By cheah on Skatehive
Cultivation fantasy, progression fantasy, and similar stories come with a built-in hard limit. The plot is predicated on the main character becoming increasingly stronger. Many stories explicitly call it out as a selling point. Once the MC hits the hard limit imposed by the setting the story must end, or become stagnant. And because the story is built on the MC becoming stronger, it locks itself into a defined trajectory, unable to explore other, deeper, themes. In this regard, these stories have much in common with modern-day role-playing games. Many stories explicitly make this connection evident by incorporating RPG-style statistics systems. It’s obvious that the authors are trying to tap into a specific audience. It’s also obvious that they gloss over the essential differences between books and RPGs. In an RPG, when characters hit the level cap, they can progress no further. Fights with lesser enemies become trivial. This usually isn’t a problem, because by the time they do, the pl