Sword Art Online Re Hollow Fragment Press Any Button Not Working

Game Review: Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization (PS4)

Information technology's only been a yr since Bandai Namco Entertainment released Sword Fine art Online: Lost Song, ane of the very few JPRG titles that managed to keep me immersed until the very terminate, onto the PS4 and PS Vita and yet here we are with Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization; a brand new entry into the franchise that continues the ever expanding story. Is it any expert though? Well that's the important question; so allow'south have a look at information technology!

	Championship:	Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization
	Publisher:	Bandai Namco Entertainment
	Developer:	Aquria
	Platform:	PS4
	Resolution:	1920 x 1080
	Sound:	Japanese
	Subtitles:	English (White)
	Local Players:	1
	Online Players:	ii-4
	Install:	YES (19GB)

Our View:

Developed by Aquria, the Japanese development studio responsible for the original Sword Fine art Online: Infinity Moment PSP game as well as the Sword Fine art Online: Hollow Fragment PS Vita game, and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment comes Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization; the fourth instalment into the Sword Art Online videogame timeline which sees Kirito, Asuna and the rest of the gang commence on a new take a chance inside the VRMMORPG (Virtual-Reality-Massively-Multiplaye-Online-Role-Playing-Game) known as Sword Fine art Origin and it's hub world of Ainground.

The story here is that Sword Fine art Origin is the newly released VRMMORPG and it over again sees the entire Sword Art Online cast-listing notice themselves introduced into this new virtual reality game that has been built on the foundations of the previous Sword Art Online game. Fortunately for our cast of characters the 'Death Game' that existed within Sword Fine art Online is nowhere to be plant and as such our cast of characters can play through the game as originally intended. That is until they meet a mysterious NPC (Non-Player-Graphic symbol) who has no purpose inside the game other than a potential broken quest.  Equally you would expect; intrigued by this new-found-graphic symbol Kirito, and in turn the balance of the SAO Bandage, concur to notice her truthful purpose within the game and as a outcome a new in-depth story begins to unfold – one which features a variety of interesting twists and turns for those involved.

As with previous Sword Art Online games it is an interesting storyline and information technology's one that carries the player forward throughout the entire game with dialogue presented in visual novel form with glorious artwork and while the story of this NPC Grapheme, who is later named Premiere past our group of protagonists, may be the reason you lot'll carry on playing the game it is really the extensive amount of in-game content that will have upward your extensive gameplay time. I'm not suggesting that the story of Premiere is brusk-lived, far from it, information technology's just that the corporeality of side-quests, self-exploration, grinding and romance elements will far exceed your storyline progression.

Thats right; in-depth character elements, such every bit Romance, Relationships and Graphic symbol Customisation, which were present in Sword Fine art Online: Hollow Fragment, but were removed from Sword Art Online: Lost Vocal, are at present present in this Sword Fine art Online: Hollow Realization game. For instance despite being referred to every bit 'Kirito' you can really fully customise and rename this character to your own desire while the newly re-implemented romance elements can see you go 'Lovey-Dovey' with any character within the game. It's a feature I never actually became accustomed to within Hollow Fragment and yet information technology returns here inside Hollow Realization and, in some aspects at least, information technology operates in exactly the same style. Affection is the proper terminology for the romance organisation and it volition meet your bond with various characters become stronger to a bespeak that yous can non merely bridal bear the character but engage in intimate pillow-talk with that character. Sword Art Online has oftentimes been referred to as a bit of a harem; and with the reinclusion of these features y'all tin can now brand your own harem within Hollow Realization; just similar you could in Hollow Fragment. Like I said; personally it's not 1 for me – and it's a system I struggle to go to grips with – only its here if players so wish to use it.

For me the Affection System was a difficult learning bend within Hollow Fragment and equally such seeing it return in Hollow Realization is a bit of a heartache; fortunately some adjusts have been fabricated to this feature to brand information technology much more attainable and the same tin can as well be said for other features of the game; namely the combat mechanics and the on-screen HUD.  In Hollow Fragment the combat seemed relatively sluggish and automated; while the on-screen HUD seemed overpowering and complicated; just now within Hollow Realization the combat mechanics accept been tuned to offering a more simplistic approach and –in some aspects at least – effort to mirror those inside Lost Song.

There'due south no denying that the on-screen HUD for Hollow Realization, much like its predecessor Hollow Fragment, is a bit overwhelming but afterward spending some fourth dimension with it yous'll learn that it's not likewise bad. For starters controlling the grapheme and the photographic camera is done via the analog sticks while the Playstation buttons are used to perform leap (X), slash set on (Square), equipped skill (Triangle) or use higlighted the item (Circumvolve) with dodge beingness left to R1 and the other L1, L2 and R2 buttons left to collaborate with the other characters (such likewise done, or heal). The HUD display in the centre of the screen lists obtained skills also as items and by using the D-Pad yous can highlight a choosen skill, or item, and then apply it by pressing the Circumvolve button. In short; your entire combat system is mapped to the controller and information technology flows quite naturally once you've learned to use it.

Alternative options, such as viewing your skill-tree, equipping items or managing quests are washed through the pause screen.  As y'all can imagine the skill-tree is used to unlock new abilities and attacks and depending on the weapon beingness used will result in different abilities being unlocked for utilize. Of course as this is a simulated online MMORPG feel and accessing the pause carte du jour will NOT intermission the game so if in combat you can still be attacked or if pausing inside a hub world you'll find that other characters will still go virtually their activities. Information technology's a realistic experience and it'southward a simple feat that has carried over from past games in the Sword Art Online franchise.

Speaking of hub-worlds the main hub earth is separated into several areas each of which seem to be inspired by the hub-world within Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment but albeit on a much larger scale. By and large the hub worlds are separated in send gate, shops, and relaxation area with each area littered with characters that can be interacted with and recruited. This, in some aspects, is one of Hollow Realizations new talking points – the ability that every character inside the game, with some exclusions, can exist interacted with and recruited to your political party and then used in quests scattered across the world. Speaking of parties players tin can recruit up to iii boosted characters, be it main members of the Sword Art Online bandage or anyone within the game itself, resulting in a political party of four and larger raids and quests tin can simply be acomplished past using these larger parties. In some aspects the more than characters within a political party the piece of cake a quest will exist; which is the same for nearly MMORPG's on the market.

Personally I neglected to utilise this characteristic, as I tended to just switch betwixt the main cast of SAO Characters, but information technology's nice to have that freedom of choosing anyone you want in the world and befriending them to venture on a mission with you. Again it adds to that realism of most simulating an MMORPG without actually being online or engaging with other players. It's a solo histrion game simply with the functionality of a massively multiplayer online game and once over again it works flawlessly within this game.

The Hub-Earth is of course the starting point in any MMORPG and within Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization this experience has been false extremely well; not just considering of how populated it is, both in characters and shops, just it is used to venture forwards into quests (via the quest board located in each area) so enter the many dungeons available on the world map. The idea is that players would utilize the Transport Gate to access different parts of the world; to which they will be transported to a dungeon of sorts – such equally an open up field or dark rocky environment. Each location is varied and enemies appear in various amounts; withal different previous games these monsters will not assault you lot unless prevoked. It's quite refreshing to walk around a dungeon map without having to defend myself from an enemy assault and it makes the game a more 'peaceful' environment and slightly easier to handle when dealing with tough situations; which bizarrely enough the monsters do seem overpowered at times.

Speaking of tough situations specialised events tin can occur during an exploration of a dungeon map and unlike regular enemies on the map defeating them volition award special bonuses. For example one of the get-go events will job you lot in defeating numerous boar's to which not only is knowledge caused but a special detail is also awarded. Further into this detail dungeon another event will see a giant tree-type-monster destroying the surrounding area with you being tasked to end it. These events are timed and although they appear 'every-time' you enter the location information technology offers that 'diversity' that previous games in the franchise did non every bit even if yous are already on a quest these events will even so take place. A discussion of warning though; these events will be at a higher difficulty than monsters in the surrounding surface area; so you may have to wait earlier actually taking the issue on.

It'southward safe to say that Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization is filled to the brim with content, more so than previous entries into the franchise; but unfortunately information technology'southward non without its problem and most relate to my ain personal desires of the game. For starters the text and icons on-screen can exist difficult to read during the screen size, fifty-fifty on larger screens, and at times I found myself getting closer to the screen (which is a 49" LED 2 metres away) for me to understand the text thats listed in the HUD or around the hub world. This carries on to my second complaint; the hub-world is larger than needed and shops have no indication as to what they are until you talk with them. Of course generic clues are scattered around the store, such as weapons or potions, only it's always nice to know what they are earlier you interact with them. Finally enemies can exist overpowered and subversive resulting in the game being more than 'grinding' than expected; a feat which very rarely occurred within Sword Art Online: Lost Song as at times inside that detail game I defeated monsters that were several hundred levels higher than me.

Of grade these are merely personal niggles I have with Hollow Realization but in that location is more annoyances to be found; such as the relatively basic visuals of the game – it looks like a PS2 remastered for the PS4 – and the fact that characters can walk through each other (especially enemies when not in combat) and that general clipping occurs everywhere within the game. For me the game doesn't feel as polished as it could be and in my eyes Sword Fine art Online: Lost Song still offers the better gameplay experience, both visually and storyline.

Truth be told though; these are simply minor blemishes on what is really an amazing game. From my perspective Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization is a sequel to Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment as everything that made the original PS Vita has been improved and expanded upon within this game; which is what a sequel should practise. Certain plenty the visuals may not be as impressive every bit Dark Souls III but information technology offers then extensive gameplay with an interesting, and entertaining, story to go along with it. If you are hoping Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization volition exist similar to Lost Song then you'll exist disappointed, equally its nix of the sort; but if you enjoyed Hollow Fragment so you'll love what Hollow Realization has to offer.

Score:

Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization is now available for the PS4 and PS Vita in both Retail and Digital formats.

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