Review for Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization. Game for PlayStation 4, PlayStation Network and PlayStation Vita, the video game was released on 27/10/2016 The version for PlayStation 4 came out on 08/11/2016
Time passes, the years pass and the words remain. With this melodic phrase the good Reki Kawahara, the eponymous writer of light novels, gave birth to one of the most loved novels in the land of the Rising Sun. We are talking about Sword Art Online, a saga that has been able to unite thousands of players and reach heights never thought before.. After the well-known success with the animated series, Bandai Namco aroused particular interest in making a title that was able to run on Sony home consoles and Smartphone devices.
Back in 2013, the Japanese company succeeds in bringing the first video game based on the novel by Reki Kawahara: Sword Art Online: Infinity Moment for PlayStation Portable. As in any self-respecting adventure, the protagonist has a fundamental role and, even in this last title, we will have as protagonist the beloved and courageous Kitigay Kazuto alias "Kirito": the latter, a lover of MMORPGs, has already been the protagonist of the penultimate chapter and will also be in this Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization.
After debuting on PlayStation 4 and PS Vita way back in 2016, the title is ready to land on the small hybrid from Nintendo Japan: Nintendo Switch. The latter, renamed as Deluxe Edition, will include all the DLC released so far on other consoles including the latest expansion: Dissonance of The Nexus.
Before getting to the heart of the discussion, we remind you that Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization is already available on Nintendo Switch for the modest sum of € 49,99, and can be purchased both in physical and digital format.
For those who do not know, in Sword Art Online we will be projected into the future completely different from how we imagine it and we will be immersed in a world where technology has now gone beyond all expectations: this new technology, called Full Dive, will be able to immerse ourselves in video games in a completely realistic way, too much we would say. In fact, thanks to this VR helmet, we will be able to control our character directly with the signals sent by the brain activity of our body; but be careful, not all that glitters is gold.
Before starting our adventure we will have the possibility to customize the character to our liking: eyes, mouth, hair, weapons and many other options will make the customization of the legendary Kirito interesting. Once the title has been launched and the initial video has been viewed, we will be ready to dive into this magical adventure.
Do I play or do I not play? This is the dilemma:
After the events upon which its predecessor was based (Sword Art Online: Lost Song), our protagonist is invited to participate as a beta tester in a new VRMMORPG entitled Sword Art: Origins, of which the exit is now close. In this adventure we will find many characteristics of Lost Song: this time, however, we will not be at risk of "death" and we will not have any kind of threat behind us, but the problems will be quite different. The adventure starts directly, focusing everything on the mysterious encounter between Kirito and the new NPC who, apparently, has no background and entered by mistake by the game's developers. The curiosity of the protagonist and his faithful companions will accompany us for the duration of the game, gradually solving this dark and mysterious story.
The plot of Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization has a very slow progression and gives the best of itself only after hours and hours of dialogue that lead back to a specific narrative thread. As the adventure progresses, the first threads and the first mysteries of this new adventure will begin to emerge which, with great effort, will lead us to the story that builds the entire game plot.
Sharp weapons and frantic combat:
The combat system of Swort Art Online: Hollow Realization on Switch proves to be quite innovative compared to its predecessors, offering us a modicum of innovation and frenzy. In this title the attacks will not be automatic, on the contrary: game machines prefer an action approach and we will have to combine offensive attacks, combos and special techniques to get the better of the enemies and the various bosses of the game. Party management is vital for common survival: managing our group in the best possible way will guarantee us to inflict much more damage than normal and quickly conclude the challenges against the enemy hordes.
To better manage the group, we will have the opportunity to give orders to our party in real time and create devastating team combos. Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization has one of the most important features of the title on its side: the protagonist can modify in real time the weapons, skills and abilities of the group ensuring that he is always one step ahead of the enemy. By completing the missions, it will be essential to compliment the other members of the party: the latter will specialize in that action guaranteeing increasingly targeted attacks and prolonged combos.
Multiplayer for all:
As happened on Sony's mother's consoles, cooperative multiplayer is back on Nintendo Switch:
Graphics and Sound:
From a graphic point of view Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization on Switch still does its duty, certainly far superior to its predecessors. Graphically, despite not reaching amazing heights, it was quite pleasant to us despite the fact that the Nintendo home console is not as performing as a PlayStation 4. The scripts of the characters are well done while the textures of the game world a little less: we will happen to notice evident grains and very slow Pop-Up uploads during free exploration.
The uploads are no exception: we waited 15 seconds for uploads to move from one city to another, bringing with it the same defect that the PlayStation Vita version of the game suffered. Speaking of the sound sector, the title still best expresses its qualities, giving us melodies worthy of its predecessors even during daily confrontations or while exploring. Obviously on Nintendo Switch the title pushes itself to the maximum of its limits and, all in all, ">
">Pros and cons:Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization is a very long-lived title, so long-lived that it could last indefinitely for fans of the series: it will take over 40 hours to complete the main campaign, excluding all secondary missions and extra activities that will be assigned to usThe gameplay footage is quite spectacular and well characterized, giving us moments of pure love for the genre in question.
We cannot say the same about the dialogues with the characters that, in the long run, will lead us to get bored: some dialogue scenes are endless and full of lines of text that, after a while, will give us a feeling of too much smoke and no roast. Localization is well done and is essential for a title of this caliber. The Deluxe Edition also contains all the free updates, DLCs and expansions launched so far, giving the player additional hours of gameplay on our Nintendo Switch.
Summing up, Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization Deluxe Edition is a title that is still valid both for all lovers of the genre in question and for those who want to approach this videogame genre for the first time. Although it is still far from the PlayStation 4 version, this one on Nintendo Switch will guarantee you to have a complete, portable and long-lived game for the modest sum of (€ 49,99).
Will you buy Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization on Switch? Do you find the Bandai Namco ports on the Nintendo hybrid interesting?
► Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization is an RPG type game developed and published by Bandai Namco for PlayStation 4, PlayStation Network and PlayStation Vita, the video game was released on 27/10/2016 The version for PlayStation 4 came out on 08/11/2016
