- #1
I walked into this novel expecting a light hearted comedy with a munchkin protagonist, and walked out feeling like I had read the second coming of SSS-Class su*cide Hunter (although, admittedly, SSS is still better). The 4th floor arc, which starts at chapter 82 and is still ongoing, is absolutely incredible, so I would bid all of you to keep reading until that gets translated.So, let's start by breaking down some of the key elements of the novel.Characters:For the most part, the side characters in the story are fairly underwhelming, although in the most recent chapters I've been seeing a lot of promise in the development of Choi Ji-won, but we'll have to wait and see what direction the author takes it. However, the MC is simply fantastic. He is initially reduced as a foil of sorts to most infinitely/pseudo infinitely regressing MC's (i.e Kim Gongja from SSS-Class su*cide Hunter), with him, while not being a selfish and self-centered a**hole, still puts himself above everyone else, choosing not to seek out a "perfect ending" because he fears the mental strain constant regressions will put on him as well as potentially making mistakes that could lead to consequences not even his regression could save him from. Spoiler
As the story develops, he experiences an incredibly well paced and developed growth into a messiah of sorts, and, running the SSS-Class su*cide Hunter comparison again, almost becomes like Gong-ja.
[collapse]Power System:Regression is Too Much has a genuinely interesting power system when it comes to the MC. Although any infinitely regressing skill is, by nature, practically undefeatable, the MC's comes with a lot of drawbacks that are not often seen. For example, in the first few chapters, the MC is so weak that he can't even venture out to kill monsters because he will get cut by blades of grass and be forced to regress. It's honestly quite absurd and is really "too much'. The skill has checkpoints of sorts as well, those being each floor of the tower, meaning that once the MC has locked onto a path for a given floor and advances to the next, there is no going back, which is great because the regression skill isn't just an end all brute force solution to every problem. This also compounds with the early consequence, being that even if he is 99% of the way through clearing a very long floor, if he gets even the slightest injury he will be forced to restart the entire floor, and the story really does drive in the mental strain this puts on him as he is forced to rely on the power more and more. The MC also gains some other skills that are very powerful, but have relatively strict conditions for the most part and are never strong enough for the MC to not need to rely on his regression to achieve the best (or at least near-best) ending.World-building:There isn't much to say about the world-building aspect of the story. It's pretty much a typical tower story, all things given, with a few minute but ultimately inconsequential differences. It is kinda interesting how the tower has 66 floors, but that's just a fun little easter egg (and honestly probably some sort of foreshadowing).Plot:All things considered so far the plot isn't anything special. The tutorial was interesting but ultimately pretty unremarkable, the same goes for the third floor which I felt was also sort of lacking. The main driving points of those two floors was the growth the MC experiences as he goes through them. The second floor is slightly more interesting but still not that great, but the fourth floor is absolutely fantastic and was what brought this novel to 5 stars for me. It's gritty, brutal, and the final method to "beat" the floor is not just pulled out of the authors ass but is actually set up very well and a keen-eyed detective might be able to find out the answer by themselves.Overall:This story is an absolute gem. If you enjoyed SSS-Class su*cide Hunter, Re:Zero, or any other pseudo-infinitely regressing series, do give it a try. If you haven't enjoyed any of those, give this a story a try anyway because it's good.
