Echoes of Aincrad Reviews
Echoes of Aincrad captures the thrill of survival within the floating castle through a highly dynamic real-time action combat system with Soulslike nuances, deep avatar customization, and a comprehensive alchemy and blacksmithing system—making it an unmissable RPG adventure for fans of the genre, despite suffering from some repetitiveness in its enemy roster.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Echoes of Aincrad is a title that, at first glance, offers a world full of potential for Sword Art Online fans and even newcomers. But the deeper you go, the more you encounter only repetition and weakness.
Review in Persian | Read full review
Echoes of Aincrad is a prime example of an excellent conceptual vision ruined by a gameplay experience that is unnecessarily drawn out and lacks any real boldness in its design. Although the melee combat system offers genuine moments of fun and the smithy ensures considerable depth in weapon customization, the game collapses under the weight of outdated game design, recycled content, and a narrative progression that drowns its more mature themes in a slow pace. This is a game that may perhaps entertain the most die-hard fans of the universe created by Reki Kawahara for a few hours—those drawn in by the visual fidelity and the charm of an adventure experienced from the perspective of a beta tester—but for any other fan of action RPGs, it will prove to be a repetitive experience that hit the market before it was fully mature.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Echoes of Aincrad delivers one of the most immersive Sword Art Online experiences yet, thanks to its satisfying combat, meaningful progression, and fully customizable protagonist.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
I enjoyed my time with Echoes of Aincrad. It successfully does something different with the Sword Art Online formula by allowing players to experience the Aincrad incident through an entirely new perspective, and that alone makes it feel fresh. Strong combat, enjoyable progression, excellent presentation, and a genuinely engaging story make it an easy recommendation for fans of the series.
Echoes of Aincrad faithfully recreates the visual universe of Sword Art Online and offers a functional combat system with extensive equipment optimization possibilities. Its smooth performance—using Unreal Engine 5—and the polished aesthetic of its main environments demonstrate a significant improvement in production compared to previous installments in the franchise. However, this new SAO is limited by a monotonous mission design, an exploration system restricted by invisible barriers, and a marked reuse of enemies and bosses. So, unless you're a die-hard fan of Reki Kawahara's work, it's difficult to overlook some of its shortcomings.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
I actually enjoyed the basics and found the story and characters entertaining. But the limited exploration, the sometimes chaotic combat and the unsatisfying ending detract from the experience.
Review in German | Read full review
'Echoes of Aincrad' was a title armed with ideas that fans would welcome. Viewing the original work through the eyes of a unique original protagonist offered a freshness distinct from spin-offs. However, compared to such an interesting story and setting, it was difficult to find any appealing aspects in the gameplay. In fact, setting aside its unique appeal, the level design—which should be considered the fundamentals—was so drawn out that it felt disappointing.
Review in Korean | Read full review
Sword Art Online: Echoes of Aincrad successfully shakes up the formula with an engaging, flexible action-RPG combat system and rewarding partner mechanics. Unfortunately, severe pacing issues, a lifeless custom protagonist completely overshadowed by Kirito, restrictive invisible walls, and heavily recycled enemy designs relegate this barebones spin-off to a tedious, budget-strained slog.
Despite various limitations, Echoes of Aincrad is a visually and technically solid tribute that offers SAO fans a unique way to experience the world of Aincrad from a fresh perspective.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Despite my wide array of criticisms, Echoes of Aincrad was still a pretty solid experience, but its gameplay and exploration are the weakest parts of the whole package. With a solid story and interesting characters, the recreation of the Death Game is as good as we've had it so far. Combat is fine enough, but exploration suffers due to invisible walls, and a stumbling in the dark approach to traversing it. Regardless, Echoes of Aincrad does make large strides in the right direction of being “that” Sword Art Online game we've always wanted, I just wish it felt more like the grand MMO it was needing to be.
Echoes of Aincrad is a bland, tedious attempt to cash in on the nostalgia of Sword Art Online fans, offering little more than a dozen hours of boredom.
Review in Polish | Read full review
A somewhat failed attempt to translate the Sword Art Online experience into the video game medium. Kirito and company will have to wait a little longer for the adaptation that finally does them true justice.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Echoes of Aincrad is an incredibly frustrating game because so much of it works, yet doesn’t. Its core combat mechanics, progression, and story all show flashes of what made the original series so enjoyable, yet they’re all tied together by a genuinely frustrating exploration system that repeatedly and severely undercuts their strengths.
Sword Art Online has always had a premise that seemed perfect for video games: living inside an MMORPG where every battle, level gained, and decision becomes part of a fight for survival. Echoes of Aincrad embraces that concept by placing players directly into the world of Aincrad, allowing them to create their own character and experience the early events of the series from a fresh perspective. Unlike previous adaptations, the adventure is not centered solely on Kirito. Familiar characters such as Asuna, Argo, and Kirito himself remain part of the story, but players take on the role of another survivor trapped inside the game, struggling to grow stronger and find their own path through that world. The opening hours, however, take a while to reveal the game's full potential. The prologue keeps players confined to enclosed environments for an extended period, functioning almost entirely as a lengthy tutorial while introducing the core mechanics. This approach fits the initial feeling of being trapped inside Aincrad, but it also delays the moment when the game begins to showcase its strongest qualities. Once that introductory section is finally over and players begin exploring the open areas, towns, and landscapes, it becomes much easier to understand what Echoes of Aincrad is trying to accomplish: transforming one of anime's most iconic settings into a world where players can truly forge their own adventure.
Echoes of Aincrad needed more time to live up to its own concept.
Sword Art Online: Echoes of Aincrad proves to be one of Bandai Namco’s strongest video game adaptations, although it still struggles with some of the common issues found in modern JRPGs.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Boss fights finally made me slow down in Echoes of Aincrad. Instead of cutting through another easy enemy, I had to react to what was happening and create an opening for my partner to counter. The story moved too slowly between those fights, and blocked paths kept exploration tied to the current quest. Repeated enemies made the trip to the next boss drag. This is mainly for dedicated Sword Art Online fans who want another trip through Aincrad and can accept how often repetition gets in the way.
Echoes of Aincrad is a flawed but fun (re)visit to the flying castle of Aincrad. The choice to make the main character of the game a random player in the world of Sword Art Online might be one of the best decisions in recent anime games. The action RPG combat is standard, with a large focus on the weapon you wield, offering the option to pull off some flashy attacks. However, the world and dungeon design have some odd choices built in, like the inability to venture outside a quest area in the open world or the lack of enemies for large chunks of dungeon and world map. But the moment you let go of the believability of this world, the fun starts to come in the monotony, making the experience oddly relaxing. After all, you’re playing a game within a game.
Echoes of Aincrad is a serviceable entry point for most casual fans, complementing the main narrative without ever detracting from it.