Sword Art Online: Alicization Lycoris

Fun combat and decent characters aren't enough to save a convoluted story, terrible pacing, and tons of performance problems.

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.

Not ever did I think the game was downright bad or poorly made, but rarely was I taken or impressed by anything going on from a story or gameplay perspective.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.