SWORD ART ONLINE Alicization Lycoris

SAO fans, yes, get it on a good sale.
JRPG fans, maybe on a good sale.
Everybody else, nah, the game itself isn't great, and there are plenty of great games you may enjoy more.

Another solid $5 game. Loading screens are a bit long but story and combat are good.

If you put time into this, it is quite enjoyable. While sometimes the quests are a bit too much, the main roster quests are quite refreshing. Yes the loading screens are a good portion of the game but overall a good game. Don't trust the hate

Overall another great SAO game, its very large and has a crazy amount of content to be honest.

The first chapter was a little long, but it's basically a rehash of the entire Alicization story arc, from Kirito landing in Underworld to getting into the tower. So it's understandable that it was so long.

After that, the game is a little less cinematic and the game really opens up. The combat system is pretty cool and the scenery is great. Very much enjoying the single player aspect -- haven't even tried to get into multiplayer yet.

Sleeper hits as for me. A relaxing play, and a nostalgic vibes of SAO. nice

So at first I was very hesitant recommend the game but I'll be honest. I had an absolute blast. The musics are nice,graphically it's still decent,I didn't get any bugs. Gameplay wise it was a bit awkward at first but I ended up really liking it.
* You have a skill tree that opens more and more when you get new weapon types,new "classes" which allows you to obtain passive and active skills to equip.
* You also have a weapon mastery system for :
-swords
-dual swords
-rapiers
-daggers
-hammers
-spears
-katanas
-heavy swords
-bows
-axe/shields
-whips
Which is a massive arsenal to be honest. Each have their own combos and special attacks.
* you can do combos with allies,who you can also get intimate with to unlock some cosmetics and some lore.
it's rare but I actually took the time to read for once.
* The game offers a ton of side quests,there's crafting,cooking,fishing,alchemy,etc.
* The game offers you a magic system where you have light,dark,fire,water,ice,steel,crystal and wind elements. Each spell has 3 levels that you can unlock by exploring and each level of spell does a different effect. (wind lv1 makes you jump higher while wind lv2 makes a shield against range attacks while wind lv3 makes you dodge further and faster during battle)
* There's 4 big regions and each contains a lot of big areas that lead to each others.
* We played it coop for almost all the game with my friend. You can skip chapter 1 if you want but basically after chapter 1 you will unlock the ability to customize your character fully (gender,voice,size,haircut,face,etc) and you unlock also coop mode.
Coop works that way :
-you can do the entire story from chapter 2 to the end of the base game together with 1-3 friends and each can have an ally with them,which includes main and side quests aswell as exploration.
-Dungeons,special bosses and dlc bosses can be done in coop aswell
-you can trade materials,dishes and healing items with each others to help each others
-DLC1&2 are the only exception as the rest is entirely doable on coop
* there is a "gacha" system for cosmetics and some optional boost that you can get with tickets you get through loging in the game and daily quests.
Globally,I'd say don't look at the negative reviews,people are complaining for nothing. The story was interesting,it was fun to play,it was actually really good. so I'd say,buy the game,give it a shot,don't let the chapter 1 fool you. Chapter 1 isn't what the game actually looks like,it's the tutorial. Every SAO games has like a long chapter 1 that's a tutorial before the actual game.