Eir Aoi is a popular singer who was first discovered through NicoNico Douga, and has had her music featured in anime such as Kill la Kill and Sword Art Online. During a recent “Let’s Play” video with Dengeki, she logs into the upcoming Vita title, Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment, and shows a good amount of gameplay footage.
The first video starts out with a look at the character creation screen, where we get to see a bunch of different hairstyles, eyes, and other customization options for your customized Kirito. Again, while the default name is Kirito, you’ll have an option to enter a new name of your choice as well.
It doesn’t look like you’ll be able to pick a female gender for Kirito, but you can give him feminine hairstyles like the Sachi hair Aoi chose for her own character, which she ended up calling “Eirun”.
After the first scene, the game starts out with a tutorial battle at around 5:40, explaining everything from the Burst meter to using skills. After the fight, Eirun and Philia are seen talking to one another, and actually getting along, so Philia will likely be a close ally early in the game.
The second video shows Eirun exploring the fields with Philia following closely behind. After demonstrating some more combat, they show us a feature where you’ll be able to compliment your partners, which will provide some sort of benefit.
At 9:05, Eirun encounters some more villains, but this time we get to see the Philia be more involved in the fight, using a Provoke-like skill… while Eir Aoi runs around trying to open some treasure chests. (It’s okay, she gives her plenty of compliments afterwards for her hard work.)
Then, they go back to fight the monster, but it seems like they bit off more than they could chew, as the monster is able to send Eirun to the grave in two swift hits.
Finally, the third video gives us a look at how you’ll go around town with heroine characters, starting with a stroll with Yui. Yui can’t participate in combat, but she’ll have plenty of other occasions to shine when you take her out.
Eir Aoi tries to hold hands with Yui, but isn’t able to because the mood wasn’t right, so that means you’ll need to meet certain conditions before you can hold hands and carry heroines in your arms.
Next, Kirito is seen with Klein, and this time, he plays his cards right. We previously reported that Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment will have a little “bromance” in it, as you’ll be able to hold hands with male characters.
At the 3:35 mark of the video, we get to see just that, when Kirito holds hands and even carries Klein in his arms, to which he reacts by saying, “what the heck!? Is this some kind of joke?”
… and if you’re wondering about being able to go further than that, the above image says it all. You’ll be able to spend quality pillow-bro-talk with other male characters, as well. The talks between male characters will be about things like their goals and dreams, girls they like, and more.
Just don’t let Asuna catch you, as there are some dreams women will never understand.
Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment will be released on April 24 for PlayStation Vita.
