Shangri-La Frontier: Kusoge Hunter, Kamige ni Idoman to su
Shangri-La Frontier

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Shocked how underrated this series is for being a pretty big hit in Japan, like MMOs and wish more series were about the strategy and teamwork aspect other than just powering up to beat the villain with friendship? This is a series for you! Our Main Character (username: Rakurou) is a gaming recluse who only plays the shittiest games on the market for the thrill of challenging himself until one day he joins the most popular MMO in Japan at the time, seeking a new thrill in an actual well made game for once and uncovers the many mysteries about this mysterious AAA MMO's world ... and it's bosses. Yet upon arrival he is spawn killed by a world boss and cursed to only be able to wear a headpiece and basic knives, now having an even greater challenge due to his near permanent nerf until the boss is defeated. The games plot is tied to many world events that no single player has ever finished due to the high skill gap and challenge required. Outstanding action and detail about the games mechanics and world are given, the grind is shown off from enemies to weapon crafting, and the game lore of NPCs who are almost too real at times always keep things fresh. One extremely cool thing is that Rakurou will log off and play other games to come up with other strategies and we see what other kings of games he plays, one in particular is a cheaply made fighting game in the vein of Hokuto no Ken, or another castle plundering MMO which has had it's economy destroyed due to toxic players. The first raid boss arc was just finished as of writing this and it went in detail on abilities, game strategies, team work/co-op, all done in quite a long stretch of chapters, each going into different phases of the fight and the detail on the bosses attacks, buffs, defense, and triggers. This has me extremely excited for future encounters and what's to come next.

Shangri-La Frontier stands as a pinnacle within the VRMMORPG manga genre, setting itself apart from the standard tropes of powering up through friendship. Authored with a clear understanding of gaming intricacies, it’s evident that the creator is a seasoned gamer. Fun fact: the manga even experienced a hiatus due to the author's addiction to Elden Ring.

What truly sets this work apart is its unique approach to Virtual Reality Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (VRMMORPGs). It delves into strategic gameplay, teamwork dynamics, and the challenges inherent in the gaming world. The narrative excels in detailing the game mechanics, establishing a vivid world, and highlighting the significance ... of teamwork to conquer formidable adversaries.

The manga enthralls with its meticulous and adrenaline-pumping action sequences. It navigates character relationships while portraying gaming as an engaging and serious endeavor. Instead of relying on worn-out clichés, the storyline focuses on unraveling mysteries and overcoming obstacles, fostering a sense of cooperative yet competitive spirit.

What's commendable is the diversity showcased among player types, notably explored through the introduced guilds. Each guild has a distinct focus, whether it's about vanquishing the formidable colossi or exploring the game's rich lore.

A significant aspect of the protagonist's character is their skill without falling into the overpowered protagonist stereotype. The need for occasional grinding to level up or acquire better equipment adds depth. Furthermore, the absence of plot armor, or at least its subtle use, is a refreshing change.

The manga's ability to allow the protagonist to venture into other games injects a breath of fresh air into the storyline. To top it off, the quality of the artwork is nothing short of impressive, contributing significantly to the overall experience.

In summary, Shangri-La Frontier is a standout in the VRMMORPG genre, defying conventional tropes and offering a refreshing, strategic take on gaming narratives.

Shangri-La Frontier is a manga that drew me in real good at the start and held my attention pretty well for the next 96 chapters. This author very obviously knows his stuff when it comes to action RPGs and put a ton of thought into creating the imaginary video game this manga is named after. Discovering more and more about this game world from the perspective of Sunraku was very entertaining for me for a time and I enjoyed the steady drip of exciting quests, new locations, mechanics, equipment and so forth that we expect to see in a good open world RPG. Sunraku himself ... is also a rather novel character to me as someone who has honed his skills through the obsessive enjoyment of poorly designed trash games.

With that all that being said, I did slowly but steadily lose interest in this series until finally deciding to drop it once and for all on chapter 96. It never failed to continue presenting what seems like a very good video game, but the thing is that this author isn't actually making a game, but writing a story. He has one part of a good story with excellent and thoughtful world building, but he's unfortunately not nearly as good at writing interesting and compelling characters to drive that story forward.

The author has populated the world with tons of characters, but none of them really go beyond the stereotypes they're based off. Their dialogue and interactions all felt painfully shallow and predictable to me after a while and I didn't feel invested in any of their personal stories, not that I ever actually learned very much about any of them across 96 whole chapters. I did say that Sunraku was a novel character at first, but playing shitty games and being a god gamer is really his entire personality. I also started to get bored by how Sunraku is effortlessly so much better than the millions of others supposedly playing Shangri-La Frontier, including those who are also the best of the best and playing the game much longer than him. He starts to feel exactly like the "Invincible Hero" trope that One Punch Man parodies so well, and this is despite the fact that the author did try to give him weaknesses as a glass canon.

To conclude, I don't think it's an awful story. The author did some things very well and others rather poorly. Some people aren't going to be nearly as bothered by these templated characters and that's fine. They just failed at being interesting characters to me and it slowly but progressively started to outweigh the fun I was having witnessing the interesting game world the author thought up.