Sword Art Online: Alicization Lycoris Reviews

Sword Art Online: Alicization Lycoris is ranked in the 8th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
2.8 / 5.0
Oct 22, 2022

Overall, while there is some fun to be had in the game and a narrative that's genuinely interesting albeit flawed, Sword Art Online: Alicization Lycoris is too filled with issues to be anything worthy of being recommended to those who aren't hardcore fans of the series, and the Switch port, unfortunately, still has a lot of the existing issues seen in other platforms. As a result, I'd suggest a different, better-optimized game to play for those interested in delving into the virtual world of Sword Art Online.

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7.5 / 10.0
Oct 7, 2022

For fans of the franchise, it’s a purchase. Either at launch or the minute it gets to a “too good to pass up” sale. Especially when it’s such a popular series, and in this case a very popular arc that’s been adapted. For people who aren’t already in the know, nothing about the game is designed to bring people in. Little marketing, gameplay trailers unashamedly show off all the flaws, and the Japanese only voice acting is a huge deal-breaker for many in the west. For me personally though, I fall into the former category.

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6.1 / 10.0
Sep 30, 2022

There’s engaging combat to be enjoyed at some point in the game, but getting there is pretty painful

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5 / 10
Sep 29, 2022

Sword Art Online: Alicization Lycoris takes forever to get moving. By the time the training wheels come off, players will likely have switched off in frustration. Pacing is a big issue for the first half of the game, with hours spent in unskippable cutscenes or repetitive tutorials before the best features become available. There is a decent game locked away behind the multiple missteps and technical issues, and if you've got the requisite patience and high regard for the source material, there are things to like - most notably the smooth, engaging combat. The problem is that getting to it feels like work rather than play.

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5 / 10.0
Oct 2, 2020

Sword Art Online: Alicization Lycoris makes a great effort to entertain the player and up to a certain point succeeds. Eventually, however, it completely loses the character it tried to build during the first hours.

Review in Greek | Read full review

Sep 2, 2020

I enjoyed my time playing Sword Art Online: Alicization Lycoris, especially after all the recent updates. The game has a decent story, very fun combat, a well-implemented soundtrack, beautiful environments and great looking characters. However, it is still affected by technical issues, an absurdly long first chapter, a questionable use of character creation, the omission of characters such as Yuuki and the CUBE shop system which shouldn’t be there in the first place. It took me about 121 hours to beat the main story while doing side missions and Bond Events as well. Once you beat the story, you can tackle Raid Dungeons, try to test your mettle against high level foes, try to get high rarity weapons or even try to unlock all the event CGs. So there’s still some things to do even after beating the game. Would I recommend paying $60 for this game? I would only recommend doing that if you’re a hardcore Sword Art Online fan like me. If you’re not, I recommend waiting for a sale or waiting for the technical issues in the base game to be mostly fixed. If you do decide to take the dive, know there’s an immense amount of content waiting for you.

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6 / 10
Aug 19, 2020

Ultimately SWORD ART ONLINE: Alicization Lycoris takes too long to get to the point both in its combat and story, leaving the player disinterested before it even really begins. There is a good game here if you do commit to it, with some great character and world design, enjoyable combat, and interesting game systems, but it's just not worth the slog to reach it.

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5 / 10
Aug 18, 2020

There's a solid base to work from but the development team ultimately failed to piece numerous promising elements together and produce a captivating adventure.

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6.5 / 10.0
Aug 14, 2020

Sword Art Online: Alicization Lycoris boasts one of the most fun combat systems I’ve seen in a SAO game to date, replete with a nice selection of weapon types and playstyles to boot. It’s just unfortunate how that fun combat is gated behind an unevenly paced narrative that tends to overstay its welcome at times — and I’m a proponent for more storytelling in games. The game won’t be for everyone. Folks who are willing to break through its wall of text, however, will find some great action hidden behind all that exposition.

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6 / 10.0
Aug 11, 2020

Sword Art Online Alicization Lycoris attempts to revamp the franchise and breathe new life into it, with very polarizing results.

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4 / 10.0
Aug 9, 2020

Sword Art Online: Alicization Lycoris is more of an Anime than a video game, and if you are interested in this type of entertainment, there are far better options available on the market.

Review in Persian | Read full review

50 / 100
Aug 8, 2020

Marked by its myriad of technical and structural issues, Sword Art Online: Alicization Lycoris manages to be one of the worst games ever released under the franchise, with even its hits being limited by all the mistakes made in a project that at every moment feels like it was rushed and released without the necessary care and polish.

Review in Portuguese | Read full review

4.7 / 10.0
Aug 6, 2020

I'm sure it has its niche but if you're simply an RPG fan looking for a new game to sink some time into, you can do a lot better than Sword Art Online Alicization Lycoris. Its lack of respect for the player's time and unforgivable performance issues are downright ridiculous.

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GameGrin
ErrorNikki
Top Critic
3 / 10.0
Aug 4, 2020

While Sword Art Online: Alicization Lycoris is ambitious in scope it ends up being a largely unenjoyable title full of technical problems, bugs, and horrible pacing.

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2 / 5.0
Jul 29, 2020

Aside from fans of the series, there aren’t many this game could be recommended to unless they’re looking for a flawed and boring ordeal.

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4 / 10.0
Jul 28, 2020

Sword Art Online: Alicization Lycoris had great potential to be not only the biggest, but the best game in the franchise. Despite having a good combat system and being fun and challenging to synchronize the commands of four characters, hours of unnecessary conversation interrupts the pace of action, in addition to technical problems compromising the game. In the end, it's more of a playable adaptation of the anime's third season than, in fact, a new experience for fans.

Review in Portuguese | Read full review

70 / 100
Jul 24, 2020

At its launch, Sword Art Online: Alicization Lycoris suffered from a lot of game bugs that certainly put off players, especially given its high price tag.

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1.5 / 5.0
Jul 23, 2020

The energizing battle and fascinating characters aren’t sufficient to spare this activity RPG from being simply one more frustrating commentary in this current anime’s inheritance.

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7.1 / 10.0
Jul 23, 2020

Sword Art Online: Alicization Lycoris is a fun RPG for fans of the series, but it requires a lot of effort from the player to learn its rules and settings. The pace is really mixed at times and the various glitches make it frustrating, but exploring the huge environments of Underworld and battling the big beasts with your favorite character is fun if you can overcome these problems.

Review in Italian | Read full review

3 / 5 stars
Jul 23, 2020

Sword Art Online Alicization Lycoris features many compelling ideas, but its technical foundation needs more work.

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