos could use a little polishing. Id suggest starting by breaking up your script into distinc sections that flow into each other. It keeps the video from feeling like a long rant. You can also do the same thing by adding some breaks. Cut your voice with a text card on screen or something, while rasing rhe music volume.

This was the first game i went full fatass mode on, just full bags of fritos and cherokee red while playing for 5 hrs at a time

Overlord: Pikmin with dark humour. What else do you need to know?

Cool

I’ve played the first 2 mainline games, the DS minions spin off, and a bit of the wii version. I tried the fellowship of evil but it’s a slog. It was a fun series damn shame code masters or triumph studio left it to rot

Ngl i saw the elves after playing the first game where i accidentally did all of the cannon options, I wish i didnt spare them

I'm still hoping for a true overlord 3

“Kill a sheep regain life force” yes good old sheep farming for brown minions miss those days

Nice. Good Review+ not a shit mic that rapes my ears.

imho, Overlord was proof that EA should never have killed off bullfrog. it always struck me as a retooling of the plans for DK3

GOAB

Wait what about that Prequal Game?

You right at buy it on steam is like 2 3 dollars plus is multiplayer

Honestly I found myself infuriated by the boat fight when the elves are escaping... and I quit during the green hive recovery mission... I had lost ALL patients with it after those blasted boats... and then the game broke... literally refused to render areas I had to travel through or any of the minions (your possessed one included) rendering the map un-navigatable. THAT is bullshit

It's a POWER Fantasy; the bosses were not really SUPPOSED to be hard, man. Besides, half the time you're likely fighting the controls, or trying not to get your minions ganked. Or trying not to get ganked yourself. It may not have felt hard for you, but it could be hard enough for others. 1:00:55 - She doesn't like you for a reason; the game is a continuance and takes your choices from the first game into account very likely. There is a reason she doesn't like YOUR version of the overlord... [Trying not to spoil - but it is a decade + old game] 1:07:49 = well, I can admit when I'm wrong; and that's a bit disappointing. But maybe it was too much to ask a bit more work - or they just didn't have enough time to code in a different response depending on which girl you picked? Maybe they just didn't think of it.

literally, how did no one make an RTS game for this franchise? its free real estate

You could have bought them on Steam.

Overlord 1 and 2 were the best too bad that the game more focused on the overlord and not the minions diablo like one was so bad and removed all the soul of the game

All the games are on steam, no? Including raising hell

I was so disappointed, i expected to be evil, or at least funny evil like in dungeon keeper. But nope. You are a hero, a good guy, and at times a nuisance. I had soo high hopes!