Anime Review: Sword Art Online

Produced by: A-1 Pictures 

Story by: Reki Kawahara

Art by: abec

Anime available in: Netflix, Crunchyroll, Kissanime

by Aliraluna

Review:

It’s the year 2022 and “Sword Art Online” (SAO) a Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (VRMMORPG) was released, selling 10,000 copies. This game however is like no other, as players can control their avatars with their bodies using the “NerveGear”. One day after practicing, Kirito (a beta player) and Klein realize the log-out button is gone. While discussing the issue a bell rings and they are suddenly teleported against their will to the main town. In there, the creator of the game and “NerveGear” called Kayaba Akihiko explains that he removed the log-out option, so they had to complete the one hundred levels of the game to be set free. Also, if the “NerveGear” was removed in real life it could end their lives because of the powerful radiation the “NerveGear” produces towards the brain. An example of this was the first 213 people that perished in SAO and in real life. You can also die in the game if your HP gets to zero. In other words, the auto-revival or other means can’t be used anymore. Before going away, the Game Master gives them a present: a mirror that can transform your avatar into your real life self. Meanwhile, instead of teaming up, most players hate the betas, and soon notice they can kill each other and in “safe areas”.  Will they ever be able to get out alive? In the second game, called “ALfheim Online”, Kirito and his friends encounter more issues than dying in the game and in real life. Kirito’s appearance will change and this new game is about races and magic. In there, he will meet new friends and enemies…in order to save someone really important. 

Thoughts:

This anime is not only great because of the graphics, plot, and story itself but because something similar could happen in a future not so far away! Have you ever imagined having the chance to play a game in which you could control your avatar and feel everything as if it were real? I also liked this anime because it talked about different emotional issues and taboos. My favorite characters are: Kirito, Yui, and Leafa. Don’t get me wrong, Asuna is awesome in fighting. Give this anime a try and it will change your life forever. Yes, this is one of those anime. Also make sure to check this after you see the first season:

1. Sword Art Online (Extra Edition)

2. Sword Art Online: Sword Art Offline (DVD/Blu-ray specials) 

3. SWORD ART ONLINE SEASON II AVAILABLE NOW! (Streaming in: Kissanime, Crunchyroll)

So You Wanna Play DnD? Part 1: What Am I Getting Into?

By. Hemlock

    Dungeons and Dragons is the staple of Roleplaying board games. Not even kidding, people who have never even heard of RPGs know what this game is. Every geek worth their salt has played for at least a couple of years. But the world of Roleplaying board games is so much bigger than just DnD. There are big challenging games like Pathfinder, atmospheric horror games like Call of C’thulhu, real time live-action roleplaying games like the World of Darkness series, overly-complicated situation-sensitive behemoths like Battletech and even games that help you recreate historic battles like Waterloo and whole war campaigns like Hannibal’s march on Rome. There’s superhero board games, adventure board games, board games where you build trains and cities and games where you try to catch Jack the Ripper or gather a crew to brave the deepest regions of space. So what is DnD? The tip of the iceberg and probably the best place to start learning how these puppies work.

     So… why DnD?  Why start with a game that has a system that has been reworked and polished by countless other games. Well for one it introduces you to the social requirements of a board game. Games like these take time to play and a DnD storyline could take anywhere between two or three games and a handful of decades to complete, especially if you’re going from level one to max level. So the first thing you’re gonna need is the skills to keep a game together, interact with other players and organize meetings. Also it introduces you pretty easily to your new best friend: the numbers. These games are big on numbers. Back in the days before computers could do more than calculate basic math, you had to keep track of everything by hand. Health, attacks, modifiers, armor, traveling, food, weight, speed, skills, talents, classes, even your roleplaying personality are all kept in check by numbers and categories. Yeah, I know, this sounds like preparing TPS reports for your job sometimes, but trust me, this game hasn’t lived through half a dozen editions and several decades by being a boring schlock.

 

      So where did DnD come from? In short: DnD was created by this wonderful human being called Gary Gygax and published in 1974. The idea supposedly came up while Gygax and some guys were playing one of those war campaign recreation games I mentioned two paragraphs ago. See, before DnD that was mostly what existed in terms of roleplaying board games: war games (Not the movie). They were fun if not a bit nut-crushingly complicated. So the late great Gygax had a thought: We’re here moving troops around… But what if you played an individual soldier? Add some well-marinated Tolkien and BAM! Gygax just Emeril Lagasse’d Dungeons and Dragons.

And this thing was huge, oh let me tell ya. It took the gaming world by storm, in that it CREATED the gaming world or at least made it what it is today. Suddenly there were thousands of people playing this all over the world. There were expansions, there were action figures, novels, it made videogames, people made cheap knockoffs and in the 80’s  it even began a series of scandals claiming that it promoted satanic worship contemporarily known as “The Satanic Panic”. There was even a movie about the supposedly true story of how the game ruined some kid’s life called “Mazes and Monsters” (based on the book of the same name) starring a young Tom Hanks. (Spoilers: It’s terrible)

   So there you go, now you know what DnD is. It’s been one hell of a ride but we are just starting! In this series of articles I’m hoping to cover all the basics of DnD: how to make a group, how to make a character, what’s a Dungeon Master, how to make a campaign, what editions to use, the different playing styles, monsters and mythos among many many many many many other possible topics. Plus we’ll probably dive into the world of board games outside DnD with stuff like Champions, licensed games, Shadowrun, Pathfinder, World of Darkness and maybe some more oddball roleplaying experiences like Munchkin and Letters from Whitechapel. So get ready for a very different kind of gaming.