New Bandai Namco Sword Art Online action RPG is "not a Soulslike," dev says, but it's still "very easy to die" which is bad news if you're playing on the mode that deletes your save when you die

The game Bandai Namco was teasing earlier this week has been revealed: It's a new Sword Art Online action RPG called Echoes of Aincrad, billed as an exploration of the darker side of the anime it's based on. And while what little combat we've seen largely involves huge dark fantasy creatures with big weapons and a player character keen on dodge-rolling and parrying, the developers insist this game is "not a Soulslike."

Talking to Japanese publication Denfaminicogamer (translation via Automaton), SAO series producer Yosuke Futami and Echoes of Aincrad head of production Yasuhiro Yahata made a few points of clarification about what the game is and isn't.

The devs admit it will be "very easy to die" in Echoes of Aincrad, with Yahata adding, "I can’t say there aren't any unfair enemies, especially for those who are playing for the first time."

Meanwhile, Futami notes that there are "a great variety of bosses" and that "playing for the first time is probably going to be the most fun and thrilling, and the shock you get while facing them is huge."

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In case you aren't an SAO fan, the premise of the original series is simple: Main characters Kirito and Asuna are living inside an MMO via a futuristic device called a NerveGear that simulates all human senses and makes it look and feel like they're actually in the game world, meanwhile their bodies are in a coma-like state being kept alive through IV drips. What they don't realize until they're partying it up in-game is that, if they die in the game, they die in real life, too.

I've always wondered why, with so many SAO games out there, none of them implement the high stakes inherent to the anime's admittedly brilliant (if not derivative) hook, but Echoes of Aincrad is doing just that with its "Death" game mode. This optional mode will delete your entire save file if you die just once. I'm not sure if there's anything differentiating this from a typical hardcore, honor, or permadeath mode, but it's even more apt in an SAO game for obvious narrative reasons. I dig it.

Echoes of Aincrad puts you in the shoes of an anime character you get to create, instead of Kirito as usual. You'll level up, unlock new gear and abilities, and "build synergy" with a partner character of your choice to take down "foes stronger than you imagined," per the game's Steam description. It's out on PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC on July 10.

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