Overall, Aced was a solid listen. The LitRPG elements are handled well, and I liked the school setting where Dan, the main character, has to navigate both freshman-year awkwardness and the sudden powers he gains after an Isekai-style accident. The premise—where a cosmic being accidentally grants Dan superhuman, game-like abilities without killing him—is clever and sets up some fun progression moments.
It reminded me a lot of Player Manager by Ted Steel, especially the mix of sports and system mechanics. Ironically, the best scene in Aced is when Dan can’t play tennis for a week and ends up playing soccer—like an absolute prodigy. It’s dynamic, exciting, and really shows how good this story could be. Unfortunately, that only makes the rest of the book’s focus on tennis feel a bit flat. Superpowers and tennis just don’t mix as naturally as soccer or combat might.
My bigger gripe is that Dan’s supposed to be a gamer, yet he never acts like one. The system literally tracks every skill he performs, but he never experiments or tries to game the mechanics. A real gamer would be out there testing limits—throwing footballs, lifting weights, trying everything to see what raises stats. Dan just… doesn’t. For someone handed a real-life RPG interface, he’s surprisingly uncurious.
Then there’s the tone: Dan spends a lot of time whining despite being given the world. And the cosmic power who caused all this? Honestly, a bit cringe. The forced humor and random “Happiness +2” pop-ins killed the pacing and undercut some otherwise solid moments.
Still, Aced is a promising start. The world-building works, the narration is great, and there’s potential here if the author tightens the logic and tones down the awkward humor. I’ll grab Book 2, but I’m hoping some of these issues get patched out—because the framework for a great series is absolutely here.