VR Action Game ‘Sword Reverie’ is a Love Letter to ‘Sword Art Online’, Trailer Here

By
Scott Hayden
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10

Isekai Entertainment, a Seattle-based indie studio, released the first trailer for its upcoming action game Sword Reverie, a JRPG-inspired title that feels like a heartfelt love letter to the popular anime/manga Sword Art Online (SAO).

Drawing from Japanese games and anime such as Legend of Zelda, Ni No Kuni, and SAO, Sword Reverie is said to follow a character-driven story and include JRPG-inspired abilities and physics-based combat (extra points for the cool hand-drawn explosions).

Here’s the setup, as described by Isekai Entertainment:

After a thousand years of peace, the boiling tensions between the “kingdom of man” and the elemental lords continue to escalate. Seeing that the threat of a catastrophic war is imminent, the Guardian Magnus uses his powers to summon you the “Hero” to his realm, to become his new apprentice.

The Guardian explains to you, that he believes the Elemental lords have grown too powerful and as legend goes, only a “true hero” from a faraway land, can bring balance, peace, and prosperity to all the realms.

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Image courtesy Isekai Entertainment
Image courtesy Isekai Entertainment
Image courtesy Isekai Entertainment

Sword Reverie doesn’t have a release date yet, although it’s coming to PC VR headsets via Early Access on Steam and the Oculus platform sometime in 2020. The studio says PSVR and Quest may also be possible additions at a later date.

Beta access is coming soon, which can be requested on the studio’s website.

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Scott Hayden
Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 4,000 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.
  • david vincent

    At last, an open-world RPG with physics-based combat…

    • R3ST4RT

      Why is that a concern to you? Is Unity not a good choice for that genre?

      • david vincent

        Well when I toyed a bit with Unity a fews years ago (maybe it’s better now), scene streaming was a weak point compared to UE4. Subnautica which micro-stutters when loading new biomes is a good exemple (making more people sick or uneasy than usual when played in VR).

  • Isekai Entertainment

    Do Konosuba next! I want to be stuck in a world with worthless partners! Okay, to be serious I have not seen SAO or many other Isekai series but I see potential in this game.

  • Helvetica twain

    Unity is a powerful game engine with wide distribution and an excellent
    community behind it. Actually, if you’re an indie dev, IMHO, it is the
    best option for VR/AR development.

    • If you’re starting out and want powerful VR support, nothing beats the Unreal Engine. It’s blueprint system has made a noob like myself a competent programmer. No coding experience necessary and YouTube videos that can walk you through any and all aspects. Maybe Unity is better for experienced programmers, I have no way of knowing.

      Btw, my VR game, QuestORama is available for free on SideQuest. See what Unreal can do on the Oculus Quest, even in amateur hands.

  • Miqa

    That sword strike sound effect sounds awful. Otherwise seems decent so far.

    • Frank S. Zhang

      Yeah, we need to redo the sound effects. The monster death sound is also pretty bad.

  • Graphics and sound seems a bit rough, but being an indie is not easy. Let’s see how the final game will be!

  • seems like a nice game to try out