The New Gate

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After clearing a VRMMORPG that became a death trap to its players, Shin is transported 500 years into that fantasy world's future. Its inhabitants have picked up the pieces, adapted, and live normal lives. The world feels far more real than in most isekais, owing in part to its diverse and colorful characters and the bare minimum of "gamey" status screens.

Players like Shin are considered legends, but some still remember them first-hand. It's the support characters (former NPCs) who gained sentience and are seen as living legends themselves. Imagine the world falling apart around you and wandering for 500 years hoping for your master to ... return. Imagine being on the receiving end of such humbling devotion. Shin's reunions with them are both heartwarming and melancholic, and are my favorite parts of the series. Not the least because there's a compelling conflict between them wanting Shin to stay and him searching for a way home.

That being said, I'm still not sure where New Gate is going in terms of the overarching story. Aside from reuniting with his companions, he mucks about with adventuring and gets involved with the country's royalty. Some of these mini-arcs feel drawn out and too much like a typical isekai, especially when Shin gets to flex his power before awed onlookers. Yet the power fantasy elements are bearable and Shin is very likeable, so I'm willing to look past them.

The New Gate is a charming and unique isekai with a severe issue holding it back. Shin basically being time-traveled is an interesting premise and it's fun that he knows about the world's rules but knows nothing about the current state of things. Shin uses his overpowered status to help people and the world grow, leading to sweet interactions throughout the story.

The biggest issue, however, is how the power system works. So the world is structured like a video game so there are levels, skills, and gear like you would see in an MMO. Unfortunately, it's not clear how characters can get stronger other ... than being born with it. Everyone of note with any strength to speak of is either a player, support character, or chosen one; all of which mean they haven't undergone any training or character arcs through the story and just got strong "off-screen". At best it means the characters' powers are stagnant and don't change, and at worst it feels like eugenics where only some people are born with powers and others have to just accept they can't be as good as others. The story doesn't revolve around combat, but it's a large part of the story so seeing characters always mop the floor with the powers they have grandfathered in gets pretty boring. The fight scenes are boring, but they seem to happen a lot anyways.

The best example of this is seen in Tiera. (I'll be vague to avoid spoilers) She's a fun character and I like her, but while she grows as a character her power only increases when other people give her stuff. She accepts gifts from a variety of characters that protect her, give her skills, and increase her stats, but there's never anything she does of her own accord that makes her stronger. She's a good sport about it, but I can't help but feel like she's being babied. The only character who actually grows more powerful on their own by literally growing up and becoming stronger than they were as a child.

Incredibly simplistic isekai. Basically a lazy copy of every other isekai that's out there. Overpowered MC tries to hide his amazing powers while simultaneously showing off his amazing powers to everyone he encounters. Not one original idea in the entire manga. 100% predictable start to finish. This is the laziest type of power fantasy that exists where the MC is already god-like from the first chapter. Story is boring. Characters are boring. Action is boring. Artwork is terrible. There is so little value in this manga that I can't believe it's still being published. Would never recommend this to anyone because there are thousands of ... better manga out there.