Sword Art Online: Lost Song

Repetitive combat, recycled enemies, and a boring story prevent this action RPG from taking off.

Unfortunately, Lost Song stumbles hardest when trying to engage players outside that sphere of pre-existing investment, and in some ways ends up an even less suitable jumping-off point for newbies who want to get in on enjoying the franchise. My advice to those folks would be to watch the anime or try out Hollow Fragment first. If they're still jonesing for some more of this motley crew of irredeemable MMO nerds when they're done, then Lost Song will be music to their ears.

Sword Art Online: Lost Song plays it safe, but there's nothing necessarily wrong with that. Combat and quests could stand to offer a little more depth, but there's still an enjoyable, addictive RPG to be found here, and it's topped off by a refreshingly pleasant means of traversal in your ability to sprout wings and take to the skies. Primarily a game for fans, Lost Song obviously won't appeal to everyone, but those who do enjoy the source material will certainly appreciate its colourful and inviting world that's packed with things to do.

Sword Art Online: Lost Song has so much going for it. The battle and flight systems are top-notch entertaining time sinks, the artistic style is nothing short of gorgeous and being able to hang out with characters from the show, with dialogue written by the creator, is an engrossing experience. The issue lies in how Bandai Namco did not take full advantage of the talent available to them. This title is simply hamstrung by a lack of investment. The decision was made, for better or worse, to not create an experience that lives up to its true potential, instead recycling assets and hoping for the best. The end result is a title for series fans only. Those who are not invested in the universe already would be better off moving along.

Embarrassing, quite frankly

Sword Art Online: Lost Song is a game for fans of the anime. It relies heavily on players recognizing the story twists and turns and grasping how the anime mechanics translate into gameplay. Without that familiarity with the franchise, the game is a combination of fun, simple combat with the more tedious aspects of an MMO. The online play adds some extra spice to the game but won't keep players coming back unless they're big fans of the show. If you're interested in seeing a different side of Kirito and his pals, there's a fair bit of content here and you'll get the chance to play as some of the lesser-known characters.

ans of the anime and manga will enjoy the alternate reality take of this, and people who want to know what happened next for Kirito and company after Sword Art Online RE: Hollow Fragment are going to continue enjoying this. Newcomers will find this more approachable than the last game, as it does a good job of summing up events so far -- but they do take a while to be explained.

Sword Art Online: Lost Song has plenty of great ideas, but it definitely doesn't do enough to make them work in a 20-hour game.

Sword Art Online: Lost Song, while polished in some areas and definitely a great buy for a fan of the anime, is only mediocre in it's own right. Its solid play mechanics and interesting characters are quickly overshadowed by a convoluted and self-referential narrative that only the most dedicated enthusiasts of the franchise could really appreciate. If you are just looking for an anime-like title to spend some time with, better options are out there. Sword Art Online: Lost Song was really only built with fans in mind.

Sword Art Online: Lost Song is a great sequel to its predecessor Hollow Fragment and introduces a plethora of new and interesting mechanics. However, the majority of these mechanics like spells and healing are put in the backburner in the singleplayer story, and are only ever viable in multiplayer mode.