History YMMV / SwordArtOnlineVideoGame

*** The AMR Grim Reaper+ is the other top weapon of choice used to quickly kill bosses. Like the AR Ninja 3++ above, it has high weak spot damage in addition to better critical rate and damage compared to AMR Tiamat Mk3++ and AMR Breakthrough 4 while having damage per shot comparable to these anti-material rifles. It's only weakness is that the bullet travels slower, meaning it'll not hit fast-moving targets consistently. It's often used with Explosive Shot to quickly defeat the Behemoth MT-13 by hitting it on it's true weak point on the lower part, normally unhittable with anything but Launchers. It's a little easier to obtain compared to the AR Ninja 3 above, being dropped by the new sniper enemies introduced in the third DLC, guarding the five keys required to unlock the Lost Gate.

* EvilIsSexy:
** Persona Vabel, a mysterious female villain from the future who dresses [[{{Stripperiffic}} very provocatively]].
** Itsuki is quite the PrettyBoy and the [[spoiler:BigBad of ''Fatal Bullet'']].
** [[spoiler:Lievere the [[TheHeavy villain]] of the ''Fatal Bullet'' DLC storyline]] is practically a walking MsFanservice.

* ContestedSequel: ''Lost Song'' and ''Alicization Lycoris''. Lost Song was a totally new engine but without much depth in its design, some real repetitive and simple combat, and was held as a fairly uninteresting game in the continuity overall with not much of a saving grace unless you just wanted more character interactions. Meanwhile, Lycoris had to [[ToughActToFollow follow up]] both ''Fatal Bullet'' and ''Hollow Realization'' -- and, in most fan's eyes, didn't live up to either game at all. Most of the simulated MMO elements were absent, the battle system was held as questionable in its design, numerous mechanics of past games were completely wound back or removed to be more of a straightforward and rather generic JRPG, and it didn't even bother to adapt all that much of Alicization as an arc; the story seemed to be bumrushing through the plot players did know in favor of [[{{Padding}} dozens of hours in-between]], focusing on the original character Medina and the heroes taking a slow burn progression towards the next story beat, and ultimately culminating in [[spoiler:everything after Quinella's death being subverted ahead of time by sheer happenstance, meaning ''half of the entire story arc, the entire Underworld war arc and the Ocean Turtle raid simply doesn't happen'' because [[SparedByTheAdaptation Subtilizer appeared in Fatal Bullet]].]]

** ''Integral Factor'' allows journeying through the Aincrad arc, not as Kirito, but as yourself. This gives you the chance to talk and interact with a lot of the side characters that Kirito only briefly interacted with. Kirito is still there, but he's gone from being TheHero to something more akin to the BigGood and has [[HeroOfAnotherStory his own adventures offscreen]], which many feel works better for both him as a character and the story as a whole. Each floor is explored without any {{Time Skip}}s, with many stories being adapted from ''Progressive'' which didn't make it into the anime.
** ''Last Recollection'' uses a version of the War For Underworld arc to make up for ''Alicixation Lycoris'' cutting the cast and narrative back, supposedly to use the light novel and anime continuity, only to abuse a single plot point from ''Fatal Bullet'', by bringing back ''everyone'', including [[EnsembleDarkhorse Yuuki Konno]], who gets her own videogame-exclusive Goddess/Superuser account, Gladia, and several characters unique to the video game continuity, allowing ''almost'' every playable character in the series to return.

** ''Last Recollection'' uses the War For Underworld arc to make up for ''Alicixation Lycoris'' cutting the cast back, supposedly to use the light novel and anime continuity, by bringing back ''everyone'', including [[EnsembleDarkhorse Yuuki Konno]], who gets her own videogame-exclusive Goddess/Superuser account, Gladia, and several characters unique to the video game continuity, allowing ''almost'' every playable character in the series to return.[[note]]Persona Vabel and the Accel World characters ''only'' appeared in the crossover title.[[/note]]

** As soon as the ''Alicization Lycoris'' trailer dropped it appears to have won nearly everyone over. The graphics absolutely stunning and more polished than any game before. Also, it appears that unlike its predecessors, this game will follow the canon story or at least be very close to it, something which hasn't really been done since ''Hollow Fragment''.

** A case can be made for the mobile game ''Memory Defrag'' as well. It's unique position where it treats ''both'' the main series and the video game continuity as equally canon offers up many interesting stories and interactions between characters. The side stories exclusive to the mobile game heavily explore the supporting characters (Lisbeth, Silica, Sinon, Klein, Yuuki, Rain), and quite often Kirito is ''completely'' absent. This goes for the gameplay as well which offers a wide selection of characters from the main series, the video game continuity, the movie, and ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnlineAlternativeGunGaleOnline''. It also shows what the characters are up to in SliceOfLife snippets inbetween the major events of the series. There's also the fact the mobile game stories likes to have characters lampshade and make fun of Kirito's overpoweredness, rather than gush at how awesome he is.

*** Despite the after-mentioned unique skills for Swords, it doesn't help that they are close-ranged weapons that cannot hit weak points and have to rely on critical hit. This is also part of why sword-wielding party members are also seen as some of the worst party members, considering how the AI controlling them works. The Gun & Sword weapon type also exists, being a better version of the Swords (though they need double the Sword's STR and DEX requirements), and also has one additional skill in Dual Orbital that has a good long reach and damage output.

** Amongst the main story bosses, the Manhunter can be really difficult to take down, especially since it is a stronger version of the aftermentioned DemonicSpiders. As you can probably expect, [[LightningBruiser it's also very difficult to kill and can do a lot of damage, and moves so fast that it's difficult to dodge it's bull-rushing attacks.]] What makes it on a different level is that it's roar, in addition to flinching you and your party members and inflict supression, [[FlunkyBoss summons]] ''two'' [[DemonicSpiders Delinquents]] afterwards, and uses it ''twice'' at two different HP thresholds. A Named Enemy with similar moveset named "Abyss Guide" also appears to the left of the SBC Flugel gate before then, but at least it's [[OptionalBoss optional]] and has a trick to cheese it by shooting it from the other side of the cliff [[ArtificialStupidity due to it's AI trying to charge straight at the player]] or at least forcing it to use it's fireball attacks, unlilke the Manhunter itself which has no such luxury and can prevent players from finishing the game (unless playing on easy difficulty, which greatly decreases damage dealt from enemies). Though, Abyss Guide also appears in "Eugeo's Request" at a much higher level and in specific part of the field, where the cheese strategy doesn't work anymore...
** The Honeycomb Maker is a Field Boss in Solitary Sands that can be encounter behind the Industrial Zone. Despite only having two attacks (A straight beam shot and a 5-Stream beam attack),they hit ''HARD''. Combined with the flying Mech-type enemies' FakeDifficulty advantage of constantly flying overhead where the player can't move their cursor to follow easily, Honeycomb Maker does a team wipe just as easily as cleaning a few stains off the table. Given its level (as well as the extermination-mission) being indicated to be [=Lv76=], it's not uncommon for unprepared players to end up getting their asses handed to them by the Honeycomb Maker while leaving them to question if they've accidentally took a [=lv100=] mission without realizing it.

*** Alice and Eugeo appearing in ''Hollow Realization'' and ''Accel World VS Sword Art Online'' as DLC, shocked everyone. With the former, it was before the ''Alicization'' arc of the anime had even been announced.

** Graphite Edge from ''Literature/AccelWorld''. He had yet to have an anime appearance at this stage. But even more surprising is the fact he's ''[[CastAsAMask implied]]'' to be voiced by Creator/YoshitsuguMatsuoka.
** [[spoiler:Subtilizer showing up in ''Fatal Bullet'' as the BigBad of the DLC story line was a very big shocker.]]
** [[spoiler:Sachi, of all characters, showing up in ''Fatal Bullet'' as part of post-game DLC, which might just be the most shocking character appearance to date, given that she was not SparedByTheAdaptation in the game continuity.]]

*** While some of these formerly strongest Rank 11 weapons such as LMG Moonlight 3++ and HMG Bravefire 4 eventually got Nerfed, the AR Ninja 3++ is considered the top DPS weapon since it has high critical damage and weak point damage, making bursting tough enemies faster when you attack their weak points for massive damage. Especially so if you dual-wield them for double the ammunition and rate of fire, though the STR and DEX requirements are very high. The catch, is having to defeat the somewhat difficult Makai Brothers, and even then it's a matter of luck to get a Legendary version of this weapon with the correct chips by defeating them over and over.

*** "Human Fortress" is a simple "Tank" skill that buffs the player character with ability to NoSell attacks that would normally make them flinch. Why is it considered a Game Breaking ability? Simply put:''Human Fortress makes you absolutely invulnerable to receiving any knockback or stunned infliction from just about ANY ENEMIES''. The paralysing roar from the DemonicSpiders Delinquent-type mobs,field bosses,and dungeon bosses,followed by heavy strikes that sends you and your allies flying back? No longer an issue apart from receiving damage. The Flashbang from enemy AI Players that will leave you open to attacks for some time while your screen whites out? Only blinds you while you can still freely retaliate or move to the nearest cover. Stationary Turrets that will always cause a knockback whenever they get a hit on you? Nothing more than a trivial enemy waiting to be put down. [[note]] Although Human Fortress 2 and higher also increase defense, their defense buffs are lower than the Armor Form skill of the same tier and is pointless to use so with party members with Armor Field Shot, which is why it's recommended to just get Human Fortress 1 only.]] %%Human Fortress II (and onwards) THEN turns it up to eleven by offering a decent damage cut bonus which only increases as the Player unlocks Human Fortress III and IV,ensuring even longer survival against anyone as long as the player's health is decently high enough.
*** The Handgun Bullet Arts ability greatly reduces the cooldown timer of the player's skills,paving way for them to spam the Blaze and Poison Field ability to wither down a field/dungeon boss' health faster with higher chances from the continuous repeated use,utilise [[AwesomeButImpractical Hyper Awareness]] more often without being limited by the long 180s cooldown timer, repeatedly use Azure Tempest to make the huge mobs flinch repeatedly to stop them from trying anything etc. The list of possibilities with the freedom of spamming your skills in short intervals goes on.

*** Any flying mech-type enemies could qualify. Unlike the Bee enemies,the mechs WILL fly offscreen or above you,pretty much forcing you to have to scramble around map,trying to regain visuals on them as they speed up and around you while pelting you with Suppression and either rockets or Gatling gun bullets.
*** Turrets,on their own,aren't that much of a threat as long as you are within an arm's reach near them. However, put 2-3 of them in a small room flooded by automaton mooks (like in one of the White Frontier's dungeons for example),and you're guaranteed to have a [[SarcasmMode wonderful]] hands-on experience of getting knocked back while being shot at simultaneously by the other mooks'.

** Sword wielders in ''Fatal Bullet'', including Kirito, Leafa, and Philia. Why? The AI for sword-wielding teammates will rush into enemies to attack, which leaves them open for attack and resulting them in dying quickly, which can be attributed to [[TotalPartyKill party wipe-outs]]. That being said, Yuuki, Alice and Eugeo at least don't have it that bad, since both Yuuki and Eugeo has Nanotech boost shot and are good buffers, while Alice compensates with debuff skills, as well as Electrodynamic Stunner to stun enemies, leaving them open for weak point attacks for massive damage.

** Also in ''Fatal Bullet'', [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineAlternativeGunGaleOnlineTeamLPFM Pitohui]], strangely enough, tends to be criticized for having actually poor survivability despite her relatively high VIT and AGI. This is due to her having neither First Aid Kit nor Anti-Aliment Kit, and instead prioritizes damage-based gadgets and Metamaterial Camoflague. This renders her vulnerable to status effects, and her efficiency as a tank isn't reliable. While this was meant to reflect her CombatSadomasochist nature, it doesn't help that her contradictory skillset and gadgets ends up not contributing much to the party, as she can end up leaving more vulnerable teammates to death.

** Amongst the main story bosses, the Manhunter can be really difficult to take down, especially since it is a stronger version of the aftermentioned DemonicSpiders. As you can probably expect, [[LightningBruiser it's also very difficult to kill and can do a lot of damage, and moves so fast that it's difficult to dodge it's bull-rushing attacks.]] What makes it on a different level is that it's roar, in addition to flinching you and your party members and inflict supression, [[FlunkyBoss summons]] ''two'' [[DemonicSpiders Delinquents]] afterwards, and uses it ''twice'' at two different HP thresholds. A Named Enemy with similar moveset named "Abyss Guide" also appears to the left of the SBC Flugel gate before then, but at least it's [[OptionalBoss optional]] and has a trick to cheese it by shooting it from the other side of the cliff [[ArtificialStupidity due to it's AI trying to charge straight at the player]] or at least forcing it to use it's fireball attacks, unlilke the Manhunter itself which has no such luxury and can prevent players from finishing the game (unless playing on easy difficulty). Though, Abyss Guide also appears in "Eugeo's Request" at a much higher level and in specific part of the field, where the cheese strategy doesn't work anymore...
** The Honeycomb Maker is a Field Boss in Solitary Sands that can be encounter behind the Industrial Zone. Despite only having two attacks (A straight beam shot and a 5-Stream beam attack),they hit ''HARD''. Combined with the flying Mech-type enemies' FakeDifficulty advantage of constantly flying overhead where the player can't move their cursor to follow easily,Honeycomb Maker does a team wipe just as easily as cleaning a few stains off the table. Given its level (as well as the extermination-mission) being indicated to be [=Lv76=], it's not uncommon for unprepared players to end up getting their asses handed to them by the Honeycomb Maker while leaving them to question if they've accidentally took a [=lv100=] mission without realising it.

** The "Behemoth MT-13" is a near DamageSpongeBoss required to be fought in order to clear Alice's Request in the third DLC. A Tank equipped with a knockback-inducing twin gatling guns,high-damage missiles,ability to summon Drones at certain intervals,highly damaging ram and spin attack (which has the potential to OneHitKill you ''even on Easy Mode''),and also further damage-resistance against physical and energy bullets (Photon Swords no longer have their unlimited-by-resistance bonus by the way). Anyone would be there for a ling while,firing at the weak spot of the tank while also having to avoid being run over least they wish to be killed in the middle of a fight. One has to wonder how on earth would Alice even be able to put a dent on the bonus dungeon boss on her own if it weren't for the Player character convincing her otherwise.

** The fact that characters who didn't survive in canon such as Yuuki and later [[spoiler:Sachi]] get SparedByTheAdaptation. While some think this is BetterThanCanon as [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter characters who were wasted]] get to live up to their fullest potential, while others are unhappy with this as it cheapens the stakes of the canon story and felt it ruined the story arcs with the removal of these grim consequences.

* CriticalDissonance: Critics and those indifferent with anime styled games often wrote out the games series as just another anime tie in. Fans, especially who don't mind with the AlternateUniverse aspect, thoroughly love and enjoy the games series. Even those who hated SAO due to its flaws may love the games ''because'' of the AlternateUniverse and BetterThanCanon aspects.

** Likewise, amongst the other party members aside from the aftermentioned [=ArFA=]-sys build, many consider Asuna to be the best AI teammate. Why? She packs essentially a similar build and is the closest thing to an ideal SupportPartyMember amongst the preset character loadouts, packing most of the skills mentioned above, and also has surprisingly good survivability. Her only weakness is her low DPS, which again is a non-factor considering the ally AI never bother aiming for weak spots. The fourth party member is more contestable, however, the most common picks for the fourth party member includes Silica (a tanky healer and the only other character aside from Asuna to learn AED shot later on), Lisbeth (covers all the buffs that Asuna doesn't and has various debuff and StatusEffect skills, though [[SquishyWizard squishy]]), Strea (a pure [[StoneWall meatshield]] with DrawAggro skills), Premiere (another healer, though with more all-around skill set), Kureha (packs a combination of tanking and debuff skills), Fukaziroh (one of the few offensive-leaning teammates recommended due to packing Graviton Shot, [[YouWillNotEvadeMe which prevents enemies from running and dodging attacks]]), Musketeer X (a buffer/debuffer that can inflict stun, similarly to Lisbeth), Seven (another buffer/healer, who also has Graviton Shot), and Sachi (another debuffer, packing Viral Shot and surprisingly durable).

*** While some of these formerly strongest Rank 11 weapons such as LMG Moonlight 3++ and HMG Bravefire 4 eventually got Nerfed, the AR Ninja 3++ is considered the top DPS weapon since it has high critical damage and weak point damage, making bursting tough enemies faster when you attack their weak points for massive damage. Especially so if you dual-wield them for double the ammunition and rate of fire, though the STR and DEX requirements are very high.
*** The AMR Grim Reaper+ is the other top weapon of choice used to quickly kill bosses. Like the AR Ninja 3++ above, it has high weak spot damage in addition to better critical rate and damage compared to AMR Tiamat Mk3++ and AMR Breakthrough 4 while having damage per shot comparable to these anti-material rifles. It's only weakness is that the bullet travels slower, meaning it'll not hit fast-moving targets consistently. It's often used with Explosive Shot to quickly defeat the Behemoth MT-13 by hitting it on it's true weak point on the lower part, normally unhittable with anything but Launchers.
*** Still not satisfied by the early Rank 11 weapons there? The 4th DLC also introduces the PurposefullyOverpowered [[InfinityPlusOneSword Type-Z weapons]] (there's one for each weapon category), as well as [[{{BFS}} Gigas Cedar G4, Blue Rose F9]], [[GoldColoredSuperiority Royal Guard Gold and [=GL9=] Disaster Gold]]. All of these weapons have even more increased attributes than their original counterparts. Additionally, the Type-Z weapons are also available at bounty reward aside from really hard co-op content, and although you still have to grind the bounty a lot (starting from around 122.5 million), they also are packed with memory chip values that are beyond what normally can be achieved by transforming them from the workshop, even at the maximum level of 12. Special mention has to go to the '''''Long Stroke Type-Z''''' obtained at 160 million bounty, with two of it's chips including Physical Attack '''''+50%''''', and [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill the damage goes beyond that with the Quick Shot skill]].

** The player character's relationship with Itsuki in ''Fatal Bullet'' has shades of this, even if you play as a female avatar [[GameFavoredGender due to the writing seemingly still considering them male]]. Itsuki is incredibly fixated on the player, calling them his most important person [[spoiler: and goes full yandere on them when he realises that he is not their Nr.1.]]

** The mobile game ''Rising Steel'', adds Eydis Synthesis Ten, who ''adores ''Alice to the point where it may very well be a crush. She yearns for every moment she can be with Alice, is a CuddleBug only for her, and comstantly tries to get Alice to baths with her.

** Also in ''Fatal Bullet'', [[Characters/SwordArtOnlineAlternativeGunGaleOnlineTeamLPFM Pitohui]], strangely enough, tends to be criticized for having actually poor survivability despite her relatively high VIT and AGI. This is due to her having neither First Aid Kit nor Anti-Aliment Kit, and instead prioritizes damage-based gadgets and Metamaterial Camoflague. This renders her vulnerable to status effects, and her efficiency as a tank isn't reliable. While this was meant to reflect her CombatSadomaochist nature, it doesn't help that her contradictory skillset and gadgets ends up not contributing much to the party, as she can end up leaving more vulnerable teammates to death.

** The Honeycomb Maker is a Field Boss in Solitary Sands that can be encounter behind the Industrial Zone. Despite only having two attacks (A straight beam shot and a 5-Stream beam attack),they hit ''HARD''. Combined with the flying Mech-type enemies' FakeDifficulty advantage of constantly flying overhead where the player can't move their cursor to follow easily,Honeycomb Maker does a team wipe just as easily as cleaning a few stains off the table. Given its level (as well as the extermination-mission) being indicated to be Lv76,it's not uncommon for unprepared players to end up getting their asses handed to them by the Honeycomb Maker while leaving them to question if they've accidentally took a lv100 mission without realising it.

*** Still not satisfied by the early Rank 11 weapons there? The 4th DLC also introduces the PurposefullyOverpowered [[InfinityPlusOneSword Type-Z weapons]] (there's one for each weapon category), as well as [[{{BFS}} Gigas Cedar G4, Blue Rose F9]], [[GoldColoredSuperiority Royal Guard Gold and [=GL9=] Disaster Gold]]. All of these weapons have even more increased attributes than their original counterparts. Additionally, the Type-Z weapons are also available at bounty reward aside from really hard co-op content, and although you still have to grind the bounty a lot (starting from around 122.5 million), they also are packed with memory chip values that are beyond what normally can be achieved by transforming them from the workshop, even at the maximum level of 12. Special mention has to go to the '''''Long Stroke Type-Z'''' obtained at 160 million bounty, with two of it's chips including Physical Attack '''''+50%''''', and [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill the damage goes beyond that with the Quick Shot skill]].

* LowTierLetdown: Sword wielders in ''Fatal Bullet'', including Kirito, Leafa, and Philia. Why? The AI for sword-wielding teammates will rush into enemies to attack, which leaves them open for attack and resulting them in dying quickly, which can be attributed to [[TotalPartyKill party wipe-outs]]. That being said, Yuuki, Alice and Eugeo at least don't have it that bad, since both Yuuki and Eugeo has Nanotech boost shot and are good buffers, while Alice compensates with debuff skills, as well as Electrodynamic Stunner to stun enemies, leaving them open for weak point attacks for massive damage.

** Amongst the main story bosses, the Manhunter can be really difficult to take down, especially since it is a stronger version of the aftermentioned DemonicSpiders. As you can probably expect, [[LightningBruiser it's also very difficult to kill and can do a lot of damage, and moves so fast that it's difficult to dodge it's bull-rushing attacks.]] What makes it on a different level is that it's roar, in addition to flinching you and your party members and inflict supression, [[FlunkyBoss summons]] ''two'' [[DemonicSpiders Delinquents]] afterwards, and uses it ''twice'' at two different HP thresholds. A Named Enemy with similar moveset named "Abyss Guide" also appears to the left of the SBC Flugel gate before then, but at least it's [[OptionalBoss optional]] and has a trick to cheese it by shooting it from the other side of the cliff [[ArtificalStupidity due to it's AI trying to charge straight at the player]] or at least forcing it to use it's fireball attacks, unlilke the Manhunter itself which has no such luxury and can prevent players from finishing the game (unless playing on easy difficulty).