There are only two shooter RPGs in the world, which is kinda surprising, thought there would be more, but I’m not going to let the Internet, or anyone else, tell me differently. There are only two. And while someone who was a real student of this two game genre might play them both, who really has that sort of time?
Having played them both, I am here to tell you that if you put Kirito in one room and Johnny Silverhand in another, I’d be heading for the room that contained a certain black clad mercenary trapped inside a computer reality that he can’t escape.
Sorry, that doesn’t narrow it down much. I mean the one that is always surrounded by girls who always want something out of him that he can’t give.
Oh, still confused? Obviously I mean the one that has a unique weapon forever associated with them.
F’er Crissakes. KIRITO. Okay?
You can see yourself
Fatal Bullet is in third person, so you can always see what you’re wearing. In Cyberpunk 2077, you only ever occasionally see yourself — when looking in a mirror, or while riding a motorcycle. Aside from that, you are only ever a pair of hands.
I once looked in a mirror in CP2077 to find that my character was nude for some reason. I guess nobody thought to mention it… how embarrassing. Both games have lots of dressing options — CP2077 even has a full transmog system — but if you can never see what you’re wearing… why?
Better Guns
Both games have a wide variety of guns, and plenty of ways to upgrade them. Since Fatal Bullet lets you play in a party (with either NPCs or other players), many of their “guns” grant buffs or set up defenses and barriers, as well as shooting rockets and being able to launch yourself all around the battlefield. Since Fatal Bullet is not bound by any nods to reality, they can go wild — and do.
The people are nicer
In Cyberpunk 2077, you want to kill everyone, and everyone wants to kill you. If you grow close to someone, they’re gonna die. I have zero idea how anyone survives in Night City; something even the characters in the game wonder about quite a lot.
In Fatal Bullet, since you are a normal person just playing the VRMMO Gun Gale Online, people rarely mean you any harm. It’s just a game! With leaderboards! And everyone is friendly! Even the people who don’t like you are pretty friendly!
In the Sword Art Online second season, which started out in Gun Gale Online, there were deaths involved. That mystery has been solved by the time this game is set.
Character customization
Cyberpunk 2077’s character customization isn’t bad, but it pales in comparison to that offered in Fatal Bullet. You can let your anime freak flag fly. I do have to give CP2077 props for letting you play with the character’s gender presentation. While FB does have people playing characters opposite their presenting gender in the real world, in game it’s cute anime boys and girls. But you can design your character to look like pretty much any character from the anime.
Casual play
Fatal Bullet lets you drop into a randomly created dungeon that is perfect for your level and includes challenging fights, a lot of verticality, good loot, lots of money, and is just the kind of place you’d want to go if you only have a few minutes to play. You can even bring your friends along.
They even have Hero Quests, where you get to play one of the anime’s iconic characters in a speed run level if you just want to practice specific techniques that you might not have earned yet on your player characters.
Cyberpunk has scattered gangs that you can kill, but odds are you’re not going to gain much benefit from it. Mostly you will be adventuring through the depressing quest lines.
The Plot
I don’t want to spoil things too much, but there are no happy endings in Cyberpunk 2077. You can get different endings, and I believe the happiest one is the one where you die offscreen.
FB’s plot is about being the first crew to defeat the new dungeon that’s opening. There’s a little bit of plot,, alluding to the death cult in the first two seasons of the anime, but mostly, you and your friends are leveling and gearing up to take on a big dungeon.
Convinced?
When it comes down to it, Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet offers a unique and exciting experience that surpasses Cyberpunk 2077 in every way. With its vibrant anime-style graphics, deep customization options, accessible dungeons perfect for casual play, and an overall more lighthearted plotline than its competitor; Fatal Bullet is the clear winner when it comes to shooter RPGs. So suit up and join Kirito on the battlefield — you’ll have fun and won’t have to deal with an existential dread of impending doom. You know, unless you want to.
I bought fatal bullet for my Switch when it was on screaming turbo sale ($2 or something). I enjoyed the anime is was based on. So I have that an Cyberpunk for the PS5 in my living room right now waiting to be played. I see now that I need not have wasted my money on Cyberpunk 😉
I have a good number of modern games, especially on the Switch and PS5. Yet when I have a dollop of spare time I still almost always spend it in a PC game that’s at least a decade old. The original Guild Wars has been my latest jam. Factions is so far quite good, and better than the other two main campaigns (to my tastes) mainly because it’s a lot easier to make progress in as a solo player.
I gotta be honest; I am still playing Cyberpunk 2077, because I haven’t finished it yet. But I don’t think I’m having anything that could be called fun playing it. I was playing it, actually, wondering why I wasn’t having fun. Maybe killing people just feels too real. It’s all bots and game avatars in Fatal Bullet, and despite the nods back to the anime, nobody is ever in any danger, except maybe for not getting on the leaderboard after a boss fight.
Out of all the Sword Art Online games, I’ve enjoyed Fatal Bullet the most. It’s the only one I have finished, actually.
I think I have played all the Sword Art Online games, but I have never finished any of them. That includes Fatal Bullet which is one of the ones I made a decent amount of progress in. Now I want to go and restart it… if I can ever stop playing Genshin Impact long enough to play ANYTHING else!!
It’ll still be there! Play the game you want to play!!!