My Fascination with LitRPG
A while back I sank my teeth into a genre of book I never knew existed. The concept wasn’t new to me. I’m one of those that watch YouTube let’s plays, observing another person play a video game I find interesting. This reminded me of it but without thevisuals… and bombardments of adverts.
The term standing for literary role-playing game apparently comes from Russian roots popularised in the early 2010’s. Merging literary fiction and game mechanics into one spicy way of story telling.
Progression based fantasies taps into a certain dopamine receptor that makes us all warm and fuzzy as we witness the level ups and skill developments. Do we associate this with productivity itself? or more like hacking into our reward system. Just like social media developed through the inspiration of slot machines and gambling. We get hooked by infinite notifications and potential for loot.
I fell quickly into the addictiveness, gobbling up the next in line from specific stories I adventured in. It appears common for each series to be in a long running format. Quite similar to Shounen anime, light novels and manga. Which makes me question if the inspiration for these LitRPG novels is due to Japanese influence?
If you’ve been blessed by the gods above, then you may not have heard of Isekai anime. A term to describe a type of anime with the concept of main characters in modern day reincarnated or transported to a fantasy world. Take no offence if you have and enjoy them as well. I get caught up in the phenomena from time to time myself. The Isekai monstrosity is filled with LitRPG elements, and in some circumstances can be an exact 1:1.
The massively popular ‘Solo Levelling’ uses such elements to launch itself into the hearts of battle Shounen junkies, and even those that aren’t. Having read the manhwa with its explosive art and the anime with a respectable adaption, it’s not hard to see why. But I believe the LitRPG aspect to it is one of its main reasons to why it was so effective. And to this day why we get a production line of Isekai’s thrown our way each season.
Is it fulfilling a self-insert fantasy?
I don’t believe it’s too difficult to do so. In a way a lot of stories are capable of that. We like to put our self in the shoes of the main character and feel what it’d be like living in their world. Entering their world means exiting ours for a short while, and a good book will do that for you. But with LitRPG, it can feel like we are the ones levelling up alongside them. They gain, we gain.
I wonder how it plays a role in our psyche. Do we get a boost of joy because if feels like actual progression? Our pursuit for betterment fulfilled. Highly addictive to people with the type a personality. Hijacking our productivity muscle.
What LitRPG’s have you discovered and enjoy reading? What do you like about them?
For now I’ve taken a breather from such stories. Lifting my head up to notice the other genres I’ve neglected, and give them the attention they deserve. The ever growing list won’t read itself.
If you wish to discover some litRPG’s. Here are some recommendations:
The Primal Hunter
All the Skills
He Who Fights with Monsters
