Of course the core ideas aren't new, but I'd have thought people would have gotten tired with this same flavor after a while. Maybe I'm just getting impatient.
Well who wouldn't want to see more of something that you like (in your case, the lewd, the strange, or both)? If people are easily hooked by a lowest common denominator, then bless them since they will be easily satisfied.
The concept can be good, but the vast majority of these series executes it extremely poorly with the whole world basically set around the hero in order to make him (yes, him) shine with little evolution and the story retreading the same old clichés with barely any variation. At the end, the video game parts feel like little more than a new way for the author to fellate their audience.
The most frustrating thing to note is how most of these MMO garbages sharing many the same failure. Jesus Yuji Mceverylead that make any girls instantly wet themselves. Lots of exposition panels to describe its own world,lazily reliant on telling instead of showing the world. Barebones plot thay serve nothing but as a excuse for the exploit of the main characters. Worst of them all for me personally, the constant casual dropping of game terms that really serve as nothing but to make the world feels like a cheap plastic and the narration become obtuse.
There are some of these MMO garbages that shows greay concept. Example in mind is RE:Monster where we see (loser) human reborn as a goblin. At first it really interesting because we see how a difference an intelligent could make. The premise is like setting up the rise of a green horde, where those greenlings banding together and posing significant threat that no one never imagined befode. But instead of seeing the rise of goblin-Genghis Khan, we got endless internal monologue of the main character. Game-term dropped so casually as to remind us that the world is a fake of fake. The MC disgusted by the cruelty of the old goblins but when he done some part of his own the narration cast such atrocities in positive or at least neutral matter. He spend considerate time as a goblin yet nothing change him beside hos condescending manner.
The premise is great and even among fantasy works worldwide, the tale of the rising of a horde is rarely ever told despite we have one such a case in our history. I endured some chapters hoping it would change but then I realized my hope is misplaced. I was once said that today Japan have many interesting premises but always managed to get the execution in the worst possible way.
With a great execution even the cliched loser trapped/reborn in a new world could become the most interesting story to told. Some history and military geek might died suddenly then reborn in a warring states fantastical world. His old knowledge intact, he could make a vast difference and gaining significant advantage. A good execution would be a story where the MC have to realize that with his new position he have many responsibility to take. He must grow up because he is now an active player in a situation where he usually just an distant observer. Even better if he have to struggle against the inept personality of his old self that might prevent him from achieving greatness.
But we will most likely see that turned intobthe most peedictable way. The MC is instantly likeable as he will showered with praised by the warlords that hired him. He will have his own cast of harem warrior girls, with possibly some ditzy strategist assistant by his side. Any military manoeuvre that caused massive atrocities and casualties will be highlighted in positive light and the MC will show no remorse. All of this told by the MC inner monologue and constant reminder how such situation is similar to Crusader Kings II/Nobunaga's Ambition/RoTK/all of them, complete with stats and arbitrary troops number.
This makes me realize that .hack//SIGN was truly one of a kind.
And really ahead of its time.
