Love Game is Eastern Fantasy works so well (for me at least) is because while there are several other cdrama fantasies addressing similar themes with transmigration tropes, the writing here is actually pretty solid. Like, there is proper logical progression of things, and I can tell they put some thought behind the plot and didn't just fill pages, solely relying on the leads' acting and their chemistry to carry subpar writing/execution *cough* ofl *cough*
Things such as Miaomiao's backstory with her dad, foreshadowing scenes that don't feel casually slapped together, absence of irrelevant romantic scenes just to fill screentime (which is why I really appreciate whatever scenes we get of Miaomiao and Ziqi), giving each main character a proper arc instead of having them behave like NPCs, being consistent with the rules of the gaming world we're introduced to, not lingering on silly misunderstandings, actually resolving smaller issues and conflicts before moving on to bigger ones, not forgetting about an open plot point after a while, effectively keeping up the suspense and compelling the audience to second-guess and theorize what's to happen (very tricky to pull off imo when you're airing episodes daily), showing gradual development of romance between the two couples, utilizing talented actors who seem to have a solid understanding of the motivations, nuances and overall pulse of the characters they play. There are many other things too, like the incredible acting skills Ding Yuxi and Yu Shuxin bring along with the natural chemistry they have off-screen that translates so well on screen, as well as the fact that they make Ziqi and Miaomiao uniquely theirs, making it a much more enjoyable ride. I learned recently that there were several scriptwriters for this, with the main scriptwriter being the same person who wrote for LBFAD (correct me if I'm wrong though)--that might explain why I like this writing so much, even though it deviates from the og web novel.
Even the final episodes (where most cdrama fantasies often mess up, especially with isekai/transmigration tropes) go above and beyond tying up ALL the loose ends and connecting every clue every foreshadowing every disjointed bits of information that we see throughout the show, ultimately creating this beautiful beautiful piece of art that is LGIEF.
And that final statement from Fu Zhou? Ugh I love how they conveyed that idea.
Hands down my favorite cdrama after LBFAD.
