Harry Wollenstein is a regular guy. He loves his ranch, his dogs, and beer. He’s just a normal dude…except that he makes his living fighting in brutal virtual wars. For him, money is short, and like everyone, he needs to make enough to get by.
When a huge battle is announced in the capital city New Eden, Harry will do anything to qualify. The only problem is that battles are controlled by Overseers, and Harry has some history with the Overseer of New Eden. Things aren’t going to be easy for him.
When fighters enter the battlefield, the real-world cities give way to fantasy lands filled whatever horrific creatures that the Overseers’ cruel minds conjure up. The combatants wield swords, runes, skills and spells in digital death battles.
The fights might be virtual, but the danger is real. For Harry, the stakes couldn’t be any higher.
My Opinion: 431 pages, $2.99, Available on Kindle Unlimited
For me, this is one of the weaker LitRPG stories from author Deck Davis. I much prefer his story Arcane Survivalist: Apocalyptic Fantasy LitRPG.
The biggest issue I have with the story is that I never really cared about the MC and the competitive game play. The backstory reason why a game overseer hates the MC doesn’t make sense. There’s a good attempt at character development. But it never landed with me and the motivations for all the character’s felt shallow. Especially the big reveal at the end as to why the antagonist was so determined to ruin the MC’s life.
There is a potentially interesting backstory on world and why everyone games but there wasn’t much of a threat from the real world or a substantive reason why the MC plays the game in the first place. Other than, maybe having to move into the city if he runs out of money for his ranch style estate.
The game mechanics leaned towards competitive PVP play. Kind of light on the RPG parts. Not bad mechanics but the gameplay isn’t something I’m into. If you enjoy Online Battle Games, you might like this one more than I did.
Overall, I just couldn't get into the story.
Score: 5 out of 10
New Eden Royale: An Apocalyptic LitRPG Series