Sword Art Online the Movie -Progressive- Scherzo of Deep Night

>"Tricked" might not be the correct word as I was under the impression that Progressive was supposed to "fill" in the gaps and I suppose it delivered in that.

In the original, episode 2 ends with clearing floor 1 and in episode 3 we already see floor 49. As a fan of SAO, this wasn't a pacing issue, it was advancing the story to the point that it matters and SoDN is a perfect example of something that was rightfully skipped.

The tone changes drastically with this movie, coming off of the AoaSN things are going well for the players, more so even because it seems as though the loss of Diavel and death in general are in the past. With the original SAO we didn't get a break from the death game until halfway through the Aincrad arc. The movie opens with a victory over a floor boss and celebratory food and drinks, a reality check showing how they've become complacent never comes. The game has gotten easy and continues to get easier, the players talk about how fast they are clearing floors and their hopes for the future. Floor bosses weren't something to be taken lightly but even by the climax that is still the case as a small party takes down the big bad with no losses. And then there are the changes to Asuna and Kirito.

Asuna

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Asuna enjoys her dessert and visits an onsen with Argo. In the original, a big part of Asuna is that she believes "every day we spend here is one we've lost in the real world" but here she is enjoying trivial things. It was a great motivation and explanation for why she was a strong player on the frontlines and her desire to escape the game. Here she is eating dessert not even realizing it had practical effects in the form of buffs where as 50+ floors later she criticized Kirito for enjoying the wind and sunlight in the original

Kirito

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Less of a tragic hero as even Argo points out that he isn't much of a "solo player". Even while shouldering the hatred towards beta testers, taking on the "beater" nickname, Kirito hasn't had trouble making friends and working with the frontlines. Kibaou who blamed Kirito for Diavel's death and was his biggest critic accepts Kirito's plan to take the prize out from under him which doesn't make sense or feel earned at all. The greatest affront is that with this change in direction for Kirito there is no excuse for best boy Klein to be absent and yet he doesn't make an appearance. Kirito's choice to be solo was believable and made him a more complicated character. When he ditched Klein originally he considered the limited resources of the world which showed he wasn't perfect, a big criticism of SAO originally.

Mito

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When reconnecting with Asuna she said all the right things and Asuna losing their duel was the cherry on top. Unfortunately but understandably, Mito ends up helping the party in the end. If Mito continued to seclude herself it would have shown the impact abandoning Asuna to die had on her. I'll let it slide though as Asuna forgave her, it has been a year and accepting Asuna's request could be a step towards making amends. I wish the original characters were handled this well.

Plot

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The plan Kibaou accepted could have made sense if it was done differently. Sending Kirito to his death would have been warranted because of Diavel and would have shown how Kirito was ostracized by the players. It wouldn't have changed the plot, though it would add gravitas to prior events while being more believable. The plan, especially as it is presented in the beginning, is unbelievable as well. A small party is going to take on the current biggest threat the world has to offer and their reason? To take possession of an extremely powerful item that they have no intention of using in a death game. You'd think when the stakes are so high you'd want every advantage you could get and if the item was so powerful that it was worth betraying the top guild it might save lives. Perhaps that speaks to the current mentality of players, the game is so easy and is seen as that, a game. But even then if that was the case then preserving the relationship between the top guilds wouldn't have been so important.

Still SAO
One of the original's strengths was creating a believable MMO by showing or explaining game systems and Progressive doesn't stray here. The food gives buffs, towns are shown as being safe zones, fireworks are unable to be used in combat, Asuna's sidequest to retrieve her stolen rapier. These and more are all great for fleshing out the world which is what Progressive does right, it expands on the world. Even the final boss encounter has relatable mechanics that you'd see in a modern MMO.

The changes to the original continue to be Progressive's shortcomings. The other notable things I haven't touched on are Argo, who exists to be a waifu who sells merchandise, and the appearance of laughing coffin and PoH, which was essentially just fanservice/foreshadowing