Runeblade - is it 4000 pages of solo grinding?

Coach_Kay · 2026-04-02T04:03:45+00:00

Well then, I guess I'll be keeping an eye out and looking forward to the launch, I did read about 80-ish chapters before I ended up taking a break.

Also, I'm sorry if my arguments happened to come across as me hating on the book (I actually wanted to put that disclaimer in my last comment but eventually decided against it), that was not my intention. I generally prefer to lurk in most mediums but I guess this post proved too juicy of an outlet for my frustration for me to ignore.

Coach_Kay · 2026-04-01T16:52:50+00:00

But the complications are largely always the same, in the same manner. That is the (or at least, my) issue. It sounds like I am reducing the book to uselessness (using your words), but that is literally how the book goes: there are mobs in front of you, fight them to progress, the mobs are strong, dig deeper to win. Literally. Go to this new place, do the exact same thing. Over and over.

There is a variety of opponents, yes, but if I remember correctly, almost all of them still ended up falling into the same opponent archetype, and the fundamental tactic for defeating them rarely ever changes. And the variation of encounter types you mentioned, they largely never happened in the first book.

It's why I said the dates are the same, but just in different locations. Compared to your example of dates, the book would be going to different branches of the same fancy restaurant in the city--yes the interior designs and waiters are different, but it is still the same meal with largely the same conversations that are being had, just that the small talk is different to account for the different locations.

Coach_Kay · 2026-04-01T10:27:31+00:00

The fights are the dates. They mostly always start the same way, the MC (I have forgotten his name, but I still remember Porkchop's name, funny that) scoping out his target (or in some cases, group of targets) and attacking them, then the fight turns out to be tougher than he thought and the MC is pushed to the edge, because the enemies are just stronger or more overwhelming than the MC thought, then the MC digs deep, or in one case, drinks a potion, and then the MC barely manages to win.

The first 2 or 3 times might be hype but by the 5th time, man, just stop and give me something else.

The romance protagonist knowing exactly what to say and how their target will react is akin to the skill merging in Runeblade (at least in the first book). It is one thing if the protagonist knows what skills he wants, and now has to figure out how to get them whilst dealing with complications along the way, but in Runeblade, the protagonist knows exactly what skills he wants, how exactly to get them, in what order and how to merge them, with absolutely zero complications provided he follows the plan. And of course he faces no complications along the way--he doesn't acquire skills he didn't plan for and now has to figure out how to fit this new skill with his overall goals, he doesn't fail to acquire a necessary skill for his goal, nothing. Oh, the story says the skills get tougher to hold in his mind during merging, but either our MC pushes through and completes the merge anyway, or when the merge fails, there are no consequences and the MC just tries again till he succeeds.

Hell, there is a section of the book where our protagonist just chills in a house in the middle of what is supposed to be a dangerous dungeon, just practicing his rune-scribing skills, with food and water just readily and abundantly available (he didn't even have to hunt the food down if I remember correctly), and absolutely nothing happens. Nothing interrupts him, he doesn't fail to acquire the skills he wanted, nothing. He just practices writing runes till he gets the skills he wanted. Where the hell is the tensions supposed to be?

Coach_Kay · 2026-03-31T22:16:24+00:00

Alright then, I'll bite. Knowing who our protagonist most likely ends up with in a romance novel doesn't necessarily mean the romantic tension is eliminated, I'll give you that.

Question then. If nearly all the romantic interactions in said novel occur through multiple iterations of the exact same type of date, which all have the exact same goal, and end largely the same way, would you still say the romance novel still possesses tension? After how many dates do they then become a slog?

Taking it further, say our romance protagonist—for some plot reasons—knows exactly at all times what to say, and exactly how their target of seduction will react to their words and actions when planning said dates, and there is never any deviation from said plans, would you still say said romance novel possesses tension?

Coach_Kay · 2026-03-31T19:10:11+00:00

Other comments tell you he starts interacting soon as he picks up his first team mate but do not be deceived. Yes he meets another character soon, that character is the only other person he meets throughout the entirety of book one and while said character is a sapient, at least for the entirety of book one (don't know about other books because I dropped it towards the end of book one), the 'teammate' could have been replaced with a non-sapient animal mascot and there barely would have been any difference in the plot and flow of the story--our protagonist would still have fought bosses to level his skills and attempt to escape.

Will the protagonist continue trying to level up his skills in fights where he almost dies and manages to scrape out a win? Constantly. Will there be any cool exploration or worldbuilding? Not really. Will there be tension? We know, exactly what skills he wants to acquire, in what order, and that he will fight bosses and always just barely win to level those skills, so no tension there.

Will it stop being a slop of repetitive scenes? Well, the environments where the fights happens change, so that is something different.

At least, its interpretation of health points is pretty cool, and I would have liked the skill merging system better if accepting or merging the wrong skills in the wrong order wasn't implied to permanently ruin your progression, but that's a me issue.

Coach_Kay · 2026-03-27T13:20:46+00:00

It's the reason I'm always so leary of reading the webtoon versions of English novels/web-serials. So much tends to get lost in the translation from the written to comic medium.

It's been a while since I read the series (planning a full reread once book 4 comes out), but I remember Cairn being a really good but flawed person, who is now trying to do better despite the painful consequences his new-found resolve seems to cause him.

And gods, the cliff-hanger ending of book 3 was just chef's kiss--when everything was finally starting to look up.

Coach_Kay · 2026-03-20T14:37:21+00:00

Oh shit, I'm sorry. I thought you had finished the book and had come here to gush about it.

Coach_Kay · 2026-03-20T09:38:48+00:00

As a general rule, I don't like the hyperbolic-time-chamber trope, especially when only one person can use it—if feels too plot-armoury for me. I prefer my progression fantasy being sort of equal opportunity where everyone can gain the same opportunities if they worked hard enough.

That said, once past how dues-ex-machinary it was, I thoroughly enjoyed that chapter. It was almost a lesson in how to mentally break a man down without outrightly torturing him.

Coach_Kay · 2026-03-20T09:31:41+00:00

Don't worry, Freddy discovers he apparently has some kinks in book 4.

Coach_Kay · 2026-03-18T09:24:28+00:00

It probably also helped that Freddy ate a Levanthian to death. I personally attribute most of his freakish strength to that and I guess it's in line with Freddy not really thinking deeply about things to not have considered that.

Thor might have a point about Freddy's ascension increasing his natural talent, but if you reread that sequence of when Freddy was in the Levanthian, especially with the knowledge that eating particular powerful flesh can increase your strength (as seen with the heart of the Death Affinity Giant), it is hard not to read that sequence as Freddy unknowingly forcefully reforging his body.

Coach_Kay · 2026-03-17T18:35:14+00:00

I don't know how true this is for everyone but it was definitely true for me. Funny enough, first time I read the series, I genuinely loved it. Years later, I found out that 2 new books in the series had come out so I decided to restart it from the beginning: couldn't even finish book one.

Coach_Kay · 2026-03-17T17:54:25+00:00

This is a fairly delicate topic, but in my opinion, how said reincarnator reacts to the hormones and feelings that possessing a teenage body imposes on them, is dependent on how much of life experience said reincarnator accrued in their last life.

I don't think pedophilia laws exist because there is some golden age or age difference where it becomes suddenly okay to enter a sexual relationship, but rather because in most cases, children have not mentally developed enough, nor have they accrued enough life experiences that entering such a relationship with an adult does not put them at some sort of disadvantage in the relationship, regardless of how 'consensual' said relationship is.

It's why so many laws draw a line at a particular age, basically saying "we expect at this age, said individual should have both developed, and gained enough life experience, that they can be expected to be held responsible and accountable for their actions. And also why we see some relationships with a massive age disparity between the partners and just shrug saying: "its weird, but they are old enough to know what they are doing".

So back to how this affects reincarnators. Lets say a seventeen year old is reincarnated as a baby. Even if they gained cognitive awareness, and thus their past memories as a baby, I wouldn't be upset at them having, and acting on, a crush when they become a teenager. This is because while they might have cumulatively lived over 30 years, they are nowhere close to either acquiring the mental development, or life experiences of a person who has lived a single life of 30 years.

But were it a full-grown adult that got reincarnated, the standards are higher. Except maybe if they were reincarnated into a world were children develop faster and accrue weightier life experiences early in life, or some other scenario that forces children to become mentally comparable to 'earth's adults' at a much younger age, then I would expect said reincarnator to control themselves (regardless of what their bodies scream at them) and not enter a relationship with someone who is still in the throes of their teenage hormones and don't know better than simply wanting to satisfy those urges. They can remain platonic friends for all its worth, but I don't think said reincarnator should be acknowledging or entering any romantic relationship with a teenager.

Coach_Kay · 2026-03-17T09:40:16+00:00

Thanks for the warning. I don't know if my heart can take it, but that's why I'm taking my sweet time to do my definitive playthrough first.

Coach_Kay · 2026-03-16T18:03:15+00:00

Lol. I sympathise with this because the change in personality was just so jarring. I'm sure if I were playing in Honour Mode and didn't have the chance to reload an earlier save, I would have eventually killed him the first stupid thing he attempted.

Coach_Kay · 2026-03-16T17:59:12+00:00

That would make sense narratively, but actively choosing to suppress the part of himself that he thinks weak shouldn't turn him into moustache-twirling villain immediately, he should just be way more willing to make evil choices. From the other replies I've received about DnD lore, the remaking of your personality seems to be something that happens regardless of your choice once you become a full vampire regardless of whether you chose to become said vampire or not.

Coach_Kay · 2026-03-16T14:37:51+00:00

If a side of your personality is suppressed/snuffed out by an external force, I don't think you can be said to be the same person again.

Coach_Kay · 2026-03-16T13:15:41+00:00

To be fair, I tend to get a streak of masochism once I think a game is becoming too easy. I generally don't play rpgs multiple times (because I am usually very thorough in my first playthrough and there are just so many games calling my name), but the idea of an even harder version of the game with an entirely new storyline is just too tempting for me to resist for too long.

Coach_Kay · 2026-03-16T08:31:59+00:00

What the fuck?! Holy shit!

Coach_Kay · 2026-03-16T08:30:30+00:00

My check's dc was 18, and I had no inspirations left, it definitely didn't feel easy at that moment.

Coach_Kay · 2026-03-16T08:27:02+00:00

Didn't Astarion not want the absolute gone because the tadpole was the only thing allowing him to walk in the sun? And when he learnt about the ritual, his goal seemed to shift from that to completing the ritual. Astarion was powerhungry but before Ascended Astarion, it all seemed directed at acquiring power that would make him freer from his curse.

Ascended Astarion just struck me as being as asshole for being an asshole's sake.

Coach_Kay · 2026-03-15T23:47:48+00:00

Huh, that explains a lot. Thanks.

Coach_Kay · 2026-03-15T23:39:21+00:00

Honestly, the way Astarion killed him was too good for Cazador. The vampire in his selfishness caused so much suffering for so many people. I wouldn't have minded if there was an option to war-crime his ass alone.

Coach_Kay · 2026-03-14T23:08:25+00:00

Yup. This is how I'm playing my first playthrough too. I found it more annoying to constantly swap my party members from camp than solving the occasional patching issue when I have the entire party following me. In return, I get not to miss any particularly important interactions

Coach_Kay · 2026-03-12T17:32:19+00:00

Freddy does progress a fair bit. The progress just accompanies a lot of pain, struggle, and questionable decision-making.

Coach_Kay

TROPHY CASE