Gekijouban Sword Art Online -Ordinal Scale- - A Spoiler-Free Review by /u/defan752
(DISCLAIMER: I am not a professional, and although I have tried to eliminate as much bias as possible, I cannot guarantee absolute objectivity or good writing quality.)

Ordinal Scale, activate!

The future is here, and after being twisted up by a death game VRMMO and several criminal incidents around VR, Japan is ready to take on a new challenge with the transition from virtual reality to augmented reality. Responsible for this phenomenon is the Augma, a new device on the market, and its creator, Professor Shigemura. There's a new game out too for the Augma, called Ordinal Scale. But things aren't as they seem...

Set after the events of Sword Art Online II, Ordinal Scale follows Kirito and company on an all-new adventure through this all-new challenge. It's a completely original story written by the series author, Reki Kawahara.

In short, to me, Ordinal Scale represents many things. It's a small evolution in the Sword Art Online anime, the adaptation quality of which I always been an outspoken critic of in comparison to its light novel. It does have flaws, but it's a step forward, for the better. In this review, I will be discussing the game in several categories: Story, Writing, Animation, Direction, and What-If?. The last section refers to a special circumstance that the movie could have been in, had the movie been framed that way.

== Story and Writing ==
Let's put it right up front and center. Ordinal Scale's story seems strange at a glance. It is simultaneously probably the main facet of the movie that grounds it as "purely SAO", and the most foreign addition to the themes of the series so far. I mean, the sudden switch from VR to AR? Come on.

While it may seem unorthodox, surprisingly, Ordinal Scale manages to have tremendous fun with its screenplay and craft a semi-serious narrative at the same time.


== Animation ==

== Direction ==

== What-If? ==