.Hack//GU
 

The Hack games were known for their length, and the fact that you had to buy four games before you could even finish them. Now, a new 3-part series has been announced, with the first volume, Hack//GU: Ressurection being released in Japan on May 18. As of yet, there's no news about a US release, although it'll surely be coming this way.

Below, you'll find most of the important info available, borrowed from www.dothackers.net, the most reliable and best site for anything you want to know about .Hack.

Also be aware that there will be spoilers for the previous games!

The Story
After a fire destroyed CC Corps's main servers, the entire World had to be rebuilt, and the World: R2 was released, quickly growing to be one of the most popular MMORPG's. As a result of the new world, four major Guilds (Kestrel, Lunar Tree, Canard, and Raven) came to power. The clans actions shape 'The World', and most players end up taking one side or another during conflicts. The game follows Haseo, one of the most feared player killers, after his confrontation with Ti-Edge, who somehow possesses the Data Drain Ability.

Characters


The Guilds:


The battle system

• Enemy AI: Like the previous games, enemy A.I. will be able to detect a party and attack members in real time. I think that they'll keep the field and dungeon system from the first game.New in //G.U is the ability to launch suprise attacks on enemies. Launching surprise attacks will increase the amount of damage Haseo does to monsters in a battle.
  
  
• Skill Triggers:An R1 button icon displayed over Haseo's head in battle signals a chance for a skill trigger. Pressing R1 will stop time and allow a player to enter the selected buttons to complete a skill trigger.
  
  
• Party Attacks:Multiple hit-combos on an enemy will give users a chance to use a party attack with Haseo. The attack creates damage much higher than some skill triggers.
  
  
• In addition to standard monster battles, [.hack//G.U.] will also offer versus battles against Player Killers. On the field map, certain spots titled "Battle Area" are visible. Once a player approaches these zones, he will automatically be drawn into battle. Players who are being attacked by a foe might call for help. Successfully aiding them in battle and taking down their opponents will be rewarded by discounts at guild shops.

Other Information

• Scans can be found here
• Trailers can be found here
• Offical website

This is exciting news, i have been a fan of the .hack series since the start.

I would love to play this game especially with those 4 guilds, man the story would be awesome.

This is incredible! I loved the .hack series. This time, the main character actually looks damn cool. Great that they added new features.

Okay, it's probably just me, but I find those character designs absolutely terrible.

The main character makes me feel prickly all over just looking at him. It's like the director of the game was shouting "MORE SPIKES, ADD MORE YOU FOOL! AND MAKE HIM BLACK AND RED AND GIVE HIM A SCYTHE. HE'S SUPPOSED TO BE BADASS!" to the character designer. And the guy with the sealed arm? That thing's freakin' gigantic, and it's not even a weapon! How can he walk around and not look stupid? And this is supposed to be a MMORPG, what's he doing with a "sealed arm"? Did he MAKE his character like that?

So lame.

I was asking myself the same thing. -_-

I'll play this sooner or later, since I enjoy the .hack universe overall. The guild system seems interesting, too.

JazzFlight: Common sense actually. It's a game in a game. You're playing an invisible guy that's playing an MMORPG. Look at FFXI's dark knight for example. Typical design. The needed a "forced" design to remind the players that's a MMORPG in a game. These characters already look better than the recent ToL char.

EDIT: Also, I'm sure they could think of a good way for him to move around with a huge ass scythe.

If you really can't stand the design then don't play it. =\

Ovan could also have a character hack. In .Hack//Sign Macha, the cat person, was originally thought to just be a hacked character design so it isn't that uncommon and could be allowed in The World: R2. Seems like an odd thing to do to his character though; I thought it was an enormous gatling gun or club weapon. Speaking of the character hacks though, I find it interesting that no group representing the System Admin. has been mentioned. I figured that one of the 4 guilds would be something like the Crimson/Cobalt Knights in previous incarnations.

I can't wait for this to be released. I loved the first 4 games, and I've watched the trailer for GU a dozen times. Nice to finally hear all this new news though, since nothing had been said for awhile. Personally, I think the character designs are pretty damn spiffy. Kite started off really lame and gradually became cooler, but it does seem interesting to play as a character who already has a reputation this time.

Oh why don't they just make it a mmo already. I'd seriously play it, look at FFXI's success with playing a game with a controller. Just don't make it like FFXI but still deep enough and it would be fine. I'd love to play a MMO with a controller again...

They did; it's called .Hack//Fragment. The last I checked it has no North American release planned though.

.hack games are probably the only time I'll ever play an MMORPG. Even if it's not even a real MMORPG. I invest soooo much time in the first 4 games and the other media. I just love the whole project, never seen anything like it before. I'm pretty excited for this game even though I'm sure I'll just be confused with the story like I was with the other .hack stories -_-

Haseo's only going to look like that at the beginning. He very quickly loses all those spikes and the other negative aspects that you perceive in Haseo's design.

Haseo's look:


I'd have to disagree with turning Hack in a MMORPG though (even though there's Fragment). The battle system is just rather bland, there doesn't seem to be any main story in the World, and I haven't seen any real player quests. I don't know how fragment works out, but I'm sceptic I guess.

In my opinion turning .Hack into an MMORPG is a great idea, since most people wanted to "Interact" with the sorroundings on .hack, an Mmorpg great because Interact,party and al that will be a nice addiction to the .hack world, and besides MMORPGs doesnt have story, if there would ever be an mmorpg its just constantly doing quest and leveling up for the sake of being famous.

I'll admit that I very much wanted to make my own character in the .hack games (Long Arm, dammit), but as people have said, The World as it's presented in the games just doesn't have a lot to do - you raid dungeons and feed Grunties. Of course, as an actual MMO it might be enough for a casual gamer who just wants to log on and party up with his buddies; I dunno. I started "playing" The World recently, starting .hack//infection over and just taking BlackRose through random dungeons, but that gets boring very quickly.

Having said that, I'd still give Fragment a try if it got released here. *shrug*

It looks like we might be seeing Haseo's "freaky look" sooner than we thought. It turns out that its his "3rd form." Some new scans reveal not only Haseo's 2nd form, but also his ability to transform into Avatar Skeith.

I totally don't like the Skeith form, it just looks so wrong. I wonder if the other members of your party will also be able to transform into one of the 8 waves, since they are nicknamed as such, and how it's exactly triggered.

I'm digging this. Skeith was always my favorite of the 8 (he had the coolest music, sorry), so seeing him back in action is a fanboy ... dream thing. I actually only care about Haseo's chainsaw broadsword. The sooner I get to wail on NPCs with that the better.

I rather like the Player killing concept, although it won't be something to do early in the game. It makes it seem much more like a real MMORPG, if only they would implement some decent sidequests.

I agree, I didn't really like the sidequests in .hack, they were usually alot of trecking through the same thing for a very small reward, like the one with the vine creature that supposedly raised your level by ten. Did anybody really believe that? I would like to see more original characters too, it seemed like most of the people you got in your party just looked different than the others with the same attacks, over and over [I know this is usually what its like in an MMO but still, more variety in attacks would have been very nice and .hack didn't have the MMO like interaction to redeem the mundane repetition of abilities.]

Was that Kite from the trailer? if it was, he changed a lot. Kicking ass now >.>
And this game looks a lot better from their older sequels.

It's actually a character of indeterminate origin named Tri-Edge. His exact relationship to Kite is unknown.

Haseo's not the only one who can transform into an Avatar. The titles of the eight Infinity Characters suddenly make complete sense.

Footage of an Avatar Battle, featuring Skeith

Haseo's ability to transform into or summon Skeith revealed. Reminds me of Zone of the Enders, but with Data Drain. Also looks as though the party is not involved, although Skeith's appearances could strictly be event battles.

oh yeah and for those that dont know each week there is a new video in the official site http://www.cyberconnect2.jp/gu/main.html

Wow, nice video. Somehow it feels kind of like a spoiler, but not so much at the same time.

I wonder if this means you can only control Haseo/Skeith in the Zone of the Ender-esque battles.

I can't see the avatar movies for some reason, but it's starting to turn into something I might like.

I have to remind myself that it's just another .hack game. It can't be that special, right?

EDIT: Saw Avatar movie, nevermind this is going to kickass.

Extended trailer, some new gameplay and cinematic footage

Very awesome. Skeith-Haseo is almost worth the 50 dollar price tag alone.

They manage to keep making this game better and better with each bit of info released, and it's already my #1 most wanted game this year. Hell, the music and avatar battles alone make this game look worth it. The most interesting thing about this trailer though is the shot of a fractured Kite transforming into Tri-Edge near the end.

Actually, it looks more to me like Tri-Edge is just using Drain Heart rather than Kite actually transforming into Tri-Edge.

The game has me pretty excited, but my only reservation on the game so far is the battle system. It certainly doesn't look like the mindless boring battles of games past, but I'm out on that one until I get the game in my hands.

If you look closely though, it isn't Tri-Edge at first. The eye is different, his face is uncovered, and the brown patches on his pants' legs are gone. Then after the Drain Heart is fired he's Tri-Edge again.

It still looks like Tri-Edge to me. His eye before firing off Data Drain looks the same as afterwards. The way I took it, Tri-Edge looks as though he was beaten by Haseo and his party, and Data Drains the surroundings to recover.

I could certainly be wrong, but it doesn't make any sense for Tri-Edge to be Kite, since he no longer played after the first series of games.

Well, it wouldn't necessarily have to be the player Kite of course. .Hack//Dusk (Key of the Twilight, whatever you want to call it) proved that the system is more than capable of recreating his character model whenever it wants to.

I agree that it looks like Tri-Edge was beaten by Haseo's party in that scene, but it looks like it's hinting that a regular version is hidden underneath. The eye is debateable (I wasn't really sure of that either), but his clothes are obviously different. The face cover is gone, the stitch in his hat isn't there, and various patches all over his outfit aren't there either. It all regenerates/turns back into Tri-Edges costume after he uses Drain Heart.

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/1...dgetaf18ec.jpg

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/3...dgetaf26vj.jpg

He's still got the brown patches on his pants.

Personally, I'm of the opinion that Kite's character data somehow survived the fire that destroyed the first version of The World; that would link with the explanation that Tri-Edge is an AIDA and he's simply "borrowing" Kite's form.

I forgot to mention this earlier, but I'm curious as to why Shino's outfit in G.U. and G.U.+ is black and decidedly darker than her outfit in Roots. Maybe something happens in Roots that causes this costume change?

Do you know Tri-Edge?

The full cutscene of Haseo beating the asses of a bunch of PKers. This scene, like the one below, was featured a lot in the trailers. Again, nothing really spoilerish at all. It's mostly a 4 minute fight scene.

This is ...Tri-Edge!

Minor spoilers, mostly stuff we've already seen in the trailer. This is, however, the full scene of Haseo vs. Tri-Edge that was shown several times in early trailers ripped from the actual game. If you want to fastforward through anything potentially spoilerish, watch the clip at the 1:30 timecode.

.Hack//G-G-GUnit will be released stateside early Fall. The guy who made the video also has a bunch of other cool stuff. Just click on his name and view whatever else he's uploaded. Somebody also uploaded the cutscene right before the final battle with...



I caved in and watched it. The video wasn't very spoilerish and it was pretty cool, but I think I'm going to refrain from watching too much else.

I'm really looking forward to this game, I like the dark feeling it seems to have.

... I wonder if it will be rated M?

We would only be so lucky. Nothing about the games nor its accompanying media branches suggest anything higher than a T.

The game was given al All rating by Japan's Cero board. I don't think there would be anything to get it past Teen.

.hack//GU Volume 2: Kimi Omou Koe
.hack//GU Volume 2: Kimi Omou Koe (2nd Trailer)

Trailer for the second game in the series. MAJOR spoilers for those who haven't played the game or haven't already spoiled themselves (ha...ha...), but cool nonetheless.

There are now apparently super moves and what look like real-time weapon-changing in combat. I could be totally wrong, though.

Although I really want to watch those, I'm avoiding all spoilers for volume 1. I've been drooling over its trailer since it was first put up after TGS last year, and it's as awesome as ever.

Oh, also for those who haven't noticed, EB and Gamestop have pretty much a complete monopoly over this if you want the full game experience. The Terminal Disc that has all the unlockable extras is only available with the limited edition version of the game, which also comes with a Haseo figure.

Guess I'll have to stop by EB and reserve my copy tomorrow.

But yeah, I don't really care too much with spoiling myself. On one hand I kind of wish I didn't click or watch some of the cutscenes on Youtube, but if anything the new trailers only got me hyped for vol. 1 even more.

Yeah. At least they sort of give you a choice this time around by charging $40 if you want just the game, and the full $50 if you want the Terminal Disc and a figure too. Not a bad deal; they must have taken into consideration all the complaints last time.

Did they fix the control scheme in .hack//GU? I really liked the story for the first series but the button mashing gameplay was unbearable. I ended up wasting money by buying all 4 games at once, because I never made it passed Episode 2. That and the fact that after playing some real MMOs, .hack felt so ridiculously fake..

They apparently have, although I'm not entirely sure how. Volume 1's battles seem to get sort of repetitive from what I've seen, but this might have been fixed in Volume 2 since they're adding a bunch of new stuff.

G.U.'s battle system is leaps and bounds better than the original four game's battle systems.

Instead of just pressing X to attack, there are now variations to the combos that are done. For example, say Haseo has his Twin Blade weapons equipped, the first time you hit X could be regular slash, the second time another slash, and the third time you'd have to hit X repeatedly to do more damage. However, there are variations in weapon combos not only between different weapon types (Say, brandish weapons and Twin blade weapons), but also between weapons of the same type. So, while one Twin Blade may have the combo I listed above, a different one could have a completely different one.

There are also Rengeki attacks, which are essentially using special moves after something similar to a "Protect Break" in the original. Though it happens more frequently.

And you can also launch into a tension mode when the tension bar reaches maximum where you just get to pound on the enemies for more damage briefly. And that's in addition to regular special moves.

As well as Avatar battles, which while are interesting, they do become a little repetitive.

Of course, you can also guard in battle now, which adds a little more variety.

Hmmmm....this actually looks decent, but the question is, do you have to play though the other PS2 games to get the story line of this one? I played the first one....but never got the others...

One of the main purposes of the Terminal Disc is to fill you in on key points from the original games. I know it includes several cutscenes redone with better graphics and some story synopsis among other things.

The Terminal Disc contains twelve files which explain the events surrounding the original games, and the events leading up to G.U.

With G.U. Volume 1, the first four files are available to you, each of which recap one of the four original .hack// games. In these four files, there really are not any new cutscenes, but instead shows most of the scenes from the original games. Keep in mind that you can't select which scenes to play, though, as they're integrated into the reports.

The other 8 files are meant to be unlocked with the next to Volumes, four for each game. However, they have been broken into already and there are English transcripts of them available. Definitely some key information in them.

As for the English release, keep in mind that, unlike the Japanese, you'll only get the Terminal Disc if you pick up the "Special Edition."

Good thing I went and preordered the special edition. Although I did feel kind of dorky when the employee mentioned the figurine.

Got the game today and it's pretty win so far. I'm only about two hours in and the cutscenes are kind of lengthy, but interesting nonetheless. Combat's really cool, but after seeing what you're capable of in vol. 2, I want more (variety!) now!

Since I preordered the collector's edition, it came with a nifty lil' Haseo figurine. It can't really stand on it's own very well, but it's pretty cool and doesn't look cheap. Now all I need is a Tri-Edge one (better be in vol. 2).

I played for a few hours last night, and it certainly didn't disappoint despite my high expectations. I would have played for longer, but I wanted to watch all four videos on the Terminal Disc first. The only issue I've got with the game are a few of the VAs. Most of them do a good job, but I wanted to kill those first two people you party up with. They kept reading their lines just like lines; stopping at the end of each subtitle box.

One question about the data converting though. I brought over my data from Quarantine, then started a New Game. It said I would "receive an email from Legend of the Twilight" or something like that, but of course your email box is wiped clean before you even get to check it. Is that something extra that you receive later in the game? So far the only extra emails I've received have been from BlackRose and Hokuto, but the manual says that some special things won't happen until later.

Not sure. You might want to poke around at gamefaqs to check on what all you've missed or might get.

I'm gonna try and get some save files from either friends or the Internet, since I never finished the original .hack series. I must have really enjoyed the story in Infection to sit through the graphics. That or I was totally gar for Skeith.

OMG RAGE

I hit the 19 hour mark, fought a certain boss and was treated to a nice cliffhanger followed by fucking credits!

I was just really starting to enjoy the game only to be cut off wondering how long I'm going to have to wait for the next game IF it even ever gets localized.

What happened to the claimed length of .hack//gu where the first volume was to be nearly as long as the previous four games combined. What happened to the self contained stories which we were promised for these volumes?

Ug, it was such a good game too.....

Wow, you beat it that fast? I'd heard the same thing you mentioned regarding length. This is kind of good news for me, since I want to get back into both Devil Summoner and Valkyrie Profile 2.

Volume 2 should be on the way, hopefully sooner than expected. I heard December, but that seems reasonably unlikely. January would be nice.

Erk, some post game whining:

It doesn't bother me so much that each Volume isn't drastically different or particularly lengthy, but I'm a little shocked by how dependent each new installment is on data flags. There's a lot more that you're missing out on by starting the series up on the second or third Volume-- levels and equipment are obviously one thing you'd miss out on, but then there's also the very demanding Guild levelling and the quests from various Mac Anu NPCs. I wouldn't want to track down those damn hard-to-find members or all seven of those blacklisted PKers again. The game's a lot better than the original .hacks though, so I don't think I'll pass on Volume 2.

And what was wrong with Silabus? I liked Silabus.

So let me guess, the PK sidequest results in an item that is required to complete the first volumes item list, doesn't it?


Also, I don't mind the short length very much, however I went into the game thinking it was of decent length (30+ hours) so it was a bit of a shock. It still does bother me where they cut off the first volume but I guess that is how they get people to buy the next two volumes.

Now that I'm over the initial shock, I have to say this was a good game. They have improved production value of the game all around compared to the four original games. I absolutely love the change in graphic design and the stylization really sets this game apart from the rest. The music is also excellent and the Asian instruments used in a lot of the tracks really gives the game character. Another thing I couldn't help notice, and something that is normally overlooked is the sound effects in the game. There is a really unique use of sound effects in the game and again really helps to distinguish it over other games.

I'm rather impressed with the jump in character development as well. I found it pretty difficult to take a lot of the original games character development and plot seriously as even the game itself played off most things being they were just characters in a game themselves. Not only that, but in the original game, most of the characters were pretty shallow. GU is completely different where each character has a very recognizable personality. Haseo and his obvious character flaws also makes him FAR more interesting than Kite ever was. I also feel terrible for poor Atoli, and it usually takes a pretty high level of character development for me to feel sympathetic for a game character.

I don't dislike Silabus, I'm basically indifferent about his character. I just find Haseo, Atoli and their relationship far more interesting than other aspects of the game. My main driving point to keep playing was to find out how those two were going to interact each time they got together. I wouldn't be surprised if Atoli is hated by most, but her character really grew on me toward the end as I think she is FAR more complex than many people might realize. The cool aspect about .hack is there is actually a character behind the game characters and the writers of the series tend to exploit this fact pretty well.

This game came out pretty recently didn't it? Is nobody playing this, or is it because FFXII came out soon after?
I guess I only have to look at stupid amount of posts the FFXII thread has and I just answered my own question.

Is the game really that short? I guess i'll have to play it really slow then. =/

It's not really that short. I'm up to 39 hours on it, and I'm still finishing up some side stuff (hunting PKs, killing the doppleganger, etc.). I beat the main game in about 35 hours, and I consider that to be a pretty decent length. Sure, it's a bit low, but I had enough fun with the game to more than make up for that. I really hope we get an actual release date for vol. 2 soon.

Yeah, this and other games got shoved to the side once FFXII got released unfortunately.

I also wanted to note that I watched some gameplay footage for Volume 2 on Youtube and it looks like the repetitive combat has evolved more than I thought. Brandish Haseo has a slew of different combos to use in combat. With the addition of real-time weapon change, Volume 2 should be a bit more fun than it's predecessor.

And yeah, the game was kind of shorter than I expected, but I thought it was a decent enough length. There's still a lot I haven't done yet (kill the PKs, take down the Doppleganger, etc.) but got Haseo, Pi, and Kuhn to the max level of 50. The only reason I stopped was because I'd unlocked all of the videos I wanted to, and from there I'm moving on to Devil Summoner (since time's short).

Quick question, Mr. Kuradosempaikunchanyanwan.
Did you get the email's from BlackRose?

From what I've read, the email from Blackrose is received if you convert data from any of the original 4 .Hack games. If you convert Quarantine data then you receive an email from Hokuto (AI Buster) to Rena (Legend of the Twilight's Bracelet). Those are the only bonuses as far as I know. Kinda sad. =/

I didn't beat all four previous .Hack//* games, so I never got the e-mails. I did, however, hear about some creepy e-mails Endrance sends you in Vol. 2.

Well, yeah, I had gotten those (they were pretty interesting...), and then I got one that said "Oops, I sent it to the wrong person, please ignore, etc..." and I was just wondering if anything else unlocked..

I really, really, really like G.U.

Yeah, BlackRose's email was especially interesting. I've looked at a couple of FAQs about the converting, and they all seem to think that those 3 emails are all you get. I say that it's kind of sad because I'd read an interview before the game was released where someone from Bandai made it sound like they were adding in something else special, but I guess that was just Hokuto's email since that came from converting .Hack//Fragment data in Japan.

I converted the Quarantine data, and got the Blackrose and Hokuto email. He later sends another email saying sorry for sending it to the wrong person.

Tell me something, I didn't get this terminal disc, but I am curious about what's on that disc. I heard it explains what happend between R:1 and R:2 is that true? Also any idea if someone uploaded them somewhere so I can watch them? Youtube only had 2 that I could see.

There's a thread on the forums over at www.dothackers.net about the Terminal Disc playing in Windows Media Player Classic because of how the files are saved. It's likely that you could find torrents for them, but that forum has a very strict policy of no discussion about any sort of piracy like that (even YouTube) so I can't say for sure.

As for content, I haven't watched the files that unlock after beating vol. 1 yet (files 6 and 10) but 1-4 were detailed summaries of the first four games. All I know about 6 and 10 is that they provide a bit of info about Ovan.

I wonder if they are going to offer the Terminal Disc with the second volume for people that missed out on it with the first volume. I kind of got screwed with the collectors edition for the first volume since none of the EBs even ordered a collectors edition in my area and I wasn't aware of the CE until after they stopped pre-orders for them online.

I think it's stupid too, i mean something significant like this should have been in every version, not in a special edition. Doesn't really make sense at all.

Yeah, and it didn't help that they waited to announce the way the Terminal Disc would be packaged. EB and Gamestop's sites only mentioned the action figure until a week or two before its release.

For those who are eagerly waiting for Volume 2 to come to the US as I am, the official site has been slightly updating giving us the official title for the Volume 2 US release. Still no release date, but this does settle the question of it ever coming to the US.

.Hack//Reminisce isn't a bad title, so I'm happy with it. I just wish we could get an actual release date. Since I've heard that the voice acting is almost completed, or possibly fully completed by now I'm hoping for a March release. It seems feasible, and it's not close enough to the end of the semester to interfere with exams.

Gah... I wonder how fast each of the games were released in Japan... -_-"
Can't...wait fer it (please let it be released in March)!!! ><

Volume 3 was already released in Japan (most of the cutscenes from the game are available on youtube). From what I saw, none seem quite as action-packed as the ones in Volume 2, but still cool nonetheless.

Well we are one step closer to an actual release date for Volume 2. Unfortunately it seems we will have to wait until this summer for the US release.

http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3156781

Oh, dag nabbits!

Yeah, all volumes were already released in Japan... grr. I saw some screenshots of the Vol 3 ending.... it was just too funny! Atleast... I think it was some sort of ending...

The summer release date is pretty disappointing. The old series only had about a 2-3 month gap between releases, and it's already been about 4 months since GU Vol. 1. The Japanese releases pretty much stayed on schedule, but Namco-Bandai is really dropping the ball for the US releases.

It probably didn't sell too well here, I mean when Gamespot bashed it like the way they did with the previous .hack series, people (those who aren't .hack fans) will probably just avoid it since it's a mediocore game.

Huh? What'd Gamespot do? Giving .hack a bad name??! Grrr.... Well, I'm not sure how it's a mediocore game, but I'm still gonna play it no matter how cheezy it is... (yep, a hard-core .hack fan here...) I want to know what happens! (even if I did read it already)

Ever since Infection, Gamespot never gave .hack series above a score of 7... For G.U. they pretty much said how the game is the same old repetitive system with slight improvements on graphics, and the same crappy storyline that get you no where... I know it's a short game, but it doesn't deserved to be bashed like this.

Gamespot bashed G.U. a lot more than it deserved, but IGN never even bothered to review it. I'd say that's a lot worse. It didn't score Namco-Bandai any points to suddenly make the Terminal Disc a pre-order exclusive for Gamestop either. Honestly, it seems like everyone kinda worked together to screw over Rebirth's US release.

Man, I thought it was awesome, dang it! Even if it WAS short! But that's why there are 3 games!! Maybe they'll make the other ones longer and more improved (somehow). No one said they all had to be the same length. '_^

Wow... nothing above a 7.0 rating? Well, it's not that bad... To tell the truth, you can't really compare it to the Final Fantasy games... (that probably got a 10! ><) However, the story is funny and interesting.

IGN... I don't know about others, but about 50% of their reviewers don't even know what they are talking about, if they felt like bashing a game, they just trashed it worthless without even going into much detail on how it sucked, that's why I stoped reading their articles a while back. I'm actually glad they didn't review this one.

For some reason, people just like to degrade games that have sequels which appeared to have repetitive systems. Games like Dynasty Warriors never made its day since the beginning of the 4th game on GameSpot or IGN, yet others like FIFA200X constantly received praises for reviewers, despite how little each game has changed overtime.

Na... I think Bandai milks on this series, that's why they divided it into 3 DVDs, it could've been made into just 1 disc. However, the Japanese are pleased with what they get, Famitsu gave volume 2 a 32/40. Not like the scores mean anything to me, but I believe it reflects on how eastern and western reviewers look at games such as this.

I personally like the Dynasty Warriors/Samurai Warriors series... it never gets old to me. (especially now that KOEI added some humor to it)

Hm... maybe there's too many games here that people aren't grateful anymore... bleh... Or, maybe it's just that the .hack series are usually slightly difficult to understand (.hack//SIGN...) and people don't like things like that... I'm certainly not confused, but many people say .hack is just too complex that they don't like it. There's a deeper meaning to it (or maybe I'm just over-thinking)... like the Epitaph of Twilight that is the essential part in every .hack game.

I, for one, enjoy this series a lot for it's unique story.

Though, "The World" Itself is probably a terrible game, only successful for the fact that you can interface pretty much directly with it. And Flick Reapers, goddamn Flick Reapers are awesome.



I do wish there was a The World MMO, at least so i can play some of the other classes. Tribal Grappler looks interesting, when was the last time anyone played a MMO with a h2h class?

FFXI the monk class use H2H weapon and they are one of the best DD in the game. (I'm a monk and I love it XD)

anyway back on topic. I so enjoyed the anime hack//sign that I decided to buy the 4 ps2 game and I'm not even half-way through the first one >.< I have some difficulty with the battle system. So how the gameplay in this one? it's seem pretty similar but how much did they improved it?

I beat GU Vol. 2 earlier this week, because I played it almost non-stop once I finished my exams. Definitely worth the wait (thanks a lot for the speedy translation, Bandai-Namco), and I'm still working on filling in the Ryu Books. I just hope it doesn't take them another 7 months to port over the third game. That was ridiculous, especially since FEWER things were voice acted in this one.

There is, it's called .Hack//Fragment. I don't know which classes are included in it, but it doesn't matter anyway since it's Japan-only and will sadly never come here.

Um... What's your actual difficulty with the battle system? It was pretty basic from what I remember. Tap X repeatedly for attacking and use the menu for skills, items, and commanding your teammates. The battle system was heavily revamped for GU. Here's a basic list off the top of my head:

- Main character uses twin blades, heavy blades, scythes (vol. 2), and guns (vol. 3).
- Battles are enclosed in a small force field and an item is used to run away.
- Less of a reason to adjust your teammates, and menus less complicated
- Skill trigger allows you to set 4 moves that can be used quickly with an R1 menu
- Instead of Protect Break there's Rengeki. Basically it's a critical hit with your weapon skills and you get extra EXP for doing it.

well mainly the A.I. of your teammate which I found pretty stupid and where always at the wrong place >.>

oh and I forgot , I didn't really follow the story of this one, is it a sequel of the previous serie?

well I should ask, is the game self-sufficient story wise to understand everything?

You can adjust your teammates' strategies and command them to use skills, but I didn't really find that necessary until .Hack//Outbreak. Just set Wavemasters to First Aid and command them yourself when you need to.

GU's story does require at least some knowledge of the first games, taking place seven years later. You could just look for a rip of the Terminal Disc "End of the World" though. It has 12 videos on it that unlock depending on your GU saves, each one revealing more backstory and the first four videos are good summaries of the first four games. Unfortunately, in the US it was only available as a pre-order gift at Gamestop, but I'm fairly certain there are rips floating around that can be played on your computer.

It's been a long time, but i am positive i remember that you can give your party members items and they'd heal when appropiate with an AI setting.

I never gave them any items, and somehow they always had new healing items, so I guess they are at least smart enough to keep buying new ones.

Sorry for the double post, but I am curious. I've been trying to get a hold of this game for a while now, but none of my regular import shops have gotten it yet. Is this game hard to get or something? It IS out yet, yes?

It's been out for 2 weeks, yes. I'm sure as with any game like it, the amount of copies being produced is low where most stores will only order 2-3 at a time.

so, whens the 3rd one due out? Ive gone thru vol 1 & 2 already.. I guess after july.

The rumors right now say October, but no one really has any idea. That's probably not too far off though.

I wish it would come out next month(my bday, lol)

I guess I should replay both, try an unlock everything.. im missing movies, wallpapers an stuff


Anyone know where i can download the Terminal Disk? Ive tried searching around the web to buy it used or something.. even ebay doesnt have any.

I saw a Terminal Disc rip mentioned on the dothackers.net forums, but unfortunately they have a strictly enforced policy against talking about downloading licensed stuff. You can mention its existance, but not ask where to get it or encourage someone to use it. I remember they said the files on the disc were in a format that made them really easy to rip and play in WMP. Try googling around for a torrent.

God, I love this series.

I've recently gotten back into .hack, and I can't believe I broke away from it.

I can't wait for the third game.

me too, im replaying both vols, to unlock everything.

I missed only 1 wallpaper this time from volume 1, it was trying to get all armors/weapons/items an stuff.

trying to find people to trade with, sucked.. cuz they move around all the time.

I was so stupid this time. I did everything there is to do, same as in the previous volume, but I forgot all about crimson vs. I literally started it as I finished everything, and it seems like the progress of the game is based on time played, so I have to leave my PS2 on all the time just to make progress. SIGH

To make it worse my deck who had a winning streak of 180 wins 0 losses now keeps losing, so I constantly have to check how these decks are doing.

I never really bothered with Crimson Vs. In fact, I was using one of the pre-built decks for about half the game and had about a 50% win rate. It just didn't interest me at all. Where's the fun in a card game that plays itself? Aside from looking at the art it was a pretty useless side venture.

Turns out you don't even get anything for becoming the champion. I just wasted 24 hours. wee!

I wasn't a big fan of the whole deck will fight automatically either. It would have been much better if you could just see the 500 people ranked there, and could slowly fight the way to the top.

There's a rumor going around that Cyberconnect is going to make a .hack game for DS.

so rumor is, 3rd chapter comes out september 10th. wish it was sooner.. but i guess its ok :P

What's the source for this rumor? After the many false leads we got over vol. 2's release I'm wary about placing any trust at all in this. Honestly, I'd be surprised to see a release any sooner than October.

ign/gamefaqs :P

not very good sources i know.. a man can dream though right? oct is to far!

Hey, it looks like your rumored date of September 10th might be right after all!

EB's site has it listed as shipping on 9/10/07, and they were accurate with vol. 2 since they refrained from even adding it to their site until Namco-Bandai gave a real date. That's fantastic news if it's true since like I already said, I was expecting an October release at the earliest.

So ive been thinking about playing this game. Do you guys recommend that I start with the original series?

not really important, G.U is its own story pretty much..

but do try an play Vol 1 & 2 before getting 3

I'm not sure how enjoyable GU would be if you know nothing about the original series, but it's not necessary to play them all. I recommend tracking down a torrent for the Terminal Disc that came with GU vol. 1's special edition. It has fairly comprehensive reviews of the first four games among other things.

I enjoyed them, with really no knowledge of the older .hacks.

I played them when they first came out, but I dont really remember them. *shrug*

Honestly, G.U.'s story isn't enjoyable regardless of whether or not you know the backstory with the original series. They're all hardcore-cheesy in the storyline department. I stopped playing Volume 2 early on because I couldn't take it anymore.

Not to mention that the original games are really starting to show their age (from and graphical and gameplay perspective).

I guess i'm amused to easy.. i liked them :P

Same, I'm not going to be terribly picky about my games since i have a lot of time to play them. I guess people stressed for time would only want to play the 'best', but I can at least enjoy this happily. Now i just have to wait for Vol 3.


I seriously hope they don't make a DS .hack. I'm tired of RPGs on the DS when they could be putting them out on a console.

so any importers play vol. 3? Just wanted to know how long it is, I guess the same as the other 2?

I'd guess it's the same length as the first two volumes, yeah. It could be a bit longer though, since apparently it introduces two new root towns rather than just one more, and there's a 100 level dungeon after you beat it. At least it won't have the same problem as the 15 floor epilogue dungeon from Quarantine, where it forced you to be close to max level or risk random game over from data drain infection with every fight.

Although it pains me to do so, I'll probably go pre-order this tomorrow. Gamestop only got in 2 copies of vol. 2 (I showed up as the delivery truck was leaving), and my Best Buy has been extremely incompetant with release dates lately. I don't want to get stuck waiting an extra week just because EB doesn't like to actually stock merchandise.

Oh god, I remember that dungeon. That was the stupidest dungeon, ever. It all depended on luck, I tried 3 times, and got game over eventually in all 3. I just gave up in the end.

Same here. It was even more frustrating when I found out it was 15 floors and I'd made it to floor 13 on my first try. I finally went back to it last summer in preparation for GU vol. 1, grinded up to level 98-99, and did it fairly easily since your infection rate depended on your level compared to the area's.

Im gonna preorder it this weekend.. I hear something about a poster when you do? I wish it was the disc that i missed out on.. terminal or whatever

Played it for 20 hours and i'm at the end.

If i see another flying monster i'll murder something. Now i'm just powerleveling for the final boss.

20hours? wow, i managed to get 35hours each on the last two volumes. Oh well, I plan to get this soon.. I'm having alot of fun with Wild Arms V at the moment though

Game Defeated.

I have about 70 hours total. I'm 8 levels from max level, have two of three Dopp weapons(I never fought him in vol 1 :( ), and now I just have to work on my affection stuff.... Sadly, the people i DON'T want madly in love with me are, and the ones i like, don't...

Oh and god help me if i try to get 100% Ryu Books, as far as i'm concerned they don't exist. This is the worst anything ever to max out, christ...

Man this is going to take forever :(

Are the Ryu books harder to max out in vol. 3 for some reason? Hell, two of mine maxed out the first time I talked to Death Grunty.

I think I'm maybe about 1/3 of the way through the game now, and I love it as much as the others so far.

That opening song is bone chilling.

I beat the game last night, clocking in at around 30 hours. This game felt a bit shorter than previous installments, but mostly because I spent two days last week playing for about 8 hours. It also didn't spread the story out as much. Usually people are inviting you to various areas and such, but not this time around. I think I only had 2 lucky animals kicked when I finished the game.

Still plenty of stuff left to clean up in the epilogue though.

Overall a great conclusion to the series. I'll miss having a new volume to look forward to, but maybe in a few years we'll get another .Hack series. There's apparently an 80 minute OVA spanning GU's story in the works at the moment.

Do all the new characters start at red with 5 orbs again? I hope not, because some character types are so annoying to get all the way up to pink.

You wish. A lot of the new characters start at red with NO orbs. Raising affection isn't very difficult in the epilogue though.

What's the max affection again, Pink 5?

Yeah, which I thought was a little strange. I expected there to at least be one more color level, but I guess they decided to take it easy on you with so many new characters starting back on red.

Has anyone else noticed the unusually high resolution on some of RPGamer's (and probably others') screenshots?

Were those upconverted, or emulated, or...what? They're way beyond NTSC, and I know of only a very few PS2 games capable of any HD display modes outside of 720x480 progressive-scan.

I'd link, but last I remember RPGamer were douches about direct linking, and I'm working on something else anyway so ha.

But seriously. Resolution. WTF. Good WTF, but WTF.

Those went from Namco Bandai just like that, to a lot of places. Some shrank them for the sake of the "WTF" factor. Some left them obese.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh.

So, in other words...
Bullshots.

Still, good-looking bullshots. ...But then that's the whole point.

Thanks.

they could just be rerendered shots you know.