First impressions may not be the strongest when you look at screenshots of Game Over: A Musical RPG; after all, the visuals do resemble those from a much earlier generation of gaming. However, then the title raises a question… how does this aesthetic suit the genre of ‘musical RPG’? Will this be a game phrased as some Rhythm/RPG hybrid? Will it be a more theatrical game featuring mid-game musical numbers a la Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure? These questions are what ultimately drew me to give the game a shot, and while this solo-developed game by Australian dev Jake Houston perhaps didn’t meet my assumptions, it most certainly exceeded my expectations.
Game Over: A Musical RPG‘s narrative lands squarely in that sweet spot between tongue-in-cheek comedy and genuine heart. The game picks up not at the beginning of a story but instead after one – as a whole world of vendors, monsters, and would-be heroes face redundancy. The script riffs on genre clichés with the same irreverence that fans loved in Undertale, yet still finds time for sincere character beats – particularly in how the townsfolk react to the reality-bending glitches creeping across their pixelated homeland. Moral choices rarely branch the story in huge ways. Still, they’re deployed enough to let you role‑play everything from gallant saviour to spectacular jerk. Pacing can wobble as the game can stall or linger on a joke a wee bit too long, but the overall ride kept me grinning far more often than it dragged.
Aesthetically, the game adopts a deliberately chunky, 16-bit aesthetic that was popularised by the likes of Undertale, although even earlier RPG design trends may have influenced it. Big, colourful pixels give every screen an immediate retro warmth, and then the game adds its own twists: animated glitch tiles fizz at the edges of the map, menus crack jokes, and almost every NPC is an anthropomorphic walking instrument. It is clear that every pixel is taken full advantage of. Each region – the string‑plucked streets of Stringfield, the brassy caverns of Brasshole, the airy Windy Woods – sports a distinct colour palette and a few visual jokes that reward players who stop to look around. At times, the distortion effects crowd the action, but they fit the story’s ‘world‑falling‑apart’ theme perfectly.
We can talk about the narrative and visuals all we want, but for a game titled Game Over: A Musical RPG – surely the music has to be top-notch. Right? Thankfully, it mostly is. Every line of dialogue is “voiced” by a quick pluck, toot, or whistle from the character’s signature instrument, a slight touch that brings life to an otherwise unvoiced game. Battles kick that up a notch with one‑off tracks that hop from noir jazz to crunchy chip‑tune EDM without ever recycling a riff. The music even toys with you mechanically, altering how you tackle a challenge in the rhythm battles – proving the soundtrack is woven directly into the gameplay. A few songs were mixed a bit roughly, and the timing occasionally felt a little off, but those hiccups barely dent the sheer volume of catchy original tunes on offer.
Game Over: A Musical RPG may have RPG in its title, but it isn’t your typical turn-based slugfest, with every encounter comprised of a six-lane rhythm chart game. Similar to your Guitar Hero-esque experiences, notes slide down the screen, and players time their beats to the music and overlayed icons. What lifts these bouts above a mere homage to the rhythm game genre is how many foes offer a gimmick, making each new enemy encounter feel more unique than you might expect when first beginning the game. The constant freshness means no chart repeats, so the learning curve is less about rote memorisation and more about staying light on your fingers and, arguably, having fun doing so.
When you’re not riffing for your life, you’re poking around a fairly generous overworld packed with ear‑training puzzles, warp‑dash platforming and the occasional mini‑game detour. These diversions aren’t deep enough to stand alone, but they are enjoyable one-off experiences, and together, they keep exploration from feeling like dead air between duets. There are also different layers of difficulty on offer, although I will argue that a game all about rhythm could have been done without the ‘Nigel Mode’ setting, which sets the combat to auto-play itself. It is becoming a trend for RPGs to offer some form of auto-play mode, but at least with them, you need to monitor the battle somewhat to ensure the AI hasn’t messed up, while this renders the core gameplay experience completely moot. The other difficulty settings are more balanced, so I highly recommend choosing one of them.
Game Over: A Musical RPG may look like it escaped from a long‑lost cartridge, but beneath those pixels lies a rhythm‑driven RPG adventure that’s clever, heartfelt, and inventive. Its post-credits premise, lovable instrument-folk, and glitch-laced humour keep the narrative humming; its soundtrack is surprisingly versatile; and its puzzle-peppered gameplay ensures every encounter feels like a fresh encore. A few rhythm mishaps, visual clutter, and an autoplay mode that undercuts the challenge can’t drown out the melody of a debut that punches well above its weight. Tap along to its beat, and you’ll find a show worth sticking around for.
Final Score for Game Over: A Musical RPG
This review was conducted on a PC Steam digital copy of Game Over: A Musical RPG, a review code provided to facilitate this review.
Game Over: A Musical RPG is now available to purchase on Steam, with a free demo also available.
