Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization (PS Vita) Review

Sword Art Online comes in again with its third gaming entry, and again continues the continuity set forth in the first one.  However, playing the others beforehand isn't required, as the developers have learned a few things since the first game released.

I have yet to play the second game, Lost Song, but I don't feel like I'm missing any story.  Unlike the first game, Hollow Realization starts with very little backstory.  It's just enough to set up roughly who the characters are, and optional bits explain the overview of the last two games.  It's a huge leap forward from the first game, whose jumbled mess of an explanation was only useful to those that knew the story already.

Before most of that, however, you must complete the battle tutorial.  While I do appreciate games dropping you into the action quickly, this battle tutorials are not for the basics, but for the newer systems.  So, they won't make you press every button (this is how to attack...etc.), or tell you about how to do special moves, but they instead teach you when to stagger enemies and how to chain skills.  Based off this tutorial, the combat is something I'm going to have to get used to.  I'm not even sure I got the skill chain successfully, as it never said that and the monster eventually died.  Either way, I was done with that and ready to move on to the game.

I did eventually 'get' the combat, but it took me a few hours.  While the game appears to be more hack and slash, that won't help you get good at the game.  To put it another way, it works on normal enemies, but not on bosses.  You have a normal combo, but can place an unlocked skill as the combo ender, which is a really cool feature.  Otherwise, you can equip and activate up to four skills.  Rather than be in a standard configuration, they are based on the Triangle button and various commands with it.  It's not the best solution in my book, but you can call up the command bar if you want access to more.

Kirito can also parry enemy attacks.  You rarely have enough time to do it on reaction, so you just have to know when to do it.  I rarely ended up using it, and mostly dodged.  The dodge is much more reliable, but it unfortunately costs SP.  SP is also used to activate skills, and restores slowly, so you have to prioritize which you want to use it on.  The dodge is also unfortunately not an animation skip, so you have to be careful that you aren't in the middle of an attack when you need to use it, as you won't be able to until after the attack finishes.

Since the game is supposed to be you playing as a person playing an MMO, you only really control your main character (Kirito unless you make one).  You can't directly control the other party members you have, such as asking them to heal you, but you have some influence in what they do.  There is an icon on the lower right of the screen that allows you to compliment someone, which, in theory, shapes what abilities they do when in your party.

Still, it would be easier if I could just have them heal me.  Especially Silica.  I don't want to take her along in the first place, but her class is listed as healer, so I expect her to do that.  Kirito doesn't get a healing ability, and I don't want to just chug potions all day when there are other party members with me who can help me stay healthy.  It would give them something to do, since they aren't too keen on attacking.  When you are busy hacking and slashing away at enemies, it's easy to lose sight of your friends, but watch them when you get a chance.  In any instance where you have to sit back for a second (or a named monster puts you to sleep for over 30 excruciating seconds), you may notice that they don't do much.  Sure, they are helpful at using skills for a chain when you ask them too, but they don't attack near as much as you do.  They really do rely on Kirito for everything.

Hollow Realization's story seems par for the course for Sword Art Online.  Kirito quickly meets a young woman that he decided to help for no real reason.  Just like Yui.  And Strea.  And Philia.  And Yuuki...the list goes on.  Here's some minor early-game spoilers.  The girl he helps this time is a null character who has an incomplete quest.  Instead of reporting it, or at least making fun of a bug like a normal gamer would, they decide to protect her.  What?  I'm pretty sure an actual gamer wouldn't try to befriend the bug and help it stay in the game rather than get fixed.  Maybe they are just enamored with her personality, like Yui?  Nope, they blatantly state that she is a null character, meaning she has nothing to her.  She's a place holder.  She is somehow more bland than the Create A Wrestler move stand-ins, Red and Green.  They are also in the game's beta phase, when stuff like this is to be reported and fixed.  Of course doing what they do just rolls into the plot, but it's still a bit of a ridiculous premise to me.

Anyway, on to where the game takes place.  The areas of Ainground are really big.  Much bigger than I would think.  The nice part of this is that you have plenty of space to move around and fight enemies without bumping into additional enemies.  It's really easy to fight one at a time.  The bad part is it takes awhile to go from one end to the other.  The start of each area has a teleporter that, once activated, allows you to warp to it from the map.  Switching areas and returning to town are thankfully very easy affairs.  You only have to deal with the fairly long loading times.

When moving around the first area, the first groups of enemies are appropriately leveled.  The next few groups (still in the first area) were a few levels higher, which made me think I had to grind to get though the first area.  I did grind, but I didn't need to.  Enemies in each area have a level range, so some are higher than their neighbors.  This isn't ideal, as it confused at least one player (me).  Also, you can reasonably take on enemies that are 2-3 levels higher than you (unless they are named monsters), which I didn't know at the time.  Unfortunately, the game will also throw random super high level monsters into an area, but they are easy to avoid until you can actually fight them much, much later in the game.

Most story quests are clearly marked on the map, or at least which area the objective is in, but it isn't always so clear.  There are a few objectives that you are given very basic directions for, and you end up wandering around until you can figure them out.  It can put a damper on progression.  Side quests will tell you in the description where you are likely to complete them, which is very helpful.  However, each area can be rather large, so you still have to run around (or remember) where to fight the required monsters.  There's a third type of quest, which are events that randomly appear on the map when you enter.  These are clearly marked with circles, so you know the area they take place in.  So, even if you are at a loss how to advance the story, there are plenty of things to occupy your time.  Or at least mine, since I love doing side quests.

Will Sword Art Online fans like Hollow Realization?  Likely.  It's not a bad game, even though it has some issues.  I could see the PS4 version being better with regards to loading and draw distance, so that may be the version to get.  Hollow Realization at least makes it more approachable for new fans to jump into the games without an unnecessarily long introduction to the universe.  I can see clear differences between this and the first game in the series, and to me, it still shows that the developers are trying things out to see what works and what doesn't.  It's worth playing for fans of the show, but I still feel we aren't to a great Sword Art Online game...yet.  It is getting closer, though.


The Good:
The game starts off much better than the first one.  Large areas to explore and plenty of quests to complete.

The Bad:
Story quest progression can be very vague at times.  The AI companions aren't very helpful.

The SaHD:
I'd like to see the game go full action RPG, and allow more fluid combat.

(Review code for Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization was provided by the publisher)

Year End Wrap-Up, part 3

Games to Revisit
Getting copies of games to review is really awesome, and reviewing a game pushes me to beat it if I can in the time allotted.  However, I don't always get to play as much as I want of a game, due to actually getting the review out in a timely manner and other scheduling things (stupid real life).

Of course Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate will go here.  My buddy Mark Tatsu and I were so close to the end, and we've fought all but like 4 monsters.  If it wasn't for him getting married and other silly things we would have done it, too.  Now, I'm not advocating that he give up his life to play more Monster Hunter with me, but he definitely could have tried to work it in.  It's not like I wasn't making time for it, and he doesn't even have kids.

I've played a few visual novels in 2015, and I enjoyed them.  For Amnesia: Memories, Norn9 and Code: Realize, I would really like to get all the endings, and the platinum trophies if I could.  Another platinum I'd love to get is for Lost Dimension.  I really liked that game and would love to have enough time to finish my second run and hopefully get the rest of the trophies.  Well, maybe a third run so I can save my waifu Mana...

There are three other RPGs that I would add to the list of games I want to play more.  Omega Quintet was a game I found humorous and fun, and would love to put another 30 hours into.  Sword Art Online RE: Hollow Fragment is also on that list, since it is basically two games merged into one.  I liked it and would love to have to time to pour into it and get the platinum.  To round out the RPG list is, predictably, Disgaea 5.  I've really enjoyed the series, and I would like to devote more time to leveling up my characters and doing post-game stuff and a lot of the extra things you can do in the game.

Since I enjoy hack and slash games, I might as well include some recent Warriors games.  Samurai Warriors 4-II, Samurai Warriors Chronicles 3 and One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3 still have a handful of content I haven't completed, and I want to.  Those should be easier because it is very possible to pick up and play, and my son enjoys playing them too.  I could play with him or have him play them and grind me out some drops, hahaha.  Anyway, I'd also like to add Dynasty Warriors Gundam 3, since I haven't finished that one off and I've had it for years.  Good game, though.

Sword Art Online Re: Hollow Fragment (PS4)

Sword Art Online Re: Hollow Fragment is a game based off the popular Sword Art Online anime TV show and light novel.  It follows the main character Kirito who is trapped in an online virtual world with 10,000 other players.  If you die in the game or are disconnected from the Nervegear interface device in real life, you then die in real life.  It's a high stakes MMO game that shows the best and worst side of humanity on the internet.  Throughout his journey, Kirito meets several friends (most of which are female) and opens up as a person.

Why give you this backstory?  Well for one, this is a more succinct and easy to follow version than the haphazard one the game gives you.  The first hour or two of the game is probably my biggest complaint.  Thankfully, I have seen the first season of the TV show, so I was not completely lost.  The game starts with Kirito teleporting to a strange new area and meeting a new character.  Then a battle starts.  I'll give the game props for starting off with some action to get the player excited, but without a backstory understanding of who or what is going on, it lessens that dramatically.

After some dialogue and a small dungeon with the new character in tow, then the game decides to give the players some background.  However, it starts this by jumping to the point where the game and TV show split canonically, which happens to be right near the end of the anime.  This isn't in and of itself bad, but again, there's no context for people new to the series to have an understanding what is going on.  Then we get some flashbacks about how the game world works and the situation the characters are in, along with a brief explanation and introduction to the two characters that were from later seasons, Leafa and Sinon.

I get the idea they were going for, but it is somewhat confusing to me, who has some knowledge of the IP, let alone someone jumping in to it with the game.  As far as I can tell, this is an alternate take on what happens near the end of the first arc, so players can experience something new in the franchise.  They also shoehorn in the later characters, because... why not?  I will say the game does get better from that point on, but having a very jumbled first hour or two of your game can kill interest quickly.

Once you fully start the game, you are in a new town on the 76th floor.  Unfortunately, none of the previous floors are accessible.  I would have really loved to explore some of the locations shown in the show, and I suspect I'm not alone.  True, I do want a new experience, but being able to go to some of the key areas would be cool to nerd-out on.  Anyway, this city serves as your hub for shops, finding characters and other similar things.

The flow of each floor is roughly the same.  Arrive, take the quests offered and go out into the dungeon.  Solve the quests to get info on the boss and find its location.  Armed with that information, you can then assemble a strike force to take it out.  Bosses are a lot tougher than normal enemies and have several HP bars.  The knowledge you gain of their attacks by solving quests helps a lot.  Considering your ultimate goal is to get through the game with no one else dying, you'll want that help.  There's also a last hit bonus if you get the killing blow.  If you don't care about missing stuff or trophies, then it's not as important to get the final hit and keep everyone alive, but completionists will spend extra time to make sure they do both... every floor.

Battles appear very simple, but are surprisingly tactical.  Although, early on you can just mash if you want to.  Kirito will auto attack if you stand near an enemy in combat, but you will get far more damage if you hit the Circle button.  Each press takes a section of the Burst gauge, so you can't keep hitting it, but you can get a combo ender if you can do enough hits.  There are also several skills you can use in battle, and each has a cooldown.  Try not to just blow them all, since your partner will request you do certain actions.  If you fulfill the request, you will get a team attack.  You also won't want to let either Kirito or your partner's life bar empty, as that is game over.  Remember the stakes?  That will kill them in the real world.

The battles aren't really that complicated, but remembering what to hold to use what skills and which skill is which make it seem so.  It's not the most intuitive system.  Sadly, there are other parts of the game that aren't really intuitive either.  When you get to a new floor, there is a town there, but you don't really walk around it.  You have the functions laid out in a menu, which is helpful, but different from the first town you are in.  Plus, you don't walk outside for the floor's dungeon, but select it.  To get to another floor, you teleport from the first town.  It just feels like they introduce a way to do it, then use another way once you start going.  Ugh.  It's not a huge flaw, but it is a questionable decision on their part.  You can also get new skills from a character's menu, which as far as I can tell, was not mentioned in the game.  If it is, I must have missed it.  Together these make it much easier to marathon the game, rather than pick it up and play it every so often.

Keeping with the show, there is no pause function.  While this makes sense, since it is supposed to be an MMO, it isn't, so I would really like the ability to pause.  At least they put the Logout command on the menu, but it doesn't work, so it is as legit as the show.  Also, the Circle button is used to talk to people and examine things, but it is also the cancel button.  Most games use the 'accept' button as the examine, so you can hit it multiple times to skip through text and select the choices.  In Hollow Fragment, if you do that you will cancel out.  Again, not a deal breaker, but I had to consciously remember to hit different buttons when talking to people and making selections from examining things.  It just feels like it wasn't made user-friendly, or that is some strange middle ground when mixing the traditional Japanese and American button norms.

The game is not light in the content department though.  There are basically two games here, the final 24 floors of Aincrad, plus the Hollow Fragment story line and dungeons.  The two can be jumped between at will, which is awesome.  It takes a minimum of an hour per floor, so you will get a hefty playtime just going through one side, let alone both.  Add in raising the affection with all the females to unlock gallery pictures and you can spend a lot of time playing the game.  To be safest, you will probably do some grinding so you don't lose anyone to the bosses, which obviously pads the playtime.

Sword Art Online also has item forging, and it is expensive to make something.  You are better off just increasing a stat on a piece of equipment you find.  Strangely, you can only buff one stat at a time, and you have to start over if you want to switch.  Since I tend to hoard modifying items for stronger equipment, I didn't use item forging much.  Another thing I didn't do enough of was the game's multiplayer.  It's cool that it has it, but whenever I searched, I couldn't find a group.  Maybe it was because I got my review code late and most people have already done it, but I don't know for sure.

The game only has one save slot and it auto saves.  This, as mentioned before, makes it seem more legit as an MMO, but it isn't, and I really don't like only having one save slot.  Especially since there are many missable things in the game, like the final hit bonuses and keeping everyone alive to the end.  It does auto save very often, so you won't lose much if you do reset or die.  Plus, if you have Playstation Plus, you can save scum by keeping a backup on the cloud.

It probably sounds like I'm overly negative on the game, but I did like it and had fun playing.  There are a lot of small issues that kept it from being great, though.  Several things just aren't very user friendly or intuitive to do.  There is a lot of content to go through, as the game basically has two separate halves that you can progress through independently.  Battles are pretty fun too, and the boss fights are tense thanks to me not wanting anyone to die.  I do enjoy the game and intend to play even more of it.  Sadly, the game seems geared much more towards existing fans of the franchise and doesn't start off well by explaining things to any potential newcomers.  Even though it doesn't revisit any of the iconic places of the anime, fans who would like to play an actual video game version of the game in the show should check out Sword Art Online Re: Hollow Fragment.