The Massively Multiplayer World of Ghosts, Volume 1: The King of Cheating

The Massively Multiplayer World of Ghosts #1

by Oscar Fong, Frederick L. Jones, Saturday AM

To discover what happened to his long-lost mother, unassuming teenager Nilay Rao must step into a new world, the Massively Multiplayer World of Ghosts.

Coasting through life without ever spending much effort or committing to anything has made many people think less of Nilay Rao. The teenager is relatively unassuming, as he’s not the most popular student, nor the hardest working. The kids call him “Nil,” suggesting that he’s a loser. But he has another name, the “biggest cheat,” which he’s earned from using cheat codes and hacks in everything from games to grades. But that all will change when Nilay receives a mysterious device from his long-lost mother, Dia . Curious about the device, Nilay unwittingly creates his own “video game” avatar that he names Vyper Neo , which causes him more stress than he could imagine. The little orange character has his own personality and gets Nilay and his father into all sorts of trouble. That’s not all—the device itself belongs to a super-secret group of people who can summon similar video game avatars called Ghosts to battle over money, territory, and power. Now that Nilay has it, he has officially become a “player” like them who can summon his own Ghost in Vyper Neo—and that’s made other players very angry.  Can this lackluster teenager survive long enough to learn where his mother is and why she sent this device? Vyper Neo and his only human buddy, Chess, have his back, but taking on this massive new world won’t be easy. Like it or not, Nilay is going to have to play this game to win! The Massively Multiplayer World of Ghosts is rated T for Teen, recommended for ages 13 and up.
Saturday AM, the world’s most diverse manga-inspired comics, are now presented in a new format! Introducing Saturday AM TANKS , the new graphic novel format similar to Japanese Tankobons where we collect the global heroes and artists of Saturday AM. These handsome volumes have select color pages, revised artwork, and innovative post-credit scenes that help bring new life to our popular BIPOC, LGBTQ, and/or culturally diverse characters. Join in even more adventures with the other action-packed Saturday AM TANKS Apple Black , Clock Striker , Gunhild , Hammer , Henshin! , Oblivion Rouge , Saigami , Soul Beat , Titan King , Underground , and Yellow Stringer .

Genres: Manga, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Young Adult, Video Games, Fantasy

224 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2022

Reviews

[Finn · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's cool! It's like a video game.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

What if there were underground video game fights in real space that can potentially harm the players and those around them? That is the premise of The Massively Multiplayer World of Ghosts.

The book remains me of MegaMan NT Warrior/Battle Network, especially with how the player powers up their ghosts, being very similar to the battlechips in the former series. However, even with these similarities, the book is still very much its own thing.

For the most part, volume 1 tends to stay lighthearted, though it does slips into a darker mood when the wider world of the MMWOG comes into play. However, it is never a jarring shift, probably helped by how the volume starts with this darker tone before switching to the main's character's story.

Speaking of the main character, I find Nilay to be an okay protagonist. With this volume, he is a bit of a reluctant shonen protagonist, though I do love his friendship with his friend Chess. Reminds me of my own friendships.

I also loved the scene of him asking the various cliques of his school about the whereabouts of Chess early on, with the head of the clique being a jerk to Nilay, only for another member of the clique to either help Nilay out or to call the frontman out. I love the subversion of the social cliques trope.

Really, my only complaint with volume 1 is how Nilay is described as a bad gamer, relying on using cheat codes to progress. However, while the bad gamer aspect is shown, the reliance on cheats is not. It comes off as an informed flaw, instead of a shown one. Hopefully, it will be shown and be a plot point in volume 2 or beyond.

[April Gray · Rating 3 out of 5]

This turned out to be not quite my jam, but I can definitely see it being someone else's. To me, the story was confusing; maybe I missed it somehow, but I didn't really get how this game world was able to cross over into the real world, or if the whole thing was happening in a game world. The game mechanics seemed to be made up as the story went along, with some plot holes and lots of convenient saves along the way. Still, I appreciated having a diverse cast in the story, and the friendship between Nilay and Chess was nice. The art was great, though the fight scenes were a little hard to follow at times. If you like monster trainer and card battle games (the part of this that isn't my jam), you'll likely enjoy this!

#TheMassivelyMultiplayerWorldofGhostsVolume1 #NetGalley

[Odunze Oguguo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Imagine you grow up in an indian-american home, suck at video games and love cheat codes in a world like Pokemon, Digimon, Yu Gi Oh, Jojo's Bizarre and so on, but video game avatars called ghosts... Action, Comedy Adventure shonen. The concept, lore and characters are very well done. The art gives you so much as well with a rich style!

[寿理 宮本 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun, *diverse* read, though it feels a bit Digimon in its execution. (I'd say a LOT Digimon in its execution, but I've mostly only seen one movie that a friend worked on and I've forgotten most of it other than the Digital World and a few of the Digimons a different friend likes.) The big draw is the whole "World of Ghosts" where cards can become ghosts, items, and/or effects, which is pretty much the most shounen thing I've ever seen!

While the story is fun to read, it's also a little sad, since the main character, Nilay, is the product of Generation X: his PARENTS are the cool die-hard gamers, while he kind of slacked off and became the best at cheat-coding his way through games (though not even that, if Keith has anything to say about it). It's sort of rare to see stories about the children of awesome people who themselves are lacking, so I'm happy to give the series a chance.

Little things: I noticed a few typos, and there's a point where Chess says, "Hey, Chess" instead of "Hey, Nilay/Nil" (and, it can't contextually be Nil who's talking instead). I don't think it's hugely noticeable, though—I mostly did because this is a rare "action" book where I can follow a lot of the action sequences!, so I ended up reading it a lot more closely than I usually would. There is a LOT of content packed into about the same size book as most manga volumes, where something like Dragon Ball would be a flip book by comparison.

Recommended for action/video game fans looking for great minority representation!

[Mathew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite this book being way outside of my usual reads it was a bonus on hoopla so I grabbed it. Amazingly, I didn't hate it, and if you're into this type of thing, this is probably a great representation of what it is.
The writing is actually good. Characters are clearly motivated and have more emotional texture to them than most other kiddy/game adjacent comics I've read. The art borrows heavily from the pocket-monsters theme but still manages to have some decent originality and but is still very clearly a digimon,pokemon,palworld,yugioh,(i'msuretherearemore) clone. The art might seem pretty simple at first look, but the frames are actually nicely composed, and offer quiet a bit of detail. My favorite being the folks sweating in the dad's restaurant as they try to eat something spicy.

I'll put this one down in the pretty good, but clearly not meant for me category. I'm not sure I have the energy to explain more than about once that this is a comic about a card game, that is actually a videogame played in a in the real world...

[Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I accessed a digital review copy of this book from the publisher.
For the last six years, Nilay's mother has been missing from his life. This year on his birthday he receives a mysterious gift, a card deck and goggles that serve as the entrance into a strange game. The game, World of Ghosts, appears to bring ghosts to the real world where Nilay and other players have to fight them in battles strategically using cards.
The premise of a video game that becomes real was interesting. I was also intrigued by the mystery surrounding why Nilay's mother disappeared and what she had been doing. The comic reads as a videogame that is written down.

[D.T. Henderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the artwork! Fong’s work really shines during the fight scenes. The premise is your standard shounen ‘mon game/show formula with a missing parent + adorable mascot character + the monster of the week or catchable monsters though this does get dark with a villain that’s not afraid to kill.

This introductory volume also raises an interesting question about the digital ghosts: are they terrorizing others or just fighting to protect themselves from thrill seekers? Not bad overall! I would read another volume.

3.5

[Shakeem · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the video game aspect of the story. Sometimes I didn't know the character were in a game or real life. It was because some of the monsters would attack the IRL humans without an indication if they were in the gameverse.

I didn't like the main character Nilay Rao during the story. He came off underachieving, cowardly and sometimes naive. Later on in the story, Daedalus Bonn was introduced. He is one of the coolest characters I've ever seen. I need to see more of him in the future chapters/books. Nilay's father caught me off guard in the story, he played dumb towards his son and the game throughout most of the book. Later on in the story he's been knowledgeable the whole time. The introduction of Bonn made Vyper Neo feel like a place holder.

Oscar Fong's artwork was amazing. The monsters in this book were fascinating to see. They did a great job of capturing the emotions of the characters.

The action scenes were great for me. I was able to follow them. The fights weren't drawn out when they were going on.

Good story and introduction to the series for me. I hope that Nilay's character gets a few tweaks as the story pushes forward.

[Riccardo Ball · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fast paced and some cool ideas but could have done with taking more time to set the story up. Easy to get lost in the action scenes as the panels are really busy and not always clear as to what is going on

[The_J · Rating 2 out of 5]

Indifferent story, teamed with splash page after splash page with an almost desperate need for manufactured excitement. Cards, demons, daddy issues, and mommy issues all tossed into a blender and poured on a black and white page.

[Kristen Harvey · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an exciting graphic novel, full of video games, diversity and an adventure that makes you want to plug in and battle as well.

[Julia Pika · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great art but confusing worldbuilding.

[Krystal Caloia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was.....digimon meets Danny Phantom....I'm not sure if I like it or not yet.

[Arman Waggoner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like stories involving video games and you become friends with a video game character it's like Zatch Bell x Pac-Man and the ghostly adventures

[Aj Lockyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very cool

[Sesana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely trying to take a chunk out of the Pokemon/Digimon audience, and I think it can succeed there. Decent world building, good art, and generally relatable characters helps. I especially liked the protagonist's dad, who felt like a pretty realistic take on a protective father. The one thing that gives me pause is that one of the "ghosts"/Pokemon just literally looks like a big Black man with locs. Sure, he's apparently blue, but you can't see that in the black and white art.