Sword Art Online Review (Anime & Manga)

Sword Art Online 

Written by Reki Kawahara

Recently, Adult Swim has picked up a new anime for Toonami. I could not be any more excited for that series which is Sword Art Online. I read/watched this series a while back, and though it seems like it is suited for a male audience, I don't think that is an adequate target group. The audience that should be looking forward to this series is all gaming nerds (myself included). 

The story centers around Kirito who plays a game called Sword Art Online. The console for the game (which I hope can become a reality one day because it sounds amazing!) is a helmet that gives the gamer the experience on being within the game. You can taste, feel, hear, etc while in the gaming world; it feels like you are in the game quite literally. The trick to the game is that you cannot log out of the game, and if you die in the game you die in real life. The only way out is beating the game.

The reason I love this story so much is that I have never heard or read a storyline that was similar to this one. It also made me question like what would I do if I couldn't leave a game; would I be happy or sad about it? There were guilds within the game, dungeon raids, and plenty of other nerd references that just filled me with so much enjoyment. I also enjoyed the characters within the story, though the girl, Asuna, could get a little annoying at times. The stroyline was also enjoyable because it just unfolded very nicely. It wasn't too fast paced or slow, and always left me wondering what was going to be happening next.

My least favorite part is probably the second arc to the series. It just felt more like an after thought to me. I still enjoyed it though. It just didn't flow as well as the first arc did. There was like a stop and go moment to the second arc.

This is also one of the few series that I don't feel like there is a lot of difference between the manga and the anime. So if you are concerned as to which you should view, you can do which ever you prefer more! The anime moves a little quicker than the manga does, but the manga has a few little scenes that aren't included in the anime.

I would highly suggest this anime to anyone! Especially to gamer nerds!

Let me know what video game you would like to be stuck in?

Adult Swim Schedule: http://video.adultswim.com/schedule/

Shows on Saturdays at 1:30 AM

They are currently on episode 4 (this Saturday the 17)

More about the series in general: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sword_Art_Online

Episode guide: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Sword_Art_Online_episodes

Images From: http://swordartonline.wikia.com/wiki/Sword_Art_Online_Wiki

The Perfect Mobile Game: Robot Unicorn Attack 2?

Robot Unicorn Attack 2

This game has currently been an obsession of mine. After playing this game many, many times, I had finally had the thought that it might just be the perfect mobile game. Let me explain my reasoning...

The first reason that I love this game is that there is a choice to customize your unicorn. Now the choices are not overly feminine with actually makes me happy, because I totally want a bad ass looking unicorn. Each customizable piece also does different things which allows you to tailor the pieces to work best with your style of game play...like a certain person's (ME) inability to master the flying unicorn...

Now the game play is a typical running game play like that of say Tiny Wings. There is, however, an option to change the two actions for game play. The game is set up that when you tap one side of the screen it will either jump or dash and tapping the other side does this opposite. I had to change the configuration and was completely happy that I was able to do so. The original set up was just not working for me at all. Each day is a new map and each map has more than one possible path that can be taken. For the most part, the paths seem to have either a high, middle, or low choice.

Another feature of game plan that I really enjoy, is that each game is made up of three different wishes (as the game calls them). You actually get to see whether or not you beat your last attempt and get extra points for doing so. It is an onscreen icon so that you don't have to remember your last score or distance in an attempt to beat your previous attempt.

My next favorite feature is that there are set goals that are to be achieved. I truly am an achievement whore and love when games give me tons to get. There are two personal goals that the game gives you that you either finish or pay to skip. There is also a daily goal given that obviously changes each day which is nice in my opinion because sometimes I get stuck on the two personal goals. The final goal is one that all players get to be involved with. It is some outrageous goal that each player contributes to getting which makes me feel like I have more friends that I actually do... There is also an in game benefit of getting extra in-game money for each day that you log in and play the game. Makes me want to come back every day and play even more than I did before!

The next two choices that I love being able to have are picking teams (kind of like Alliance or Horde in World of Warcraft) and getting bonuses for rounds. The team picking is important because you battle against each other, and the higher scoring team gets extra in game cash for winning. The bonuses can be super help when trying to finish certain goals. Some of the bonuses help you crash through things in case you are slow on the draw while others pull in game items towards you so that you don't have to be perfectly upon them to get the item. One of my favorites gives you a jump start in the game so you get to skip the beginning bit of the map. (I'm team RAINBOW!!!)

Overall, the only thing that I would love to see included in possible updates of this game is a stats tracking which tells you how many of each item or things you dash through on an average run. They could also include a tracker of what kills you for the rounds.

So you should play now!

(While it is still free in the app stores!)

Let me know your favorite combination from below!

Mine is Row 2/Column 1!

I do not pretend or act like I own these above images or the game itself. 

The game has been updated recently and I love the things that they have added. Now among the little blue droplets that you collect to buy the items to customize your robot unicorn (which there are also two new sets that you can buy), there are orange droplets that allow you to resurrect after dying in the game. It goes to show that the company truly wants to keep improving their game which I love! I'm excited to see what else they change in the future.