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Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment Heads to N. America This Summer

By exploring the 76 cities in Aincrad, players can pick up new friends and party members for their adventures. Kirito can also deepen his relationship with his partners by hanging out with them in the cities, going out on dates, or holding hands. The game will include characters Asuna (Haruka Tomatsu), Lisbeth (Ayahi Takagaki), Silica (Rina Hidaka), Yui (Kanae Itō), Leafa (Ayana Taketatsu), Shinon (Miyuki Sawashiro), Strea (Sachika Misawa), Sachi (Saori Hayami), Kibaou (Tomokazu Seki), and Argo (Shiori Izawa). A new, original character named Philia (Yui Ishikawa) will play an integral part in the game's plot.

In the game's special "adventure mode," players have the option to create their own characters and play with up to eight other people online to go on quests in the Hollow Area. The game will additionally have a dating element where players can go on dates that could possibly end with pillow talk.

Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment will ship for the PlayStation Vita in Japan on Thursday, April 24. The first limited edition of the game will bundle a "Dengeki NerveGear Vol. 2" booklet that will also include fan illustrations with the theme "slave of Aincrad." The game's 9,980-yen (US$100) limited first edition will include a box with exclusive artwork by original novel illustrator abec, a soundtrack CD, a product code to unlock a special in-game outfit, a special contents Blu-ray Disc, mini clear posters, and special package and cases. The standard edition will retail for 6,170 yen (about US$62).

Namco Bandai Games released the Sword Art Online: Infinity Moment game for the PlayStation Portable in Japan last March. A separate Sword Art Online End World game was offered on Japanese mobile platform GREE last year, and became available on Google Play in September.

[Via Siliconera]