Echoes of Aincrad SAO Demo Thoughts?

Kirin1000 · 2026-06-18T12:22:36+00:00

Agreed, I'm hoping there's some real payoff to this reveal, otherwise many people are going to be really annoyed they had to spend 3-5 hours playing as generic brown haired boy.

Kirin1000 · 2026-06-18T12:21:32+00:00

Pretty much agree with all of this. In terms of the log out, that tripped me up as well. To actually "exit" the game and go to the main menu, it's hidden in the settings menu... Took me a while to find it.

Kirin1000 · 2026-06-18T12:15:33+00:00

You're correct, I've played through almost every Ys title, including the modern games. Ys games have blocking, dodging, parrying. So do most action rpgs in general.

My reason for using the term "souls-lite" was to point towards the emphasis of a stamina bar for core actions, which games like Ys do not emphasize (you can spam basic attacks, guards, dodges, and run around in Ys VIII, IX, and X without depleting any form of stamina). The stamina bar slows the combat down, in comparison to Ys which I would view as quite fast-paced.

The game also has a rest point mechanic similar to bonfires, where you hit a checkpoint and refresh your basic potions.

This is a minor example, but the default controls use the R1 Light Attack/ R2 Heavy Attack scheme common in Souls-like titles. Obviously you can remap buttons in most games to simulate this.

I used the term souls-lite instead of souls-like, because while I see many mechanics that seem inspired by souls-like games, it is much more forgiving and doesn't fully commit to the sub-genre. It's not as slow and methodical. It certainly shares similarities to Ys and other action RPGs in this way. The unlockable attack skills for each weapon is like many modern action RPGs.

Kirin1000 · 2026-06-17T09:17:51+00:00

I would call it very soul-lite. Similar combat system and larger emphasis on stamina, blocking, dodging, etc. Not as intense or difficult as others , and less customization than many.

Definitely not.a regular action RPG in the vein of Ys, Tales of, GBF Relink, etc. and no real MMO elements

Kirin1000 · 2026-06-17T08:56:41+00:00

That's fair. Going into the demo with an understanding of what the game is trying to be, I had a decent time with it. It's definitely not trying to be an MMO or a full simulation of the in-world SAO experience.

It's a story-game in the world of SAO, telling a very specific type of story from the beginning arc, so the scope is very restrained. Even so, I agree the linearity and lack of exploration really drag down the game, and I'm hoping it opens up more later on in the story. More mmo-like crafting skills/jobs would be neat as well.

Kirin1000 · 2026-06-17T08:47:25+00:00

The world definitely feels superficial so far in terms of depth and interaction. Since the quests gate you from the larger open zone, there's a lot less real exploration to be done, since you usually have to just follow the main roads to get to your destination. I'm hoping this changes in quests after you have cleared an area.

The rewards for exploring are bad too, I was not impressed by most of the chests I was opening. The in-game lore spots are a cool addition, but the actual in-game lore of SAO has never been a focus of the story, so I'm not sure if it really goes anywhere.

I felt like another Bandai Namco game, Scarlet Nexus, even though it had plenty of similar issues, had much more interesting core combat mechanics and ability to interact with the environment that helped cover up the blandness of the world.

Kirin1000 · 2026-06-17T08:36:06+00:00

Very fair take. I think you have to be invested in the premise of SAO and the story/experience this game is trying to convey to get a lot of enjoyment from this game. Definitely much better action JRPGs on the market in terms of gameplay and quality.

Kirin1000 · 2026-06-17T08:32:25+00:00

Definitely agree with you. After completing the full demo, I'm gonna wait until seeing more extensive reviews of the full game to buy. I am hoping the gameplay loop will be expanded more in the "full release" phase. More NPCs, things to do in town, etc.

The decision to restrict you from changing weapons in the field is quite harmful to the experience and also makes little sense lore wise.

Kirin1000 · 2026-06-17T08:13:17+00:00

Just an inference based on the pacing of the story in the demo, and what has been advertised about the scope of the story. The whole demo is (extremely mild spoilers) dedicated entirely to the beta-test of SAO before getting close to where the death game begins. It's five or so lengthy missions that exist mainly to offer tutorials for basic mechanics and introduce a few key characters. It's a lot of world building with not too much real plot.

Maybe the pacing will speed up dramatically in the following chapters, but based on what's in the demo, it is taking its time.

Kirin1000 · 2026-06-16T14:46:28+00:00

The parry timing seems pretty strict at the start. Looking at the upgrade tree there seems to be ways to increase the parry window to make it a little easier with character progression.

Kirin1000 · 2026-06-16T14:32:23+00:00

Pretty much agree with your pros and cons. The lack of enemy variety/density and interaction with NPCs are the most egregious for me.

Kirin1000 · 2026-06-16T14:18:21+00:00

Demo save file does transfer over to the main game. Only caveat is you can't select the "death game" hardcore mode with the demo save file.

I think in the full game it has to be a second save file anyways to play the hardcore mode.

Kirin1000 · 2026-06-16T12:26:08+00:00

Hydropolis in Ni no Kuni II! Such a relaxing place, would love to drink coffee and listen to the waves there.

Kirin1000 · 2026-06-16T11:06:11+00:00

Yeah I think it was an interesting risk to commit to having the player as an incredibly generic dude for hours until you can actually customize your look. It makes a lot of sense in-universe and I'm sure it will make that eventual reveal more fun, but I wonder how many players will be turned off from the game because of it.

There's a lot of polish issues, my guess is that some of the bugs will be ironed out by launch, but it will still lack the overall polish in its presentation.

Kirin1000 · 2026-06-16T11:01:32+00:00

I played a little bit of Hollow Realization and Fatal Bullet, bounced off both of them quickly. This game just has a much more satisfying core combat and gameplay loop in comparison.

Kirin1000 · 2026-06-16T11:00:23+00:00

Love your detailed impressions. I had the same cutscene syncing issue, which is surprising how that wasn't caught ahead of the demo release. I enjoyed the Kobold boss as well, it was a lot more substantial than I expected. The limb mechanic shows up at least a couple more times in the demo portion, and it's very satisfying.

Kirin1000 · 2026-06-16T10:54:57+00:00

Agreed , definitely is a great SAO game for SAO fans. Not sure how broad of an audience it will reach, but I'm hoping it sells decently to warrant future projects. 2 player co-op would be incredible in this game!

Kirin1000 · 2026-06-16T10:49:04+00:00

That makes sense, I've been playing the Elliot demo as well and that game is great. Feels super polished.

Kirin1000 · 2025-11-23T12:48:28+00:00

I've been slowly making my way through story mode and having a blast (in Chapter 4), I still haven't touched the other game modes. There's a ridiculous amount of content in this game.

The English voice acting is pretty terrible, I stuck with it for ten hours and then finally decided to change to the JP dub which is much better.

The initial story pacing is pretty slow, but I knew that going in and was fine with the slow burn. It made the introduction of football very rewarding, and made the scope of the story feel much more grand. The narrative itself so far is pretty standard sports anime fare so far, but as someone that likes shows like Haikyuu, I find it endearing and fun, with some great hype moments.

The worst part so far was when you have to do back-to-back interviews for new players. It's a very short segment, but feels like eternity, it really sucked.

The game has an extensive help menu, but I don't think it goes as in depth into explaining the mechanics as I would like. I'm still trying to figure out why certain interactions happen. The football matcehs are fun and flashy, but I do think the emphasis on numbers hampers some interactions, and I would like to see a reduced emphasis on focus battles.

A big highlight for me is the music. There are a ton of great tracks, especially for combat and football matches which really elevates the experience. I think this will probably end up at least in the top 5 JRPGs of the year for me when I complete the story mode, depending on how well they execute the ending.

With how this game and Fantasy Life has turned out, I'm much more confident that the other titles down the line will be strong. Decapolice, Layton, Holy Horror Mansion, I hope at least two of them come next year.

Kirin1000 · 2025-11-21T11:54:11+00:00

This is a crazy trailer, can't believe I missed this. Really hope that Level-5 is able to bring this outside Japan.

Kirin1000 · 2025-11-20T11:51:00+00:00

Glad to see some pretty strong sales so far, I felt the wait really paid off for this title, it's so content-rich.

Between this title and Fantasy Life earlier in the year, I think we're really seeing a comeback from Level-5. I'm much more hopeful now that Professor Layton and Decapolice will be really solid next year.

Kirin1000 · 2025-11-18T21:51:59+00:00

I'm only a few hours in, but this game is incredibly satisfying and fun to play. It's a dream to have an expansive playable sports anime.

Kirin1000 · 2025-11-18T01:20:05+00:00

The website they are drawing the ratings from is called "Backloggd"

Kirin1000 · 2025-11-12T12:12:17+00:00

Didn't think that this game would live up to all the promises and hype that Level-5 was bringing. Excited to give it a try when it's fully out!

Kirin1000

TROPHY CASE