Customer Reviews

King of RPGs 1

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I stumbled upon this purely by accident. I was looking for the latest Fables book when I saw this tucked discreetly into the bookshelf. Curious, I read a few pages... and then promptly purchased it.

The book follows Shesh, a young college student who has been banned from computer games. Why, you might ask? It all stems from two things: that Shesh slips into a semi-violent (depending on what game he's playing) personality when he *really* gets into a game & because he stayed at an internet cafe for a week under this personality. (He royally trashed the place.) Enter avid gamer Theodore, who has the goal of making the ultimate RPG experience. Unfortunately it's rumored that his eagerness put some gamers in the hospital due to his "interactive experience". (Seriously, he pulled out a snake on Shesh & his friends.)

I have to admit, I really liked this manga. If you've ever gamed or know someone who has, then you will be able to get the comedy in this book. Even if you don't game, most of the humor is visual enough to where you'll enjoy the story. (Although it really is better if you have some gaming knowledge.) I loved the artwork & I was incredibly impressed by the amount of detail that went into this book- there's tons of it. The artwork also manages to be one of those rare mangas that are "Amerimanga" but don't fall prey to some of the artwork pitfalls that tend to abound when someone in the US draws a manga. (Overly chibi-fying everything, tons of cliched art, etc)

I'm incredibly curious to see where this manga will go. It's got a decent enough storyline & let's face it- there's tons of RPG material out there to parody & poke fun at. I would like for the "villain" of the piece (a student police officer) to be a little more fleshed out, though. She seemed a little one-note, but maybe that's on purpose?

In the end, many people will note several similarities between this & Genshiken & why not? Both series deal with an obsessive fandom & the quirks of their chosen item(s) of affection. Fans of Genshiken will like this series a great deal & unless the next volume is just incredibly lame, I'll be collecting this series until it's conclusion.

If you've played any tabletop RPG or TCG, there's always that one person who seems to be possessed by the game and becomes a character. This is what King of RPGs is all about.

The story starts when a group of college freshmen, all with different gaming backgrounds, start a campaign for a popular RPG. With two of the main characters getting so deeply involved in their specific parts in the game, madness ensues. Without giving too much away, the two main characters of the book soon make it a challenge to beat each other, one as his character of a rogue and the other as the DM. As it is in real life, friendships blossom out of that one session and soon things become more complicated and incredibly hilarious.

In the end, the King of RPGs is a must read for anyone who loves RPGs and even gaming in general. And if you ever thought RPGs couldn't get any better, then think again and read this book.

Jason Thompson has written a modern masterpiece with his first volume of "King of RPGs." Wait seriously? Don't I have to roll on bluff to say that?

Actually no. "King of RPGs" is a must have for anyone that loves gaming. A humorous story involving some of the best developed characters seen in graphic novels. Everyone is believable to an extent, without being bland in the slightest. TThe DM goes above and beyond, to the point of setting up a tent for realism, the player's minds become one with their characters unlocking latent passive bonuses to their awesome rating, and the whole book is filled with gaming references much better than I can muster here.

As a DM, this book made me think about the games I write. As a player, it made me see things a little differently. As an otaku/gamer multiclassed human, it made me laugh and think from initiative until the final turn.

If you understood more than half of the references in this review, this book is meant for you.

http://www.kingofrpgs.com/

As an avid TCG collector, DnD player, manga reading and rpg playing geek, i love this book! It may be hard to get alot of the jokes or meenings to somethings if you have not played DnD or Magic. so For some one who just picks this up and dosent know what a "initiative roll" is or what "tapping for Mana" is they might be complitly lost and miss out on the books best jokes and gags! BUT if you do know how,when and why to make a "initiative roll" and you "Tap your Black lotus" for 3 to combo out then this is a reealy good read. It is very much aimed at Table top Rpg players and TCG players, if you are one of them (like i am) then this book is worth the cash and time to read! http://www.kingofrpgs.com/?page_id=598 for some Sample Pages! give them a read then GO BUY THIS BOOK!

I was really hyped by the ideia of the comic, after all PnP RPG have some really fun moments, and to summ all of that on a book, in a Scott Pilgrim style would be great. Unfortunaly, this comic is no more than a "Yu-Gi-Oh meets RPG" fanfic.

The characters start interesting, but manage to get more bland and shallow as the story goes on. The drawings don't help, as this americanized-manga style make everyone look the same, so much that the autor has to resort to clothing and (stupid) hats to make you differ them apart. But it dosen't matter, as anyone but the main character feel like is there only to complete the PnP RPG table.

The story is filled with anime/rpg/games references, but they feel out of place (even though is a RPG comic), as they where placed just so the audience could find them and be happy about it, as a non-erotic fanservice. It's amazing that the book focus so much on the "real world" instead of the "RPG world", since the bland characters just make you want to skip some pages. The best part is the cardgame showdown at the end, but is EXACTLY as in a Yu-Gi-Oh manga/anime, so why waste tour time on this?

Overall, a bland, artificial, "made by a fan, not for the fans" comic that I regret buying.

Shesh Maccabee is the hard-core gamer of the University of
California in Escondido. Aided by Theodore Dudek, Shesh
makes his name as the ultimate gamer. But with a dark twist.
Every time he plays a game his split personality takes over
and turns him into his character. In Dudek's eyes, this is
the number one gaming skill, but it lands Shesh in a deadly
dilemma with Gavin Slane. How will Shesh ever manage
college?

Poor Shesh! All this because of a game. The
King of RPG's was a book I could really enjoy. All the
artwork was really cool along with the story board. Anyone
who loves the wonderful world of gaming will love this
book.

Reviewed by a young adult student reviewer
Flamingnet Book Reviews
[...]

A disclaimer, I'm friends with the writer, but even if I wasn't, I'd give high marks to this debut graphic novel from Jason Thompson and Victor Hao. The tabletop Mages and Monsters game early on set a high bar for loving RPG parody, but I was blown away by how Jason so deftly summed up the history of Collectible Card games with humor and heart in a later flashback. While there have been dozens of "manga inspired" graphic novels created for western audiences, King of RPGs is the first one I've read that so perfectly captures the blend of manic energy and heart found in the best shonen manga. Fans of either shonen manga or RPG culture will find much to love. Fans of both will be in heaven.

I found out about this book on Io9, and once I read the sample pages, I was instantly hooked. You can read their article here:

[...]

There is nothing I could say that properly does this work justice. Whether you're a casual or hardcore gamer, if you enjoy video games, tabletop games, or any other form of nerdery, then you really have no excuse NOT to buy this book.

I was looking forward to this title. As a tabletop Rper, I was intrigued to read it. My biggest regret is that I didn't sit down to peruse this mess before buying it. It was terrible. It is a bad rip off of Yu-gi-oh and I think the author has little idea of what tabletop roleplaying is like. If you want a second opinion, my husband read it too and was not only disappointed but was considering giving up manga, roleplaying and reading all together.

This manga could have been a lot of fun. It could have been great. But it was pure, concentrated trash. I think it is stinking up the rest of my collection. I understand that it is just supposed to be fun, but it isn't even that. I highly suggest reading it in a store before buying this lemon of a book.