The concept of SAO is fantastic. The gamers of the otaku community will probably love this to death. The idea is soo wonderful and fun that it can hide the flaws of this anime. In the first half of the SAO, I too was getting quite excited about the plot. Things didn't turn out so well though.
The first flaw of SAO is the pacing. Many people have complained about time skipping and it ruining the story. I'm a bit mixed on this. To fit 2-3 years in 12 episodes is a difficult thing to do well. It makes sense to have some time skips to get along with the story. The problem is, the timeskips weren't handled very well. It often felt detached to the main story. You could take it as character development but you don't see the character really develop from whatever events he went through. There is progress within each mini arc, but it doesn't help progress the overall plot.
I mentioned how the characters weren't really developed. The characters were honestly, the worst part of this anime. I've always heard these stereotypes of Mary Sue/Gary Stu and I never really understood what they were until SAO. Kirito (the main character) was a beta player so he knows a few nooks and crannies about the game. However, the creators took advantage of this and made it the entire reason Kirito can 'pwn' the game. Kirito does go through some traumatic experiences but I felt these experiences weren't taken seriously. Yes Kirito does go back and think about said experiences, but he never actually makes anything out of it. There's no smooth character development, if there is any at all.
Asuna is quite the same. She is introduced to be this mysterious, strong character but as soon as she becomes a main focus, she switches to a tsundere and then just....nothing really. She's just there for Kirito and the fanboy's delight. There is straight up nothing going for her except for her looks and her maxed out cooking skill.
And those are the main characters. There are other characters like Kirito's younger 'sister' and the villain and the random girls Kirito meet. But it is all basically a harem with the main route following Asuna. Don't even get me started on the second half of SAO. The only thing going for it was the wings. Can't really say more than that though coz of spoilers :/
A couple of good points is the art. SAO was done by A-1 Pictures and it is absolutely stunning. The motion is fluid, the colours are bright and appealing. Just thinking about it makes me wish I was playing SAO. They set up a world that fulfills every gamers' dreams. What set the world more was the music. Yuki Kajiura is well known for her beautiful compositions. She has been part of other anime such as Tsubasa Chronicles and Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica. I personally adore her works. It always manages to get me pumped over anything. SAO was no different. It was a treat to hear her unique soundtrack as we watched Kirito kill the next giant boss. The gaming world is also another concept done well. All the battles, the skill sets, the customization can make any gamer froth at the mouth.
You can see where SAO received its hype from. While the story and characters were quite horrible, the ideas and concepts behind it pushed through. The world of SAO is incredibly appealing to the point that the story and characters are minor bumps along the ride. To the critical watcher though, the flaws can be so obvious that watching it may be difficult. SAO is far from a great anime. If anything, it's mediocre. It felt a bit like a waste of time for me, but I also felt it was something I had to watch. I just wish it wasn't so urgent that it took priority over other anime I would much prefer to watch.
