Latna Saga Review

The art style is one of my favorites

Hello to my lovely readers and Substack followers!

It’s time for my weekly review. I’m excited about this one!

*

Drum roll, please!

*

Everyone, give it up for Latna Saga: Survival of a Sword King on Tapas. 

Premise: 3.5/5

What’s the catch, the hooker, that makes this stand out?

Imagine getting stick in the first levels of a game for a decade… well, that is what literally happens to our hero.

Hanbin Ryu is randomly selected to be one of the few human beings from our world who gets through into another world that has a leveling-up and adventurer system. However, he learns that there’s a glitch in the system—or a glitch in his new life—that doesn’t allow him to gain the levels needed to move on to the next chapter.

He refuses to die, instead spending a decade training himself and getting stronger in the same playing field. When the creators of this world finally realize Hanbin Ryu has been stuck for a decade, they move him onto the bigger world, where he appears as a level 5, despite having the experience that places him miles ahead of other citizens.

Hanbin Ryu learns that he falls into the unfortunate category of an “otherworlder,” a player who gets hunted down and executed. However, since his level appears to be a measly level 5 to other adventurers, he is able to slip under the radar. 

I am used to reading titles and stories where the transported main protagonists are quickly celebrated as overpowered heroes. Despite Hanbin Ryu’s staying true to the OP protagonist role, his struggle to navigate the world of Latna Saga without giving away his true identity is a new take on the LITRG and Isekai genre.

World-Building: 3.5/5

What is the world like? The rules?

From the prologue on, the worldbuilding happens so naturally that readers can retain the necessary information without feeling overwhelmed. The world and the system are easy to understand—newbie readers can relax.

But even though Latna Saga has the boilerplate of the standard medieval setting, the lore, the history, and the people are depicted with such vividness that this world really stands out. For example, the reason otherworlders are immediately executed? An organization of otherworlders once formed a contract with a demon to slaughter Latnians, the native citizens to Latna Saga, in exchange for power and strength. It’s true that the aesthetics, the rules, and the monsters in this title fit easily into medieval fantasy tropes—but the tense interactions between the inhabitants and any possible otherworlders work to complicate these stereotypes, making the world feel more colorful. 

With all my years of reading the genre, it’s hard to ignore the constant reuse and cycle of tropes. Latna Saga manages to hold my attention just a little stronger with its history and its world

Plot: 2.5/5

Where does the story go?

The plot is fairly straightforward and linear.

Hanbin Ryu’s goal from the beginning is fairly obvious. If you get stuck on a gaming level, you have two options: beat it, or die. I get frustrated when I have to repeat a level once—I can’t imagine the psychological strain of weathering ten years on repeat. 

But Hanbin Ryu keeps going. And going. Like two out of three protagonists you encounter in a LITRG storyline, he just wants to get out and go home.

So yeah, the plot is a little too familiar and a little too LITRG. We see him enduring dungeon journeys, joining new guilds, and using his guide board to track his growth and status. This trope, you may remember, was also used in Mystic Musketeer. It will probably be used in the next LITRG webcomic I’ll review.

The dungeon reviews and the guideboards are always helpful for readers to follow along with the main protagonist’s powers/strengths. It’s a shortcut, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. When you boil it down, the exact numbers and the stats don’t really matter, but the importance is rather in what they try to convey.

According to his guideboard, Hanbin Ryu is a weak level 5. So why are his character stats and experience points the strongest out of everyone he meets?

Characters: 4/5

Hanbin Ryu is absolutely hilarious. 

He’s eccentric, funny, unpredictable, and slightly stupid—everything that keeps you hooked. Although his journey itself is pretty by the book, Hanbin Ryu will stress you out more than necessary. This makes the comedic relief all the more worth it when he pulls a fast one. 

I will go further into the art in the next section, but it actually became difficult for me to put my phone down when I started reading because the expressions and the body language from Hanbin Ryu and the people around him were sooo addicting. Despite Hanbin Ryu acting silly in some way every chapter, it feels very fresh, a good laugh every time.

It’s rare for me to say I laughed out loud… but I definitely laughed out loud.

Art: 4.5/5

The muscles are very impressive. 

Maybe a little overexaggerated and anatomically inaccurate, but either way, very impressive.

I’ve already written more praise about Latna Saga than the other works I’ve reviewed, but the art style is fantastic. In fact, there isn’t just one style; the way the artist uses a variety of styles and effects to bring Hanbin Ryu’s personality is so impressive that I find myself wondering where I can switch up the styles in my own work.

The main style is very crisp, with heavy amounts of detailed shading and filter that make the story feel so alive. And whoever made the decision to use meme-y rough drawings and ​cartoon-ish doodling to support the comedic punchlines? They’re carrying, to be honest. 

It’s so rare to find this type of humor work well with the story that Latna Saga is trying to tell, but its delivery through the art style feels so natural. It never feels overdone. 

The art shines with the action scenes too. The rough, sketch panels coupled with the detailed shots and smooth movements make it so hard to stop reading. Even though Hanbin Ryu is a typical melee swordsman, the poses and the choreography to his fights and battles are so dynamic that you will never be bored.

Maybe don’t read this near your bedtime, because you might just not sleep and binge all 100+ chapters…

Final Thoughts: 3.6/5

If you’re not too into the heavy gore and or the need for excessive plot, this story will be a great read. I’m in it for the art and for the laughs, which are pretty much the main two things that bring me enjoyment when I look for casual reads.

Even after years of reading the same tropes in action fantasy works, I have to find new ways to love them. Sometimes these tropes can lose its excitement because of how similar they are to other works, but Latna Saga made it feel new again. 

Whether you’re new to webcomics or a veteran, definitely let me know what you think of this work.

And let me know what your favorite scene within the first ten chapters are to avoid spoiling it for other readers! I want to see if we laughed over the same scenes.

Given what I’ve written in this review, do any of you have recommendations for me?