Sword Art Online: Echoes of Aincrad – PlayStation 5

Good Game - Overall I did like the game, however, the world does feel a little empty and the NPC's are not that interactive. I would have loved to see a more immersive world.

Generic, Janky, but Ok Combat - The game is pretty bland overall. It is an interesting premise, especially if you know of SAO at all, but it isn't executed super well. I started getting bored halfway through the game and did not finish. I played about 35ish hours, the combat was decent and carried the whole experience but it gets frustrating on very hard and is too easy on any other difficulty. It became less and less enjoyable as I played it. Only worth it if you are a die-hard SAO fan or want to challenge yourself with a janky, somewhat buggy experience to do Death Mode.

Potential. - The Sword Art Online franchise has had a long run of games that weren’t so great, sadly that streak continues with Sword Art Online: Echoes of Aincrad. As a long time fan of the anime I bought the game with high hopes. At first, the game is very fun but I was quickly made aware of its faults and repetitive nature. Nonetheless, this is the closest we have gotten to a “true” SAO experience so to any die hard fans of the franchise I would recommend this game.