Qiang Ge’s character was well written and the actor really brought him to life. I like that his character’s cowardice, bravery, selfishness and selflessness reflects how complex and contradictory humans can be.

Some other characters, however, did feel a bit more superficial/two dimensional. In all honesty, I felt like the story could have progressed without so many players entering the game.

I like that the drama included traditional/older architecture in its filming sets (e.g. Chun Yu’s home), which was quite a stark contrast to the more futuristic VR plot. Kind of helps to ground the story for viewers + aesthetics.

Another thing that I felt the drama missed out was the meaning behind its title “19th Floor”. Chinese literature mentions that sinners are sent to the 18 levels of hell (18层地狱) to receive punishment after death. In a sense, the concept of 19 floors in the VR game trials draw on this ideology but this wasn’t quite reflected in the drama (other than it being the school building’s name). In the novel, there were 19 levels of trials for the players. Granted, this would probably have been a little too much for a 30 ep drama adaptation but okay.

Overall, still a decent and enjoyable watch.