Even after pre-ordering the pod that would allow them to play "Glendaria Awakens", Krista and Devin still had to wait months before they were able to experience the newest in VRMMORPG (Virtual Reality Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) technology. The wait was definitely worth it as they entered into a game world that was virtually indistinguishable from real life -- apart from the obvious game elements of course.
After starting in a typical starting town, they learned everything they needed to survive in this new world. Journeying through the wilderness outside of town, the duo progressed at a good pace until they arrived at the starting dungeon. Their lives were drastically changed by this place with the unassuming name of, "Goblin Cave".
My Opinion: 141 pages, $3.99, Available on Kindle Unlimited
Really overpriced at $3.99 for 141 pages. But a good read if you have Kindle Unlimited. This is a trapped in the game dungeon master LitRPG story. While that’s a mouthful, it simply means the two main characters get trapped in the VR game they’re playing but not as normal characters. Krista becomes a bodiless dungeon administrator (Dungeon Master) and Devin becomes a special dungeon monster that can create a new character with new class/race combinations every time he dies and still keeps the levels he earned.
The game mechanics in the story are super detailed and there are a lots of tables in the story. Like pages and pages and pages of them. Personally, I’d rather have more information than less but some people will get annoyed by the number of table in the story. Honestly, some of the information given is not relevant to the story and other parts could have been shown in the narrative instead of just told to the reader.
Still, you can tell that the author put a lot of work into the game mechanics and there are some rather neat ones. In particular, I like that there’s a character that can change his class and race with each incarnation. It allows for a variety of strategies and play styles. Additionally, even though it’s not used much, the ability for the dungeon to Lure in new monsters also adds to potential variety to monsters that players will get to fight.
Things that I’m not a fan of from the story:
The way the author decides to define gaming terms is by use of a parenthesis definition next to the term.
Ie: "Hurry Devin, hit it and try to take aggro (or attention -- the monster will attack the player it considers to be the highest threat)!"
The way it’s written breaks the immersion of the reader and the information could have been conveyed another way. Including having a newb character that asks questions about terms, a footnote, or a glossary in the back.
They’re stuck in the game trying to contact the outside world and need to increase the level of the dungeon to get the chance to use the game’s mail system. Yet the whole premise of the story falls apart if anyone remember that using the Help function of the game or calling a GM might solve their problems or get them some answers. Heck, why not write on a wall in the dungeon to talk to the constant stream of players coming in?
The biggest issue I had with the story is the lack of stakes for the main characters. No matter what happens to the dungeon, the monsters, or even Devin as a special dungeon monster, there are no negative repercussions. Everyone dies they get to respawn with no penalties. Devin actually gets to keep any XP he earned no matter how many times he dies. The dungeon resource points aren’t lost and there’s only a net gain possible from killing players. There are stakes implemented by the end of the story but it’s literally the last lines in the novel.
Still, despite those small points, overall this is an entertaining read. I enjoyed seeing how the dungeon grew, the possibilities for upgrades, and the way the two main characters worked together.
Score: 7 out of 10.
Dungeon Player: A LitRPG Dungeon Core Adventure (Glendaria Awakens Trilogy Book 1)