Everything You Need to Know About Echoes of Aincrad!

As Echoes of Aincrad's release approaches, Game Studio Inc. and Bandai Namco Entertainment shared a post talking about everything players need to know about the title! Here's what it says.

In the story, players will step into the shoes of the original Sword Art Online VRMMORPG early beta player. What they learn from the beta will be key to surviving what happens in the real game, when they become trapped alongside 10,000 other players in a fight to the death.

What's standing between them and freedom are powerful monsters, deadly dungeons, and 100 floors. The only way to escape the nightmare is to survive it. Just like in the anime, players can expect a wide array of quests and tasks on each floor! However, the game is single-player; the partners are all NPCs.

Players can look forward to customising their character, though they will also find pre-made templates. Instead of classes, they will have weapons; in total, there are six, and they offer everything from a sword and a shield to a rapier!

Each one has a unique move set that can be customised. Once they find the one they like, players can strengthen it by using loot from the defeated foes! New blueprints will unlock throughout the experience.

They won't be alone during the real-time battles, as autonomous partner characters will be there, too; they can have up to three of them at a time. Their abilities and positioning can be changed to help the cooperation, and teaming up with them offers several advantages in combat.

For those who want to experience the true version, Echoes of Aincrad offers a Death Game Mode; this means that if the player dies, the character's save is deleted and cannot be reused or recovered! The mode becomes available once the story mode is over, though owners of the Deluxe or Ultimate Edition will have access to it immediately.

Finally, the game is expected to receive a DLC on the 31st of December 2026, though that is the only detail publicly available about it.  

Echoes of Aincrad will be available on Steam, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S on the 9th of July. Pre-load is only available on consoles.