Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization slashes onto Steam next week

You wait four years for a Sword Art Online game on PC and then two come along at once. Fresh off the news that Bandai Namco is bringing the next game based on the Japanese light novel series to PC, the publisher has announced that the formerly PlayStation exclusive Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization is slashing onto Steam as early as next week.

A deluxe edition of the action-heavy RPG featuring all the DLC (including the Abyss of the Shrine Maiden story expansion) is coming to Steam on Friday, October 27. No word on how much it will cost yet, and the Steam page has not gone live.

I've never played one of the Sword Art Online games but I know they've attracted quite a following. The light novel series they're based on started in 2009 and focuses on characters living in virtual reality-driven MMORPG worlds. 

From what I've read, Hollow Realization is a long game: 40 hours or more, packed with dialogue and combat. You form a party (you can recruit from more than 300 NPCs), kit them out with gear and strike out into the game's combat zones, fighting bosses and running up combos by switching between characters. Check out the trailer above for more.

For more on the next Sword Art Online game that's coming to PC in 2018, read Joe's story.

Samuel Horti

Samuel Horti is a long-time freelance writer for PC Gamer based in the UK, who loves RPGs and making long lists of games he'll never have time to play.