Entertaining post, this game is in my wishlist for a while and fortunately, for SAO I didn't mind spoilers. (I avoid reading Assassin Creed Origins reviews in fear of them.)
This SAO game looks great and I liked your comparison with Borderlands (the Arc of the anime feels like that too.) It's funny how this Offline MMO took off in the last three years.
I included your review in my Daily Picks if you'd like to check that out.
The AI is a cesspool of misery and the environments can also use a lick of paint.
Why all the games these days have these problems? Or did they exist from the start but we didn't notice?