| Echoes of Aincrad | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Release Date | Gameplay & Story | Pre-Order & DLC | Demo Review |
Echoes of Aincrad is an upcoming action RPG in the Sword Art Online franchise, where players play through the series’ first story arc from a different perspective. Learn more about the game’s plot, gameplay, release date, our review of the demo, and more.
Everything We Know About Echoes of Aincrad
Echoes of Aincrad Plot
Step into the thriving world of Aincrad, a floating castle in the sky where both breathtaking scenery and shadowy danger coexist. Environments range from cities to natural scenery to dungeons. Players will create their own hero, refine their gear, and master combat against the virtual world’s many dangers, as they fight for survival to risk their realities.
Echoes of Aincrad Gameplay
Echoes of Aincrad is an action RPG that uses real-time combat and modern action RPG mechanics in its gameplay loop. Players will be able to use a variety of weapons, attributes, and special skills to match their playstyles as they grow stronger and take on harder challenges. NPC companions will also ally themselves with the protagonist, each with their own set of unique abilities.
As a tale made by and for players, they are free to customize and reimagine their own protagonists through extensive avatar customization systems and choose their own battles, exploring the expansive world of Aincrad.
Echoes of Aincrad Release Date
Releases on July 10, 2026
Echoes of Aincrad: Sword Art Online is releasing on July 10, 2026 for Steam, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. We’ll be sure to update this article when the exact time of release has been made public!
Echoes of Aincrad Review (Demo)
An Accurate “Beta Test” Adaptation
It’s not surprising that an anime franchise as big as Sword Art Online (SAO) would have a lot of video game adaptations to it. However, what is surprising is that these video games haven’t exactly lived up to the series’ reputation. I would even be confident in saying that if someone were to name memorable anime action games, there probably wouldn’t be any SAO games on that list.
Which is ironic, because the whole franchise is based on a virtual-reality MMO. One particular reason could be that the series does not want to get away from its longtime main character. It makes sense. After all, if you’re playing something that’s supposed to be an MMO, then you don’t want to play as someone else entirely.
Another reason could be that the games themselves just haven’t held up in terms of gameplay, and they never feel like the source material or as good as a traditional action game. With the announcement of Echoes of Aincrad, not only is it finally going to release a new action RPG where you play as your own avatar, but it will also serve as a more grounded retelling of the franchise’s first arc.
Lucky for us, the demo was recently made available, and it’s already turning out to be quite special, with about four hours' worth of content to explore. This definitely caught my attention and, admittedly, caught me off guard, as it shows that the series’ worldbuilding and setting really needed a solid foundation as an action RPG to fully realize it.
For both fans of the series and those unfamiliar with it, Echoes of Aincrad is a "reboot" worth getting excited about, especially if they can iron out some of the game’s issues on both gameplay and presentation.
A Long Prologue That’s All a Set Up
For those who aren’t familiar with the series, Echoes of Aincrad is essentially the series’s first story arc. The main difference is that the game doesn’t put the spotlight on the franchise’s poster boy, Kirito. There’s not much to say about the story just yet, as nothing in the demo so far confirms if the plot will be similar to the original visual novel and its anime, or if it’s a completely different story.
However, it has been confirmed that Kirito is in the game, and his introduction through word of mouth matches that of the original story. That said, while the plot isn’t explored much, the game already touches on the game’s worldbuilding and supporting characters quite a bit. In fact, the opening hours already showcase one of the anime’s biggest antagonistic parts in its worldbuilding, the player-killing.
At this point in the story, it doesn’t seem that big of a deal just yet. However, since the trailers have already alluded to what will happen past the prologue, trust me in knowing that this will become a relevant part of the game’s story. As for the supporting cast, three of them have already made quite an impression during the game’s opening hours.
Take Iori, for example, who plays the game simply for the love of it and wants to make himself known as a skilled raider. Or Cal, who struggles to find a group to play with and wants to learn how to teach the game to noobs. And even Argo, who plays the beta to monetize the information he gets ahead of time. It was surprising to see how much they were willing to divulge in the demo, and it was nice to see the group’s dynamic early on. Though you only had Iori as a partner for the demo, all three of them accompany your party at some point, and you can see how their behavior in gameplay also reflects their perceived personality.
All of these characters are rather interesting, and honestly, I was able to relate to some parts of their stories through the countless hours I’ve spent in other MMOs. The constant search for like-minded people with similar expectations is something many MMO players can relate to, and while Echoes of Aincrad does so cheesily, it showcases it effectively.
All in all, the story, though only teased, is already being set up well. The characters and their interactions are already showing the main group's color, while the prologue events showcase the brutality and wonder of its world. I’m already looking forward to the plot, even if I kind of know what comes next, as it’ll be interesting to see what Aincrad was like when it wasn’t revolving around Kirito.
Lackluster Presentation That Remains Charming
Moving on to the graphics, the visuals honestly look pretty rough, especially in-game. The animations, while in motion, are flat and don’t exactly look as good as expected. They tend to be floaty and lack the visual feedback that would make the game look much better and reflect its weight. In terms of color, it does seem a little washed out early on, but I realized it was more of the indoor lighting’s fault than the game’s actual vibrance.
There’s also a bit of an issue with the game’s sound effects and constant chatter during gameplay, which really muddies the experience while exploring. Your partner characters tend to be too talkative, and it ends up being annoying sooner rather than later. There was also a bug that caused audio to be desynced during cutscenes. Thankfully, this was an isolated incident, but it is quite regrettable that it happened during a pretty climactic scene.
But the game also does quite well in several areas of its presentation. For instance, the game moves well during cinematic cutscenes, showcasing the characters’ varied facial expressions whenever they can. This also carries over to its environment and character designs, where they are all particularly memorable in their respective looks. In terms of audio, the voice acting and music have been quite serviceable, even if the former doesn’t match the character models.
All in all, the in-game presentation could be better, but its visuals do shine most in its narrative segments. It’s definitely not the most good-looking or best-sounding anime game out there, and I do hope that within a month’s time, the game could at least fix up the audio desync issues, lighting mishaps, and lip syncing to at least make the cutscenes look and feel better.
Basic Action RPG Yet Big on Immersion
Now, we move on to the gameplay. For the most part, Echoes of Aincrad has the bones of a pretty basic action RPG. To the point where playing it for the first time already feels familiar for those who’ve played an action game or two. If you want an easy comparison or a picture of what the gameplay is like, think of a more basic version of Code Vein.
It takes the control scheme similar to that of a Soulslike, where you have a light attack, heavy attack, and other basic defensive mechanics like parrying and dodging. The combat can be quite janky. There were a couple of times when enemies tended to whiff their attacks, and the timing for parries and dodges wasn’t very consistent.
In a way, it emulates the game being in a beta state, which at least shone a light on its biggest assets: immersion and its AI party control.
Gameplay tends to be on the slower side and accurately depicts the majority of the series slower moments, leading up to its climactic battle scenes. Moreover, the partner and skill systems also showcase much of what I like to call the franchise’s gamified flair. You can either order your partner to hang back and wait for orders so that the enemy focuses on you, or tell them to fight freely at their discretion, albeit with a limited amount of time.
It allows you to either take advantage of the game’s defensive mechanics without fear of AI intervention in one-on-one boss fights or use it to take the aggro off of you and take on groups of enemies with ease. It’s a rather simple yet great way to make use of multiple allies in the gameplay. There's also a progression system with simple stat allocation that also includes breakpoints that give you passive bonuses, and a straightforward crafting and upgrade system that is as simple as it gets.
Everything about it definitely feels like an old MMO from the 2000s-2010s, and if that was by design, Bandai Namco has succeeded. However, it is definitely lackluster compared to today’s action games. From the aforementioned Code Vein, from the same publisher, to other mobile gacha games like Wuthering Waves and Zenless Zone Zero, it’s a game that struggles to stand out on its basic foundations.
I’m still on the fence about it, and I definitely want to see more in the full release. There were a bunch of things I found both baffling and cool, which made the experience interesting all throughout. For instance, the Reversal Slash mechanic is a rewarding reactionary mechanic and lets you interrupt enemies on specific attacks immediately. However, the windows to do these are slim, where you might even need to mash the button before the blue flash even happens.
And if you’re actually wondering if there is a character creation, there is none. While I thought this was a bad thing at first, I immediately remembered that this was definitely intentional. As players weren’t supposed to showcase their "true selves" just yet.
Looking Forward to the Full Release
Echoes of Aincrad isn’t the most beautiful or the most mechanically challenging action RPG, yet it manages to charm you with the accuracy of how it adapts the source material. Fans of the series will definitely appreciate how the game has already introduced itself, and I will honestly have to commend the developers for showcasing this much content that practically reveals most of its gameplay loop.
It’s not exactly a game that will pull you in with amazing gameplay or remarkable visuals, no. It’s a game that’ll be the closest answer to the question: what if there were an action RPG based on SAO where you could make your own character? Because, honestly, even if I’m merely a casual fan of the series, I’ll admit that thought alone has made me want to see how far the game goes.
Game8 Reviews
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Echoes of Aincrad Product Information
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| Title | ECHOES OF AINCRAD |
|---|---|
| Release Date | July 10, 2026 |
| Developer | Game Studio Inc. |
| Publisher | Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc. |
| Supported Platforms | PC (Steam), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S |
| Genre | Action, RPG |
| Number of Players | 1 |
| ESRB Rating | PEGI 12 |
| Official Website | Echoes of Aincrad Official Website |
