LitRPG Podcast 274 - Purgatory: The Devil's Game, Dungeon Walkers 2, Battlefield Reclaimer, Biomancer, Solo Spell Caster
LitRPG Podcast 274 - Purgatory: The Devil's Game, Dungeon Walkers 2, Battlefield Reclaimer, Biomancer, Solo Spell Caster
Oct. 15th, 2021
Hello everyone, welcome to episode 274 of the LitRPG podcast. I’m Ramon Mejia.
I’m here to bring you the latest LitRPG news, reviews, and author interviews. We have 5 new reviews just for you.
New Releases and Reviews:
Purgatory: The Devil's Game (13:26)
Early reservations but turned out to be a great story
Score: 8 out of 10
Dungeon Walkers 2 (25:33)
Still entertaining
Score: 7.3 out of 10
Battlefield Reclaimer: A LitRPG Progression Epic (Guardian of Aster Fall Book 1) (30:32)
A good dungeon dive story
Score: 7.7 out of 10
Biomancer (New Era Online: Biomancer Book 1) (36:10)
New character, new class, same fun storytelling
Score: 7.6 out of 10
Solo Spell Caster (40:01)
Ordinary guy awakens power in modern RPG manga
Score: 7.4 out of 10
https://readmanganato.com/manga-jf987262
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LitRPG News
The fine folks at Shadow Alley Press have started a Kickstarter campaign to produce and distribute their very own card game. It has some fantastic character art featuring some of your favorite characters from the Shadow Alley stable of books and your favorite LitRPG Authors. Go check out their Kickstarter campaign, there are some great rewards.
Out Now!
An Old Man's Journey: A VRMMO LITRPG adventure
Commando: A LitRPG / LitFPS Adventure (Battlegrounds Online Book 2)
Land of Drunken Pharaohs: A GameLit Urban Fantasy (High Table Hijinks Book 3)
APOCALYPSE ONLINE 2: A Post-Apocalypse Litrpg Adventure
Collapse (The Weight Of It All): A LitRPG Fantasy Adventure
The Archon (Project Stellar Book 5): LitRPG Series
Defending Earth (In the System Book #3): LitRPG Series
Legion's Fifth Vault: A Fantasy LitRPG Adventure (Divine Apostasy Book 5)
Daemonorg Colossus: A Dark LitRPG / LitFPS SciFi-Shooter (Overtaken Online Book 4)
Infinite Dark: A Post-Apocalyptic LitRPG Fantasy: (Cowboy Necromancer Book Two)
Core Establishment (Dimensional Dungeon Cores Book 1)
Somnia Online Books 4-7: A LitRPG Fantasy Series Omnibus (Somnia Online Omnibus Editions Book 2)
Biomedical Self Engineering: Book 3
Lewd Dungeon: Book XXIII - New Players
Into the Black: Book XXX - Hellspace
Legacy of Merlin: A GameLit/LitRPG Portal Fantasy Adventure (The Abduction Cycles Book 6)
Reborn as a Baron Lord 3: A LitRPG Steampunk (The Steampunk World of Gearnix)
New LitRPG Audiobooks
A Fantasy LitRPG Adventure (Divine Apostasy, Book 5)
A LitRPG Adventure (Master Hunter K, Book 1)
Manipulating Magic - Jeff the Game Master, Book 2
ChronoTemplar - A Crunchy LitRPG Adventure
A Fist Full of Credits - A New Apocalyptic LitRPG Series (System Apocalypse - Relentless, Book 1)
Trinity of the Hive (Books 1-3)
A Complete Dark Fantasy LitRPG Series
Isekai Magus 3: A LitRPG Progression Saga
The Fantasy World of Nordan, Book 3
This Guild Is Batty! - This Trilogy Is Broken (A Comedy LitRPG Adventure, Book 3)
Condition Evolution 4 - A LitRPG / Gamelit Adventure
Killing Them Awfully - The Good Guys, Book 11
Cause for War - Reality Benders, Book 7
Dungeon of Envy - The Seven Deadly Demons, Book 1
Serra Online - A LitRPG Adventure (The Castillion Chronicles, Book 1)
Friends with Bunny Feets - Threadbare, Book 4
Respawn: The Last Crossing - Respawn, Book 6
Soulstream - Rise to Omniscience, Book 10
Cyber-Mage Realization - Overtaken Online, Book 3
Lords of the Ruins - The Range, Book 2
Upcoming LitRPG:
Old-School (Unfrozen Book #2): LitRPG Series (Oct. 18th, 2021)
Drakon Prince: A LitRPG/GameLit Adventure (Oct. 19th, 2021)
Rise to Glory (A Fantasy LitRPG Adventure) (Oct. 19th, 2021)
Bleeding EDGE (EDGE Force Book 1) (Oct. 21st, 2021)
Player Reached the Top. LitRPG Series. Book VII (Oct. 21st, 2021)
The Nemesis of the Living (An NPC's Path Book #5): LitRPG Series (Oct. 26th, 2021)
They Called Me Maddest: A LitRPG Apocalypse Series (Oct. 26th, 2021)
The Centennial Tournament: A LitRPG Cultivation Saga (Infinite Realm Book 3) (Oct. 26th, 2021)
Nova Terra: Stone King: A LitRPG/GameLit Adventure (The Titan Series Book 8) (Oct. 27th, 2021)
Libriohexer: A Completionist Chronicles Series (Wolfman Warlock Book 2) (Oct. 27th, 2021)
Blessed Time 2: Coda: A LitRPG Adventure (Oct. 28th, 2021)
Empire Ascendant: A LitRPG Adventure (UnderVerse Book 6) (Oct. 26th, 2021)
Mana Harvest: A Sword to Ploughshares LitRPG (The Sword to Ploughshares Saga Book 1) (Oct. 31st, 2021)
Town Under: A Post-Apocalyptic LitRPG (The System Apocalypse: Australia Book 1) (Nov. 1st, 2021)
Towers of Acalia: The Reincarnated Core Volume V (Nov. 3rd, 2021) https://amzn.to/2ZFUnzs
Glory to the Dominion! (Disgardium Book #9): LitRPG Series (Nov. 4th, 2021)
The Legend of Randidly Ghosthound: A LitRPG Adventure (Nov. 9th, 2021)
The Guardian of the Verge (The Range Book #3): LitRPG Series (Nov. 11th, 2021)
Gates of Thunder (Loner Book #1): LitRPG Series (Nov. 16th, 2021)
The Bright Finish This (Nov. 16th, 2021)
The Houndsman: A Base-Building LitRPG Adventure (Nov. 16th, 2021)
Valhalla Online 5: Burn It Down: A LitRPG Adventure (Nov. 18th, 2021)
Isle of Destiny (A Buccaneer's Due Book #1 LitRPG Series) (Nov. 19th, 2021)
Alpha Physics! Book 3 - Disquiet: A Post Apocalypse Progression Fantasy (Nov. 19th, 2021)
Two Boys: A LitRPG Wuxia Series (The King's Soul Book 2) (Nov. 22nd, 2021)
Hero Killer: A LitRPG Adventure (Neverstone Book 2) (Nov. 23rd, 2021)
The Last Light: Book 5 (The Wandering Inn) (Nov. 23rd, 2021)
Defiance of the Fall 3: A LitRPG Adventure (Nov. 30th, 2021)
Future: A Superhero LitRPG Adventure (VR Hero Book 5) (Dec. 1st, 2021)
Cleaver's Edge: A LitRPG Fantasy Cooking Adventure (Morcster Chef Book 1) (Dec. 7th, 2021)
An Outcast In Another World (Book 2, Title Pending) (Dec. 9th, 2021)
Aster Fall: A LitRPG Progression Epic (Guardian of Aster Fall Book 2) (Dec. 10th, 2021)
Uncontrollable: A LitRPG Adventure (Dec. 14th, 2021)
Clan Dominance: The Sleepless Ones (Book #9): LitRPG Series (Dec. 15th, 2021)
Don’t Slip Up (Fantasia Book #2): LitRPG Series (Dec. 16th, 2021)
The Frost Ridge. First Circle [RealRPG Wuxia Series The Way] Book #4 (Dec. 22nd, 2021)
Evolution: A LitRPG Adventure (Epiphany Realms Book 2) (Dec. 21st, 2021)
The Guild's Demands: A Young Adult LitRPG Fantasy (Adventures on Brad Book 7) (Dec. 26th, 2021)
Level Zero (Alpha Rome Book 3): LitRPG Series (Dec. 28th, 2021)
He Who Fights with Monsters 4: A LitRPG Adventure (Dec. 28th, 2021)
Onto New Releases and Reviews
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New Releases and Reviews
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Purgatory: The Devil's Game
Throughout the history of man, God and Lucifer have matched wits in games to decide the fate of man's immortal soul. Victor Goodspeed has just learned he's a pawn in the most recent game with his own soul at stake. Now, he needs to fight his way through Purgatory if he wants to find his place in the afterlife.
This novel is a LitRPG adventure through the afterlife.
My Opinion: 553 pages, $5.99, Available On Kindle Unlimited
Full disclosure: I received an advanced copy for review. I purchased a copy when it became available.
The start of the story wasn’t my favorite and I was a little put off by the religious element/theme. In my experience, introducing Christian themes like: a monotheistic god, the devil, angels, hell, heaven, and purgatory aren’t done well. Either the story makes fun of them or it’s all too serious and turns into sermonizing. I’m happy to say that isn’t the case here. By the 8% mark when the dungeon diving happens it's pretty evident that every person in purgatory is going through their own version of a dungeon and the eventual late story developments make that more important to character growth than just a dungeon dive for RPG power. The other religious elements aren’t discarded, but they aren’t used to sermonize either.
The end, the last 27% or so, was great and I read that entire section almost non-stop. I’m all for a good dungeon dive, and the mid section of the story is that. But it's the end of the story that really kicked it up a notch for me. The story gets more philosophical or at least introspective in dealing with the MCs dungeon and it introduces a few twists that I thought were good limiters on the RPG powers but still fit well within the framework of what gamers would be used to. Moreover, elements and antagonists that I’d been concerned were going to be forgotten were resolved very satisfactorily.
On the game mechanic side, there’s lots of RPG progression once the MC starts to dungeon dive. Rewards for killing demons are currency crystals and experience. Crystals are a currency that can be used to buy special powers or abilities, gear, or just good food and alcohol. Gear, abilities, and stats can be upgraded with experience points and the number of abilities and powers (physical or spiritual proficiencies) that a character can have expands as stats increase. There’s even a bit of enchanting, though it’s never as powerful as I was hoping it was going to be. Still there’s a very nice detailed system that’s pretty consistent and that doesn’t let the MC feel too powerful despite some of the big gains he gets as he fights through his own personal purgatory dungeon.
Not to say the story was perfect. There were a few early issues with choices the character made were a little annoying. The MC had lived as a successful savvy businessman well into his 50s and is supposed to have been a lifelong gamer. So a few early choices he made seemed out of character as they were naive and noobish. However, I fully recognize that the choices were made to setup goals and antagonists for the MC and to create a reason to explain to the reader about game mechanics, but they still felt out of place. But by the end of the story the pay off for the setup was done so well that I kinda forgave the early annoyance.
Overall, the story struck a good balance between the concept of purgatory, a middle battleground where sinners could redeem themselves, with the action RPG elements in LitRPG. And the late story philosophy elements really worked well for me and bumped it up from ‘good’ to ‘great’. The story works really well as a standalone story though there is room for another novel if readers enjoy the work and support the novel.
Score: 8 out of 10
Dungeon Walkers 2
Alistern “Stern” Masterson never expected to have the sort of life he found himself living. He was an irregular— a person who looked like the undead and had unusual perks— and his life hadn’t been very pleasant, so he’d written off the idea of ever finding anyone who understood him. Then, an old lady had asked for help, and he’d given it…
Stern was able to rescue Cyra Walot’s shards from the Bloodstone dungeon, after which he was brought before the city magistrate on false charges. Cyra helped him clear his name, and he was set free with the newly reborn Cyra beside him.
Although the rabbit lykian had lived a rough life and died horribly inside the dungeon, she wasn’t about to let that stop her from following her own dream. Seeing her determination, Stern offered to help her. Together, they ran the starting dungeons so that Cyra could develop the skills she would need to survive as a Walker.
Stern and Cyra found a friend in Trish Moxy, an accomplished leatherworker. That friendship blossomed and grew, becoming something that none of them had expected.
The new triad relationship and fledgling crew trained together in Darkstone, preparing to take on the next set of dungeons. These would be much harder, but they felt like they had a chance if they worked together.
After Darkstone, they set out for Waterrock. They were intent on finding people to fill out their crew, knowing they would need more allies for what the future held.
(This book contains non-standard relationships and touches upon adult situations.)
My Opinion: 471 pages, $4.99, Available On Kindle Unlimited
*Full disclosure: I received an advanced copy for review. I purchased a copy when it became available.
This is mostly a slice of life adventure story with the same characters and dungeon diving mechanics from book 1. The main group expands a bit by taking on new members and the 1st half of the book really does a lot of backstory and character development for them. Most of the action hits mid and late story and it's all fine. I only wish the 2nd book had as clear an antagonist as book 1.
Overall, good if you’re ok with a more casual slice of life pacing.
Score: 7.3 out of 10
Battlefield Reclaimer: A LitRPG Progression Epic (Guardian of Aster Fall Book 1)
***A LitRPG Progression Epic***
Across the world of Aster Fall, there are unique classes, but not all of them can be trained. They require quests and accomplishments that simply don't exist in the world. Some say the World Law itself is broken and that the world is falling apart.
In comes Sam Hastern.
His family has been cursed by one of these classes for the last fifty years. No one has ever managed to level it, condemning them to the lowest paying jobs and life in a barren village.
The class is called Battlefield Reclaimer.
There's one more little problem.
Sam's about to have it even worse, when a dungeon exploration leaves him looking distinctly non-human.
My Opinion: 886 pages, $5.99, Available On Kindle Unlimited
The start of the story was the hardest for me because it shifted perspectives between multiple characters within the same paragraph sometimes. But once the story focused on just the main character’s (MC) perspective or at least creating small notes to differentiate perspective, it was easier to read.
The story is a slice of life story where the MC and his family are stuck with a broken class that no one knows how to advance. So they’re stuck being poor because they can’t advance their main class, only their general class and even that gets stuck at low levels. Then one day the MCs father and the MC go explore a ruin and while things go terribly wrong, it also presents the MC the opportunity to explore what it means to be a Battlefield Reclaimer. This all really means that most of the early story is a dungeon dive with regular action/adventure and some class ability and magic exploration.
The game mechanics are solid and you regularly see level ups, skill and class ability upgrades, and a fairly crunchy notification system. The Battlefield Reclaimer class is interesting and pulls in magic and crafting and combines them well. There’s a little wand waviness with some XP limits, but even that is part of the larger world lore that gets explained.
Overall a really good action oriented story with more to come.
Score: 7.7 out of 10
Battlefield Reclaimer: A LitRPG Progression Epic (Guardian of Aster Fall Book 1)
Biomancer (New Era Online: Biomancer Book 1)
A new series in the New Era Online universe from the author who brought you Life Reset!
John Slater never had any interest in video games. Now he’s got to beat one to save his brother.
A battle-hardened, ex-special forces soldier, John was never a fan of games, unlike his brother. But now, he’s got to learn and learn fast if he has any chance of saving his younger sibling. Magic, monsters and levels are new to him, and his real-world skills aren’t as useful as he thinks.
Lucky for him, he’s used to adapting on the fly. And soon, the world will know why his squadmates called him Seraph, the death angel.
Note: Events in Biomancer happen after Life Reset. The two plot lines are not directly connected however and can be read independently.
My Opinion: 609 pages, $4.99, Available On Kindle Unlimited
While this is a story set in an existing story universe, it can be easily read as a standalone. If you’ve read the Life Reset series, you’ll get a few easter eggs and the magic/class/town building systems will be very familiar. But the author brings a unique class to the story with some neat powers and abilities that combine a curse build with a bit of organic crafting and building.
The setup for the story is pretty concise and the main character (MC) gets into the story pretty quickly and while there’s some background motivation that’s explained, most of the story is a level grind with lots of fights that boost the MCs XP to unlock levels and class abilities and the exploration the game system.
Overall, it’s a solid story that fans of the Life Reset series will enjoy. There are familiar notes but it's still a good story with a unique character class.
Score: 7.6 out of 10
Biomancer (New Era Online: Biomancer Book 1)
Solo Spell Caster
The ordinary salaryman Park Do-hyuk, finally got the awakening he had always wished for in a life or death situation! Unbelievably, the memories and experiences from the game he spent his entire life in his twenties playing became these powers of awakening! What’s more, it was a 1 in a billion ‘Triple Awakening’! The extraordinary player Park Do-hyuk’s journey picks up now, as he aims to reach the world’s peak. ** This will be the complete webtoon adaptation of the popular web novel by the author Cheongcho.
My Opinion: 63 chapters, FREE Online, No English Publisher
This is a slice of life dungeon crawl LitRPG story set in the modern world. Dungeons exist and must be conquered or monsters will spill out, so society has evolved to put guilds and players in positions of power to beat them, gain treasures, and level up. The main character (MC) is a nobody that suddenly awakens his power and becomes an over powered character with not one but three classes. He attracts attention from the biggest guilds and makes enemies of those he spurns and advances past. A good regularly released mana.
Score: 7.4 out of 10
https://readmanganato.com/manga-jf987262
https://www.asurascans.com/comics/solo-spell-caster/
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