I really enjoyed Millennium Twilight, even without any sort of attachment to the anime that the game represents. It’s nothing particularly revolutionary, but I thoroughly enjoyed most of my time with it. Moments of confusion and the unintentional nerfing of most Brain Burst characters aside, this is a fun action RPG that is worth a look if you’re not a fan of these MMO anime series, and most likely worth a buy if you are.
The story is fun and is one any veteran or newbie of this series will enjoy. The multiplayer adds lots of fun to the title and adds so much more time to the game if you enjoy it. The environments are bland and boring but overall this game is worth picking up just for the story alone.
I won't spoil much here, and I'm going to give my views of this game, and as a fan of both shows. If you are fan of either show, then this game is worth checking out. That said, is it worth $60? I say it depends on how big of a fan you are. If you have seen every season and the movie for SAO, then it's worth it. They brought in a major character and outfits from Ordinal Scale. If you are into Accel World, then it's worth checking out since it's the first major adaptation they have done in 5 years. Furthermore, they bring in characters beyond the one season of anime since the books are still being published.
In fact, they are characters from the books which aren't even published out West. They truly treat each franchise with respect, and they didn't make it another Kirito focus game where everyone else feels like a side kick. In fact the story provides solid air time for all major characters from each show. One key note, but I'm still playing the game and trying to beat the main story. I've put in a lot of hours to warrant a solid review since I've unlocked most characters and have advance into other parts of the world.
I'm going to explain the story a bit, but the only spoilers I'm mentioning is the opening scene and explaining a few characters from Accel World since they are less known. The beginning of the game begins with Kirito, Asuna, and Yui. A warning message comes up indicating emergency server maintenance, and Yui begins to act weird thinking something is wrong. Kirito and Asuna lied about logging out, follow Yui, and this immediately things start go crazy around them. After following Yui they encounter Black Lotus and another major character who is the antagonist, and is nicknamed Persona. In the middle of this Yui gets captured/trapped, and after the introduction and confusion on who is ally and foe Black Lotus and Kirito put down their arms realize they need to work together.
Meanwhile the world of Alfheim rapidly changed with the town becoming a cyberpunk theme place, and around the open world there are red and distorted **** and modern buildings populating the landscape. This is when elements of Brain Burst, the main game in Accel World, are merging with Alfheim which is the main game world of SAO. Along the way they begin to search for their friends and answers, and eventually the roster of playable characters expands tremendously. I believe I almost got every playable character but one or two 15 hours into the game, and the current roster sits at around at least a couple dozen so far.
Fortunately many characters get a decent amount of air time, and you can switch between any of the playable characters at portals, and some of the characters have their own side missions only available when you play as them. Unlike past SAO games from my experience they just make it mostly about Kirito, and that's it. In fact the story 15 hours in is mostly about the trying to save Yui, and figuring out what is going on with a lot of dialogue for all of the major character which include Kirito, Black Lotus, Asuana, Silver Crow, and even some of the side characters participate often including Sinon, Lisbeth, Cyan Pile, and the Red King to name a few.
The story is mostly presented like a visual novel with still shots of the avatars talking to each other, and the voice acting is good. That said, the voices are in Japanese and it's sub. The only major complaint are some cutscenes have the sound is missing when swords/weapons clash. Otherwise, the presentation is good.
Next is gameplay, and it's good. It's less stiff from previous games, and thanks to Accel World characters the combat feels fresh since their characters have different abilities and don't use swords. In fact it's more hand to hand combat with them, some have guns, and most can't fly. They rely on high jumps, and engaging in attacks in mid-air with their enemies. It takes a little time getting used to the jumping, but once you do it's fun playing the Accel World characters. Having a mix of characters from both words and their combat styles is fresh, and in my view the best out of the SAO games.
Finally the last part is the world itself. It's mostly from Lost Song with a face lift. That is fine and all, but the graphics engine is out of date. It shows, and the only graphical impressive thing is the characters look great. Especially the Accel World avatars who are sci-fi and not fantasy oriented. Sadly though the world is bland, and while it's cool seeing **** and Brain Burst elements throughout the maps, but the world needs a new game engine and makeover.
Overall it's a good game, and a must buy for fans of either series. It's not perfect since the camera angles can be wonky, and the graphics are outdated. Yet it's arguably the strongest SAO game, and Accel World is finally getting some deserved attention since it's very underrated in the anime world.
Accel World vs. Sword Art Online is basically a copy of Lost Song, the previous entry in the SAO series, with enemies are maps that are literally COPIED from that title! Despite the breath-taking flight system and unqiue aerial combat returning, much of the gameplay this time is quite repetitive and the story wasn't engaging enough to make me remotely interested in that aspect. While the game includes a very wide number of characters, there is little incentive to use any except for the ones who you have already been levelling up since new characters' abilities start at rock-bottom level anyway! (By comparison, imagine getting 15 hours into a Final Fantasy game and a new character joins the party at Lvl 1 - why would you bother using them when your current party is now Lvl 30+ ?)
Once again, the lack of English voice acting is also a massive negative point, especially since both anime series have excellent English casts: the decision for the game to be Japanese-only was clearly made to save costs on development. Reading subtitles during combat simply isn't feasible, and takes away from the experience.
Finally, many mission objectives are either ambiguous or simply don't tell you what you need to do. Quick examples included me flying around a large map for half an hour trying to find a small character with zero indication of their location (turns out they were on the floor, barely visible - thanks, YouTube guides), a main mission that requires the player to use the "sit" animation at a specific spot with literally zero indication that it's required, and another in which a mission objective claimed I had to ask for information around the main town when in fact I needed to be somewhere completely different.
Unless you're a diehard Accel World fan, definitely avoid this and play Lost Song instead - I rated that game 9/10.
[Dozens of hours played, don't think I can drag myself to get the platinum trophy this time.]
Accel World VS Sword Art Online has a decent and enjoyable combat system, but everything else is definitely sub-par: the graphics seems to be coming from the previous PlayStation, and the world is dull and pretty anonymous. Probably slightly more interesting if you're a fan of the series.
While the improvements since Lost Song are noticeable and there's a huge roster of playable characters, because of its downsides it's a product for only the the hardcore fans of the saga (or sagas, in this case), just like its predecessors.
Accel World and Sword Art Online fulfills its function as an action-RPG, but suffers from repetitive combat, confusing controls, and lackluster story. After my time with it, I have no intention of ever going back to it, and I question whether fans of either series would glean much enjoyment out of this mishmash.
Accel World Vs. Sword Art Online, besides being addressed to a very limited audience, comes with many problems (technical and design-wise) which means that even hardcore fans of the two franchises will be discouraged by the problematic nature of the title.
I was very excited for the release of this game after seeing the trailers for it because i am a fan of both SAO and Accel World but my mood quickly changed after starting up the game. I found the story and idea of bringing the Accel World characters very interesting and that's about where my positive opinions for this game ends. My biggest complaint of this game is the same i had with Lost Song and it is when you are forced to fly and fight at the same time. While this idea in theory seems amazing the execution is horrible especially when the game pulls the camera back so far that you are unable to tell how close to the enemy that you are so you end up missing your attacks entirely. Enemies have cheap moves that will easily trap you on the ground where before you have a chance to get up they will have killed you. If you are hit once in the sky you immediately fall to ground while still vulnerable to being attacked with nothing you can do other then watch. Besides all of the issues with combat this game is just a copy and paste of Lost Song with a few new thing inserted when it comes to map designs. The weapon selection is pretty lacking at least from what i can tell and the graphics are pretty outdated. Personally I would stay away from this game due to the many problems this one has. If you do decide to buy it i would recommend waiting for it go on sale it does not deserve to be $60 I would recommend waiting for it to go on clearance.
This game has to many problems, Not enough information on where monster spawn it. I thought this game had info brokers to help narrow in the search for contract missions. There to much space to just wonder around hoping to find your target. That's a waste of time and very frustrating. I don't recommend this game at all
SummarySvart Alfheim and the Accelerated World have begun to merge. In the midst of the chaos, Yui has gone missing. Kirito must challenge the Seven Kings of pure color from the Accelerated World to gain access to her location.
RECRUIT YOUR FAVOURITE CHARACTERS among a large roster from the anime and novel series.
TAKE THE SKIES using your f...