The main character has a very determined and strong willed personality and there is more than enough emotion in him to keep him interesting. However there are a few problems with his character and the writing surrounding him. See the story feels the need to constantly remind you that he IS NOW A MONSTER. However he NEVER acts like it in the slightest. Sometimes the story will make it seem like he's turning into a savage beast but it's either because of his one ability that steals his sanity or he just ends up acting like a gentleman anyway. I'm not implying it's bad he doesn't act like a blood thirsty beast but he acts a bit TOO human. Basically, it feels like the author had trouble deciding how to balance the human and monster aspects of the MC and in the end just went with having the MC act like a human while mixing in things to try to make him feel like a monster. But as most of it isn't very convincing it feels like the MC is a monster in body only. Another issue is how he'll constantly spare enemies even when there is no hope of him eventually winning them to his side and this causes a couple issues as time goes on. The MC does kill people plenty of times but almost all are just faceless people often without a name.

The detail and passion of the battle scenes doninates a large p art of the novel so if that's your thing you'll probably like this. However.... at the same time the author gets a bit lazy with how he sets up said battles. After the author gets past the MC just fighting wild bests and hords almost every enemy wants to kill the MC because "He's a mere goblin". Even when the MC evolves to a point he no longer should really even resemble one not only do they still see him as one but they treat him as a common goblin with zero consideration he might be outside the norm. This even happens with non human species which should understand the pains of descrimination and at least consider giving the MC a chance. The other issue is people in this novel are too quick to resolve issues with all out war. Again I get the author likes battle sequences but sometimes it feels like the characters might go to war over how to butter their toast with how easily they just go for it.

Goblin Kingdom attempts to restrict the presence of gameplay elements to make it not feel too game like. While this does work in some ways it also causes some parts of it to feel vague and unfinished. For example levels of characters jump whenever the plot demands it and there are times where it feels like he should have leveled up but didn't but then other times he jumps 40+ levels in one chapter. There is a similar issue with skills as instead of them being constantly active they seem to have requirements and activate and the plot demands it at times rather than solid logic. Possible the worst is the magic system. The characters seem to be able to make magic by just making up a chant and putting a spell name to it. The problem is the logic behind how this works is so vague that it's impossible to tell what the limits are. For example after several chapters the MC only creates three spells but there is no reason given as to why additionally all his spells are augmentation based and no reason is given as to why he makes no ranged attacks.

In this world there is no evolution tree and instead it's more like a class up from common > Rare > Noble > Duke > Lord. Except the ranks apparently differ for some races which makes it difficult to understand how different species stack up to each other. The reason this is somewhat of an issue of the MC's ambitions are great and forcing him to remain as a goblin feels too limiting. Although at the same time he does grow powerful but at that point it feels wrong to keep calling him a goblin as he clearly is no longer one.

As in the lack of any sort of "Cheat" skill. While it adds to the drama that the MC isn't instantly OP there is also the issue that he feels a tad overly restricted and lacks traits that help really distinguish him from enemies around him. While he doesn't need to be OP it still would have been nice of the author had made more efforts to make the MC feel "special" so that his rise from common goblin to King felt more natural.

There are a few points where Goblin Kingdom surpasses Re:Monster but in other ways it fails short. First of all I mention how the MC in Goblin Kingdom acts a bit too human. This is one of the points Re:Monster does better as it's MC acts much more savage and monstrous but still shows a level of sanity that shows he's still himself. Another comparison goes back to the "game system" elements, Re:M had a more solid sense of level progression due to the stronger presence of game elements. Additionally because the MC's power revovlves around skill acquisition there is more emphasis on skills and their use. It's only after the MC gets so many it becomes impossible to keep track of them all but you still have a fair understanding of his most important ones. On that note while it's true Re:M has an issue with fights becoming too easy as the MC gets OP rapidly he also feels far more memorable.

Going to the evolution element Re:M has a more interesting evolution system. For example while the Goblins are weak their evolution tree includes a lot of interesting monsters which allows his goblin comrades to take a lot of interesting paths. This doesn't feel unnatural as it's clearly spelled out and it makes sense how a goblin ends up on each path.

So since I said they both had their good points where does GK shine above Re:M? Well it's monstly in it's action. While GK restricted itself a little too much that restriction did help in making the action feel more desperate as the MC didn't have a guaranteed instant trump card.

Another Plus for GK is the MC has a more defined objective. In Re:M the MC's goal was just "make a base, get stable income, have fun" besides that and killing enemies that threaten him he doesn't do much else and it causes the story to lose focus in later parts. On the other hand GK's MC wishes for conquest for everything he does is for the sake of that goal.

There is one thing that both Re:M and GK miss the mark on and it's the MC's personality. Re:M's MC was too apathetic and often seemed to not care about much of anything. As for GK's MC while he has a more developed character the mix between his human morals and his monster insticts feels a tad messy like the author is never quite sure how to portray that balance. On that note Re:M does something right as the MC fully embrasses his monster self but still holds on to a few moral lines that he won't cross

A good example of this is their treatment of women. In Re:M the MC sees the women the goblins used and sees them suffering a fate worse than death. Because he lacks the power to save them as the time he instead chooses to secretly give them poison and walks away. HOWEVER in GK by the time the MC meets the goblin's captive women he's already in charge. But he chooses to murder them after only trying once to get their attention and seeing their dead eyes. While these two scenes seem similar GK fails as it doesn't feel like it was his only option. He was in a position to try to protect or heal them but chooses not to while in Re:Mosnter the MC was not in a position of authority to do so.

Later on both MC acquire women and again Re:M handles this better although only slightly. In Re:M after the MC acquires the women the previous cheif kidnapped he offers them the chance to eventually leave and offers to protect them until then in exchange for their services making medicine, armor, ect. Not long after when some goblins defy this order he shows his will to keep his word by slowly torturing them to death in front of everyone as an example. but in GK the MC doesn't offer them the chance to leave and his handling of them feels a bit wishy washy and uncertain much of the time.

Mecha Gi Ga and Hasu will save the day. \O/

Climax of Vol 1 has King crying and begging for his life like a little bitch. He abandons hope, forgets about all his comrades, and dies like the mook he is. Yeah, as I said : King is a pathetic, incompetent weakling who almost never wins on his own merits.

He didn't eat any humans. He tried communicating with women used as breeders by the former goblin leader but they were far gone and he killed them out of mercy. He is trying to teach goblins to eat vegetables.. Sheesh. Disliking a story doesn't mean adding things to it is Fine