And here we are with the last of the backlogged items I had saved from the past. Now, all you'll see are more recent postings with more information, hopefully something a bit more inspirational to play the games too.
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Title: .hack//G.U. (3 games)
Released: 2006-2007
A sequel to the .hack series for the same console, .hack//G.U. is a series of three discs for the Playstation 2. The games are:
.hack//G.U. Rebirth (Part 1)
.hack//G.U. Reminisce (Part 2)
.hack//G.U. Redemption (Part 3)
As you can probably guess, this game strings the story across all three, and it does it so well, even including small animated shorts within the game, that are unlocked through the course of the game, that explains what goes on in the real world while the game is slowly deteriorating. The entire story takes place, in fact, after the events of the anime series, .hack//ROOTS, where Haseo's background story and involvement with the Twilight Brigade is cemented.
To those that would rather not watch the series, the game makes a good attempt in recreating the key scenes, from Haseo's first day in The World: V2, to Haseo's time as the Terror of Death, a PKK, or a Player-Killer Killer. His reputation as the Terror of Death is cut short as he runs in with the vagrant AI known as Tri-Edge, and attempts to get revenge on it for taking a friend of his away some time ago, turning her into a Lost One, or someone who has slipped into a coma in the real world.
Haseo's fight with Tri-Edge shows no sign of flinching on the opponent's part. Haseo pulls out all of the stops, trying his hardest to land a hit on his enemy. However, Tri-Edge simply holds his hand out as a digital bracelet becomes visible around his wrist. Streams of data shoot through Haseo, stripping him of his information, and eventually turning his screen off. Having gone through the same events that countless others before him, Haseo is seemingly unharmed in the real world. When he logs into The World: v2, though, he finds that his character has been deleted! His Lv.122 Adept Rogue no longer exists, and he has to recreate his character once again.
The story, from then on, has Haseo attempting to hunt down Tri-Edge and beat him once again, all the while becoming involved with strange characters. The game presents itself much better than its predecessor, and it does show that more effort was put into arranging every little detail, from the dungeon design, the differences in characters, as well as the Root Towns.
One of the additions in this series is the Arena, which you will come to rely on heavily throughout all three of the games. PKK is looked down upon, but within the Arena, people can freely attack one another without loss, which is why there are Tournaments held constantly. Through these, however, Haseo comes to learn of many problems that threaten this version of The World, similar to the instances from the first. Although the combat basics are generally the same, you play as an Adept Rogue this time, rather than a Twin Blade, so the differences in the class vary now.
Throughout the three games, the Adept Rogue class has two additional upgrades it can go through, allowing for more abilities and more weapons/armor to be usable. To attempt each class change, an Adept Rogue must reach certain conditions, which are mostly story-based, and there is hardly anything you can miss if you generally stick to the story. Side-missions, such as the Mecha-Grunty, Bike Races, and more will be unlocked as you get around to it. Furthermore, your guild's specific Grunty will carry with it the Book of 1000, which is filled with many different requirements. Should you meet the requirements for each stage in each game, you'll be rewarded with wallpapers to customize your desktop, new music, and many other pieces that'll be helpful on your Desktop.
There's not that much that's different between this and the first series, and while it is certainly grander in some of the things they've designed, it actually seems shorter, due to the Arena being a major part of the story. The game is definitely worth playing if you're into this sort of thing, as they have put quite a lot of time into making sure you have lots of things to do, from the Crimson Vs. card game to the item collections, affection system, and filling out the Book of 1000.
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