Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization

Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization is the third game in the SAO game sub-franchise.

Plot
Hollow Realization takes place three years after the Incident following the in-universe release of Sword Art Online, with Sword Art: Origin, the new game, serving as a semi-remake of the game in-universe. However, unlike in Sword Art Online, which had 100 floors in the world of Aincrad, Ainground, the name of the world in Origin, is one large floor, while the castle itself was renamed to Aincrad. It was revealed that the game was created as research and still had some unusual bugs.

The research, in particular, deals with how humans interact with NPCs. One NPC, Premiere stood out for her unusual behavior for having a very short and easy escort mission in which the reward is a single unit of money named col. However, something much bigger is about to happen...

Good Qualities

 * 1) Fun, albeit simple gameplay reminiscent of an MMORPG.
 * 2) Said gameplay captures the essence of how combat worked in the SAO game in the Light Novel/Anime.
 * 3) The beginning also shows what SAO would have been like if it weren't a death-game and has all the players simply having fun due to a lack of death. This is referenced by an achievement upon a game-over.
 * 4) Fantastic voicework, especially from Yoshitsugu Matsuoka and Haruka Tomatsu. (Kirito and Asuna's seiyuu)
 * 5) Lots of weapon choices, such as the balanced One Handed Sword, Katana, and Scimitars, the Swift Rapier and Daggers, or the Heavy Two Handed Swords, Axes, Spears and Maces.
 * 6) Ways to adjust character behavior in battle, such as while skills they use and what roles they should prioritize in.
 * 7) Simple, yet efficient character customization that can be edited anytime you wish.
 * 8) Has a waifu simulator! The relationship value system actually boosts how certain characters perform during that day when you interact with them.
 * 9) Even outside the relationship minigame, there are a ton of character interaction.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) There is no pause feature even in single-player mode.
 * 2) Multiplayer is lacking these days even though it wasn't closed.
 * 3) Voice acting is left out in the first DLC aside from Lost Song characters Rain and Seven, whom are absent as playable characters in the main game.
 * 4) The email system, while novel among main characters, can get tedious with minor characters and NPCs.
 * 5) Side quests consist of gathering materials and killing monsters. Not helping is the low variety of said monsters.
 * 6) While the character models look good, the graphics of the scenery looks a bit dated.

Reception
The game got mixed reviews from critics, but was far better received from fans of the Light Novel/Anime. The PS4 version holds a 4.06/5 on gamefaqs.