Echoes of Aincrad

Just no. Game has a lot of potential, hope new DLCs fix the exploration mode. World just seems empty with repetitive monsters.

If you've played the demo, watched the trailers, read the reviews and still find yourself wanting to play the game.. Lower your expectations before you buy, you'll be much happier. For a game that is advertised to be in a "thriving and diverse" world, you're pretty much fighting the same things, exploring the same places, and hearing the same people. You expect to dive into the lore of the game, but there's barely any meat or substance to enjoy.

absolute piece of ♥♥♥♥ ^^ walk only ... no skip texts only skip the whole conversation ... the artstyle is nice tho

I really wanted to love Echoes of Aincrad, and while there are aspects of the game that I genuinely enjoyed—especially the story—it ultimately felt like it lacked the depth and content needed to live up to its potential. The biggest issue is simply the lack of content. Character progression feels shallow, with very few meaningful build options, limited weapon skills, and not enough ways to customize or personalize your character. Character appearance customization is also disappointing. While armor can be changed, weapon appearances cannot, and the selection of armor itself is fairly limited. Exploration was another major disappointment. The maps are large, but they feel empty rather than alive. Instead of rewarding exploration with interesting discoveries, they mostly consist of large open spaces with very little to find or interact with. The game's world gives the illusion of scale without actually providing meaningful content to fill it. Enemy variety is also extremely limited. Across the first two floors, you're primarily fighting kobolds, boars, pigs, and golems. After a while, combat becomes repetitive because there simply aren't enough unique enemies or bosses to keep encounters feeling fresh. The combat balance also needs significant work. On Very Hard difficulty, enemies don't feel challenging because they're well-designed—they feel challenging because their attacks are artificially sped up. Many bosses have little to no readable wind-up before attacks and often chain abilities so quickly that player skill matters far less than simply having a tanky build. Instead of rewarding mastery of combat mechanics, the difficulty often feels unfair. Weapon balance is another concern, as some weapon types clearly outperform others, making build diversity feel less viable. Another disappointing decision was locking Death Game mode behind either DLC or completing the game first. Considering the entire premise of Sword Art Online revolves around the Death Game, restricting that mode behind additional requirements undermines one of the game's biggest selling points. It feels like something that should have been available from the very beginning. The equipment system also feels underdeveloped. Many weapon and armor modifications provide effects that are so minor they don't meaningfully impact gameplay, making loot progression less exciting than it should be. For a single-player RPG, it was also surprising that the main character isn't voiced. Combined with dialogue choices that rarely feel meaningful, it makes the protagonist feel disconnected from the world around them. Ironically, the story is where the game shines the most—but it's also where it becomes the most frustrating. Several major plot threads are introduced and then never properly addressed. What happened to Cal? What became of the PKers introduced early in the game? What exactly is Wiseman's role? Most importantly, the game doesn't even let players finish the main story or accomplish the central objective that defines Sword Art Online: clearing Aincrad and stopping the Death Game. That has always been the core premise of SAO, yet the base game ends after only two floors without delivering on that promise. If these unanswered questions and the remainder of the story are being intentionally held back for DLC, that's incredibly disappointing because the base game should tell a satisfying and complete story on its own. Finally, only having two playable floors is incredibly disappointing. I understand the goal may have been to recreate Aincrad at a larger scale, but larger maps don't automatically create a bigger experience. The world feels oversized without enough meaningful content to justify its size. It ends up feeling more like the illusion of a massive world than one that's actually worth exploring. Overall, I believe Echoes of Aincrad had the potential to be something truly special—possibly even one of the best anime RPGs released in years. The foundation is there, and the story shows flashes of greatness, but the game feels rushed and incomplete. More content, greater enemy and build variety, better combat balance, a more rewarding world to explore, and a complete narrative would have elevated this game immensely. I sincerely hope future updates and expansions address these issues because I genuinely want this game to reach the level of quality its concept deserves.

pretty good base, good potential

The maps are huge and empty, reskinned mobs, increasing difficulty really only makes enemies move insanely faster and not much else. Not worth the price tag. I was excited for the game but it is a let down. Also how do they not even have toggle sprint, the game options are terrible.

This included spoilers for the beta and early game. One thing that bothers me heavily in games is when you are given choices and they do not matter. I said no [shakes head] when Iori asked to follow me and they did anyway. I said no when they asked to be friends. They requested me anyway. It should not be an option if they are going to railroad it. Character customization should happen when you’re going through the Beta yet be limited. This implies no sliders, body type one or two with a preset voice, and one short/long hairstyle to choose from. When you enter the full game it would make more sense that you have been you when it comes to the full customization. Otherwise, at this stage it invalidates Iori and they sound like a “pick me” when they state "I thought you guys would hate me because I am not actually a guy” and cry about it. Seventy five percent of the town of beginnings turned from females to males in the classic mirror scene. Also, the female hairstyles are a joke. Please consult at least one female and add some decent ones there are so many cool styles you could do. The design, ui, combat system, animations, and world itself is breathtaking. I love how expansive it is and it really brings into perspective why it took them several months to clear the first boss in the story. It is clear with the detail how much time and effort was made. In the map, there are a few issues. I despise the chests on the map, it would be cooler to find them or without your partner/other npc’s with you announcing a chest is nearby. Same with every material having an icon over them. There needs to be a toggle to turn them off. It would contribute immensely to exploration. The enemy pathing is bugged where they stand still. For the price point, boars should not be glitching into stone walls. With quality of life, I would love to be able to simply sit on benches or chairs and just take in the beautiful world even for a moment. Also depth added to forging/crafting (minigame?) or an animation for immersion. Us overworlders are given SO much col. It sounds weird complaining about having too much currency but it does not feel balanced. For having this much col, it makes me wonder if on potential future floors we will be able to buy housing. I could easily afford Asuna’s and Kirito's home fully furnished on Floor 22 with how much my low level character has at this point. On that note, I am a bit sad we can’t go into random buildings at all along with no cooking recipes. In the future, this game would be killing it as a coop. Instead of having a partner, a friend or two could easily fill in the positions to enjoy Aincrad together and keep it balanced. Maybe require solo for Death Mode so mechanically it stays fair? I love the variety of random npcs they really make the world feel alive. It would be neat if you clicked on some and they had a mumble, few words, or sentence of dialogue. It is a bit uncanny valley like compared to how talkative your partner is. While this may sound critical, it is because like many others I love the universe and all many players want is a solid SAO game. This has the structure to do so and I truly hope the Devs continue to work on it.

Huge SAO Fan and this game is just an embarrassment to the Anime and the other SAO games. Should be open world. Their is so much about this game I could rant on about but apart from the Graphics this game is just 3/10. Not worth it at all. Your character doesn't even speak... Literally just Nods or Shakes their Head. Towns are dull can't talk to people and can only explore if its a quest and can only do 1 at a time. Last Thing ill say is that this game could of truly been amazing if it was open world.

이런 똥 쳐 먹는 소울 게임은 처음 봄 제작자가 소울라이크가 뭔지 모르나? 툭 맞으면 으악 하고 죽는 게임에 1대 다수의 싸움을 쳐 넣는다고? 심지어 누워도 피격 판정 있어서 누우면 쳐 맞아 죽고 패턴은 방어로 못 막는 게 80%임 이러면 패리를 왜 넣어 놨는지? 소울류 게임의 꽃인 보스 전도 1대1이 아닌 1대 3이 기본 쫄몹도 아님 엘리트 몹을 쳐 넣고 소환까지 함 방어 회피만 하다가 다구리 쳐맞고 뒤짐 apc어그로 끌린거 틈 봐서 달려들어서 패면 어그로 다 끌려서 제대로 된 공격도 못하고 원거리 공격으로 넉백맞고 일어나지도 못하고 다굴 맞다 뒤짐

boring... just not what i was hoping it would be. basically SAO for people that have never watched SAO, and arent above the skill level of newb. safe zones every 4 minutes of game play, all the chests are on the map and pickups are every 3 steps... there's no real challenge involved, except for figuring the switch mechanics, but you cant even just solo the game... you HAVE to play with a computer partner. there's no other human players in the game, and the WORST PART is that every time you try to go somewhere "out of bounds, returning to mission area..." defeats the point of an open world... i honestly am rather upset i spent the extra money for the deluxe edition, 50,000 col is so easy to come by its not worth the extra money, and having the elucidator set you get anyway is not even something special, plus they are garbage( if you somehow manage to get to the end of the game carrying that, you are sooo addicted to being mediocre its just sad.) honestly i have more fun playing Final Fantasy III. play the demo, enjoy it and dont waste your money on the full game.