First Impressions / Sword Art Online

「ブービートラップ」 (Buubiitorappu)
“Booby Trap”

That was a rather explosive start to Squad Jam 2.

General Impressions

Unlike the first Squad Jam where a majority of the teams were wiped out by the second scan, it’s been fun watching a handful of teams duke it out as we inch closer to everyone getting into a real battle royale. That said, I think I had the most fun watching LLENN and Fuka since they’re literally the perfect combination in terms of firepower and general banter.

I know I’ve said this before, but the way that SAOA:GGO is able to recreate the feeling of actually playing a FPS with friends is so good that it unleashes a totally different type of euphoria while watching it. For those of you who have hopped in on the Battle Royale craze and have been blowing things up in any of the various popular games (PUBG for me), I hope I wasn’t the only one who was extremely happy to see LLENN and Fuka make it out of a rather sticky situation. The best part of it all had to be watching LLENN utilize some of the new skills she learned from the first Squad Jam — like slicing someone right down their femoral artery to unleashing an insane spinning hook kick straight to the jaw, she’s really beginning to feel like a true SAO protagonist.

Luckily things didn’t end there and Fuka also had an opportunity to show off just how good she is with those dual grenade launchers of hers. While it should have been pretty clear that she was pretty good with them after taking out a guy at close range without causing an explosion that would have damaged LLENN, her ability to earn a high angle bonus on every single shot (Gunbound players please laugh) was literally insane. Rest in peace to that other team that was taken out with only 12 grenades.

For the other teams that are also out there looking to take out LLENN and Fuka, I was actually surprised to see two new teams get some good screen time. While it makes sense for one since their leader seems to have beef with Pito, you have to wonder what important role the other team with the girl in the cap will play. Looking like a pretty powerful group of people, it makes you wonder just what that girl’s goals are since she doesn’t seem all that interested in taking part in the firefights.

Man, what a great episode! With Squad Jam 2 moving along quickly and all the key players slowly moving toward each other, it looks like we won’t have to wait too long for some real action. With Pito and M about to find themselves in a somewhat sticky situation, I can’t wait to see just what happens when you “turn on” Pito and unleash that crazy killer instinct of hers. Anyways, I’ll catch you guys next week. See you then!

 

Preview

15 Comments

  1. That’s totally NOT femoral artery she’s slicing this time…

    I recently went back and rewatched Phantom Bullet arc of the SAOII…and man, the feeling and atmosphere is sooo totally different (cuddling inside a cave during the middle of a tournament!) I TOTALLY agree with you here.

    SMinstrel
    Reply

    2. While I think we all know what was actually sliced, let’s just uh, say it was the largest artery in his leg too :3

      Also thanks for the heads up about Memento Mori!

      Takaii
      Reply

  2. For some reason I can’t seem to load the larger versions of any of these images. Trying to open them in a new tab just gets me a 404. Is something off about the links?

    Anyway, it’s good to see LLENN and Fuka kick butt. That was totally a groin-slash LLENN used on that one guy, though. Even though thse games turn the sensation of pain way down, nobody (except, I guess, that guy) knows what it feels like to take a critical injury to the groin, and he clearly felt something.

    Fuka also managed to show us the benefit of a different build from LLENN’S agility-focus. That grenade trap probably would have killed LLENN in one hit, but Fuka tanked it with relatively little damage to her HP. Not exactly the way one wants to go about proving how tough they are, but considering that they could have lost half their team there, being able to survive it is worth something.

    Wanderer
    Reply

  3. Got to agree this did show the joys of playing with friends. Best part for me was the when they started using ballistic weapons with splash damage. Gave a real nostalgic feeling. (Never got as good as Fuka, but I’ve seen people who are.)

    theirs
    Reply

  6. ultrafast short-range CQC monster, check
    AOE firepower monsater with indirect fire capability, check
    now if they would add M as a sniper for long-range precision shots without red line and with tough shield, the ultimate SJ team would be born…
    and it is fun to see most dangerous teams (LLENN, Pito, Memento Mori and Amazon Brigade) located purposefully away from each other… practice also known in real life sports events, no one wants to see Germany, Italy Brasil and France in one Mundial eliminations group, right?
    the green-haired girl looks mysterious she might be a dark horse in this edition of SJ

    gotta feel pity though for the small fry (temporary) alliance trying to take on Pito in almost perfect ambush territory (mountains)

    prepare for bloodbath!

    ewok40k
    Reply

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