[PS2] .Hack Games

I've played through (and read) the entire first series now and I can say, unless you're prepared to put a lot of money and time into this (for not a lot of outcome), then don't bother.

It's a great premise (mysterious happenings in an MMORPG), but since it's covered by so many different mediums (books, manga, anime, game), each medium is afraid to take any big steps in storytelling. This is because if one author writes something out of the established storyline, the people who haven't read that particular item will miss out on something important. Unfortunately, that means as you play/read/watch a particular game/book/anime, you get the feeling that you're just wasting time.

I don't particularly regret watching SIGN, playing through all the first series of games, watching each Liminality episode, reading each associated novel (1-4), the AI Buster novels, and the Key of the Twilight manga, but it really just felt "empty" to me. It's as if the mystery that's encapsulated in this entire conglomerate of merchandise is barely enough to fit in a full paragraph.

I only made it halfway through the Dusk anime (since it's so damn stupid), and I haven't started on the second series of merchandise... and I don't know if I will.

Jam it back in, in the dark.