Sword Art Online Hollow Realization Deluxe Edition Review

A decent unmarried-player RPG that plays like an MMO and caters heavily to its target audition.

If you aren't familiar with or a fan of the Sword Fine art Online (SAO) light novels or anime, I can safely say that Hollow Realization probably isn't for you lot. Much of the content and story of this activity-RPG focuses on seeing recognizable and beloved characters interacting with one some other. The combat isn't bad, and there is a ton of content, merely much of the narrative is told through dialogue interactions betwixt characters, then some previous zipper to them is virtually a precursor to enjoying the game.

The story of Hollow Realization centers around Kirito and his friends—Asuna, Leafa, Lisbeth, Klein, among others—inbound a new game called "Sword Art: Origin," which seems familiar to them since it reuses assets from "Sword Art Online," the game they participated in three years prior. In Ainground, the world of Sword Art: Origin, Kirito and crew meet an NPC whom they proper noun "Premiere," who seems to be something of a blank slate. Her information doesn't reveal much most who she is, and it'due south the player'south task to discover out more about Premiere as you journey through Hollow Realization's five chief areas.

Hollow Realization is really the fourth entry in the serial, just information technology's the first to come up to Switch. I was still able to enjoy the game and understand the story without playing the previous games, only I accept watched much of the SAO anime and was able to recognize many of the characters. That said, Hollow Realization relies heavily on dialogue, and the lack of English voices means you lot are going to exist doing a lot of reading if yous want to follow the story. Although there are a smattering of animated and in-game cut-scenes, these were besides few and far between, and it would have been nice for a greater part of the story to be delivered in more entertaining ways.

For those that are interested, there are dating sim elements likewise, and these allow you to strengthen bonds with different characters, increasing their power. One particular element of the dating sim attribute can safely exist ignored, only could still put some people off: upon reaching a strong enough bail, yous tin can "bridal comport" a graphic symbol into bed, which leads to a elementary mini-game where you can move the photographic camera around and give basic reactions to that character's comments. The bed mini-game tin lead to a loosely-animated cutting-scene with your partner in a seductive pose, and the best affair I can say is that these scenes aren't the nearly egregious things on the Switch. Ultimately, the dialogue in these scenes is pretty repetitive and inane anyways, and so yes. Buyer beware.

The combat feels similar to that of Ys Viii: The Lacrimosa of DANA, which came to Switch in 2018. You can equip a diversity of different weapons such every bit swords, axes, and spears, and these have unlike special attacks that you tin can employ past spending stamina points. I played through most of the game using the sword, and information technology'due south easy to see how the game can exist compared to an MMO when you have all of your skills and items listed in a toolbar in the bottom-middle of the screen. Y'all tin travel with up to three other political party members, and they volition fight adequately passively beside yous until you create chain attacks and combos that can deal massive amounts of damage. Information technology's e'er satisfying to stun or weaken an enemy, and then unload a multi-hitting philharmonic on them, which drives up your damage multiplier. Of course, most of the basic enemies you lot encounter in the earth don't require a lot of skill, simply there are frequent instances and special events in each area that task you with taking down unique or empowered monsters, and these do require more strategy than just jamming the set on button.

Each map inside a given office of the world contains treasures and a teleport pad that you can unlock to send y'all back to boondocks or to a particular dungeon on that map. However, these dungeons, and much of the Deluxe Edition DLC, are locked until you complete the main game. Traversing the environment can feel a little ho-hum as enemy variety is defective and the scenery is naught to write home about. The music doesn't really stand out either, so I played much of the second half of the game while listening to podcasts, which also made grinding more than tolerable, as well.

Speaking of grinding, I didn't actually have to grind out levels or skills until the extremely challenging final boss. The best function of Hollow Realization is the four area bosses that take the form of raids where groups of NPCs join you to take on a large and imposing fauna. These raids require extra strategy above and across what y'all might need elsewhere in the game. For example, you might have to take out the raid dominate' legs in club to knock it down so that you can begin to whittle down its sizeable health meter. Even though you tin't direct the NPCs around yous, having them there makes these battles feel all the more epic.

The progression and side-quests merit a mention as well. There are numerous non-overly-simple systems for skill progression, equipment development, and graphic symbol bonding. While you tin can go through much of the game with but a rudimentary noesis of these systems and the combat in general, you will face a severe hurdle in the game's concluding dominate without either grinding to an incredibly high level or understanding better how to fight effectively. In terms of side-quests, at that place are extremely easy fetch quests that give meager rewards and seem to exist repeatable, simply there are likewise narrative-focused ones that tin lead to beautiful character interactions. What's funny is that you basically just watch and read these graphic symbol-focused side-quests, and at that place is no existent reward for doing so other than the scenes themselves.

There is easily over 100 hours of content in Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization, and that's before you consider the online multiplayer component where y'all tin play competitively or cooperatively with other players. Regardless, much of the content is either repetitive or forced reading, and the story isn't going to win any awards. To enjoy this title, yous accept to want to spend more than time with characters you lot already know. If yous aren't interested in Kirito and Asuna'south budding romance or Yui playing the dual-roles of both game guide and in-game daughter, you aren't likely to derive a lot of entertainment from Hollow Realization. At that place are better activity-RPGs on Switch, such as the aforementioned Ys VIII, simply certainly none that give the freedom of exploring and interacting your favourite SAO personalities.

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Source: http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/50650/sword-art-online-hollow-realization-deluxe-edition-switch-review

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