Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization Reviews
At the end of the day, Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization is the kind of game that you probably already know if you’re interested in or not. This is an anime-inspired, in-depth RPG that comes with all the trappings, good and bad, that your mind associates with that description.
Hollow Realization is easily the best game based on the SAO Series; however its far from perfect. Albeit it offers a functional scheme of controls, a rich world to explore and an ambitious relations system, its weak and boring story, confusing menus and poor character AI make this game a hard test for all those die-hard fans. If you are a desperate gamer then maybe you will have a difficult time with this game; if you prevail all of its flaws, then you will get rewarded with a game that overflows with personality and fanservice.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Fun MMORPG-style mechanics aside, this game lacks much of the excitement the license is known for.
Skip it unless you're a diehard Sword Art Online fan.
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!
It’s possible to argue that the release of Sword Art Online -Hollow Realization- is a bit much.
Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization does not depart from the fluctuating quality of its predecessors, with a pleasant story, though designed specifically for fans of the original work, accompanied by a complex and layered gameplay, which, however, has unclear mechanics to challenge even the most experienced of players.
Review in Italian | Read full review
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
Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization is a faithful representation of the source material that unfortunately has flaws in gameplay that can be infuriating at times. This is an unfortunate consequence of trying to follow the aesthetics of an MMO world.
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.
Hollow Realization is the strongest iteration of Sword Art Online to date, and an easy recommendation for fans of the anime and previous games.
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.
Regardless, much of the content is either repetitive or forced reading, and the story isn't going to win any awards. To enjoy this title, you have to want to spend more time with characters you already know. If you aren't interested in Kirito and Asuna's budding romance or Yui playing the dual-roles of both game guide and in-game daughter, you aren't likely to derive a lot of entertainment from Hollow Realization. There are better action-RPGs on Switch, such as the aforementioned Ys VIII, but certainly none that give the freedom of exploring and interacting your favourite SAO personalities.
It is hard to recommend Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization to anyone who isn’t already a Sword Art fan. The story just takes so long to get into and you can’t skip the cut scenes. If you are a fan of Sword Art on the other hand, the combat and co-op is enough to make this game enjoyable.
Sure, it might take you a couple of solid evenings to break though the barrier for it all to make sense, but when you do? It's easily one of the best action RPGs on Switch.
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.
Having a game like Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization on-the-go made my experience with the title a positive one, one I believe that if I had played it in one swoop on my PS4, I may have had a differing opinion. But for fans, this is simply awesome, and I definitely can’t wait to jump back in, and grind a little more. Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization on Nintendo Switch, is a must have for JRPG lovers.
Hollow Realization is a vast, open game. If you enjoy aspects of MMO’s and have always wanted to play one offline and single player, this is a great title to jump in and do that with. Sure, it doesn’t have everything that an MMO typically offers, but what is there is really well done. The story is interesting enough at times, the combat continues to shine, and the exploration will keep fans of the genre and of the anime busy for months to come.