Another one from the vault, but this is close to the last I'll have to rely on. You can definitely see the difference between the past and the present, but not by much I'm sure.
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Title: .hack (4 part game series)
Released: 2002-2004
The title is actually to cover the four .hack games in a series for the PS2. The games are:
.hack//INFECTION
.hack//MUTATION
.hack//OUTBREAK
.hack//QUARANTINE
These four games follow the adventures of Kite, a Twin-Blade character within the CC Corporation's famous game, The World. The first day that Kite starts to play, he is invited by his friend to a beginner's field, which he is going to help him get used to it all. Of course, during their lesson, they see a girl in white flying by them in the dungeon, being chased by a strange creature with a red wand. As they attempt to save the poor, defenseless girl, Kite's friend is defeated, and suspiciously he is thrown into a coma in the real world from it. Before Kite is affected in the same way, the girl sacrifices herself to save him.
Now, Kite is determined to find the strange creature with the red wand, as well as the girl in white, in the hopes of figuring out why his friend, and many others, are in a coma due to the game. What he eventually finds out is that he will be fighting to protect more than just The World, as the internet itself suffers from the same problems, as shown through the many events in the game, and the OVA CDs that come with each game.
If you've seen the .hack//SIGN anime series, this series of games picks up only a few months after the events of the end episode, if I remember correctly. A handful of characters from the series will make an appearance randomly, but for the most part, you will have quite a list of new characters to choose from. Kite befriends BlackRose, a young Blademaster, that lost her brother in the same way that Kite lost his friend, and they work together to unravel the mysteries that The World holds.
It is a simple hack-and-slash game that does its best to resemble an online game without actually being online. Each of the servers hold a Root Town, which is the center of resupplying and hanging out with other players. Here, you can transfer to different Fields by the use of three different keywords, which will generate areas randomly through the combination of words working together. Of course, when you start off with the first game, you won't have access to the other servers, but as you progress through the story across these four discs, you will come to gain access to many other features besides the new servers: Grunty Racing, the Ryu Books, and Data Drain.
Data Drain is the act of draining the information off of an opponent, stripping them of viruses often times, and turning it into useful items. For the most part, if used on a random creature, it will devolve them to a lower form, decreasing the experience you may receive from them as well as giving you an item for draining them. However, throughout the game, and they get more frequent near the end of the last disc, there are specially-coated enemies that have been infected with a virus, giving them bugged stats. You must whittle away their health until they acquire Protect Break status, which allows you to data drain them and receive a Virus Core, which is involved in Gate Hacking (explained later). The problem with Data Drain lies in your Infection Rate, which gradually goes up when you use the ability, as opposed to going down from killing creatures regularly, and letting it decrease on its own. Should you drain too much, the infection will affect Kite and, ultimately, Kite's player, causing you to have a Game Over.
Gate Hacking, which is something that, I believe, you start to get near the middle of the series itself, involves collecting a bunch of Virus Cores from the different servers and using them to break into Protected Areas, or fields that have been sealed off from the general public by the administrators of The World. This is generally for the sake of the story, and you'll never come across these when trying to level up. It simply requires you to drain specific types of creatures (small, medium, or large-sized creatures each give different cores per server) and then using them to break the gates. Certain cores will also only appear from story-specific dungeons, so if there are certain cores you have yet to get, but come across a field that requires it, then wait for a new field to be required, or data-drain it off of a random enemy.
The story itself is epically stringed through the four discs, and picking up in the middle means you miss out on the main information stream. Sure, it gives you a brush-up when you start each new game, but you miss out on carrying over everything you may've acquired, including stat bonuses and specific weapons, if you decide to start from any other part. To top it off, the included OVA discs help you understand just what is going on in the real world while the games show you what is happening inside, which is well thought-out. If you're into MMOs, or into RPGs in general, then you could always try and pick this up and try it for yourself. It doesn't come with a monthly fee, and you're guaranteed to enjoy it if you like these sorts of games.
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