CannibalPikachu

I guess i should preface this by saying i am a bit of a SAO fanboy. Yet that still isnt enough to justify this awful game. The UI and controls got to me right off the bat. There is a reason why i dont play mmos on consoles and that is because those controls just dont work on a controller. Instead of getting a fluid control scheme i got a crappy free to play mmo control scheme that just doesnt work on a controller. Seriously, the little grid palette that you can place skills on kept popping open even without me tapping the touch pad and intefering with what i already had set on my circle button. Combat feels sluggish and not fluid at all like they got lost in that gray area between quasi-mmo and hack and slash combat. And perhaps one od my biggest irks is the overemphasis on the dating sim element and what they hide behind it. You cant change the gear of your party members without raising their affinity level high enough. Really, they hide an integral part of party based rpg combat behind a dating sim game. Ok thatd be fine if the dating sim thing was actually any fun at all. For example, Sinon starts at level 3 for affinity and she was the first one i tried this one. You have to get to level 4 to swap her weapons and level 5 to switch her armor and accesories. I used "fast" method that loops 5 events in your room at the inn in about 8 minute dialougue segements. It was then i endured the most painful 3 hours of my life. Thats right 3 HOURS. 3 god forsaken hours of the same 8 minute dialogue segment in what has to be the one of the most disrespectful minigame ive ever played in my life. Seriously i dont even care for the feminist movement most of the time, but the fact that you can go up to a girl who is in a "normal" mood at level of "friendly", and go straight in to a kiss with no negative consequence at all. You just nod to the rest of her statments and all of a sudden her mood is romantic and that fixed the fact that you seriously overstepped your boundaries and basically sexually harassed your "friend". Keep in mind thats for one person. To be able to change the gear of your entire party you would have to go through almost 10 hours of that awful dating sim, just to swap the gear of your party members. God forbid if you decide to switch up your party members down the road. Ive logged about 20 hours and i have seriously been bored for just about all 20. Still barely have any clue what the hell the main story is about, you just cant justify pacing that slow. I love SAO with all my heart, i really do. But there is no way to justify this awful pile of trash. A game shouldnt bore me 20 hours in, nor should basic mechanics be hiding behind the worlds worst dating sim ever. At least it looks pretty and the skill trees are actually very well thought out. Thats the only thing keeping me from scoring this lower.