The problem with isekai-ing to multiple worlds

[NotaNuffian]

Before I start yapping, I need to make clear is how I determine the Starting World before MC goes world hopping.

If MC is an original denizen with no mentioning/ recollection of a world before, he is in Starting World. If MC was transmigrated/ reincarnated into a new world that may or may not be alt Earth in order for reader relatability and has no way to go back to previous world, the now new world that MC is stuck with is the Starting World.

So, the problem with travelling to multiple worlds... the first one is constantly in between dual worlds. It is always Starting World to New World A and vice versa, it is a popular trend since Digimon S1. The recent trend is that the Starting World is just as mysterious and filled with danger as New World A and MC requires to gain strength using both worlds to live in them. Bonus if space travel bullshit occurs with either (or even both) world/s and all of a sudden, MC is travelling in two different spaces and occasionally I lost track where MC is everytime he world shifts. I'd like to call this a problem because in the end, the two worlds get stale very soon, even if one is ancient medieval time with magic while the other is sci-fi technopunk as MC becomes a bastard between the two, sometimes even contaminating both worlds.

The conclusion of first problem is dual worlds suck as the two supposed different power systems and cultures just get mixed in MC and lost.

The second problem is grab and go, MC takes what he wants from the New World and never revisit ever again once he's done with the place. So far I had seen two CNs do this in their own method; one is MC being a Bug, carrying all the knowledge of the New World to the next and leading to the New World's destruction in his wake. Therefore MC can't revisit when there is nothing left to revisit. The second is MC having the ability to world travel to multiple worlds that are essentially the same xianxia world but different timeline or even between rich and poor areas. There is a central theme and MC merely jumps into the worlds for levelling up from Qi Building, Foundation Forming to Gold Core etc while having his Starting World as a pointless anchor because all the other worlds are so bleeding similar. There was the time which the author teased about New World A being not yet fully explored whilst MC had already travelled to New World C, he has three New Worlds in his travel list and New World A was considered to be starting world for body tempering and the author teased about a Golden Core Demon MC could revisit and kill in New World A like DLC. So I was expecting MC to waltz back to New World A for further digging, but it never came. Either the author had long forgotten about the tease he dropped or it was deliberate, lying to readers about continuation when there is none.

The conclusion of the second problem is that the New Worlds are pit stops/ game chapters. Why bother having replayablitiy when MC will never return?

So far these are the two major gripes I have with multiple worlds hopping.

 

[CarburetorThompson]

Nothing wrong with a planes walking type story, but the moment you add a typical isekai as the travel method it’s becomes basically the same as tearing down a house while you’re still building it.

why establish settings, characters, and relationships if none of it will matter once the mc gets a power up and isekai‘s again. It quite literally punishes you for being invested in the world building. I cannot understand people who enjoy these types of stories

 

[NotaNuffian]

Nothing wrong with a planes walking type story, but the moment you add a typical isekai as the travel method it’s becomes basically the same as tearing down a house while you’re still building it.

why establish settings, characters, and relationships if none of it will matter once the mc gets a power up and isekai‘s again. It quite literally punishes you for being invested in the world building. I cannot understand people who enjoy these types of stories

I blame the game-like thinking done by early CN WNs. To them, the worlds are just there to be speedrun and conquered.

 

[cabbag3]

About the Second Type of CN Multi-world WN, the same can be said for Cultivation stories with "Higher Realms". Previous realm will only be mentioned when he revisits it to either flex and/or take their clan and friends along. Example: Martial Peak.

 

[NotaNuffian]

About the Second Type of CN Multi-world WN, the same can be said for Cultivation stories with "Higher Realms". Previous realm will only be mentioned when he revisits it to either flex and/or take their clan and friends along. Example: Martial Peak.

Oh yeah.

I blanked that out because it is more like flexing instead of having any proper thing to do.

The closest I recall is MC returning to previous realms, found new McGuffin to further the pathetic plot and leave the old realms.

 

[ACertainPassingUser]

Yep. It's like living in 2 different town. Eventually it gets boring and all that's left is the nuisances of commute and travel dstance between them.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

Several years ago I had an idea (inspired by the pilot for a TV series called, IIRC, Awake - the only episode I caught as it did not get a full season AFAICT, and was scheduled in a time block against three other shows that were being recorded) where the MC is a psychiatrist. When one of his clients starts talking about other realities, he admits that he has experienced them ever since the car accident that killed his wife. He keeps dreaming of another world where she is alive.
That night, when he goes to bed, he wakes up in a world where his wife is alive and his daughter died in the accident - a world where he also gave up his practice to join the police force, in part to track down the person responsible for the accident and bring them to justices.
The only problem comes when he arrests someone who seems familiar. It turns out to be the client who talks about additional worlds - and who has a message for the MC from his daughter - from a world where she alone survived the accident, losing both parents...

Never got beyond basic plotting though. Every time he falls asleep, he transitions to another world and may even be his own daughter in the world where she lived...

 

[ArlindoFrancisco]

Yep. It's like living in 2 different town. Eventually it gets boring and all that's left is the nuisances of commute and travel dstance between them.

That is why I think stories like these need to be short; it becomes pointless after some time.
Now a good mangá about traveling to different worlds is one about the MC having to be expelled from a 100 parties to be able to come home to his original world, only to find out that he now needed to go back to these 100 worlds to see the consequences of his actions.

It just needs to be super clear about what is the objective the story.

 

[beast_regards]

What a multi-cross fan-fics does is essentially collect the unique powers, items, or technologies across the multiverse, then move on.

It's less ascension to the higher place of existence, and more rushing towards the item in Dark Souls to complete the build as there is no linear plot progression and you have the guide.

At least, that's how Spacebattles does it. It's all meta, and not necessarily that smart, but it has more issues of its own rather than one you have mentioned.

The traditional media do it more like Sliders the TV show.