| Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer | Aquria |
| Publisher | Bandai Namco Entertainment |
| Series | Sword Art Online |
| Platforms | PlayStation 4,PlayStation Vita,Microsoft Windows,Nintendo Switch |
| Release | PlayStation 4, PlayStation VitaMicrosoft Windows
|
| Genre | Role-playing |
| Modes | Single-player,multiplayer |
Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization (ソードアート・オンライン -ホロウ・リアリゼーション-,Sōdo Āto Onrain -Horō Riarizēshon-) is avideo game developed byAquria and published byBandai Namco Entertainment for thePlayStation 4,PlayStation Vita, and Windows PC, based on the Japaneselight novel series,Sword Art Online. It is the fourth video game in the series and the successor toSword Art Online: Lost Song.Hollow Realization was released on October 27, 2016, in Japan,[1] and on November 8, 2016, for North American and European territories.[2][3] ANintendo Switch version of the game was released on April 25, 2019, in Japan, and worldwide on May 24, 2019.[4]
Unlike inSword Art Online: Hollow Fragment andLost Song, aparty inHollow Realization consists of four characters including the player, instead of three.[5][6] WhileHF is played like arole-playing game andLS like anaction role-playing game,HR is based onHF's style, but with action elements integrated.[7] Characters can be customized through in-game character creation, with gender, height, figure, weapons, and physical appearance changeable.[8] Additionally, over 300non-player characters appear in the game, with all of them being recruitable to join the player's party. Players can create special bonds with these characters by giving equipment to them. Strengthening the bond also increases the character's strength.[9]
A new battle system also features inHollow Realization, where the four-person team of players fight monsters using sword skills in a similar fashion to the originalSword Art Online game. Players can also direct and receive guidance from party members in collaborating to perform team strategies and attacks.[2] Players performchain attacks with party members using a "Switch" system for greater damage output against powerful monsters, including charged attacks and aerial combos.[2][10] This includes "Named Monsters", which are monsters with significant strength that appear without warning.[8] Set in a "wider world",Hollow Realization features monsters new to the series.[9] A healing system in the game allows defeated characters to rejoin the battle as long as teammates are still fighting.[10] The game features online multiplayer.[7]
Hollow Realization is approximately 30 to 40 hours in length; however, completely finishing the game such as leveling up to the highest level and completing all the quests will take the player approximately 70 to 100 hours.[11] The game hasdownloadable content, including the freeexpansion packFighters of the Blue Sky, featuringSword Art Online: Lost Song characters Rain and Seven, a newPvP feature, and an additional story.[12] The paid expansion packShrine Maiden of the Abyss, adds an additional three chapters.[12]
[...] You’ve always had to start at not-level 1 in all of the previous games—you know how Kirito would be level 100 at the start of the previous games, because he’s already that level? I wanted to create aSword Art Online game where players can start from level 1. That’s the gameplay experience I would like to provide players. [...] Now, the player can experience how Kirito adventures through the world ofSword Art: Origin from the base level.
Hollow Realization takes place inSword Art: Origin, a restoration of Aincrad titled Ainground,[11] with intentions ofresearch and development[13] in the year 2026, three years after the originalSword Art Online event.[14] However, unlike inSword Art Online, Ainground is one large floor, instead of multiple, while the castle itself was renamed to Aincrad,[7] where several monsters can be battled.[2]
The main character of the game is a 14-year oldAI, known as Premiere,[15] that travels withKirito.[6] Although she is part of the game's initial release, a later patch would tweak her "vocabulary and personality" in-game to a "specific character", based on keywords inTwitter tweets as part of a promotional campaign featuring the character.[16] These conversations with Twitter users would dictate her personality over time and ultimately decide if she would become a "good girl" or "bad girl" in-game.[17]
Other prominent characters from the franchise such asAsuna,Leafa,Sinon, Lisbeth and Silica also feature.[2]
The game wasteased atTokyo Game Show 2015 in September[13] with theworking title ofSAO IV.[18] It was officially announced at Dengeki Bunko Fall Fest by Bandai Namco on October 3.[19] According toBandai Namco Games producer Yosuke Futami, the game was devised with the idea of Kirito starting the game at level one.[6] A Western release date was later announced, withHollow Realization releasing in Japan on October 27 and internationally on November 8.[20] The North American Vita release is digital-only.[12]
Players who pre-orderedSword Art Online: Hollow Realization via thePlayStation Store in Japan gain a one-weekearly access into part of the game's main story.[12] The game will feature Japanese voices coupled with English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish subtitles.[21] The opening theme is "Windia" byLuna Haruna.[22] The ending theme is "Two of Us" byHaruka Tomatsu. An advertising campaign for the game, titled "Sword Art On-Nyaine", featured cats playing with toys but withHollow Realization sounds dubbed over them.[23]
ADLC calledChapter 1: Explorer of Illusory Mists became available starting on May 16, 2017.[24] On July 21, 2017, the second expansion[25] was released with the titleChapter II: Tuner of Causality. The lastpost-release content was released on September 26, 2017, closing theAbyss of the Shrine Maiden saga and it was titledChapter III: The One Who Opposes God released on September 26, 2017.[26][27]
| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| Metacritic | PS4: 69/100[28] VITA: 56/100[29] NS: 68/100[30] |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| Destructoid | 7.5/10[31] |
| Famitsu | 32/40[32] |
| GameSpot | 5/10[33] |
| IGN | 6.7/10[34] |
Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization received "mixed or average" reviews, according to video gamereview aggregatorMetacritic.[28][29] Both PlayStation 4 and Vita versions received final scores of 32/40 byFamitsu, being awarded 9, 8, 7 and 8 by four individual reviewers.[32]
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