.hack (video game series)

The commercial success of the franchise led to the production of .hack//frägment—a Japan-only remake of the series with online capabilities—and .hack//G.U., another video game trilogy which was released for the PlayStation 2 between 2006 and 2007.

[4] Kite possesses a unique ability called "Data Drain" which allows him to transform these enemies into rare items.

[6] In many towns, the player may also raise a sentient, pig-like creature called a Grunty, which can be ridden in fields and in later games raced for prizes.

[15] The World was developed by a German programmer named Harald Hoerwick; its backstory is based on the Epitaph of Twilight, an epic poem by Emma Wielant.

[16] The hidden purpose of Hoerwick's game is to develop the ultimate artificial intelligence (AI), which is capable of making decisions for itself.

[17] To this end, Hoerwick inserted functions into the system which monitor and extract behavioral data from millions of the game's players to aid in the AI's learning process.

After Hoerwick's death, these pieces of code became black boxes to the current developers, who cannot fathom their purpose, yet are critical to the proper functioning of the game.

The players who have the greatest impact on the success of Kite's mission are BlackRose, a fellow newbie to The World whose brother is also in a coma; Balmung, a legendary player who seeks to eliminate sources of corruption in the game he loves; and Wiseman, an information broker who becomes a key strategist for Kite's team.

Helba, a professional hacker, and Lios, a reluctant system administrator, also aid in Kite's efforts to rescue the coma victims.

Aura tries to entrust Orca with an item called "the Book of Twilight", but the monster attacks him, crashing The World's servers.

[30] In the resulting operation, the team pools their resources to defeat another Wave monster called Gorre, with no repercussions in the real world.

In their final battle, Kite recalls Aura's hint and has BlackRose destroy the bracelet, causing Cubia to fade away.

A number of core ideas, including "slaying dragons or being a thief in London" were explored, but these were rejected in favor of an "offline/online game".

[37] Matsuyama said that this would give young gamers an opportunity to experience online play without paying monthly fees or needing powerful Internet connections.

[37] The developers looked at a number of MMORPGs such as Phantasy Star Online, Ultima Online, and Final Fantasy XI for inspiration, and drew influences from the prior works of character designer Yoshiyuki Sadamoto (Neon Genesis Evangelion) and scenario writer Kazunori Itō (Ghost in the Shell).

[38] From the start of its development, .hack was envisioned as a four-part series intended to mirror the four-volume story arcs found in manga.

[37] Matsuyama theorized that the act of transferring saved data across the four volumes would help to create a sense of the human drama embodied by the games' story and invest the player into the narrative.

[52] Many reviewers cited the game's unusual setting as the counterbalance to the mediocre gameplay, repetitive environments and poor camera control.

[55][56][57] Christian Nutt of GameSpy awarded if four stars out of five and commended Bandai for breaking new ground and Cyber Connect 2 for providing an engrossing RPG experience.

[58] Gary Steinman of Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine wrote, "[a]t its core, .hack is not a good game", calling the battle systems "wildly unbalanced" and the graphics "spectacularly underwhelming", but said the "mind-bending" story allowed him to look past its obvious flaws and anticipate future games in the series.

[61] Fennec Fox of Gamepro said that game, "is simply an extension of Infection", with "muddy graphics, questionable control, and a story concept that's just interesting enough to keep you going.

"[62][63] Greg Kasavin of GameSpot gave it a rating of 6.7 out of 10 and wrote, "not only does it bring you exactly the same sort of repetitive hack-and-slash gameplay, but it's also similarly short and simple and once again offers little in the way of plot or character development.

[70] .hack//Outbreak represented a shift in the critical reception of the series as reviewers grew tired of the incremental or nonexistent improvements between titles.

[74] Dunham gave it an overall rating of 8.4 out of 10, praised the battle system and wrote that there had been a great improvement in the artificial intelligence of ally characters and enemies, although he was disappointed by the lack of any other changes.

[76] Some critics called the final game, .hack//Quarantine, a satisfying conclusion to a mediocre series,[77][78][79][80] while others said it is a confusing mess of poor pacing and plot holes.

[84] Kasavin rated it 6.1 out of 10 and wrote that, "[o]n its own merits, Quarantine isn't a bad game, and [loyal players] should find it to have a satisfying conclusion that, sure enough, leaves the possibility for further adventures in The World".

He also called Bandai's decision to add 60 to 80 hours of padding to the game, split it into four full-priced products, and release these as a series disappointing.

[90] Other reviewers were less enthusiastic; Paul Koehler of RPGamer called the music "particularly bland" and IGN's Dunham lamented that the second installment did not introduce many new pieces.

[43] The game includes an expanded communication interface that allows players to chat, send e-mail, post to an in-game Bulletin Board System, and receive server news updates.

Guilds are permanent, exclusive chat rooms for members, and can also be used to set up a storefront to sell items to online players.