SWORD ART ONLINE: FATAL BULLET
Anime fan service, but no tip
An anime game about an anime series… about a game. This fifth console instalment of the Sword Art Online franchise follows a novice gamer1 dipping their toe into the fictional VR-MMORPG, Gun Gale Online. Playing as an in-game noob means real-life ones can jump into the series cold, and get acquainted with Kirito2 and his pals as your protagonist does.
Between fights and dungeons – which are great fun, especially when you get grapplin’ and explore – you’ll spend a lot of time selecting from two dialogue choices that say almost the exact same thing, witnessing eleventy gazillion meaningless conversations, and attending weird parties where friends without drinks stand rigidly in a perfect semi-circle. There is, however, a fast-travel map, so at least travelling to/from tedious encounters is expedited. The rest of the time you’ll be sitting on the loading screen.
Your squad is fabulous, contributing meaningfully to combat, especially as you can direct their roles on the fly. That said, we experienced several instances where our AI companion, ArFA-sys, froze, unable to fight despite the ‘pew-pew’ sound of his weapon looping throughout the entire battle.
While SAO:FB tries to shake up its formula, it does little to inject the game with a distinct identity. There’re some interesting mechanics – including currency investment, which sees you dabble in a fictional market – and plenty of stats to tweak and weapons to experiment with, but ultimately, FB’s story and cast are too forgettable.
Love SAO and/or JRPGs with killer soundtracks? You’ll probably like this. If you don’t, you probably won’t.
FOOTNOTES 1 This is the first A SO title to offer a fully customisable character… and you can tweak everything. 2 Although not starring Kirito, this story was supervised by SAO creator, Reki Kawahara.