Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet Review

Intro:

I am new to Sword art online except, for the few times I watched it on Netflix. I loved the concept of an online virtual world outside of our real lives. The ability to conjure any type of weapon with a thought or flick of my wrist and grinding for gear. A world that if you die in, you parish from the real world. The risk and the adventures are yours for the taking. This is a great get away game. I played the first few hours with skepticism, solely because of the long grueling cut scenes. After the exhausting cut scenes though, I was presented with a massive world and options to play with. It took me some time to figure a lot out. This is a grind for gear game. Level up, boost attributes and finding treasures. This game may not be for everyone, it is pure Japanese anime. With, that being said, it is a different world. But it is quite enjoyable.

Meet your character and friends:

You start out with character customization. Pick between a male and a female character. Do up your hair and face style, pick your height and complexion. It is all there. Plenty of options to piece together to make your character yours. Shortly after creating your character you will meet your child hood friend Kureha. She extensively explains the world of Fatal Bullet to you. You both then head into the  first mission where you are introduced to dungeons. Before beginning your long adventure into the online world of mysterious companions, enemies and dungeon bosses,you will me a future ally. Itsuki and his partner Taipan will bar your path to the portal that is to take you into the first dungeon, only to tell you what a good player he is and how he's a veteran in this particular game. Trudging on you are thrown into the first dungeon where the game finally gets started. After the mission you will find an android that is hooked up to some device. Long story short, it is your Afra-sys. Which is basically your personal A.I. He or she, which ever way you choose to create them, is your very own body guard / banker and soldier. The Afra-sys is a very important tool. Learn how to use and level it up. You will be introduced to a lot more friends a little down the road as you progress, they will be very useful indeed.

Gameplay:

This gameplay is a different breed than what most are used to. It is fast paced, with more of a generic anime feel. When I started playing, it was a breath of fresh air for me as I was used to playing so many games with the same basic layout control structure for video games these days. This is more of a shock because it's a little different than your Destiny, Elder Scrolls or even Fall out rpg games. It's like stepping into unfamiliar territory, but in a good way.  The leveling and gear system is in depth and will take some time to get used to. I like that I manually have to level up my stats.

Weapons and Gear:

In order to use another weapon you have to level up your strength and dexterity. Each weapon will have a requirement of certain stats in order to use it. The variety of weapons range from, pistols, SMG'S, Assault Rifles, Swords, bazookas and snipers. With different roles on each weapon you pick up, each will differ from the last. Making it a little easier to deal with when you pick up the same weapon twice. You have a weight capacity limit to how many weapons that you can carry at once. Bullet circle, is basically a circle that if is around an enemy, weapon rounds will automatically hit the enemy while you hold down the right trigger to open fire at an enemy instead of manually aiming. I use it a lot. But, cases when having to shoot an enemy sniper on the other side of the room, I will automatically aim because the bullet circle lock on don't hit enemies that well at long range distances. Now, gear is something that has a different take on them when it comes to levels and stats. For instance. A piece of gear comes in sets. Meaning the shirt, pants and shoes come together as one set of armor. The gear itself has no stat system.  The gear doesn't necessarily have any bonus or perks to it either. Just changes cosmetically. Though, you can get hats, rings glasses, eye patches etc. that give you bonuses such as, extra strength, increase trade value, poison resistance, defense vs mechs and so on. All kinds of perks are attached to accessories. You can transform and level up your weapons as well from visiting Llisbeth whom is in Kirito's room. These are allies you will meet soon after completing the dungeon. They are all very useful. Asuna is another character that will make you new outfits, that is if you can find the blueprints and materials for that specific outfit your looking to make.

GGO / GUN GALE ONLINE:

Now, GGO is the official name for SAOL Fatal bullet. Gun gale Online is basically in the SAOL world as another server in the online world. Gun Gale is basically for the use of guns. Previous games would have different names for the particular game that your in. For instance, ALfheim Online is the last game made for PS4 and was called LOST SONG. You will also find the character Kirito on that game. ALfheim Online and Gun Gale Online are just different alternate timelines. As I never played Lost Song I'm Sure that the ALfheim Online had a meaning as well as GGO has to do with guns and is based on shops and everything with in the game to do with firearms. SBC Glocken is the capital city for GGO. You'll find shops, the base station, observatory and the Gov. Office. All with in the capital city limits. The teleporter will take you out of the city and in to enemy territory, such as Remnant Wasteland, Solitary Sands and The Old South to name a couple different places within the GGO world. Each destination has different enemies, dungeons and bosses. Also to find specific materials, you will have to go to specific locations to gather them.

Exploring:

It's a good idea before you go and do a mission to go exploring in the Remnant Wasteland. This is to accumulate stat points and gear. Go to settings, then your character, select status to level up. As I mentioned before, in order to equip better weapons your STR and DEX must be equivalent or higher to the specific stat requirements to hold and use the weapon. While exploring lands you will run into random players who will kill you when they spot you. So always be on guard for enemy players. They are usually a far greater threat than the A.I's because they are skilled players. Well, at least in some cases. Like I said I am new to SAOL, but each time I have come across a random I defeated them. I have yet to be killed by someone yet. I'm sure I will meet my match sooner or later.

Final Word:

Great game overall. I am definitely a bigger fan of SAOL than I was before. This is a well put together game. The farther I get the more I find out about the world and various different things I can do as far as my characters abilities go. If you love anime or thought that this game looks good and not sure if you want to spend the money because you might regret it, I say take a chance with Fatal Bullet.