We appear to be living in the age of the demo again and I could not be happier. It is especially nice when you can transfer your save data to the full game if you are having a good time. I recently grabbed the demo for Echoes of Aincrad because I like Anime RPG’s and it looked cool. I had no idea it was a Sword Art Online game and for that matter I really didn’t know what Sword Art was all about.
Like I said, I grabbed the demo because of the look. I love a good Anime RPG that leans a little hack and slash. I started playing and I was immediately surprised when NPC’s in the game knew they were in a game. I was a player in a beta and there were other “players” all talking with me like you would talk with your friends in World of Warcraft. I was so into the hook that I didn’t even skip the dialogue. At this point I still didn’t understand I was playing a game based on a long standing Anime about people who get trapped in a videogame.
Eventually I took a break from the demo and did a little research. I immediately discovered that not only is it a Sword Art Online game, but it is apparently very bad. This surprised me because I was having so much fun. So at this point I decided to do a deep dive into what SOA is and I even watched the first few episodes. Now that I have a bit more information I can totally understand why long-time fans of the series might not be happy with Echoes of Aincrad. The developer has reduced what is in the Anime a 100 floor dungeon down to two floors. Instead of a massive open world the levels are more constrained. They have made what in the Anime is obviously an MMORPG into a single player experience. They have introduced a new main character for you to play and don’t really follow the main characters from the show. I get why all of that would be frustrating. I have to say though, if you have no idea what SOA is…this game is pretty fun!
If you have zero expectations I think you can have a great time with Echoes of Aincrad! Some minor spoilers ahead but only if you have no idea what the basic idea of SOA is. The demo is a great introduction and is essentially you playing out the end of the games “beta” period. It ends with the launch of the full game and the understanding you will log back in and meet up with the friends you made. It took me maybe 4 hours to get through the demo and I grabbed the full version right away to keep going. The game proper starts with the official "launch" and the big twist is that you are all trapped in the game now and if you die there you will die in real life! I realize the Anime has been going for over a decade and for a lot of folks this shit is corny and played out but for me this is all new and pretty cool!
The game itself is beautiful with incredible environments and slick effects. The combat is based on the weapon you want to wield and all the options offer a lot of fun play styles and abilities. They are not reinventing the wheel or anything here but it’s well made and I find the gameplay loop of questing/exploring and then returning to town to upgrade my shit satisfying. The reviews are mixed and like I said I totally understand why. But there is a free demo and no harm in giving it a try for yourself. The internet isn’t always right.
Speaking of demos and Anime RPG games, Dragonsword Awakening is another one I tried recently. They have since removed the demo but the full game drops this week. It was going to be a Gatcha game similar to Genshin Impact but they have stripped out all of the Gatch elements and decided to make it a “buy to play” game rather than F2P. I played the demo and was really impressed with the art and animation. It was a bit rough around the edges but I liked what I saw and the team announced they are working on fixing a lot of issues folks had. I think it could be a lot of fun and I plan on giving it a try.
-Gabe Out
