Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization Reviews
Hollow Realization shows no progress for a series that appears to be relying solely on its base franchise for sales.
Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization Deluxe Edition is based on an engaging premise. However, this clumsy port of a title not exactly excellent fails to realize the potential that has fascinated the public.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization is a game that places too much of its emphasis on its dating sim mechanics rather than a polished RPG experience. Dodgy armor designs mar the progression that the weapons add to the game, and a rather stale storyline does not give enough motivation to want to progress through the game.
Sword Art Online is built on high-stakes drama and a compelling premise--Hollow Realization delivers on neither.
Skip it unless you're a diehard Sword Art Online fan.
Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization is, to put it bluntly, a little disappointing. I was expecting a lot more from it and the promises of improved combat etc… nothing really feels like it’s been changed all that much. Sure, it looks nicer and the maps have a lot more going on, but overall it just feels more of a chore to play than the enjoyable and fun Lost Song. Hollow Realization is far from a bad game it just didn’t resonate with me or meet my expectations, unfortunately. If you’re a fan of Sword Art Online and enjoyed Hollow Fragment and are looking for more of the same, then you’ll enjoy Hollow Realization.
Things like grinding, incompetent AI and unrealised affection and attribute systems mean the experience isn’t going to compare against other RPGs on the market. If you’re a fan then there’s a lot to take in, but otherwise there’s little here to keep you interested for long.
While it can be a fun action game in the short-term, it quickly becomes repetitive due to its meandering plot and disingenuously perfect cast of characters.
While 'Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization' is definitely a step up from its predecessors, it's still too rough around the edges to really appeal to anyone other than fans of the anime. It fails to take advantage of the unique premise, and an unpolished localization makes the game overly confusing in spots. Hopefully 'Sword Art Online' will get a great game adaptation, but that still hasn't happened yet.
Aquria have created a game that really does feel like an MMO.
In summary this is a game that fans of the genre will love and those new to it will most likely give up on. You can tell there has been a ton of work gone in to tweaking this game, making it clearly the best of the series to date, but the onerous nature of the storyline along with the static nature of the interaction during dialogue will put a lot of people off. Into the series? You will love this game. Hopefully I’ve helped with the pros and cons. Have fun!
Fun MMORPG-style mechanics aside, this game lacks much of the excitement the license is known for.
Hollow Realization is the best Sword Art Online game to date but that doesn't mean it's great by any means. If you're a fan of the franchise this game is a no brainer as it’s packed with so much content you can put as many hours into it as you would an actual MMO. It’s just a shame that a lot of that content is as Hollow as its name suggests.
What turns out to be a fun JRPG with a big world to explore and good combat is marred by bad story, bad quests and some diabolical pacing. Only recommended for SAO fans.
A huge game with great ideas on how to treat an environment based on a MMO world. Sadly it has many flows. While it’s combat is interesting, the characters are dull and tracking missions ends up in a headache every time. An experience only SAO fans will like.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization feels like a game that’s on the cusp of something great but is held back by a few hiccups. The story is interesting and quite fleshed out, and the base combat has potential. The inconsistent pacing, sketchy AI and grindy nature of the game, however, make it feel like a slog after a while. If you’re a fan of SAO, though, this is worth checking out just to re-experience Aincrad’s rebirth once again.
Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization is yet another licensed anime game that does not live up to the expectations. While the presentation is a success, lousy storytelling, a broken battle system and dull dialogues ruin the overall experience. The game has no rhythm or anything that makes it worthy of your attention.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
A lot of effort was clearly put into Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization, because almost every aspect of its gameplay has an underlying set of properties and nuances to come to grips with. While I usually love that kind of complexity, here it rarely felt meaningful or even coherent. Paired with a story that lacks the stakes and urgency of the source material, it leaves Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization feeling pretty tepid aside from its enjoyable combat.
Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization is a hard game to judge, since newcomers to the series will be baffled and even bemused by the overly complex mechanics and the unnecessarily convoluted story that seems to refuse to focus on the interesting parts. That being said, though, Hollow Realization is a great instalment for long-term fans of the series, as it is filled with enough fan-service to keep them entertained for a long time, or at least until the inevitable next one in the line arrives.
Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization augments the formula of past entries and largely succeeds by doing so.