Fantastically fresh, Kernel Hearts combines many tried-and-true elements of previously acclaimed roguelike titles alongside strong bullet-hell elements, creating a great but sometimes slightly unfocused experience.
Echoes of Aincrad is the roughest gem there ever was. Despite all of the criticism I have levied, I have had a great amount of fun with the title, and I will continue to play it to finish my completion of its achievements, perhaps even take another shot at DGM when its expansion releases. However, the issues that it does have range from glaring in the case of quality of life, such as the inability to freely traverse the gorgeous open world outside of mission boundaries, to outright crippling, as is the case for the game's encounter design and balancing. What EoA desperately needs to do is to communicate what kind of game it is: it is not an emulation of the experience of a VRMMO but an action title that aims to simply pay homage to the atmosphere of its source material, to be immersive first and foremost via its presentation while offering the experience of an entirely different genre.
TG feels unfinished, as if more areas were planned, like Kamelot, that were ultimately too big for the scope of this title alone. Characters that appear grandiose and important come and go without ever making the impact that they should, and while the core gameplay loop is strong, it is not enough to overshadow the issues of trying to play it due to the slew of technical issues TG is currently tainted by. What it offers is an interesting setting and a unique interpretation of Arthurian legend—strong progression systems and exploration due to its fantastic world design—but the experience is marred by being spread too thin—by too many gameplay systems that feel pointless and by the game's writing being desperate to have one more act to coherently finish its various plotlines.