According to Oricon, Sword Art Online was the top selling light novel series of 2012

According to Oricon, Sword Art Online was the top selling light novel series of 2012, with eight volumes figuring among the top selling light novels.[95][96] It was ranked first in the 2012 and 2013 Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi! rankings, as well as top ten placement in 2011, 2014 and 2015.[97][98][99][100][101] It was also the second best selling light novel series for the first half of 2016 in Japan, selling 489,374 copies.[102] Sword Art Online: Progressive sold 321,535 copies in the same time period.[102]

Richard Eisenbeis of Kotaku hails Sword Art Online as the smartest series in recent years, praising its deep insight on the psychological aspects of virtual reality on the human psyche, its sociological views on creating a realistic economy and society in a massively multiplayer online game setting, and the writing staff's ability to juggle a wide variety of genres within the series.[103] Eisenbeis particularly noted how the romance between Kirito Cosplay Costumes and Asuna is explored bringing "definition to exactly what love is like in a virtual world." However, at the time of this preliminary review, he had only watched the first 12 episodes of the series. He has since gone on to review the second half of the series, lauding its excellent use of plot twists and praising its well written and believable villain. However, he felt that some of the initial positive aspects of the series were lost in the second half, such as the focus on psychological repercussions and social interactions that could be realistically seen in an online game. Criticism was also levied on the aspect of turning Asuna into a damsel in distress, stating that a female lead as strong as her was "reduced to nothing but the quest item the male lead is hunting for." Eisenbeis closes his review of the series by stating in regards to the two halves, "Both, however, are enjoyable for what they are."[104]

Rebecca Silverman of Anime News Network has criticized the series as having pacing problems and "sloppy writing".[105] Theron Martin criticized the story as struggling "to achieve and maintain the level of gravitas that life-or-death danger should have", while calling it unwilling to Sword Art Online Costumes commit to Kirito's "lone wolf" image.[106] DeviceCritique explains that Sword Art Online influences the virtual reality market to grow, and references the Oculus Rift as a prime example of the starting point of virtual reality. It also praises Sword Art Online for exploring the psychological and social aspects of virtual reality gaming.[107] Adam Facey of The Muse criticized the series, among others, as being sexist and the female characters as being overly sexualized.