Maybe the blue haired guy was actually a genius? He could foresee that the show would go to shit, so he was like "nope, im out"

hey that's my bit!

The phrase "This takes place on the beta of the relaunch of SAO" feels like code for "we couldn't be arsed to fix the bugs and came with a crappy excuse".

Don't you see? THAT'S the Hollow Realization. That it's STILL fucking Kirito.

My favorite Sword Art Online game is Persona 3.

How to embarrass yourself 101

What's with the hair, did you lose a bet? Did you go Super Sayan God!?

Honestly, the moment when everybody turned on Kirito because "LOL Beta tester" is the moment I dropped the show. Everybody in that game was too stupid to function correctly.

Wait if in the light novel Kirito and sashi shared inventories doesn't that Imply that they used the games marriage system

WE MUST SAVE MY FAMILY!!!

I love it when people bash Sword Art Online.

This type of fanservice is weak. You need to go full ham like Senran Kagura

really are there anyone that want to be kirito in a game. i would kill to be a joestar with my personal stand or any charcter of overlord or log horizon

I remember when this was called "DotHack".

The abridged series honestly does a better job than the actual show

I think the dot hack series did the whole MMORPG simulation way better, and that game came out in the early 2000s on the PS2

yo I want that .hack video.

Here's how you make an SAO title game Put "Lost" or "Hollow" and boom you got your title

I'm gonna be perfectly honest: I don't think SAO is the worst anime ever. Defeinitely the most disappointing anime ever because it had so much potential. I actually kinda liked the first half of season 1, and I also enjoyed the first half of season 2. The latter half of season 1 was bad and the latter half of season 2 was just boring.....

SAO Abridged is pretty good, tho.

I mean not gonna lie but, at least the game isn't trying to sell you something it's not, it is after all a hollow fragment

I want .Hack back. ;_;

Sao is shit. Tho the first three episodes were good

Log Horizon did the genre waaAAAAaay better.

"We Want a plot about Kirito but we also want a custom character" "I have an great idea guys that can solve all gaming making problems on trying to make a custom character protagonist with interesting interaction, let's make kirito customizable but not change his name or story" Like seriously, i know they just wanted slap it's a Sao game and has all characters but how much more interesting it would be if it was about you being a new player, making your own character and venturing yourself into the world as you meet your own new friends and even aleadry known ones from the show, besides making kirito customizable, cheat asuna, and everything else? Since the game wanted so much to have the MMO feeling.

I'm so sorry you had to do this for us Austin.

I never realised that some of the UI is veeeery close to FFXIVs

im really glad Zarya made a youtube channel

You can't date Klein ?? Worst game ever

The turning point for me was when Laughing Coffin, you know, one of the biggest threats to the players in SAO, gets completely obliterated OFF-CAMERA, and only mentioned in a few seconds flashback on the 2nd season, oh but those 3 random assholes looking for a random murderer of a random person that we never see again, that was more important to see

why is there no Log horizon, the better sao, video game?!

"This game is also a dating simulator" It's like Fire Emblem Fates, just not good.

Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over did a better job with the stuck in a video game concept.

*sees the first episode* Hey, this looks pretty good *never sees the show ever again*

I bet when you had Yakuza 0 in the background you were totally thinking: "Shit, I would much rather be playing actual non-garbage games."

Sachi died for nothing

Sao abridged 3 quote: "it's not a good tutorial" And "just because I can't play the game doesn't mean I can 'play the game' *wink*"

Just a heads-up, but when "it" is possessive it's written "its", no apostrophe.

"Hey I'm craving playing an Offline MMO,, Xenoblade was literally the greatest thing ever so SAOHF should at least be playable right?" Nope, That was as big of a mistake as buying Conception 2.

How to truly enjoy Sward Art Online: 1: Watch the 1st 3 episodes 2 Stop watching

Episode 3 was a red flag for me, very rushed, I had no time to get attached to any of those characters to feel sad about them. Then it went down hill super super hard after that. God I hate how this series has an amazing dark start then just turned into generic trash and people still just ate it up. It's like I can enjoy some trashy shows but generally they are more honest about it where is SAO feels like it tricked its audience into making them think it's good. These games just look plain terrible though honestly the ps2 .hack games seem worlds better.

I remember watching SAO years ago. I also had high hope for it because the beginning of the anime and the plot stuff was actually pretty interesting... Then it derailed into what you mentioned in your video. Thank you for sharing your thoughts!! I never heard of the games, but goodness... Those are some games. :U

Why make sword art online games when you can bring . hack// back?

When I was growing up SAO was known as dot hack (and its various spinoffs)

Do you want to enjoy a Sword Art Online game? Play Xenoblade Chronicles

Man feels like I haven't seen a video from you guys in forever nice to see this review. What I really like in your critique of SAO is the fact that you managed to pull out the good from it before saying how it all went to hell. I felt the same as you when I was watching it between episode 3 and 4 felt like they could have had a whole season or at least make Aincrad a full twenty something episodes instead we rushed into something way inferior for no good reason like incest and rape dungeons albeit lite versions of it but still why? Anyway good to see a video from you guys after so long.

I was just having this conversation last night with someone. .hack//did it first and did it better.

Nice video, I appreciate that you actually took the time to explain that you don't think the entirety of the show is god-awful, just everything past the point that they turned it into Harem Art Online.

SAO abridged is so much better if I'm being completely honest

*reads title* Yeah, and water is wet.

Kirito inclusion in anything actively makes it worse, he's like a reverse Mai Shiranui.

Log Horizon is sooooooooo much better!!! (Also, I love the Hajime figure on the desk!)

Congrats, you manages to make me hate SAO even more than when I tried to watch the one and a half episodes I could barely stand.

Thank you for making my decision easy. I'm glad I found someone with a small amount of distaste for pointless fanservice, instead of trying to pry honest reviews from the hands of fanboys.

"Pube window" I died xD

I swear, every new Eruption episode gets better. I'm proud of you, Austin!

I started playing FF14 A Realm Reborn after I was done watching SAO. It really fullfiled my MMO online anime needs after watching SAO.

Oh my god, you look like a fluff piece of angelic cotton candy, It's beatiful.

Apparently the creators of SAO are thinking about revamping the show and I'm totally all for it, also there's a total of 5 english SAO games on the PlayStation and the one in this video was by far my least favorite of the games. Also to any who are confused the games take place in a separate time-line where Kirito and others go through all 100 floors of Aincrad, introducing more characters exclusive to the game time-line, and no Oberon rape lmao.

Actually, I know this is late, but you can date anyone, literally ANYONE not just the guys but also your own daughter

I like to imagine that while Kirito is moving closer like a total creep he’s slowly sticking out his tongue to be ultra creepy

When Sword Art online uses the Success text from Dark Souls.

SAO games isn't bad. It's trash.

I just love that even those of us who think SAO and most of the things branching from it are trash can still agree that Sinon is a total cutie. Not only that, but she was the new refreshing female character that we needed after seeing Asuna quickly turn to a life of domesticity and weakness. Sinon was presented with an interesting backstory and life addressing the seriousness of PTSD. She was a skilled player who simply trumped Kirito's game knowledge in every category, and without Kirito being Jesus-kun and immediately OP at any game he plays, she could have been in the combat spotlight for much longer before handing it over to the main character. I honestly believe that Reki Kawahara rushed into putting Kirito and Asuna together, because Sinon simply fits that role better. Unlike every other girl in the series Sinon didn't start developing apparent feelings for Kirito until the very end of GGO, and even after she did develop those feelings we rarely saw the irritating tropes that plague SAO girls. Rather than being purely focused around romance, their interactions also have a playful and real feeling to them that builds on their platonic relationship and only sometimes hinting towards a possible romance in the future. One example of this is the scene where Kirito jokingly pulls on Sinon's tail, and her reaction is admittedly pretty cute. In addition, Sinon seems to have kept her skill and combat relevance even after switching to ALO. She still serves the role of the sniper and scout, and she uses a weapon type that none of the other main cast members use. We still see her as a present combat force, and she still has some awesome moments. While Asuna does rejoin the group for quests in ALO again, she's taken quite the support-like role as opposed to her previous frontline fighter personality. The only times she pulls out her sword is when they all get a chance to wail on the enemy at once. Sinon is shown to tease Kirito semi-frequently rather than be the usual meek girl who gets unjustifiably angry when Kirito interacts with other girls like Asuna, Silica, Lisbeth, and Leafa do. Her bold, outgoing, and fun personality perfectly complements his calm but socially awkward one. Contrast this with Asuna's borderline bitchy but weirdly meek personality that just screams "Yes Kirito-kun, whatever you say Kirito-kun." and I think you'll see who fits better. And honestly...Sinon would make Kirito a better character if done right. Like I said, she acts as a wonderful foil to him that brings out a much more interesting character than "Edgy black swordsman Jesus-kun who saves the day and gets all the girls...Who is also apparently a genius hacker." But you know, maybe that's just me. Canon Kirito really doesn't deserve her anyway.

Dot hack infection on ps2 was an amazing game!

I see that Jojo poster and Zeta Gundam (is that the MG?) in the background. Great taste.

I love how you used Mother's Basement's intro to shit on SAO.

Man, I'm so sad we can't go after the guys. :c I wanna woo Klein.

We wanna play a character. Not boring ass Kirito.

"Can't date best bro Klein." -IGN 1/10

I like Lost Song but it’s character customization isn’t very good. Hollow Realization was *TERRIBLE* - btw I was stuck on that tutorial for half an hour... I agree the directions were unclear Also it’s riddled with stupid “fan-service” and the skill system was nonsensically designed

I see that Jojo poster, do a Jojo video! Yare Yare Daze.

Yeah, I remember watching up to episode 6 and really liked it (episode 4 was weird), and then once it stopped being about leaving the game and people permanently die and I found out about the harem part, I dropped it like a rock into the depths of the ocean. I've actually gone back and looked at it and I think it's good up to episode 11. Episode 4 and 7 were the intrusive harem/forced romance parts. Episode 5, 6, and 10 were great since they brought the whole high stakes thing, people permanently die part pretty well. Episode 11 and forward is when Yui appears and becomes their daughter somehow and from there it's pure *cringe*. It's too bad that they dropped the grim GTFO out of this game where you can die into a harem and power fantasy anime (loses all the stakes as Kirito becomes level infinity and no one else you care about dies permanently or long enough for it to matter). It reminded me of the .hack series for those episodes...haha.

Regarding the A.I., you have to train them using a compliment system that encourages them to perform certain actions more frequently. For example, if a character attacks a lot, they will get the "Warlike", "Outlaw", or possibly "Planner" status, among others, that refers to the nature of their last action. Praise them for that and they will do it more frequently. Likewise, if a character heals and you praise them for that, they will heal more frequently. This praise system combined with the group comand system defines how the characters behave. It's really awesome actually. :-D

considering how the anime went and how this game is, i'm surprised Kirtio wasn't able to attract any of the game monsters to his harem. all he had to do was look at the girl, smile and be a little nice and boom, she's now apart of his ever growing harem which really sucks because the show was really dark with a good commentary on mortality and a few other things. i almost forgot Sacchi because she's only in that one episode, if they had extended it over the course of say a few episodes truly getting to know her and then they rip your heart out with her death, that would have had more of an impact and then reference her through out the rest of the series. but nope, that's not what we got

yay hate over SAO it's music to my ears~

I've never seen an anime trigger so many people so intensely. It's neither an overly great or overly bad anime. It is what it is. Why does everyone act like SAO murdered their family?

What about Fatal Bullet. That game looks good. What are you opinions about it?

SAO abridged handled Sachi better than the actual Anime. Change my mind.

15:10 What is that Chie cosplay???

So you REALISED how HOLLOW it was? GET IT!!!! HA......HA........HA.......HA!

Why does this game look so much like Yandere Simulator

Tbh, the series should of been 100 episodes longer, just up to the point of breaking out of the game. The idea is great and had huge potential, regardless of the shortness of the source material, it was a huge missed opportunity.

SAO had such potential but went to shit so fast. after the first few episodes it became so damn cringe. and just got worse.

The novels really are not too bad if you pay attention to their surrounding circumstances and target audience. You can especially notice increased maturity of the author as he gains experience. I can't promote them as particularly good, but they are not terrible - largely because later on they introduce some interesting ideas.

it isnt something to argue on SAO is bad no matter how you try to defend it, the first episodes shows that the series were in a right path but they stray away from that in order to have more money from dakimakuras and other ecchi merchandise, dont get me wrong because i love a good old ecchi but when in its conception is an ecchi, but when you start as a more "serious" and more developed anime in terms of plot and characters and then you throw that for obvious fan service yeah you got me lost there. Dot /Hack at least when he had its ecchi moments were just a few moments and it wasnt the main reason of the episode, yeah the plot was kinda meh at times and it wasnt that good but they didnt stray from character development just for more money.

My criticism of you is that you think that Kirito just gets over the tragedy. There are constant time skips in the series. If you want consistent story telling, then you'd get 5 seasons of them entirely just playing through the death game.

7:53 "Always remember: to jump, jump."

Sounds like the core of your critique is that SAO starts out with a powerful, evocative driving premise... and then after three episodes, betrays that premise and essentially never returns to it. it starts doing other things. Some of those other things might be enjoyable or not, but there's little doubt that whole 'if you die in the game, you die for real' just stopped being a thing for anyone who mattered after three episodes. In fact, they spliced in book 2 fluffing about in the middle of the show, seemingly determined to ruin the pacing on purpose. Honestly, if you take the games on their own (very limited) terms, the brainless harem VN nonsense can be amusing and even enjoyable. It doesn't even resemble an actual story, but hey. Neither does a packet of sugar. But the tones clash so harshly in this series because SAO clearly THINKS it's some adult, serious show. And it SO is not capable of that. Also, big props Skies of Arcadia background music. I've thought off and on about some kind of 'trapped in a VR MMO but it's like Skies of Arcadia with sky islands and sky pirates' and god that would be cool.

I don't know what version of the game you've been playing, buddy, but I've been hitting on Agil (which you're pronouncing wrong, by the way) and Klein practically since I bought the game, and it hasn't tried to stop me. I even bridal carried Agil around the Town of Beginnings for a while. It was kinda hilarious to watch, because I'm a girl of average height and he's a freakin' giant.

holy fuck.... glad i didn't look into THIS Anime after i thought "hey it might be as cool as .hack" i liked the PS2 games and the anime but THIS omg... Pantyshots, Dating sim... omfg

SAO is the popular example of what is wrong with anime culture in general and mindless otakus eat it up. It only makes it worse that it could have been good and that this is what the rest of the world sees as "anime". It does nothing but glorify introversion and make anime look bad

The best SAO game is any of the .hack games...

Sadly, I bought the game, I learned my lesson. no more SAO game for me on the next game release.

austin i wont lie here...this video angers me as i am a hardcore SAO fan...but that doesnt mean that i should discredit your opinio n as SAO has a few problems...im glad you made this video because i wanted to see the topic from both sides...Keep up the good work!:)

"Nice Armor, Asshole!" I'm dead! XD

The only good thing about SAO is the porn.

The Phone game was pretty fun... The one where you make your character and its 3d and super customizable not the side scroller... That one's not bad tho

I’m surprised there’s no comments saying Agil is married IRL.

Gonna be honest. Even if I'm into the whole waifu harem crap, I seriously couldn't get into SAO. I mean I wanted to since I eat this type of stuff like the junk food they are, but something about SAO just rubs me the wrong way. Plus the fact that combined, the anime is now at least 85 episodes long its like, how is this anime still going? People still eat this thing up? The games as well always keeps me wondering. Why even make the player character customizable complete with the ability to rename yourself when its Kirito regardless? That seriously reminds me of how white knight chronicles pisses on you when it allows you to make your own character but they have 0 relevance in the plot and just hangs out in the background. You seriously can't be your own guy when you have to live in the shadow of the existing main character. I want to date Sion as my own dude! Not as Kirito secretly having an affair on Asuna which she'll never find out cause she's as dense as a brick. At least take a page from the Dragonball Xenoverse games. Your character in those at least has relevance and you're your own guy. Not Goku pretending to be someone else.