Sword Art Online: Last Recollection gives fans a new alternate retelling of the story, but falls short on the delivery.

A Different Story From What We Last Recalled

Sword Art Online: Last Recollection explores a new story based on Sword Art Online’s War of Underworld anime arc. Although the story is based on an existing anime arc, the events of the game explores an alternate reality where the events of the arc shift drastically, exploring what would have happened if Kirito, Eugeo, and their other allies didn’t meet their tragic ends in The War of the Underworld.

The game delivers the story from Kirito’s perspective, with the overall pacing of the story being decent. Though, there are moments such as when Kirito begins monologuing which can feel like a slog.

Another thing that bothered me was that the voice acting only being present in important parts of the game. The segments that contain it are great, with the voice actors doing a good job at properly bringing the characters to life. However, most of the game consists of the characters grunting as the dialogue, which is far too noticeable in chapters that don’t contain many story beats.

But I did find the new story to be refreshing, as rather than just taking the easy route and adapting an existing story, they decided add a new twist to the story that kept me engaged.

Trapped In The Game

The game takes place in an enclosed map, meaning you would have to teleport if you wish to revisit certain areas of the map. Statues that allow you to fast travel and save the game are spread throughout the different map, meaning players would have go back to the statues to save the game each and every time, which I found to be a bit of an inconvenience.

There is not much to do in terms for exploration other than unlocking other parts of the map and opening chests that contain new equipment. However, this isn’t necessarily a negative, as players who are playing just for the story can quickly progress without having to explore an area for hours. There’s also no weapon upgrade systems, so farming specific materials to get stronger isn’t necessary.

After years of receiving open world games, it’s refreshing to finally see a game with a confined space for a change, as it wouldn’t take ages to finish exploring an area, allowing us to progress through the story without having to do unnecessary chores.

Artful Combat System

Despite not having much in terms of exploration, the combat system of the game is actually really deep and intricate, with a lot of though put into its mechanics.

Like any other action RPG, normal attacks will be a part of your skill set. What makes the normal attacks unique in this game is that once you do enough, it will automatically chain into a combo of three skills. You can also set how the skill combos work during these automated sequences in the menu.

Up to 8 skills can be added into your Skill Palette, with every Sword Skill being at the player’s disposal from the beginning. Players would have to strategically choose the skills to include in their palette, as you have to SP will be consumed when skills are used. You can also set the Palette to include skills that buffs or heals, Sacred Arts that have different elements, or even items to heal or recover SP.

Tactical Arts Command lets you order your AI-controlled members to perform various tasks like healing. Like the Skill Palette. you can set which Tactical Arts you want on your members, but you would have to unlock them from the previously mentioned statues that are spread across the world. In my opinion, the default Tactical Arts are more than enough, but the more the merrier.

Although there are many mechanics in this game which could confuse the players at times, the game does a good job at having the different mechanics work in sync with one another. For example, using a long winding Sword Skill with “A” then immediate swapping with “B” to continue using another skill, or utilising Tactical Arts to have your party members chaining combos with you.

It was nice to see the development team put so much thought when designing a combat system. Not only do the players have access to many customisable skills, the skills also work in tandem with one another, adding a lot of depth to the combat system.

As good as the combo system is, I would’ve liked it more if the enemies share the same complexity. Most enemies in the game don’t do much aside from trying to attack you, and sometimes having an AoE attack that requires dodging or guarding, but most of the time they die before doing anything.

Character Progression

Being an RPG, you have to level up your characters to progress further in the game. In order to do so, you have to earn skill points to enhance or unlock skills, which can be customised in your skill setup.

All but one of your Sword Skills will already be unlocked at the start of the game, only requiring the player to enhance them. Apart from that is just more Combat Skill that buffs you  Do keep in mind that the skill tree does also affect all of the character’s skills, even if it seems like Kirito would be the only one affected.

As for equipments, there are no upgrades for these and you typically just replace your old ones whenever you find a better one. You can also purchase them from the store, but the ones you find on the map would often be better, since your starter equipment would be good enough anyways. The only trouble you’d have finding with the accessories, which you can purchase from the store. Also, sometimes you’re also able to find some equipment with skills that you can use as if you’ve already unlocked it.

The game makes most of the important parts of your kit available from the start, without the need for many upgrades or grinding, which made gameplay feel fun and fresh, unlike some games where you have to endlessly repeat the same actions to progress further.

Verdict

Sword Art Online: Last Recollection is by no means a bad game, with some really enjoyable elements such as the combat. Unfortunately, it’s held back by certain aspects of the game.

The gameplay loop was alright, I quite enjoyed the linear style of gameplay as I didn’t really have to explore too much and could focus on the main storyline without having to grind for better equipment or explore.

I also really enjoyed the combat. Although it might seem complicated and overwhelming for beginners, it was really satisfying once you learn and get the hang of combos.

However, we think that the graphics could’ve used some polish, with certain sections of the game feeling overly stiff. Despite this, nothing in the game stands out as unplayable, and it’s a game that Sword Art Online fans would enjoy for the story.

Sword Art Online Last Recollection is available on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Steam.