{"id":1804,"date":"2026-06-10T22:07:45","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T22:07:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1804"},"modified":"2026-06-10T22:07:45","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T22:07:45","slug":"preview-with-echoes-of-aincrad-sword-art-online-comes-to-life-as-a-video-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1804","title":{"rendered":"Preview: With &#8216;Echoes of Aincrad,&#8217; &#8216;Sword Art Online&#8217; comes to life as a video game"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<p>The \u201cSword Art Online\u201d franchise has come full circle with \u201cEchoes of Aincrad.\u201d Game Studio is working on an action role-playing game that brings the fictional video game at the heart of the series to life. It\u2019s a bit meta, but it\u2019s also a dream for the fans of the anime and web novel.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1802\">\u2018Alienated\u2019 Brad Pitt romanced girlfriend in Paris while missing kids\u2019 milestones<\/a><\/p>\n<p>They\u2019ll experience events in the series, but more importantly, they\u2019ll explore the world that they glimpsed in each episode. It\u2019s akin to Star Wars fans being able to explore a galaxy far, far away. What\u2019s different from past \u201cSword Art Online\u201d projects is that players aren\u2019t the main character.<br \/>\n<span><iframe allowfullscreen=\"true\" class=\"youtube-player\" height=\"360\" loading=\"lazy\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/r0K_3l7j7E8?version=3&amp;rel=1&amp;showsearch=0&amp;showinfo=1&amp;iv_load_policy=1&amp;fs=1&amp;hl=en-US&amp;autohide=2&amp;wmode=transparent\" style=\"border:0;\" width=\"640\"><\/iframe><\/span><br \/>\n<strong>THE STORY SO FAR<\/strong><br \/>\nThey take on the role of a Beta player who ends up trapped along with 10,000 others in the virtual reality massively multiplayer online game. The creator, Akihiko Kayaba, won\u2019t let them remove their NerveGear VR helmets; if they do, a microwave in the device will fry their brains. To escape, the players will have to beat the game, but there\u2019s another caveat. If they die in \u201cSword Art Online,\u201d they die in real life.<\/p>\n<p>In \u201cEchoes of Aincrad,\u201d players don\u2019t take on the role of Kirito, the series protagonist, but rather, they make their own character who teams up with friends and meets familiar \u201cSword Art Online\u201d faces. Game Studio re-creates the game in the fictional Beta and runs players through the shocking announcement that sends the community in a panic. <\/p>\n<p>All the while, the team painstakingly turns the anime images and concepts into a working game. The inventory screen is the same as the anime. Players even run across situations that happen in each episode so that those who have watched the anime know what to expect in certain moments.<br \/>\n<strong>COMBAT AND QUESTING<\/strong><br \/>\nAlthough \u201cEchoes of Aincrad\u201d turns \u201cSword Art Online\u201d into a video game, it doesn\u2019t capture the anime\u2019s full breadth. The game feels like an MMO with characters talking to each other as if they were in a party and living in this gamified world, but the campaign mainly focuses on questing and battling enemies throughout the world. Players choose one of five characters to partner up with as they explore zones and open up safe areas. <\/p>\n<p>Players can command buddies to team up with them in a Switch Mode or have them act independently via a Free Mode. The Free Mode makes them more effective but also exhausts them more. The partner concept is also incorporated into combination attacks, where the protagonist can call on them to perform a powerful attack or support them with a heal or power-up. <\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1800\">Valley Christian\u2019s first NorCal title: Behind the scenes (and on the bus) with the Warriors<\/a><\/p>\n<p>As for the rest of the combat, it feels like an easier version of a \u201cDragon Age: The Veilguard.\u201d Players use the right bumper and right trigger for light and heavy attacks. The left bumper is for blocking, while the left trigger opens up skills and partner actions. Players have to wait for these moves to recharge over time. In addition, players who rest at a Safe Area will have enemies reset in a zone. <\/p>\n<p>As they venture through dungeons, which aren\u2019t well-designed and feel monotonous, they\u2019ll pick up items, which can be used for crafting better armor and weapons. The gameplay feels more like the standard RPG, but what will carry \u201cEchoes of Aincrad\u201d is how Game Studio brings the world to life, and how the team weaves the series\u2019 storytelling beats, while still make the efforts of a side character to the show feel meaningful.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEchoes of Aincrad\u201d is scheduled for release July 10 on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and Series S. <\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1798\">Aguirre ramps up Mexico\u2019s World Cup mind games with 1986 heroes and Julio C\u00e9sar Ch\u00e1vez<\/a><\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The popular web novel and anime offered glimpses of a fictional video game. Bandai Namco is publishing a project that makes it real.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1803,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-things-to-do"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Preview: With &#8216;Echoes of Aincrad,&#8217; &#8216;Sword Art Online&#8217; comes to life as a video game - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1804\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Preview: With &#8216;Echoes of Aincrad,&#8217; &#8216;Sword Art Online&#8217; comes to life as a video game - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The popular web novel and anime offered glimpses of a fictional video game. Bandai Namco is publishing a project that makes it real.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1804\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-10T22:07:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=1804#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=1804\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"Preview: With &#8216;Echoes of Aincrad,&#8217; &#8216;Sword Art Online&#8217; comes to life as a video game\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-10T22:07:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=1804\"},\"wordCount\":674,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=1804#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/b60522021c6bb74716792502b71d5599.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Things To Do\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=1804#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=1804\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=1804\",\"name\":\"Preview: With &#8216;Echoes of Aincrad,&#8217; &#8216;Sword Art Online&#8217; comes to life as a video game - Next City Digest\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=1804#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=1804#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/b60522021c6bb74716792502b71d5599.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-10T22:07:45+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=1804#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=1804\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=1804#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/b60522021c6bb74716792502b71d5599.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/b60522021c6bb74716792502b71d5599.webp\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":576},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=1804#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Preview: With &#8216;Echoes of Aincrad,&#8217; &#8216;Sword Art Online&#8217; comes to life as a video game\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Next City Digest\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Preview: With &#8216;Echoes of Aincrad,&#8217; &#8216;Sword Art Online&#8217; comes to life as a video game - Next City Digest","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1804","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Preview: With &#8216;Echoes of Aincrad,&#8217; &#8216;Sword Art Online&#8217; comes to life as a video game - Next City Digest","og_description":"The popular web novel and anime offered glimpses of a fictional video game. Bandai Namco is publishing a project that makes it real.","og_url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1804","og_site_name":"Next City Digest","article_published_time":"2026-06-10T22:07:45+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1804#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1804"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"headline":"Preview: With &#8216;Echoes of Aincrad,&#8217; &#8216;Sword Art Online&#8217; comes to life as a video game","datePublished":"2026-06-10T22:07:45+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1804"},"wordCount":674,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1804#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/b60522021c6bb74716792502b71d5599.webp","articleSection":["Things To Do"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1804#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1804","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1804","name":"Preview: With &#8216;Echoes of Aincrad,&#8217; &#8216;Sword Art Online&#8217; comes to life as a video game - Next City Digest","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1804#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1804#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/b60522021c6bb74716792502b71d5599.webp","datePublished":"2026-06-10T22:07:45+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1804#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1804"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1804#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/b60522021c6bb74716792502b71d5599.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/b60522021c6bb74716792502b71d5599.webp","width":1024,"height":576},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1804#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Preview: With &#8216;Echoes of Aincrad,&#8217; &#8216;Sword Art Online&#8217; comes to life as a video game"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/","name":"Next City Digest","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/nextcitydigest.com"],"url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1804"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1804\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}