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Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment |OT| Now in English | #YOLO - You Only Live Online

Parakeetman

No one wants a throne you've been sitting on!
I didn't get an answer the first time, unless I missed it. (In which case, I apologize.)

And most western titles bore me. :/

Unfortunately outside of visual novels, not a lot of Japanese devs cater towards the homosexual crowd for the most part. The West seems to be a lot more proactive towards that or at least they are trying to be anyways.

The chances are even less when its of a licensed series like this and when no such subject matter was in the original version. As the rights holders would throw a fit for the most part.

A lot of the visual novels and such are not translated though and Im not too knowledgeable in that side of things to be able to suggest which titles do have fan translations out. Outside of the Wizardry type of PC games hardly buy any other JP titles on the PC. There are folks here at GAF who might know though. Id imagine they are all in that Shinsengumi thread. The folks who know more about visual novels and such that is.

Hang on trying to find the thread for you.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=812992&highlight=shinsengumi
 
Unfortunately outside of visual novels, not a lot of Japanese devs cater towards the homosexual crowd for the most part. The West seems to be a lot more proactive towards that or at least they are trying to be anyways.

The chances are even less when its of a licensed series like this and when no such subject matter was in the original version. As the rights holders would throw a fit for the most part.

A lot of the visual novels and such are not translated though and Im not too knowledgeable in that side of things to be able to suggest which titles do have fan translations out. Outside of the Wizardry type of PC games hardly buy any other JP titles on the PC.
It's not that I don't appreciate the efforts that some western developers are making, it's just that for the most part, WRPGs are not my cup of tea in regards to gameplay style and/or aesthetic.

My tastes have always been more towards Japanese style titles. I'm waiting for the day when I'll be able to play these types of games with more content geared towards myself, and others of similar tastes. (Of which I can assure you, there are many more than a lot of publishers realize.)

This snails pace of integrating even the bare minimum of consideration/content is quite frustrating.

Edit: Thanks for the link, but I'm already quite aware of the otome visual novel scene, as I've been supporting that since the beginning too. (I even made an OT for the last one released in the west, Sweet Fuse.) And even though I enjoy them a lot, and want to see more, they are still not quite that type of game I'm longing for. I'm really looking forward to the day when same-sex content is offered in Eastern style games in a respectful and inclusive manner, not as a punch-line or obscure reference.
 

Parakeetman

No one wants a throne you've been sitting on!
It's not that I don't appreciate the efforts that some western developers are making, it's just that for the most part, WRPGs are not my cup of tea in regards to gameplay style and/or aesthetic.

My tastes have always been more towards Japanese style titles. I'm waiting for the day when I'll be able to play these types of games with more content geared towards myself, and others of similar tastes. (Of which I can assure you, there are many more than a lot of publishers realize.)

This snails pace of integrating even the bare minimum of consideration/content is quite frustrating.

At least unlike before things are moving forward. But esp with Japan though its going to take a hell of a long time unfortunately. :/ I have no doubt in what you say about there is an audience out there.
 

Stuart444

Member
Glad to hear you managed to get a copy! Let us know what you think of it once you get some time with the game.

I decided to give it a quick go.

First impression: Battle system is both faster paced than IF and feels a lot more fun. Comparing it to my first impression when I played IF.

Besides that, it also feels rather smooth but the battle system will take some time to get used to. I do like some of the MMO-ish elements like the battle log (that you can pop up anytime) and emotes :D. Also first person mode is pretty cool. Could make for some nice screenshots.

My character:

ibzHc7gL0redJ4.jpg

Hopefully will get more time with it over the weekend.
 

Stuart444

Member
I just got utterly destroyed hahaha.

Found a chest in the first 'Hollow Mission' section, there was a level 115 enemy. Was going well for a few minutes and then some special attacks later, dead. :( oh well.

edit: I like that there is a recap of the start of IFs story along with Leafa and Sinons introductions. Also glad they didn't get rid of the SAO Opening. :D
 

Parakeetman

No one wants a throne you've been sitting on!
I just got utterly destroyed hahaha.

Found a chest in the first 'Hollow Mission' section, there was a level 115 enemy. Was going well for a few minutes and then some special attacks later, dead. :( oh well.

edit: I like that there is a recap of the start of IFs story along with Leafa and Sinons introductions. Also glad they didn't get rid of the SAO Opening. :D

Yeah generally chests that have some boss next to it + any enemies with red names it wont open unless you kill all of them first.
 

ranmafan

Member
The game should delete your save when you die since it can't make you die irl. :D

That would be cool to have as an option. I remember Steel Battalion would do that if you didn't eject from the mech in time. That was awesome! But also so stressful. Thankfully never missed pushing the button.
 

Stuart444

Member
Yeah generally chests that have some boss next to it + any enemies with red names it wont open unless you kill all of them first.

Yeah, I figured that out when I saw the red named brute. Ended up just skipping it and heading through the rest of the area.

I did die one other time, took on 3 enemies at once and mistimed my block a few too many times causing me to die. Woops!

Like I said though, it's a lot more fun than IF.
 

Parakeetman

No one wants a throne you've been sitting on!
Yeah, I figured that out when I saw the red named brute. Ended up just skipping it and heading through the rest of the area.

I did die one other time, took on 3 enemies at once and mistimed my block a few too many times causing me to die. Woops!

Like I said though, it's a lot more fun than IF.

Oh yeah by no doubt its a lot more fun, esp if you are just into doing loot runs and leveling. Like I said had spent at least 40 hours in the hollow zone + offline MP leveling and looting before doing anything more with the story. Did a quick bit with the hollow zone to open up new areas though. Btw go put on a shield too, as will help cut down on damage. The dodge rating is kinda pointless at the start of the game as getting hit by the higher level enemies still hurts a hell of a lot. So might as well cut down on the damage instead. Then later when you get more skills that help with upping your AGI + Dodge rating then feel free to go back to that.

All the bosses in the story related stuff are pretty much fucked when they run across us now lol.

The ones Im running to in the hollow zone at times can be D: though for the ones higher level than I am.

English release date please!!!!!

Can't wait to play!

Yep most def the E3 will be the release date announcement.

That would be cool to have as an option. I remember Steel Battalion would do that if you didn't eject from the mech in time. That was awesome! But also so stressful. Thankfully never missed pushing the button.

lol I remember that eject button. I still have the controller in my 押入れ next to the PC desk. I think its caked in dust though... like everything else I shoved in there... Its too bad they never made use of it again or someone hacked the controller and got it working on the PC. As it was an awesome setup.
 

Stuart444

Member
Asia version is this month.

We don't know when yet for NA or Europe.

We know it will be Summer but that's about it.

I do encourage people to wait for the western version rather than importing the Asian version though. :) This needs all the sales it can get!
 
We know it will be Summer but that's about it.

I do encourage people to wait for the western version rather than importing the Asian version though. :) This needs all the sales it can get!

Well if you want a physical release of the game in English, Asian version is your only choice. Especially on Vita where playing cross region downloaded games is a pain.
 

Parakeetman

No one wants a throne you've been sitting on!
Well if you want a physical release of the game in English, Asian version is your only choice. Especially on Vita where playing cross region downloaded games is a pain.

You wont be able to get any DLC if you get the Asian ver. Updates sure, but DLC no without having to switch accounts.

So with that in mind those in the US get the US version.
 

Sitrus

Member
Has anyone unlocked Yuuki as a partner yet, and if so, how far into the game does this take place? Thanks!

Finish
loop 2
to get her. Reminder for those playing to not select last boss menu option to get all endings without backing up your save since you may encounter the loop 2 bug where all heroines but Asuna and Philia will disappear from Arc Sophia. Hopes it gets patched soon since it's pretty annoying not being able to upgrade stuff at Liz.
 

WiseWarrior

Neo Member
Finish
loop 2
to get her. Reminder for those playing to not select last boss menu option to get all endings without backing up your save since you may encounter the loop 2 bug where all heroines but Asuna and Philia will disappear from Arc Sophia. Hopes it gets patched soon since it's pretty annoying not being able to upgrade stuff at Liz.

I don't have the game yet so I don't understand what
loops
are. How many
loops
are there in the game?
 

Stage On

Member
You wont be able to get any DLC if you get the Asian ver. Updates sure, but DLC no without having to switch accounts.

So with that in mind those in the US get the US version.

How much memory does the digital version of the game require?

And can you tell us some more about the dlc? Is it extra characters or something?
 

Stuart444

Member
Dammit, every time I see this topic show up I think that there's a EU release date :(

Well, keep a close eye on the thread. I'm sure we'll get some news soon-ish. I have a good feeling about this week. Or next week. Before the Asian release anyway.

How much memory does the digital version of the game require?

And can you tell us some more about the dlc? Is it extra characters or something?

Pre-order DLC is costumes, other DLC was posted a page or two back I think.
 

Parakeetman

No one wants a throne you've been sitting on!
How much memory does the digital version of the game require?

And can you tell us some more about the dlc? Is it extra characters or something?

DLC is mostly extra costumes for the female characters at this point in time. Which have to be bought in game from the NPC vendor before it can be used.

Other stuff will be free updates such as items / accessories / new areas / monsters.
 

LMN

Member
That's awesome news, thanks for posting this! :) Now should I import the Asian version or wait till July... decisions decisions...

Same here, I'm on the fence about the Asian version too since I ALWAYS prefer physical format, on the other hand with digital, I don't have to worry about acc change and DLC.
 

Stuart444

Member
Told you guys, just had to be patient.

I encourage everyone to buy the NA/EU versions, show Namco that there is demand for Vita games like this one.

I know I'm double dipping on this. :D
 

Mendax

Member
Awesome that it's coming to Europe, been seriously considering importing this week!

how does the player's relation to the other characters work in this game? Is there some form of social links to level up like in persona or toukiden? Or does everyone love you from the start :p

Also, has anyone tried the co-op yet? How does it play; similar to monster hunter / toukiden or is there more freedom to do stuff together?
 

Parakeetman

No one wants a throne you've been sitting on!
Awesome that it's coming to Europe, been seriously considering importing this week!

how does the player's relation to the other characters work in this game? Is there some form of social links to level up like in persona or toukiden? Or does everyone love you from the start :p

Also, has anyone tried the co-op yet? How does it play; similar to monster hunter / toukiden or is there more freedom to do stuff together?

Its not as complex as other games the whole relationship bits, its unfortunate that they didnt modify it a little more with the conversations. Since for the most part the ones you can do around town are not exactly conversations. You cant really tell how to answer to the bits and pieces the NPCs say at times. So its a bit of trial and error with remembering what response for what dialog fragment. Yui is a good example of that.

Asides from that you can raise the friendship status by taking said member with you out on your adventures and praising them for actions you approve of or follow their requests when they call it out in battle.

The higher the rating the more options open up, such as being able to gift them things like armor and accessories. You can give them new weapons from the start though. To be able to carry them or hold hands you need to have them in a good mood, which is usually achieved by maxing out the conversation bar.

co-op plays more like what you would expect from an mmo in the sense with how combat works and skill usage. Could compare it sort of to Phantasy Star Online as you can wander around the Hollow Area and such with your friends. And the combat is exactly the same as the SP portion of the game. You also can play MP offline with AI players instead. Good way to level up multiple NPCs at once. Though you do not get the friendship bonuses from fighting together with them. So its basically for just leveling / loot finding if you do decide to play solo in MP (offline)

I still dont get what the point of the HD release of Infinity Moment is. Since you would be playing mostly the same damned thing, just with less user friendly mechanics. Makes zero sense.
 

Stuart444

Member
You also can play MP offline with AI players instead. Good way to level up multiple NPCs at once.

Where is that option?

QI still dont get what the point of the HD release of Infinity Moment is. Since you would be playing mostly the same damned thing, just with less user friendly mechanics. Makes zero sense.

The HD release is that most of the floor clearing stuff is from SAO: Infinity Moment just with new combat and the tutorial stuff from SAOIF up until you meet
Strea
cut out.

So technically it's an HD release of Infinity Moment even if you don't think of it as such.
 

Parakeetman

No one wants a throne you've been sitting on!
Where is that option?



The HD release is that most of the floor clearing stuff is from SAO: Infinity Moment just with new combat and the tutorial stuff up until you meet
Strea
cut out.

So technically it's an HD release of Infinity Moment even if you don't think of it as such.

See thats the whole problem, the people whoever wrote that PR bullshit then dont realize that its part of the whole game and not some special content that was available to just for the West.

As the game is a "remake" of the original which includes the story, slightly compressed (due to the starting bits cut out) from Infinity Moment plus all the new content from Hollow Fragment.

Its not correct thats for sure by trying to trick people into telling them they are getting something more when its not the case.
 

Mendax

Member
Its not as complex as other games the whole relationship bits, its unfortunate that they didnt modify it a little more with the conversations. Since for the most part the ones you can do around town are not exactly conversations. You cant really tell how to answer to the bits and pieces the NPCs say at times. So its a bit of trial and error with remembering what response for what dialog fragment. Yui is a good example of that.

Asides from that you can raise the friendship status by taking said member with you out on your adventures and praising them for actions you approve of or follow their requests when they call it out in battle.

The higher the rating the more options open up, such as being able to gift them things like armor and accessories. You can give them new weapons from the start though. To be able to carry them or hold hands you need to have them in a good mood, which is usually achieved by maxing out the conversation bar.

co-op plays more like what you would expect from an mmo in the sense with how combat works and skill usage. Could compare it sort of to Phantasy Star Online as you can wander around the Hollow Area and such with your friends. And the combat is exactly the same as the SP portion of the game. You also can play MP offline with AI players instead. Good way to level up multiple NPCs at once. Though you do not get the friendship bonuses from fighting together with them. So its basically for just leveling / loot finding if you do decide to play solo in MP (offline)

I still dont get what the point of the HD release of Infinity Moment is. Since you would be playing mostly the same damned thing, just with less user friendly mechanics. Makes zero sense.

So you get dialog options but it's really not clear what answer they want you to give? And the combat is actually tank/dps/healer in small parties?

Sounds really cool overall, july can't come soon enough
 

Parakeetman

No one wants a throne you've been sitting on!
So you get dialog options but it's really not clear what answer they want you to give? And the combat is actually tank/dps/healer in small parties?

Sounds really cool overall, july can't come soon enough

Ah the game there are no real set classes, but the general idea of hate generation, buffs, debuffs, etc exists. There is no real set class for healing either but there are skills that exist which can provide such effects.

Everything in the game is based off of skills you can unlock in the game from leveling up your skill with a particular weapon that opens up a sub skill tree and once those are unlocked you can use whatever skills are in there as you please. As long as there is no equipment requirement, such as skills that you need to have the shield equipped to activate. Its why to get the most possible well rounded character skill wise, its good to not just focus on a single weapon category. Thankfully you can look ahead in the various skill trees to see what exists where with the skills that you can unlock.

Yeah the dialog options is like fragmented pieces of a conversation and at a point in time you get to provide a response to it. Its really odd. So its not as if it actually adds up to an actual conversation. Its the one thing I didnt like about the game is how they did that. I suppose it helps saves them time from actually having to put in a bunch of dialog and whatnot among other things back when it was on the PSP but still the fact that they kept it the same is a bit disappointing.

Give you an idea of what combat looks like normally with partner AI which is how you will be fighting most of the time. There are other vids Ive done scattered around in the thread if you look back a page or a few. Though suggest against watching if you want to keep the experience fresh haha.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKHQ9BRrmV0

Also some footage of me doing a loot run with 3 AI partners in the offline MP mode. The reason why the dungeon looks so plain is its supposedly an "endless" dungeon or something. Never found a boss yet, but I do always turn back after like 6 floors or so just to make sure none of my partners die as the enemies do increase slightly with strength the further down you progress.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxirQmQkudc

Another thing is Ive spent at least 40 hours screwing around looking for treasure / leveling rather than going heavy into the story. So one thing for sure is you will get your $$$ worth in terms of game time if you are that type of player.
 

isshak_gravi

Bandai Namco Europe and Australasia Community Manager for Tales, Naruto, Dragon Ball Z and One Piece
See thats the whole problem, the people whoever wrote that PR bullshit then dont realize that its part of the whole game and not some special content that was available to just for the West.

As the game is a "remake" of the original which includes the story, slightly compressed (due to the starting bits cut out) from Infinity Moment plus all the new content from Hollow Fragment.

Its not correct thats for sure by trying to trick people into telling them they are getting something more when its not the case.

Hey guys! Community manager for Bandai Namco Games Europe here (and the author of the post). It seems we need to clarify more what we meant and we're going to do that. Trust me, it is not PR bullshit: it would be very very stupid of us to say something false about a game that anyone can check by looking at videos online. Not to mention dishonest! (which is not my style).

What we meant to say was that you can play Infinity Moment (the floor clearing part) in Hollow Fragment, and not just the Hollow Fragment part of the game (Philia/Laughing Coffin), which felt like two games for us since we never got Infinity Moment on PSP in Europe. We'll work on the way to communicate this better.

Sorry again for the confusion! Please always assume I messed up using the correct words instead of malice next time D: it's really never my intention to mislead.
 

antibolo

Banned
Thanks for the clarification.

Now that you're here can I ask you about the localization of the game, is it going to be original voices, dubbed, or dual audio?
 

isshak_gravi

Bandai Namco Europe and Australasia Community Manager for Tales, Naruto, Dragon Ball Z and One Piece
Thanks for the clarification.

Now that you're here can I ask you about the localization of the game, is it going to be original voices, dubbed, or dual audio?

We can't announce anything yet on this, but as soon as we can, we will! (Sorry for the non answer)
 

Gbraga

Member
I don't think there's any reason this would happen, but just to make sure, we're not losing the fun parts in the western version, are we?
 

isshak_gravi

Bandai Namco Europe and Australasia Community Manager for Tales, Naruto, Dragon Ball Z and One Piece
I don't think there's any reason this would happen, but just to make sure, we're not losing the fun parts in the western version, are we?

As far as I know, nothing's getting cut, but what do you mean by fun parts?
 
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