Review: "Hell Mode" Vols. 1-2 by: Hamuo

Yes, another of the hundred Isekai I've read. Why? I love them, even if they're garbage, which "Hell Mode" is far from. As always, a quick, small summary; Hell mode is another Isekai with an underpowered, but smart, protagonist in a world structured after a game with RPG mechanics. It's unique in that the protagonist is reincarnated from birth in this case, rather than being transported as is or de-aged a bit when entering the new world. There won't be spoilers in this article, but before we get into the bulk of it, I do highly recommend this light novel series as it's an exciting, interesting and a very fulfilling read.

Honestly, because of the nature of the story, it's better if I start out with that rather than talking about the world or the characters. As the name suggests, the story centers around a gamer being reincarnated into a world with the difficulty set to "Hell Mode" for all settings. He also did this mostly voluntarily, he just didn't know he was being reincarnated. When choosing his settings on his computer before the main story. He chooses the hardest difficulty, hell mode, the hardest class, summoner (being even harder than 'Demon Lord' and 'Hero') and the lowest starting position of serf. Simply put, he's stuck in a new world starting from birth as a serf, with all of his experience benchmarks 100x harder than everyone around him, in an experimental class the Gods haven't even finished yet, Hell Mode indeed. Sadly for those who like action, most of volumes 1 and 2 are formatted as slice of life with little action parts mixed in while the overarching story is not revealed until the latter half of book 2. I don't find this much of an issue because I personally like slice of life and find the protagonists RPG growth exciting and unique but I could understand how some may see the books as devoid of purpose or fulfillment. Again, no spoilers, but while the world's story may not be super satisfying. I find the story surrounding the protagonist and his purpose to be quite interesting.

As if to make up for the lack of a concrete story, the characters in these books are terrific and well written. The author doesn't mess around with useless characters nor do they feel the need to give every character a name, which I love. This way, the reader knows that a named character is important and has a purpose in the story either now or later. This also allows the author to devote more time to their individual characters, fleshing them out and giving them a purpose. I have read many, many stories where I lose track of some the characters simply because they all have names, jobs, backstories that don't mean much to the story until either they're needed or never at all. "Hell Mode" doesn't have this problem at all, there aren't over a hundred named characters even when the protagonist changes areas, and, despite my garbage memory, as soon as a character is mentioned I can often recall at least who they are. It also helps that the protagonist is the only "true" main character in the book. There are sometimes when you may read an excerpt or chapter from another's perspective, but those usually only serve to build on the protagonist or give another perspective to his actions and personality.

Speaking on the protagonist... he's alright. He's not the best protagonist I've ever seen but he's also far from the worst. Most RPG fans can probably relate to him, especially those of us who love to be absolutely destroyed by difficulty or actually like grinding sections in games. It's actually entertaining and enjoyable seeing him fight and strategize through Hell Mode and discover new things throughout it. I'll also say he's one of the more practical protagonists I've seen in a while. He's not a complete coward who runs from every fight and conflict not even trying to resolve it, nor does he have so much plot armor that he can run into every fight and conflict and come out on top, even at times he shouldn't, through either being overpowered or through plot armor. He's a genuinely good person and that is shown through the text and his actions rather than the reader just being told he's a good person or through some superficial actions.

Lastly, I don't want to go over the setting of the story too much as I believe both that it's better experienced first-hand, and that it's hard to explain. The world is your basic Isekai world with RPG mechanics, though we now see it starting from the bottom of society, rather than as an outsider or from the top. The RPG mechanics are interesting while fitting with the story, and everything, even down to the areas and the monsters, are described well enough to give a vague image while leaving some room for imagination. The world will seem a bit narrow at first, especially in the first volume, but that actually works in the story's favor in the latter half of the second. Again, this world is better experienced first-hand with the text so everything I said above is mostly just loose description. The world and the story work very well together, sadly this can really only be seen from book 2 on, though that doesn't make it any less good.

"Hell Mode" is a very good read to say the least. There were many times I had to tear myself away from the books because I hit a very good spot in the story but needed to sleep. I highly recommend it if you like RPG, fantasy and/or Isekai stories though it may not appeal to you otherwise. With the overarching story now in full swing after volume 2, personally, I can't wait for volume 3.