Fond of weirdly obscure titles since childhood, Ivanir has been captivated by many Japanese games over the years. Some of his most passionate topics are the Dept. Heaven series, Summon Night Swordcraft Story, the Infinity series, Time Hollow. He's currently enjoying a ton of Switch and PC games.

Part of the Sword Art Online franchise, Echoes of Aincrad is a new action RPG that aims to show a different side to the story. Instead of seeing it from the perspective of Kirito, players assume the role of one of the beta testers who faced the cruel circumstances of Aincrad’s rules.

Welcome to the Pseudo-VRMMORPG Experience

Created by Reki Kawahara, Sword Art Online was originally conceived as a light novel series about how a young player known as Kirito explores a variety of VRMMORPGs. The first of them is the titular Sword Art Online, which in the universe of the story, was a particularly impressive release for using a full-dive helmet, NerveGear, simulating all senses within its world.

This revolutionary technology, however, comes with its own problems, which are glaring once the game is revealed to be conceived to not let players log out at all. As one of the other players who had joined the game during the beta test, players will get to see things unfold firsthand and make an effort to survive in the land of Aincrad.

From the point of view of the players, the whole situation is complicated and being part of the beta testers also brings with it different circumstances from the other players who joined it only on the full release. With Echoes of Aincrad, the developers have the chance to show more of this world beyond what Kirito’s journey showcased.

The game opts for a group of original characters as its main cast, showcasing other conflicts tied to the concept of socializing within a game universe. While the concept itself is interesting and the game tries to have a big focus on this new story, much of what is presented feels shallow and even contradictory.

For instance, it feels like the story completely ignores long-range communications with other people when it’s not convenient. This is but one of the elements that make the general plot feel poorly conveyed and lacking.

Limitations at the Core of Its Structure

Echoes of Aincrad is an action RPG with a mission-based structure. Despite offering the looks of an open world to explore, boundaries are actually strict. This results in the player sometimes seeing areas of interest close at hand, but being forced to return to the limits of the currently-explorable territory.

Even if they are done in territories close to each other, it’s not possible to do multiple missions at once, only having the chance to go back to town by interrupting the current one and warping back. Curiously, even when the mission is just going back to town after completing a task, the player has to reach a specific warp point, as otherwise the mission is counted as halted midway instead.

Considering the game is supposed to be interpreting an MMORPG within the structure of a single-player campaign, these decisions feel baffling and restrictive. The design choices of the “mission-based” format and the “open world” clash with each other and make it feel like the game just had poor direction to come together as its own thing.

At times, events force players to have even further limitations so that not even running is available as the player moves along specific paths to see the story unfold. Though this can be done well at times, the situations of the narrative rarely feel significant enough to justify it.

Combat and the Possibilities

Despite the qualms about the general world design and the story, that’s not to say that Echoes of Aincrad is bad. When it comes to combat, it offers a satisfying fluidness in how attacks connect and the value of dodging and guarding at the best timing possible.

There are multiple types of weapons to choose from, including faster daggers and stronger axes or big swords that can’t be held with only one arm. A curious aspect of these weapons is that their stat improvement is not fixed: they’re associated with bonuses for different parameters.

As a result, the way players allocate the points obtained by leveling up will make specific weapons better to use. For instance, fast weapons will be better if the player trains Dexterity and Agility, while others may be stronger with big Strength or Intelligence. If the player wants to test some other option, it may be valuable to re-spec, which costs in-game money, but isn't too hard to do.

Weapons and other equipment also come with additional effects to keep in mind, like dealing more damage with special skills or having more defense with a shield. As a result, sometimes it may be interesting to upgrade weapons you already have instead of changing them for newer options. Another aspect to keep in mind is that weapons have passive effects called Ex-Mods which can be passed on to others, giving the player a lot of control over their build options.

With the equipment ready, players have to face enemies in the wild, which often scale along with the player’s strength. Once the monsters see the player, the UI shows red arrows to indicate where they’re coming from to attack. It’s up to the player to try to deal with them or avoid them.

When fighting, there are two basic attacks and skills unlocked when the player’s mastery with a specific weapon. Attacking, rolling to dodge enemies, guarding or running cost stamina. The “heavy attack” is slightly stronger than the “light attack” and can be used to cut down parts of monsters when they flash blue, but it also leaves the player more vulnerable to attacks with its flashier execution.

Guarding at the right timing lets players execute a counter skill, which significantly raises the value of paying attention to enemy patterns. Along with the player’s skills, which cost SP and have a cooldown, it’s also possible to ask the partner to use helpful techniques when they’re available. Iori can create a healing area, Wyseman can stun enemies, and they can execute a powerful joint skill from time to time.

Allies can assume two different stances which can be changed at the press of a button. As such, it’s up for the player to choose whether to let them act independently or try to match the player’s movements. While letting them loose makes them much more active in attacking enemies, their performance drops in time with more missed attacks.

Closing Comments:

Echoes of Aincrad is an action RPG that misses the opportunity to reach its full potential, but is solid enough to be worth a try, especially for fans of the franchise. It offers deep combat options and fluid action, reaching great moments when players nail the timing of reacting to enemies’ patterns. When it comes to the story and the general feel of exploration, however, it’s an uneven experience that feels frustratingly close to something better, but lacking in vision.