Even with some sound effects and four narrators, this failed to draw me in. The story is the standard archetype: a scrappy fighter stands up to the game makers, aka the criminal Them (think Reel Steel, Roller Ball, etc. etc. ). Unfortunately, without the visuals, the story really needed to step things up.
Instead, it was all so ho hum.
There was lots of inner monologue with the MC blithely thinking about killing or calmly saying he was angry. The bad guys were bland too, contributing little in the way of scene chewing or delivering quirky, colorful smarm that any Gotham-esque villain should. Although I didn’t hate any of the characters,
I also wasn’t invested in any of them. Finally, throughout the numerous fight scenes, there was never
any suspense or any doubt that Akio would prevail. I will not be moving on, should book 2 come out.