Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment Hits the PS Vita

The hit Japanese anime show Sword Art Online made its way to the PS Vita yesterday in the form of a game called Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment.

The anime had a basic story.

A guy named Kirito started playing a virtual reality MMO role-playing game (VRMMORPG), met some folks along the way, and somehow they figure out that if they die in the game, they die for real (like The Matrix). They can’t escape the game until they beat the game. Two years pass and all the players who have survived have been physically moved to hospitals (we can assume by their families) and placed on life support. Mentally, they’re all still in the game, trying to survive. They create an assault team that pushes to the 75th floor (which are the same as levels) and kill the boss, causing them to wake up from the game.

The End.

So who’s the culprit of the anime and, thus, the game?

The final boss Kayaba Akihiko, who goes by Heathcliff in the game, created a revolutionary game hardware called NerveGear. If players die in the game, the NerveGear sends powerful microwaves through the player’s brain, causing death, according to the anime. Brutal, right?

Now here’s where the game comes in:

Unlike the anime, the game is single-player adventure with an MMO feel. The game causes players to have to fight their way from the 76th floor to the 100th floor due to a glitch during the boss battle on the 75th floor. Remember in the anime, the boss battle on the 75th floor led to the end of the game and thus the end of the anime’s first season. Well now in the game, players and fans will get to see the 100th floor.

Wait, there’s more.

According to IGN.com, Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment ” has an HD version of the previous PSP game in the franchise titled Sword Art Online: Infinity Moment.”  Cool, right? Hollow Fragment was a previously locked part of the game that was mysteriously unlocked when the game glitched, while Infinity Moment gives players the opportunity to venture through floors 76 to 100.

So where can you find this game?

It’s now available on the PlayStation Network, since it’s a PS Vita exclusive. If you’d like to watch the anime, head on over to CrunchyRoll.com, where you’ll find not only the first season, but the second season, too.