Sword Art Online Last Recollection might be one of the most underwhelming, if not THE most underwhelming game of the franchise. This game has not even a third of the amount of content Lycoris offered, yet can still bring you into 100+ hours from grinding alone. The game is not exactly bad by any means, it just isn’t a good look for the games, considering this is the finale of the gameverse, and the 10th anniversary title.

The Pros:
The combat, is a huge upgrade from Lycoris. Visuals are also a LOT better. The speed of the combat is a lot faster, sword skills move a LOT faster. And dodging feels a lot better, less clunky than Lycoris (imo). The animation and visuals of the Unison Arts and Finish Arts are BEAUTIFUL. Most are ripped from Lycoris, but there’s also some new ones plus the Unison Arts being references to scenes from the anime. If you want a good story and are a genuine fan of SAO this game is for you. The writing is amazing and the story itself is fun, exciting, and heartfelt. The story actually feels heavily thought out and executed with care. The area themes, the boss music, the cutscene OSTS, the music in this game is absolutely amazing and possibly one of the out of all the SAO games

The cons:
The grind for this game is heavily demotivating. The romance or “dating” system from the previous titles has been completely removed and now you gain affinity exclusively through battling and story progression. Affinity grinding caused me to go from 40 hours to 120 hours. It is a long and boring process and the only way to get episode quests (CGs). Unlocking episode quests is ALSO the only way to obtain the “Bonus Outfits” for the main cast. Which again, will take you longer than it takes to beat the main story. There is no pillow talk or “bed scene”. That is paid DLC (Ritual of Bonds Vol 1 and 2). The blacksmith system has been removed, you can no longer upgrade weapons with materials. You still have the ability to obtain weapon drops and such but it’s much more difficult to get good weapons on lower difficulties. Bosses and some standard enemies health are incredibly spongey. I played in Hard Mode and this is what I’ve encountered. 500k-1mil health on a standard field enemy. 1mil-8mil health on bosses (story as well), 8mil-16mil health on hunting bosses (hunting quests). Those fights can take an exhausting amount of time. You also can’t remove “Kirito” (aka your player avatar) from your party. Even outside of the story. So if you’re someone like me who wanted to run a team of Integrity Knights (Alice, Eydis, Fanatio, Bercouli), unfortunately it is impossible as you can only have 3 companions, and you’re forced to use Kirito all the time

Overall, I personally rate the game a 6.5/10. This game is 100% worth a sale or something lmao this is absolutely not worth spending full price on.

I've owned this game since release, and it constantly conflicts me. Surely this isn't the worst game to exist but it's absolutely far from being the best. So many things brought to the table here that just feel... underwhelming or disappointing. The game feels very empty. There doesn't feel like a whole lot to offer, not necessarily content wise, but as an experience. The game's aesthetic is very quiet, which feels weird a lot of the time. A very empty environment. Not many interactions with characters and such throughout the map. I feel alone for almost the entire game, which feels sort of off for a Zelda title. The map, is kinda boring, not so much to offer imo. The combat was just okay. The boss fights were really easy but sort of... fun? They just weren't boring despite them taking less than a minute. That even applies to the Illusory Ganon fights, too easy. The story feels like it's not even there. I just feel like a clueless mf running along a dead civilization recovering "memories" to serve as a "how did this happen" aspect of the plot. The plot literally is, kill Ganon. That's it. Hardly anything happening in between that then characters taking Link on a trip through memory lane. It feels weird, and doesn't provide any sort of enjoyment to me

Overall, the game again isn't bad, it isn't good either. It's just... odd. I really hope the sequel finds ways to improve upon the empty feel of its predecessor. What I mean is, new gameplay mechanics (nothing crazy, just something that makes me feel like I'm playing a sequel and not the same game copy&paste), good progressing story (stick away from memories and have an ongoing present plot), and a more entertaining combat system (not mashy, as BotW feels)

As a returning fan of the series, I certainly loved it

It definitely doesn’t top Fusion or Super (Fusion being my favorite) but that doesn’t mean it was bad at all. It was an exciting game and executed Samus’ character in such a fantastic way.

The EMMI’s were a little disappointing. They were supposed to be these incredibly overpowered bosses that seem near to impossible to defeat, but you end up flawlessly and easily sneaking and running away from them locating the Omega Cannon. Once you temporarily equip that, the EMMI fights feel like a quick-time event. No real difficultly. Just 1 shot and they’re gone. I wish we could actually fight them, and feel challenged

Overall the game is really fun, and the ending rewards are just so good looking. Good game, good sequel. Hopeful future for 2D Metroid