Guilty Gear 2: Overture uses an action-based gameplay similar to the Devil May Cry series while retaining special moves and animations that have been used in past 2D Guilty Gear fighters. Aside from the simple genre change compared to it's arcade fighter predecessors, Overture features a troop management system as well as certain points around each of the levels that can be captured to be a spawning point for troops. Various troops from the demo include the light infantry, capable of a special attack; Heavy infantry, capable of launching and juggle attacks; as well as magical troops which can heal and perform status increasing spells.
To win, players must directly attack each other or each others Masterghost, an immobile and defenseless 'main base' or spawning point for each player. Each time a player is defeated, they respawn by their Masterghost in exchange for a portion of the Masterghost's lifebar. Victory will be rewarded through: beating the enemy enough times so their Masterghost cannot revive them, directly attacking and defeating the Masterghost, or winning by basis of who has more life once a predetermined timer reaches zero.