Review of Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online

STORY: 5 There's nothing inherently special about the story of this one, but it's entertaining if nothing else. Still, it's Sword Art Online, so they had to somehow fit in the "you die in the game, you die in real life" element. The way they did it was kind of convoluted, and I couldn't tell you offhand how it worked in this one, but by golly, they did it. ART: 7 Although it's produced by a different studio than the rest of Sword Art Online, the art still looks practically the same as the rest, which is to say it look very good. SOUND: 7 The music wasn't terribly noticeable,but still pretty good whenever light was shed on it. The gun/bullet sounds were really good, too.

CHARACTER: 5

The main character, Karen, is nice and all, and they dive a little bit into what drives her, but she's just okay in terms of character. Now when it comes to the characters Pitohui and M, that's when we eventually get into something really messed up in terms of their relationship when it comes to light. They kind of glorified their abusive relationship, which is messed up on the account of the writer/director. I really liked Karen's motor-mouth friend, though; she was funny.

ENJOYMENT: 7

Aside from the generous amount of bumps, I enjoyed it. They handled the battle royale action very well. It was kind of different from your typical SAO series, which was much needed.

OVERALL: 6

Its greatest strength was the action, which is to be expected from Sword Art Online. It's over the top, and I really enjoyed that. It's lacking in terms of deeper (and especially in relatable) characters, but that's also to be expected from Sword Art Online. Maybe one day, they'll surprise us.