Summary
Taking place in various fictional MMO worlds, theSword Art Onlineseries is highly suited to video game adaptations. It has game systems built right into the story, so there are few other franchises that could transition mediums as easily. At least, in theory.
Not all the games that have come out of the series have been great, but there have been some stand-out entries sinceSword Art Online: Infinity Momentwas released on PSP back in 2013. Of the seventeen games in the franchise, (including mobile games and releases that haven’t made it to the West), theseare the best.
Alicizationis one of the more modern entries into theSword Artseries. As such, the character models andstylized anime actionare beautiful to behold. Unfortunately, the game is held back by incredibly slow pacing that is not helped by the number of 2D visual novel-style cutscenes.
OnceSAO: Alicization Lycorisopens up, it can be quite fun to play. The combo system lets players work with an AI partner, team up with players online, and string together attacks. However, the developers made the unusual decision to lock the co-op option until the back half of the game.
That means to play with a friend, players need to first get through around 20 hours of gameplay. And that’s in the more tedious, dialogue-heavy half of the game. Fans of the series are also split on the game’s story, which departs significantly from the anime in a retelling of events, before heading to the ending with a completely original story.
7Sword Art Online RE: Hollow Fragment
A Revamped Re-release
The game’s timelines get a little confusing here.Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragmentwas the second game in the mainline series, but it contained all the content from the first game,Infinity Moment.
Infinity Momentwas stuck on the PSP at this point, and this bridged the gap between a sequel and a re-release on the PS Vita.RE: Hollow Fragmentwas a Director’s cut re-release of the game that updated it for the transition from PS Vita to PS4.
While the first version of the game was held back a little in scope due to its handheld origins, the re-release added features like multiplayer and additional content. This brought the game more in line with its sequel,SAO: Lost Song.
6Sword Art Online: Lost Song
Lost In Translation
Coming in 2015,SAO: Lost Songwas the third game in the mainline series. The game takes fans intothe series' second arc, Alfheim, but tells a unique “what if?” story that follows different events. The story falls a little flat due to its lack of real connection to the series' main characters, though.
The game introduced aerial combat to the series with a neat flying mechanic that could be activated with a button press, giving a sense of freedom to the exploration and movement. With developer Artdink at the helm for the first time, the game took a step up both graphically and gameplay-wise from its predecessors.
5Accel World vs. Sword Art Online: Millennium Twilight
Two Anime Worlds Collide
Building on the foundation ofSword Art Online: Lost Song, and borrowing a lot of inspiration (and assets) from the game,Accel World vs. Sword Art Onlinebrings togethercharacters from both anime worldsin an original storyline.
With a huge roster of 37 characters and the interesting switch system letting players switch control between their team of three characters in battle, combat is fun and frenetic. There’s also a significant upgrade in visuals between this game andLost Song, despite the similar environments.
Robust RPG systems like weapon synthesis help keep things interesting outside of combat. In its time, the online co-op system in the game was another highlight. Unfortunately, the story is nothing to write home about, and there are some very bland character interactions.
One of developer Aquria’s betterSAOgames,Hollow Realizationdoes itself a favor by placing the storyafter the events of theSAOmanga/anime series. This means it doesn’t have to spend time rehashing complex story events in a limited time, which is where a lot of otherSAOgames alienate newcomers.
The combat is deceptively deep, opening up from initial one-button combos to add timing, special skills, parrying, and combos with AI companions into the mix. The RPG systems are deep, if a little convoluted, and there’s a lot of customization and crafting.
The only real drawback is that the multiplayer options don’t match up with later games, with an online co-op mode that is separated from the single player game, and accessed from the game’s main menu.
The premise ofLast Recollectionwill appeal toSAOfans immediately. The game brings together a roster of 45characters from across the series, both from its source material and previous games. It then pits them in a climactic storyline intended to conclude the original story set up in previousSAOgames.
As such, the back referencing lore and myriad character intros can be a bit too obtuse for newcomers, but provide a satisfying amount of fan service for long-term fans. There’s a huge number of side missions and sub-stories to explore for those who love the characters.
The combat makes good use of the large roster, letting players take multiple AI companions and set skills and commands for them to use in battle. It has the same simple but deceptively deep action combat that previous games likeAlicizationused, and it’s still a lot of fun here.
Fatal Bulletis a unique entry intheSword Art Onlinemain series. It takes the setting from the fantasy worlds of previous entries into one of the anime series' later settings, the fictional VRMMO Gun Gale Online. This switches the high fantasy forests for post-apocalyptic environments.
It also means the gameplay, under new developer Dimps, makes a refreshing switch from the series' long-standing action MMO-style controls to third-person gunplay. Players still have access to special skills and a whole host of RPG progression mechanics on top of that, too.
As with other entries in the series, fans especially praised the actual online multiplayer aspect of the game. The PvPvE 4 versus four-team deathmatch was a highlight, and quite innovative for a multiplayer mode at the time.
Developer Dimps recently returned to theSword Art OnlineSeries withFractured Daydream.It’s the most modern and graphically the most impressiveSAOgame. It also helps push the multiplayer aspects of the game closer to the series' premise of an MMO world.
The game still has a significant single player story that seesKirito and otherstrapped in Galaxia, a place where they’ll relive old missions and memories. Once that’s done, players gain access to an end-game co-op mode that includes some massive raid bosses.
The combat helps carry the experience. The roster is streamlined to 21 characters here, but each of them has a unique and distinctive playstyle. Classes fit into different archetypes, with each bringing a different role to parties, especially in the latter online mode. Series fans may even preferFractured DaydreamtoFatal Bullet, at least if it gets more end-game content over time.
