Echoes of Aincrad

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.

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.

RECOMMENDED ONLY TO FANS Who is this for? SAO fans: Yes, if you understand what you are buying = 6.5/10 Everyone else: No. There are better action RPGs available for much less money = 5/10 Fair value in its present form: Approximately $30 to $40. I completed the story on Very Hard, played part of the game on Normal for comparison, spent about 85 hours in total (Steam has wrong time played), and earned 50 of the 52 achievements. I also purchased the Deluxe Edition, so I put my money where my mouth is. I am recommending Echoes of Aincrad because I am a longtime Sword Art Online fan and found enough here to value the experience. That recommendation comes with substantial qualifications. The current $69.99 price is absurd for the amount and variety of content provided. Fans may find something worthwhile here. Players without an existing attachment to SAO probably will not. THE GOOD Fully voicing the main story and side quests was a fantastic decision. This is the first unequivocal 10 out of 10 decision I have seen from the SAO game series. The English cast performs very well, and Jessica Peterson deserves particular praise for making Iori emotionally engaging enough to carry scenes in which our protagonist contributes almost nothing. The character models, towns, menus, rainbow blood, slow motion impacts, dismemberment animations, and finishers capture SAO extremely well. The artists understood the assignment. At times, this is the most convincing recreation of Aincrad and its interface that the series has received. The original story also explores the human consequences of the Death Game. Fear, isolation, harassment, social breakdown, and the ways ordinary people cope with being trapped are more interesting than simply replaying Kirito's greatest hits. The friendships are wholesome, and I appreciate the absence of another harem structure. The story contains genuinely good writing and gives its voice actors opportunities to shine. THE COMBAT Combat has excellent visual impact, but the character often feels slow, stiff, and disconnected. Heavy attacks have awkward recovery, normal attacks do not flow as naturally as they should, and limiting the player to three equipped Sword Skills becomes needlessly restrictive across an 85 hour game. Kirito and the protagonist are presented as fast and adaptive fighters, yet the mechanics often make them feel less capable than the enemies. Weapon classes offer some build variety, but legendary weapons rarely feel legendary. A special weapon should represent an achievement, possess a memorable ability, or require an interesting challenge to discover. Here, many come from ordinary chests near the road and differ mainly through numbers and passive effects. I could feel the distinctions while testing builds, but many players will experience a pile of interchangeable loot. The difficulty also varies between dull and unfair. Normal becomes very easy, while Very Hard often relies on enemies with extreme tracking, long pursuit ranges, repeated knockdowns, invulnerable states, or enormous speed. Difficulty should test timing, positioning, preparation, and knowledge. Relentless tracking and overlapping control effects test patience. THE WORLD The Second Floor contains some of the worst overworld exploration design I have encountered in a modern RPG. Artistically, the landscape is quite good. Structurally, it resembles a linear corridor folded into the shape of an open world. The player can see plateaus, roads, caves, objectives, and Safety Areas across a large environment. A Safety Area may sit directly above or beside you, yet the terrain prevents every sensible approach. The required route can send you around nearly the entire map to reach a place that was geographically adjacent from the beginning. It was maddening. Reaching a Safety Area reveals the map and collectibles, which then encourages you to backtrack through the enormous region you just crossed. The loop becomes simple: run around the map, reveal it, learn that you passed several collectibles, and run around it again. Long travel can work when the route contains discovery, danger, hidden quests, rare equipment, environmental stories, or meaningful choices. Much of this travel contains haphazardly placed enemies and the only legal road forward. Exploration is further restricted by missions. You cannot freely leave town, revisit the complete world whenever you choose, or investigate every visible path. Walk beyond the assigned quest boundary and the game teleports you backward. Aincrad is presented as an enormous world of secrets and discovery, yet the player experiences it as a collection of fenced routes. THE REPETITION Dungeon layouts are copied constantly. The same small collection of rooms appears with new colors, enemies, and chest placements. Enemy variety is similarly poor. I fought Ilfang the Kobold Lord around six times and encountered enough varieties of cow to wonder whether I had become a Midwestern farmer. Larger health bars and altered colors cannot carry dozens of hours. Main bosses need distinct mechanics, silhouettes, finishers, and narrative importance. Dungeons need unique architecture, puzzles, hazards, visual themes, and memorable landmarks. Quest design follows the same pattern: accept a mission, run down a road, gather something, kill familiar enemies, fight a larger familiar enemy, and return to town. Side quests rarely alter the world or matter after completion. The campaign consequently feels rushed and padded at the same time. Important character developments receive too little room, while errands and travel consume hours. THE PROTAGONIST AND PRESENTATION Making the protagonist nearly mute was the second worst design decision in the game. The character already has a voice during combat, yet remains silent throughout the story. Iori and the other characters make decisions, conduct conversations, and receive the development while our supposed protagonist stands nearby like Iori's unusually well armed luggage. The game also suffers from static conversations, repeated animations, pop in, stuttering, audio problems, floating objects, clipping enemies, poor pathfinding, and occasional arena problems. Fully voiced dialogue deserves expressive body language, facial animation, and varied camera work. Several quality of life restrictions make matters worse. Equipment can only be changed at the inn even though SAO itself allows players to change equipment elsewhere. There is no true pause option, partner customization is shallow, repeated animations become exhausting, inventory management is tedious, and returning to old areas often requires replaying a quest. VALUE AND VERDICT The base game costs $69.99, covers only two floors, repeats a limited pool of content across roughly 85 hours, and ends without adequately resolving the story it spent that time building. An advertised expansion costs another $19.99. Expansions should continue a complete story rather than appear responsible for finishing one. Echoes of Aincrad contains the foundation of an excellent SAO game. It has strong voice acting, beautiful character work, an interesting original perspective, satisfying combat presentation, and several characters worth caring about. Considerable talent is visible throughout the project. That talent is trapped inside repetitive content, restrictive exploration, shallow progression, technical problems, and design decisions that waste the player's time. I recommend it to committed SAO fans who understand those limitations, preferably at $30 to $40. I cannot recommend it to anyone without that attachment, and I cannot defend the current $70 price. Rather fitting for a game about being trapped inside Aincrad, I suppose.

I AM SB

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.

first of all to be clear i am deeply in love with sword art online i binge watched the entire anime story alicization included back in the day , watched the spin offs like GGO and read other media like the light novels of unital rings as soon as they are published in english so yes i admit to be a little bit biased toward anything SAO related as anyone reading my nickname can see that said i am also a gamer and as a gamer i cannot reccomend this game this is not a open world. this is a instance based game where everything is divided in zones you have the safe hub/city zone with shops(2 of them) and the rest of the floor but not the entire floor becasue it is divided in dozens of little subzones to exit the town you have to accpet a quest ( main or side quest) and you can explore only a handful of the subsegments of the map included in that singular quest if you try to go outside of that zone the game will not let you do that returning you inside the "permitted exploration zone" for that mission there is no "free" exploration mode you can go out only by accepting mission with predetermined exploration zones hello? this is anicrad a death game where you can DIE by going in places where you are not levelled enough or ready enough to challange them there is no interaction with npc 99% of the people you see on screen in towns are simply decorative assets with no possibile interaction you can interact only with -quest npcs -shop vendors (smithy and general shop) that is all there are no kind of interaction with other npcs both aincrad ai or "other players" you cannot form parties recruit other players to face a particular mission aside from the ones that the game give you at mission selection and only one at the time hello again? sword art online is a game BASED On parties and guilds between players and even ignoring that the complete lack of interactions makes the entire world feel empty and artificial what to say about combat someone somehow decided that in a game called "sword art online" you can only use 3 sword art at the same time giving you key mapping only for 3 slots that is terrible idea considering that they did not implemented any kind of different combo aside the only one they have coded (sword and shield Light attack x4 and then heavy attack) the combat is extremely repetitive and you can divided in 2 categories 80-90% of it consisting of enemies that die in a single hit by running and heavy attack or jumping and heavy attack elite and bosses the remaining 10-20% i will be honest elites with the" destroy the enemy body part" mechanic to weaken them is pretty neat sadly it is so rare to be not impactful on the combat sistem and the bosses they go from absolute wet paper to a boar that has multiple in sequence aoe attacks that cover half of the arena while he summons multiple elite enemies to harrass you oh and the tutorial maybe the japanese text is more clear but the english version is atrocious you have 3 different mechanics to use the "swtich ability "of the SAO story where your partner will sitch his position with you and deliver a heavy attack to the enemy like in the anime slash parry ( only works with a parry animation and with a shield) slash dodge (only works with a dodge animation and without a shield) slash reversal (only works when sometimes the enemy does an attack and a blue aura appears around its weapon/fang/tusk. the most inconsintent given the fact that the window of opportunity is very short and usually you will either be already attacking or having just received damage from previous attack) i spent a good half an hour trying to master the 3 types of slashes in the tutorial area without understanding that 2 of them are mutually exclusive depending on your equipment and the other is not something that you trigger but something that THE ENEMY can SOMETIME without hints or warnigs trigger mid animation yeah and what to say about exploration? a disaster. an unmitigated tragedy the world is explorable only in predetermined sequences (see the first part of this review) and completely devoid of anything of note there are only dozens of copy pasted base enemies occasional elites and one or two area bosses the levels are so linear that you can see the metaforical rails and so empty that it reminded me of early zelda games and with a movement sistem devoid of any meaning in vertical exploration (jumping is uselss outside of combat) that was acceptable 20 years ago you cannot put a game set in aincrad a setting so complex to simulate real life and made something like that not when you have games like crimson desert out there as a benchmark for modern open world design interaction and exploration that is is simply not acceptable and what to say about the protagonist? they chose the mute Player charchter approach you have very little dialogues they are cutscenes where occasionally very rarely (in 9 hours of gameplay i had like 4-5 of this moments) you have a binary choise usually between -nod -shake your head i am not kidding they did that this is my personal preference but i prefer - games where they give me actual multiple choices with extend sentences where i have a clear idea of what i will select as an answer (even if my charchters is mute/has no ingame voicelines like fallout NV or baldur gates) giving me actual agency on how i shape my charchter or -games that remove entirely dialogues replacing them with cutscens with fully voiced charchters that can be actually charismatic or interesting on its own merit they chose the worst possible path by givng you control of a mute that interacts very rarely by nodding or shaking his head in a universe based on himan interactions great stuff and what to say about the resources? i am playing on hard and i have like x100 crafting resources in my inventory with no difficulty at all in crafting near unlimited health potions for example they are too plentiful and they make the challange of resources managment near meanigless i will finish this game not because i like it but because i love sword art online universe i am truly sad thinking of the wasted potential about echos of aincrad this game could have been the chance for the fandom to relive the magical first saga of sword art online the aincrad arc in all its gaming glory this game is not that sorry but as a game it is not somthing that i can reccomend to anyone aside a diehard fan of Sword art online

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.

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.

Всем привет, долго думал что написать и как преподнести отзыв и думаю что определился. Считаю что данная игра, потрясающая база для создания великолепного продукта. Сам я прохожу игру с одной жизнью и на максимальной сложности, считаю что именно в этих условиях игра ощущается лучше всего и рекомендую тем кто знаком с подобными играми проходить её именно так чтобы получить эмоции от игры. Когда проходишь игру впервые и не знаешь чего ждать от боссов и врагов, они дают проср4ться и пятнадцать раз притормозить и перекачаться) Я не буду описывать минусы игры из-за их субъективности, но хочу написать свои пожелания которые я бы хотел видеть в игре в будущем: 1. В игре нужен кооператив, раз уж в игре реализован постоянный напарник, ну сделайте Вы хотя бы ко-оп на 2их, где каждый будет выбирать разного напарника(с блокировкой уже выбранного другим игроком). Таким образом станет интереснее бегать и изучать мир игры вместе. 2. Спрячьте сундуки, чтобы мы не знали где они находятся, так Вы поспособствуете изучению игрового мира игроками. Указав их местоположение Вы по факту сказали большинству игроков - бегай по этим точкам и больше никуда не ходи, там ничего нет. Убрав сундуки и при наличии коопа можно будет ценой безопасности и беготни в паре, разделяться и изучать мир, а потом ставить друг-другу метки на них. 3. Нужна возможность посещения бесшовного игрового мира. Вы же и так сделали систему скалирования противников под уровень персонажа игрока, в чем проблема выкинуть игрока в открытый мир и пусть идет куда захочет. Сюжетку оставьте так раз уже реализовали, просто добавьте при взаимодействии с камнем телепортации в городе вариант выхода в открытый мир, рядом с выбором телепорта в другой город и выбора задания. 4. В игроком мире не хватает событий, он просто красивый и заполненный мобами. Ну добавьте Вы в даже в те же локации для заданий других НПС, стражей которые охраняют ключевые точки за городами, и игроков которые стараются качаться и зарабатывать ресурсы. Ну пусть им можно будет помогать, получать от них награды. (Молчу про то что можно было бы реализовать их убийство и становиться ПКшером, но раз по лору наш герой добрый, то убийство НПС и других игроков не в его характере, так-что пусть будут неуязвимы для нашего ГГ) 5. Я хочу видеть в игре редкий легендарный дроп. Хоть рецепты, хоть сразу оружие/броня, но чтобы она падала не с сундука который показан на карте, а с конкретных противников. Ну например - рапира-волка, которая падала бы с волка элитного на первом этаже с мелким шансом и была бы легендарным сильным оружием. В Ваших же интересах дать игрокам мотивацию ковырять врагов, помимо кача ради кача. Кач ради уровня с системой скалирования уровня и так бессмысленен, т.к. как сильнее не становись, враги один хрен становятся такими же сильными как мы, звучит как бесполезность. P.S. Я благодарен создателям игры за то что они уже сделали, мне нравится, мир красивый, интересный, мне сражаться не надоедает, за сюжетом наблюдать интересно, но я очень надеюсь что Вы читаете отзывы и собираете обратную связь. У Вас есть очень хорошая база для создания более лучшей версии текущей игры. P.S.2. В голове ещё куча мыслей и идей, относительно боевки, внешности персонажей, озвучки, прокачки, крафта. Возможно я позже дополню этот отзыв. Там вот в игре есть проблема с деньгами - их дофигища, их некуда девать. По хорошему сильнее бы цены у торговцев задрать если не планируется вводиться что-то новое для их траты, а то я грущу когда мне с сундуков падают деньги, т.к. это один из бесполезнейших ресурсов в игре. В подземельях можно лабиринты сделать мелкие не на 4 ячейки а на 6-8, как в лабиринте, в нем гораздо интереснее пробегается чем в обычном подземелье на 4 блока карты. P.S.3. Я не прошел игру до логического конца, хоть и близок к нему, но прошу прощения если что-то из описанного уже реализовано и откроется мне позже. Ещё и половина мыслей в процессе написания вылетели из головы. Спасибо что дочитали, хороших Вам игр и приятного времяпрепровождения <3

this will be my first review of the game. cause most reviewers here are just straight up people that didnt do there research into the game. all this was known before the game came out: we knew there was no online, there was no open world fully, we knew there was no affection, we knew it was only 2 floors THAT WAS STATED THE FIRST THING THEY SAID this is just bdsp over again people dont listen. ill make a new review which is an actual review not someone who doesnt do there research. cause heres the fact people dont hear about: your going out of bound... your going out of bound... theres NO GAMES that allow you to go out of bound. most games even makes your character die for going out of bound. would you have prefered that?