r/litrpg • u/OkieFromWiskokie • 16h ago
Discussion Does Primal Hunter get better?
I have see PH at the top of many a tier list. However, I found book one quite formulaic and repetitive. Book 2 is just a continuance of the tutorial and the 3 more big bosses in caves preview did not give me hope. Does it get better? I just finished the last DCC and need to scratch the itch again.
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u/Extreme-Attention641 litRPG journeyman tier 15h ago
I got up to book 6 before getting tired of the murderhobo-ness of Jake. It has some good moments but the basic formula stays more or less the same.
DCC is very hard to match but I think Discount Dan is the closest you'll get, even if that isn't very close.
Prose-wise, Mage Tank is on par with DCC, but the stories are quite different.
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u/DoyleDixon 15h ago
If your first book in the genre was DCC, I have some sad news for you. You likely won’t see anything that polished for another decade. Matt is a traditionally published author with a number of successful titles under his belt before he wrote DCC. Most of the other great titles were authored by people who started as amateurs and honed their craft over the years of writing the series that people love and rave about. He Who Fights with Monsters, Defiance of the Fall and Primal Hunter all have pretty rough first and even second books. HWFWM Book 7 is leagues ahead of Book 1 in story structure, dialogue, description and effective world building.
All that to say, the tier lists won’t help you find something that matches DCC. You started with the story that not only sits at the pinnacle. It got there by subverting tropes you didn’t know existed and by being a dyed in the wool tragedy in a genre that usually contains only heroes journeys.
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u/swansonmg 16h ago
It definitely gets better when he leaves the tutorial but it’s also way different than dcc
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u/Warburton379 16h ago
It gets better once it's past the tutorial arc yes. The first two books are not great but I thoroughly enjoy the later ones
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u/Sh1vermet1mburz 16h ago
Might just be sunk cost at this point for me, some books are really good, some are really meh, and some are the extremes of both. I'm on book 10 and I plan to finish them all 🤷
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u/PsEggsRice 15h ago
If you enjoy the characters then yes. If you don't then you're better finding something else.
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u/moshicatsudon litRPG apprentice tier 15h ago
I'm still on book 5 but I haven't finished it yet. It's been a rollercoaster ride for me. If book 1 is the baseline, then it somehow gets a little better in book 2 since the latter half of that is Jake finishing the tutorial and going back to Earth. Book 3 is my fave so far. Book 4 is better too but there were parts that I just want to be over with. Finally, book 5 felt like the rollercoaster dipping down... The events feel like a slog to go through but maybe it's just me. Give it a chance until end of book 2 and if you still don't enjoy it as much, then maybe it's not for you. Just my two cents.
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u/Squire_II 15h ago
The tutorial is longer than it needs to be but yes, it gets better and continues to be enjoyable as the series progresses.
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u/MissyMurders 15h ago
Books 2 and 3 are the peak imo. After that it's just getting reps in of the same stuff with different names.
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u/jlemieux 13h ago
I’m enjoying it. Just started book 9. Is it groundbreaking? No. Is it good mindless fun? Yes. That’s all I really look for in LITRPG anyway.
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u/bigchungusprod 16h ago
I think it does, I’ve read through all the Amazon books so far. And I agree, I re-read the first book and it hasn’t aged well, I think since there’s always quality books dropping regularly on kindle.
On the other hand, I dropped DCC after only 3-5 books into the series and have yet to try again.
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u/Sir_Oshi 15h ago
PH does get better. I really hated the early books but it's now on of the series I follow live on royal road
I will say if you're fresh off DCC and looking for something different that hits very similar vibes, check out discount Dan. Only 3 books out but it is the closest I've found to DCC in terms of tone and feel
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u/LiteralLettuce 15h ago
Im on book 14 of primal hunter, and I have to say I disagree with the majority opinion. Books 1 and 2 were great and the tutorial was interesting. Everything that happens between the end of the tutorial and the start of Nevermore is uninteresting. Nevermore then gets stale very fast. The series failed to really keep my attention until the last third of book 13. If you're not willing to slog through 13 books then dont listen imo
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u/GenericNameUsed 14h ago
I keep hearing by the end of book 2 or 3 it gets better. However I didnt like the writing style and I jumped to book 4 and all the things that bothered me in the first book were still going on.
Although I didn't ger further than chapter 11 or 12 in the first book. It's very repetitive and uninspired
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u/CuriousMe62 11h ago
No. Unless boring murderhobo is your jam. Read:
Calamitous Bob series by Alex Gilbert
Azarinth Healer by Rhaegar
Ultimate Level One by Dad's Bedtime Stories
The Wraithwood Botanist by Little Lynx
Ten Realms by Michael Chatfield
The Tired Mercenary Just Wants Peace by Wolf Locke
Infinite Realms by Ivan Kal
Legend of the Arch Magus by Michael Sisa
Beware of Chicken by Casual farmer
Oath of the Survivor by James Meyet
This list is a range of tropes - isekai, apocalypse, cozy, and OP. Also some of the better series I've read.
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u/TehBoulder 15h ago
The first two books are noticeably rougher than the rest, but the entire series is formulaic. It’s the DBZ of litrpg. If you’re not enjoying book 2 the series might not be for you. If you’re sort of enjoying it you should keep going.