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Outer Ragna #1
Outer Ragna: Volume 1
PotatoStarch, a live streamer who's gaining popularity for his excitable attitude and witty banter, has begun streaming Dragon Demon RPG-DX, a game with a cult following known for its extreme difficulty and unreasonable systems. Only masochists would play it.
Meanwhile, in the world of the game, a fierce war between humans, elves, and vampires is reaching its bloody peak. The humans, lacking in magic, were forced into a defensive battle—until a savior appeared. Wielding a battleaxe, a young girl named Kuroi stepped forth to oppose both enemy armies. Her heroic efforts earned her the names “Dragonslayer” and “Killer of Demons.” Thanks to Kuroi, a girl “loved by God,” humans counter-attack.
PotatoStarch is just a video game player. He dives into this world hoping to forget the tiring real world. But through an unexpected series of events, he ends up almost “possessing” Kuroi. As he reaches the game’s climax, Kuroi discovers a mysterious power and PotatoStarch’s fate is changed forever.
Meanwhile, in the world of the game, a fierce war between humans, elves, and vampires is reaching its bloody peak. The humans, lacking in magic, were forced into a defensive battle—until a savior appeared. Wielding a battleaxe, a young girl named Kuroi stepped forth to oppose both enemy armies. Her heroic efforts earned her the names “Dragonslayer” and “Killer of Demons.” Thanks to Kuroi, a girl “loved by God,” humans counter-attack.
PotatoStarch is just a video game player. He dives into this world hoping to forget the tiring real world. But through an unexpected series of events, he ends up almost “possessing” Kuroi. As he reaches the game’s climax, Kuroi discovers a mysterious power and PotatoStarch’s fate is changed forever.
- GenresLight NovelFantasy
213 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 8, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 24, 2022
Writing, narration and point of views change at the drop of a hat without notice or warning, making this isekai-fantasy VRMMORPG (Virtual Reality Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game very confusing, convoluted and atypical. Between the Video-blog broadcasts, the testimonies from the different species (humans, elves, vampires, etc.) and the changes in dialogues, narrations, first person dialogues, third person narratives, etc. you can imagine, the inexperience in writing that this author has, probably augmented or not by the quality of the translation. In addition, the lack or boundaries, rules, and laws to govern the game-play, the lives of the people in the other world, make it for a true and hell-like battle royale, where the author makes anything and everything possible (cannibalism, sexual assaults, slavery, abductions, torture, gore, violence, "the works")...
The author makes everybody extremely violent and lawless, especially the elves and the vampires and the humans fall victim regularly, like if they were NPC's in a shoot-out (Gotcha) game to all the blood, gore, torture and chaos that the author imagined for this novel series. Usually Elves are portrayed in fiction as lawful, peaceful and ethical beings, but in this particular work of "fiction" the author threw the good name that "elves" usually have out the window and into the pigsty.
The are no parental guidance or adult warnings on the front or inside of this novel series. It is targeted to underage readers without any type of buffers. The violence inside the story and the "game" includes violence towards babies, kids, women and even farm animals, etc.
The author makes everybody extremely violent and lawless, especially the elves and the vampires and the humans fall victim regularly, like if they were NPC's in a shoot-out (Gotcha) game to all the blood, gore, torture and chaos that the author imagined for this novel series. Usually Elves are portrayed in fiction as lawful, peaceful and ethical beings, but in this particular work of "fiction" the author threw the good name that "elves" usually have out the window and into the pigsty.
The are no parental guidance or adult warnings on the front or inside of this novel series. It is targeted to underage readers without any type of buffers. The violence inside the story and the "game" includes violence towards babies, kids, women and even farm animals, etc.
November 5, 2022
I ended up dropping it a few chapters in. The constant POV switch between the real-world MC and Kuroi gave me tonal whiplash and made it hard to get into. This story would have been much better if it focused entirely on Kuroi, and instead just implied that she's being controlled by a higher power (even keeping it as a guy playing a videogame in another world). The potential for that would be greater I think, because the concept of a character becoming a devout Apostle while she's a character in a game would be really interesting. My eyes glazed over every time it swapped back to the MC explaining game mechanics and hamming it up for his livestream audience, because it would come right after Kuroi killed a bunch of monsters or whatever.
Finally, another factor that led to me dropping it is that the writer has a very slow release schedule. Volume 2 came out all the way back in 2020, and he has kids and it's not even clear if he's still writing at a regular pace. I'm not gonna wait years for another volume of a series I'm only vaguely interested in.
The art is top notch, though.
Finally, another factor that led to me dropping it is that the writer has a very slow release schedule. Volume 2 came out all the way back in 2020, and he has kids and it's not even clear if he's still writing at a regular pace. I'm not gonna wait years for another volume of a series I'm only vaguely interested in.
The art is top notch, though.
December 12, 2020
Game streamer PotatoStarch is ready to start a new playthrough of Dragon Demon RPG-DX, a fantasy game known for its punishing mechanics and unbeatable bad end. In the war between vampires, elves, and humans, this time he's chosen a human girl he calls Kuroi, and he's determined to use his knowledge of the game to try to earn humanity the win. Problem is, there's something a little too real about this playthrough . . .
It's not really much of a spoiler to say that the game is indeed some form of alternate world or parallel dimension, as the book shifts between Kuroi and various other inhabitants and the monologue from PotatoStarch. He's the only one who hasn't clued in to the obvious. What's more interesting is seeing how Kuroi perceives him and his interventions in her life---as a god she must follow, who brings her unprecedented victory.
It's also nice how the voice changes between the various parts. PotatoStarch SOUNDS like a streamer, with his casual ramblings about everything from his favorite snacks to his strategies for leveling up. Kuroi is almost his total opposite, super focused. And then the priest and knights who narrate give a wider view of the social and political situation.
Overall, if the point of view shifts don't put you off, this is a pretty good story. Humanity is in a dire position, headed for complete disaster, yet the story is more about finding that unexpected hope. I rate this book Recommended.
See my reviews and more at https://offtheshelfreviews.wordpress....
It's not really much of a spoiler to say that the game is indeed some form of alternate world or parallel dimension, as the book shifts between Kuroi and various other inhabitants and the monologue from PotatoStarch. He's the only one who hasn't clued in to the obvious. What's more interesting is seeing how Kuroi perceives him and his interventions in her life---as a god she must follow, who brings her unprecedented victory.
It's also nice how the voice changes between the various parts. PotatoStarch SOUNDS like a streamer, with his casual ramblings about everything from his favorite snacks to his strategies for leveling up. Kuroi is almost his total opposite, super focused. And then the priest and knights who narrate give a wider view of the social and political situation.
Overall, if the point of view shifts don't put you off, this is a pretty good story. Humanity is in a dire position, headed for complete disaster, yet the story is more about finding that unexpected hope. I rate this book Recommended.
See my reviews and more at https://offtheshelfreviews.wordpress....
December 3, 2020
This book gets the blood boiling. The midsection drops it just a little bit, but the climax is well worth the read. I'm not planning to read the sequel because this book stands very well all by itself, and the little peak at the second book didn't pique my fancy.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews