Real Life is a game that has a list of flaws a mile long. The Difficulty By Region is incredibly egregious, avoiding Final Death is completely impossible no matter how skilled you are, the Fan Dumb is beyond notorious, there's far too much Level Grinding for the taste of just about everyone, it's entirely unwinnable despite being arguably the Most Triumphant Example of The Tetris Effect...oh, and let's not forget the complete lack of any Save Points.

So why, then, does just about everyone play this game? One major reason is the sheer amount of effort put into its creation. The creator is a real Reclusive Artist, to the point where some people even argue the creator is nature itself, but they have put so much effort into this that many believe the creator is literally superhuman. The graphics are jaw-droppingly gorgeous, easily better than any other game, which is even more amazing when you consider that the game is one of the oldest on the market. The NPC AI is so incredible that it's completely impossible to distinguish between the NP Cs and other players. Welcome To Corneria is completely averted, meaning you don't have to Talk To Everyone to learn a goal; one person is often enough. Everyone has their own set of motivations, which combined with the utter lack of Card Carrying Villains makes for a very intriguing Grey And Gray Morality.

Ultimately, the game is better than the sum of its parts. It is arguably the longest game you will ever play, and yet many still feel it is too short. It is incredibly unique, almost certainly (for better or worse) in a class by itself. There is a reason it is so highly recommended by so many; even those on the wrong side of the Difficulty By Region seem rather unwilling to quit playing. If you can see past its flaws, you will likely enjoy it. Just be careful not to get too addicted; it is VERY hard to willingly quit once you've started.

Honestly, this series gets far more credit than it deserves. I am aware that it has popularized some of the tropes used in some works, but that doesn't excuse it from having a good plot. The characters seem to be clutching the Idiot Ball at all times. I also think that it suffers from The Chris Carter Effect, the author seems to have no real plan. However, with the new things going on in some of the science-based arcs, it seems to be improving.

It does have some good points. The music is very good, and spans almost all genres. Also, the art quality and style tend to remain constant throughout (although heavy zooms either direction tend to change this very quickly.) Magic A Is Magic A tends to run very cohesively from arc to arc.

All in all, it's a very good series, but it gets far more credit than it deserves. Just ignore the utterly MASSIVE Broken Base and you should be fine.