Gaming is quite a "hobby". Depending on how much you are invested in it, you get some sort of satisfaction. Shaming others for doing what they love should not be an issue and it isn't here. You actually get a movie about people in love ... and a passion for gaming.

What I just realized though: I only watched this movie and had no idea there is a TV show too. So I have no idea how this is connected, if there was anything added or prior to the events of what happens here either. Therefor I may have a redacted experience of it all - ah the lingo. Enjoyable and decent enough for the right minded people

What a chemistry the two main characters have. I so love this movie that made me decide to watch its drama version.

This one is basically a squeezed together version of the drama series version.

I prefer the drama series because you get to see the details, the growth, the long progress.

I really enjoyed the drama series version and as soon as this one came out, I tried not to be so biased because how could this movie beat the drama series when it was good enough already.

I didn't like it enough to remember this film. I just remember an actor from the drama series also was casted in this one.

I don't understand why this one was created.

Anytime you take a complex story full of iconic moments and try to condense it down to 2 hours, you're just asking for trouble. As someone who read (and enjoyed) the original light novel, I knew up front not to get my expectations too high, but I had still hoped for a bit more than I got. Caricature characters, throwing out glib and rushed lines, a barely coherent storyline (which scarcely resembled the novel) and chaotic action sequences, just for starters. That being said, I blame the director more than the cast, since I did feel the actors could have delivered better performances if they weren't in such a hurry.

If this film had any redeeming points at all, it would be the polished cinematography and CG (both were decent, considering the film's budget). Lines aside, the actors also did a reasonable job of acting to green screen, which is notoriously difficult. There were also a handful of scenes overlaying the game world with reality, which were creative and did a surprisingly good job of conveying the feeling of belonging to both the 2-d and 3-d world.

ROMANCE RATING: 7/10. As per the novel, there was only one kiss scene, but it was fairly long and the actors had reasonably good chemistry. Bear in mind that while the scene did feature "A" door, it is not "THE" iconic office door from the novel.

In summary, I'm sorry to say this movie was weak in almost every way. Fans of the novel will certainly be disappointed and newcomers are unlikely to develop any interest in the novel. Not recommended. HOWEVER, if you have to choose between this film and the drama, I probably would choose this, mainly because, as others have mentioned, Angela Baby and Boran Jing have acceptable chemistry whereas Yang Yang and Shuang Zheng did not.

I saw the series first and i really like it. The shorter movie has some plot holes and glosses over the story. I like both sets of actors but I prefer the series. The movie has a more realistic set and the series has a more romatic and stylized set. Watch the movie first. Both are on Netflix (07/2019) with subtitles.