Sword Art Online: Integral Factor

Sword Art Online: Integral Factor (ソードアート・オンライン インテグラル・ファクター) is an Android and iOS freemium game, announced during Tokyo Game Show 2017 on September 23, 2017. It was released in Japan on November 30, 2017 and globally on March 27, 2018. The game takes place in Sword Art Online, where players can use their own avatar to clear the game, alongside a partner named Koharu (コハル). The game allows players to create their own story of clearing Aincrad from the start of the SAO Incident in 2022.

Game Structure
Integral Factor features a standalone and original timeline for the Sword Art Online series, set in Aincrad, the world's first FullDive VRMMORPG. The story takes inspiration from the Progressive series, as well as the rest of the Aincrad Arc and its events primarily focus on the game's protagonist and their adventure throughout the floors of Aincrad.

The game features three separate narrative aspects;


 * Main Story: This is a single, chronologically told storyline, canon to the events of SAO:IF.
 * Character Quests: These stories take place after a given floor clear, but otherwise without a clear chronological placement. They act as side stories, sometimes tying into the Main Story and act as canon extensions of SAO:IF.
 * Event Stories: These stories are non-canon narratives tied to limited time events, either commemorating real world holidays, other Sword Art Online multimedia projects or crossovers with other series. These events are never referenced by the canon stories of the game and exist as standalone or overarching narratives.

Prologue/Beta Test
On the final day of the Sword Art Online Beta Test, the Protagonist was progressing through a Labyrinth Tower, when he stumbled upon a female player named Koharu. Finding the Labyrinth area too difficult to handle, the girl was delighted to encounter another player in the dungeon. Persuading the boy to teach her the basics of the game, Koharu spent some time grinding alongside the Protagonist, until an unexpectedly powerful monster abruptly spawned in their area. As the duo were being outmatched by the monster, another player rescued them with a swift attack and advised them to relocate to an easier place, letting them know that much tougher enemies periodically spawned in the Labyrinth. Koharu and the Protagonist thanked him for his help and introduced themselves, and asked for his. The strong player introduced himself as Kirito. After sharing his name, Kirito promptly continued to explore deeper in the dungeon. Koharu had a chat with the Protagonist, talking about how she wanted to get much stronger when the game fully released, after being impressed by Kirito's power. Agreeing to see each other in the full-release version of the game, the two of them shared their farewells as the announcement for the ending of the beta period rung in their ears.

Floor 1
On November 6th, the Protagonist dived into the full release of Sword Art Online and spawned in the Teleport Gate Plaza, wondering if Koharu has already logged in. They stumbled upon another player while lost in thought about Koharu's whereabouts, promptly apologizing from him. The red haired player, who introduced himself as Klein, suggested they should look around the plaza as it was the designated meeting spot for a lot of groups. Complaining about how he was the only one online so early from his group, Klein sent the Protagonist off on their search wish good luck wishes.

As Koharu had decided to use the same avatar to be recognizable for the Protagonist, who had the same mindset as well, the search did not take long. After a quick catch up, Koharu requested a refresher on how to battle in SAO due to feeling rusty since the beta test was a long time ago. The duo headed out to the nearby plains to train. Klein, who was nearby training with Kirito, saw Koharu was struggling and invited them to "Kirito's battle lesson", much to Kirito's inconvenience.

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