SWORD ART ONLINE Fractured Daydream Review

The Sword Art Online series, its franchise explosion, and its transition into the gaming industry are something to withhold. To anyone who isn't really familiar with it, it's a series where you'll feel the presence of high-stakes gaming in the world of virtual gaming. Bandai Namco released several games this year, some of which were hits, while some didn't quite hit the mark. But even so, the series always managed to bring the thrill of diving into virtual worlds directly to the fans.

And Fractured Daydream, being their latest release, has to be on the list. Fans who have played Alicization Lycoris or Fatal Bullet will feel right at home since Fractured Daydream was built upon them. But being the latest entry in the part of a bigger franchise, Bandai Namco has taken their concept of immersive and deep virtual gaming concept to a whole other level in Fractured Daydream.

After getting into it, you'll pick up the story in Galaxia, an entirely new virtual world where players are able to relive the past events from the Sword Art Online anime. However, if you're into SAO, you'll notice right away all of the layers of mystery that captivate you while you relentlessly struggle for answers on why exactly people are trapped inside and how they'll manage to break free.

You'll be introduced to some of the familiar and fan-favorite characters who stem from the original anime. As you can already expect, you have Kirito, Asuna, and Quella, who find themselves in certain strange situations where you'll notice old enemies uniting and heartfelt alliances being made, which somehow also tend to get a bit awkward.

You should also get ready for a nostalgic ride if you've been a long-time SAO fan, and fortunately for newcomers, too, it doesn't really require that much knowledge if you want to delve into Fractured Daydream. But do make sure you're updated on the anime War of Underworld, and then you're set. However, as you keep on progressing throughout all of its strong plots, you might find it a bit predictable after a certain point.

Surprises are barely seen as the mystery slowly fades, and the plot soon follows familiar beats. You might feel like the story doesn't have that much emotional depth or the type of complexity that one might expect from the SAO universe. Overall, you might just end up calling it a fan service instead of a worthy addition to the plotline.

Now, getting into the better part of the game, SWORD ART ONLINE Fractured Daydream is able to blend most of the action RPG elements into it. Most of the gameplay focuses on traversing large maps and battling tons of enemies and bosses. It also heavily emphasizes cooperative multiplayer, which adds a lot of extra colors to it. This also makes it pretty impressive, as this adds a lot of replayability to the game.

Some of the common elements of any SAO game involve roles like Fighter, Tank, Mage, Rogue, and Support, which is also a decent sight to all RPG lovers. Characters have their own unique set of skills that they can drag out onto the battlefield, and this allows anyone to enjoy the flexibility to customize their team according to the playstyle they prefer.

But it's easy enough to realize that even in the presence of a wide range of characters, the gameplay does become quite repetitive. The mission keeps following this similar pattern: you beat hordes of enemies, get to the point where you're about to face the boss, rinse, and then repeat. So it's not on you if the lack of stage design variety and enemy types results in your excitement wearing off.

This is most noticeable in the mode Free Roam. Here, as the name suggests, players are able to explore the maps without a clear objective in sight. Yes, the maps are expansive, and it might seem like there is a lot to explore, but in truth, there is little to no incentive to wander around once all the primary missions are over.

Combat, to be more specific, mostly involves managing character skills and positioning. You'll figure out that most battles take advantage of area-of-effect (AOE) and single target damage, which makes it really essential for you to choose the right character for the job. Not every character can adapt to certain situations, but when you get the hang of it, it'll turn out to be fun.

They did manage to add an extra layer involving the presence of flying characters. As you can already predict, they allow quicker traversal across the battlefields and make it easier to navigate through the maps. This results in a good balance, where it's ensured that every character feels distinct.

If you are a cerebral player and looking for a more puzzle-oriented challenge, it might turn out to be a disappointment. The game wasn't really focused on that side of the genre, and there is a significant lack of puzzle-solving elements. Even so, if you're able to focus on the game's fast-paced action and combat, the absence of intricate puzzle mechanics won't stand as an issue.

However, in all senses, it is to be noted that Fractured Daydream remains really responsive and fluid, and all the skills you'll spam or thoughtfully execute will feel as impactful as a player can seek. As mentioned above, the flying mechanic is a great contribution to the thrillingness of combat. It's another dimension to combat, and battles feel dynamic enough because of this.

Unfortunately, unlike its predecessor, Fatal Bullet, Fractured Daydream does not really give you the privilege of modifying your character's skill loadout or switching a variety of weapon types. This restriction really feels like a missed opportunity here, considering how much in-game depth could be added where players would spend hours and hours making progress.

The boss fights are something to commend. They're really fun when you're dealing with really large enemies that require more than enough hits to take down. It's even better when there is a clear emphasis and effort towards teamwork, especially in co-op mode, where the coordination of different attacks becomes crucial for taking down a boss.

Even after considering all the good sides of a well-known RPG, it's really frustrating when you hit the grinding wall, and that's exactly what the game forces on its player base. While the game lets anyone level up and unlock new abilities along with massive amounts of passive buff, the rate at which you gain experience is really slow.

It's also better to be aware that you might be investing a significant amount of time if you want to get your favorite character to level 30, along with gaining passive abilities that end up providing only slight stat boosts. Although it does provide some incentive for anyone who's looking for a long-term playthrough, for some, it may be time-consuming and tedious. Since there is also a lack of a skill customization system, XP grinding won't be particularly interesting.

If we're talking about all of its visual aspects, it's filled with detailed characters and some really smooth animations, especially in the cutscenes. The facial expressions accompanying each character are full of life, which really makes the most of interactions. It results in very expressive and lively gameplay compared to the previous SAO games.

The way Galaxia is laid out with all of its vibrant environment features gives the game its immersive feel. The visual designs are consistently strong, and exploring lush forests or taking down hostile enemies in a more industrial setting is always satisfying in its own way. However, the scarcity of all of those amazing cutscenes stands out to be quite disappointing among players.

Fractured Daydream is also quite sensitive to its audio design, delivering high-quality sound effects that give the moments a really intense feel. Every character attack is followed by really satisfying sound cues, whether it's the explosive impact of magic abilities or just a bunch of swords clashing! However, compared to its predecessors, the innovation they made in portraying the audio isn't really visible.

Though it fails in a few key areas, Fractured Daydream is still a competent action RPG with a plethora of exciting settings and excellent fan service. The players are also left wanting more due to the limited cutscenes, which are pretty impressive, and limited innovation in audio design. Ultimately, however, whether you're a long-time or casual fan of SAO, it's definitely something worth checking. We played the game on Xbox Series X, but you can also play Sword Art Online Fractured Daydream on PlayStation 5.