Echoes of Aincrad

For the first time, I've had the opportunity to play a game set within the universe of Sword Art Online. The series has always been a bit elusive to me; I was aware of its existence and the growing collection of games, but I never felt compelled to dive in deeply. This is precisely why I was eager for *Echoes of Aincrad* to be my introduction to the franchise. Developed by Game Studio Inc. and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment, the game is set for release on July 10th for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.

The game begins by immersing you in a beta version of the future MMORPG, Sword Art Online. In this beta, everything seems relatively normal. You encounter other players, familiarize yourself with the game's mechanics, team up with new acquaintances, and battle formidable bosses, just as you'd expect from an MMORPG. It creates the sensation of playing a single-player game that meticulously simulates the experience of being part of a massive MMO, a concept I found surprisingly refreshing. There's a certain charm in navigating a world that strives to feel social, even though, in practice, it's a tightly controlled solo experience.

Everyone eagerly anticipates the official 1.0 launch, and initially, all seems to be going swimmingly. However, after a few months, when players are granted access to the final version of Sword Art Online, it naturally becomes apparent that not everything is going according to plan. Suddenly, a piercing voice cuts through the thousands of players, announcing their entrapment within the game. They cannot log out and will only be freed once the game is completed. The grim caveat is that dying in the game means dying in real life. What began as a dream MMO adventure with friends, complete with weapons and boss fights, abruptly transforms into a desperate struggle for survival.

This is a powerful premise, though my research quickly revealed it's not an entirely new concept for the series. *Echoes of Aincrad* revisits the core idea of the franchise but from a slightly different perspective, allowing you to create your own avatar instead of embodying a pre-established main character. This could have been a genuinely engaging way to make the player more active within this universe, but it's also where some of my reservations began to surface. While the concept is solid, and there's an undeniable allure to being trapped in a digital world where every defeat could theoretically be your last, the narrative progression is disappointingly slow.

The plot advances almost exclusively between missions, with hours sometimes passing before any significant story developments occur. Wandering through a visually stunning but often sparsely populated world, and having your chosen companion speak only at the beginning and end of a mission, can become monotonous. The fact that your own avatar remains silent further exacerbates this issue. While certain scenes offer limited dialogue choices like nodding for 'yes' or shaking your head for 'no,' these decisions lack real impact. If the group proposes something and you dissent, you're quickly outvoted, and events proceed as originally planned anyway. This creates an odd illusion of player agency without granting any true influence over decisions.

I must admit, this is somewhat disappointing, especially considering that many characters lean heavily on familiar anime archetypes without possessing enough depth to carry the lengthy stretches between plot points. I'm certain that dedicated fans of Sword Art Online will find more joy in recognizing familiar faces and spotting subtle references than I did, lacking the same emotional connection to these characters. As a newcomer, I frequently felt the story could have been conveyed much more concisely. I spent nearly 40 hours with *Echoes of Aincrad*, yet in retrospect, it felt like the same narrative could have been told in half the time. This is what I'd call "padding" the game's length, and I rarely find it to be a positive attribute.

For me, the most compelling aspect of *Echoes of Aincrad* was its combat system. The game emphasizes that magic doesn't exist in this world; instead, everything relies on melee weapons, gear, special attacks, and enhancements. You can choose from roughly six distinct weapon types, each impacting combat uniquely. Swords are the classic choice, daggers allow for faster attacks, hammers and axes are slower but more impactful, and wielding larger weapons truly conveys a sense of power through their animations. While not a revolutionary RPG system, it's functional and easy to grasp.

Weapons can be upgraded over time, with increasing customization options as you progress. The sheer abundance of dropped weapons is staggering; nearly every mini-boss scatters five or six new weapons, akin to rice at a wedding. These items follow the typical color-coded rarity system seen in other loot-based games. Common white-tier weapons are unremarkable, while orange-tier ones warrant a closer look. The issue, however, is that you quickly accumulate so many weapons that it becomes impossible to utilize more than a fraction of them.

Here, the game introduces a mechanic I genuinely appreciate. These surplus, less desirable weapons can be sacrificed to empower your primary weapon. It features a small experience bar that fills when you feed it other weapons, making your main weapon progressively stronger. This provides a valid reason not to discard all the loot you collect, as you also need weapons to enhance your companions' gear, which is the primary means of influencing their combat effectiveness.

The drawback is that the best weapons eventually begin to feel remarkably similar. Once you've acquired a strong orange-tier weapon late in the game, and a cascade of other orange-tier weapons follows, the motivation to switch diminishes. New weapons often possess stats and abilities so akin to your current ones that it rarely feels worthwhile to craft something entirely new. There's a lack of randomness and variety, and I yearned for that Diablo-esque feeling where upon finding a new item, you'd think, "Wait, this could completely change my build." Instead, I too often found myself thinking, "Oh, it's almost the same again."

Regarding combat itself, I strongly recommend playing *Echoes of Aincrad* with a controller. Using a mouse and keyboard feels akin to a contortionist trapped in an office chair, as you awkwardly juggle too many actions. With a controller, everything flows much more logically: you have standard attacks, heavy attacks, and special abilities, and by holding specific buttons, you can unleash powerful skills that consume resources and deal significant damage. Midway through the game, *Echoes of Aincrad* emphasizes the importance of investing in these more potent attacks, and it's absolutely correct. Without them, some bosses feel like trying to scrape concrete with a toothbrush.

When the combat system functions correctly, it's actually quite engaging. You can traverse the world, leap into an enemy with an opening attack, chain into special moves, and quickly clear out small groups. There's a satisfying rhythm of running, fighting, gathering loot, performing minor gear upgrades, and then moving to the next area. However, *Echoes of Aincrad* stretches this loop far too thin. You constantly face the same enemy types in similar dungeons, approached in the same manner, and even a decent combat system can become tedious when repeated without sufficient variation.

The most significant issue lies with the enemies and the repeated use of bosses. *Echoes of Aincrad* relies heavily on enemy reuse. Foes presented as fierce and dangerous in story missions might have already been encountered multiple times in the open world, perhaps with only minor color palette swaps or slightly altered stats. Every boss seems to have a slightly more purple-hued cousin, sibling, or uncle elsewhere in the game. They often share identical attacks, mechanics, and base appearances, which significantly diminishes the element of surprise.

This becomes particularly problematic when the story attempts to present a boss as truly special. When the group warns that an enemy is the most dangerous they've ever faced and advises extreme caution, only for you to enter the fight thinking, "Well, this is just the 25th variant of the same enemy I've already defeated in three different zones," the thrill quickly dissipates, and the experience feels somewhat contrived. It's as if the developers recognized the typical 40-50 hour playtime of other series entries and decided *Echoes of Aincrad* must also reach that threshold, regardless of whether there was sufficient content to justify it. The zones are also often quite empty, and navigation can be surprisingly difficult. On several occasions, I found myself wandering in circles, not because the world was an interesting place to get lost in, but because the zone design and layout offered insufficient guidance. When coupled with the constant reoccurrence of the same enemies, exploration rapidly loses its appeal.

It's a shame because the foundational elements are certainly present. The combat system, while not groundbreaking, is reasonably entertaining. The weapon system offers some promising ideas, the simulated MMO atmosphere is genuinely charming, and the core concept of "death" remains compelling, even for a newcomer like myself with limited knowledge of Sword Art Online. However, *Echoes of Aincrad* simply overstays its welcome. It wasn't a game that compelled me to discover what would happen next; it evolved into a battle of my patience versus my stubbornness, and I ultimately finished it merely because I had already invested so much time.

So, would I recommend *Echoes of Aincrad*? If you're a fan of the series, I believe there's considerably more to appreciate. The presence of familiar characters, nods to the lore, and situations will likely resonate more deeply if you're already immersed in this universe. Furthermore, there's a certain appeal in creating your own character and experiencing Aincrad from within, rather than simply following the established main characters from an external perspective.