The game is a strong game gameplay and design wise, but lacks in the story and characterization front (suffering more from a shoddy translation into Engerlish). But the lowdown on the anime follows. Spoilers for the anime here:
-World takes place in the future where VR kicks off into something huge and a new VRMMO launches; Sword Art Online.
-People are excited and a number of people sign up for beta testing (Kirtio does this along with another character, Argo).
-Him and many others get SAO at launch and 'Link Start!' into the game world.
-Learn latter that Kiaba (the creator of the games world) locked out the "log out" function, trapping players into the game world; they die in game, the Nervegear (the device used to play the game) uses electricity to the players nerves to kill them.
-The game turns into a servial game, with Kirtio isolating himself and leveling up on his own.
-First three episodes explore him trying to connect with people and seeing the impact on how the 'death' aspect affects others; Kirtio is responsible for an entire party of seven being killed, having that pushing him further into isolation.
-The remaining 11 episodes have Kirtio interacting with the extended cast, falling for a female player named Asuna and marring her in-game around episode 7/8.
-The anime ends (second half of S1 never happened......in my mind) around episode 15, but the game is different.
-Instead of Kritio beating the creator on Floor 75 and 'winning the game', he and everyone else is still trapped.
-Kirtio has a number of friends and its best to explain them
-Asuna is the strongest female in the series (next to Sinon and Leafa/Sugu) and is Kirtio's girlfriend/wife.
-Yui is Kirito and Asuna's 'child' due to events taking place in the anime (she is a program that attaches herself to them due to their strong bond despite the game's chaos)
-Leafa/Sugu is Kirtio's sister/cousin, how joined SAO late into the game using a Nervegear to see her brother again, despite knowing the risks (Kirtio is bitter about that at first)
-Sinion is a S2 character from another VRMMO (Gun Gale Online) but they re-worked her into S1's timeline. She is a character who has PTSD due to a incident in her past, and that affects her. She uses a bow in Hollow Fragment (the closest thing to a gun, which she uses (Sniper Rifle) in the anime).
-Phila and Strea are the original character made for the game. Philla is for the Hollow Fragment portion, trapped in that section of the game world due to a glitch happening around the start of the game. Kirtio agrees to help her escape the Hollow Area. Strea is like Yui, a computer program that bonds with Kirtio.
-Two other female characters are in the game that Kirtio meets from early floors (the names escape me right now....)
-Every single female loves Kirtio and he is completely oblivious to it. Yep, and this leads to both funny and downright annoying moments :l. His reaction to Leafa/Sugu is toned down compared to the anime (thankfully....) but its still distracting.
That is a lot to cover but that is all you need to know at face value. Recommend watching the first 15 episodes (on Netflix in both English and JP VA's) but ignore the rest of the episodes and jump to SAO II (the second season; honestly fixes issues with S1 of SAO at points).
The games core works like this.
-You have two games, using the same gameplay across both.
-Alicard section is based on a JP-only SAO PSP game and has improved gameplay from that version; faster, runs better and have more attacks to play with
-Hollow Area section is the Vita-native content, with harder foes to fight, the best gear to find and new story content different from the Alicard portions
-Need to play through both to fully experience the game; the former is too easy while the latter has great gear to get for you parties
-Combat works a lot like Xenoblade; real time but has turn-based elements (guarding, using your Sword Skills, cool-down timers, ect.)
-Important to work with your party member at all times and depending on how you used them (attackers, healers, defenders, ect), they can get new armors over time
-Events happen in both portions of the game that open into new combat encounters and story scenes
-Use the CPU-MP features; can take up to four other players with you (plus yourself and a party member) into the Hollow Area sections. Helpful for level grinding for multiple people.
-Invest in using ALL of your weapons. Can unlock new skills from using all the weapon types (buffs, de-buffs, attacks, ect) and that is important when entering the Hollow Area.
Hope this helps and that you get the game
.Edit: Wow, a top page post and its long XD! Speaking of SAO, get Lost Song if you are interested in the series
. Takes most of what made Hollow Fragment enjoyable but has a different combat system and flying features .
