Finally finished the sixth .hack game after so many years. It still remains one of my favourite series, and I figure since this website has a blog feature I thought I'd take advantage of it to note what I liked/disliked about a game. Not really a review so much as a "I have a clinically bad memory and maybe this way I won't forget things as much: Video Game Edition."

Notes

• I played the PS2 version. Do not have Last Recode yet. REALLY WANT LAST RECODE.
• Following a friend's recommendation, I saved watching //Roots until after this volume, since //Roots spoils Vol. 2's big twist.

What I Liked

Okay, .hack// isn't my favourite game series for no good reason. the first four made a huge-ass impact on my life that I'll always remember as a gamer and as a creator, and even though I'm experiencing G.U. much later (at a time that I'd consider quite a bit less formative), it's still managing to make a big impact on me in terms of just how fuckin' good it is.

Story

• The story owns, obviously. The first volume and this one did enough to get me incredibly attached to Alkaid before ripping her from Haseo's arms -- another loss Haseo isn't quick to recover from. By this point he's been doing everything for Shino only to realise that his blind aggression failed to save her or anyone else. He melts down at this point in the game, but tries to get strong again for her sake... before everything falls apart again at the end of Vol. 2.
• The Big Reveal of Ovan being a puppetmaster of sorts was also fucking fantastic, especially after //Roots set the foundation for Haseo's trust in and admiration for Ovan. It came crashing down with what felt like a betrayal even though it was just Haseo not putting two and two together -- and almost losing Pi and Atoli drove him to the edge with the more haunting words I've seen a video game end with: "I've failed. I haven't saved anyone. I'm tired... I'm done." because FUCK if that isn't some real-ass depression shit.
• One thing I just love about .hack in general is how the story is told through several different media in-game, that is, the story doesn't just progress through dialog in "The World," but is also furthered by your own reading of forum entries or news stories. Alkaid's becoming a Lost One was particularly effective because, after watching her fall victim to attack in the game, Haseo can log out and... read the news, with a story about a girl who was found unconscious in her home. That sort of thing is so sobering to me because it feels real. If this shit actually happened, that's how you'd find out about your friend's condition -- through something as cold and impersonal as the news.
• THE ONE SIN. I didn't think I'd ever actually get to face The One Sin in the game! CC2's been leading up to that since //IMOQ! Since //AI Buster!! Since the beginning!! It was SO AWESOME getting to face off against the event that gave Balmung and Orca their names, and it was pretty challenging even after having hit the level cap at the postgame. I love shows that set up for jokes well in advance, and you know what? The same goes for shit like this. I love stories that set up for climaxes several years ahead that you can't even begin to pick up on. I mean, someone probably read //AI Buster and thought "Oh, The One Sin is going to come back in the game and we're going to get to play against it like the Descendants of Fianna" but I WAS NOT ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE SO IT WAS FUN TO ME.

Characters

• Haseo has already shown so many elements of depression to begin with but it really hit its head in this volume. He was an emo piece of shit to begin with in //Roots before he went off the rails after the loss of Shino, and then he just became belligerent, cruel, and distant by Vol. 1 of the games... seeing him bounce back in Vol. 3 will absolutely be a treat if he manages it.
• Atoli: ohh, Atoli, my darling! She came across as a weird sort of harem-protagonist sort of girl in the beginning; she was unnaturally attracted to Haseo to the point that she badgered him incessantly and got on his nerves and she sought nothing other than his approval and attention. This even annoyed me until further in when she became more detached and the story revealed that she's completely fucking broken at home from never receiving apt love or recognition from her family or peers. She latched onto Haseo because he was also vulnerable and in need of someone, but he didn't recognise that he needed that, so they ended up hurting each other. This game is heartbreaking because Haseo isn't the only one to have everything torn from him -- Atoli loses her grounding, too, with the collapse of Moon Tree and the total asshole reveal of Sakaki, the leader she'd followed loyally since the beginning, since he gave her purpose in the game and in her life.
• Sakaki: Sakaki even made an interesting villain despite how over-the-top his personality and plans are. The world of .hack is just interwoven enough with the internet that the thought of someone controlling the world by abusing artificial intelligence online doesn't seem that weird. He's so broken in-game that him falling off a ledge with an invisible wall didn't seem too odd. He's already glitched the parameters, after all.
• Alkaid: Alkaid is just My Type so it was no surprise that I immediately got very attached to her -- headstrong, tomboyish, a bit tsundere, stubborn, and to top it all off, a twin blade?! JUST TAKE MY HEART, WHY DON'T YOU. Her falling for Haseo didn't even really bother me despite usually being Repulsed By Het. It felt natural that she'd gain an interest in someone so goofily mysterious and powerful. And I love relationships where there's a sense of mutual respect for one another's skill, which is absolutely present in the Haseo/Alkaid dynamic. It's also present in the Alkaid/Me dynamic, since she owned my ass the first time I fought her.
• Silabus: I wish I had started making these blog entries sooner, because there was an event early on with Silabus that I don't even remember now that I'm sure is important and moving were I to experience it again. I love Silabus so much, man. Gaspard is an angel (despite his rather unpleasant dub voice) but Silabus has this warm chemistry with Haseo that I really adore. Haseo is almost determined to be sad and angry and bitter but Silabus is the opposite: this game is for fun and he wants to see Haseo smile, too. He's like an older brother to Gaspard but he's something else to Haseo entirely. I think he's just that weird sort of friend that weasles their way into your life and doesn't let you be grumpy as long as they're around. I love him dearly, him and Gaspard both.
• Endrance: Endrance's dub voice makes him into a creepy mess, but his character is one I actually feel for a lot. I really love how he and Tsukasa are two sides of the same coin -- although their situations are different, their feelings and the solutions to their predicaments are similar. Elk and Tsukasa both were isolated and desperate and needed some form of love. Tsukasa found that in Subaru and other friends, Elk found it in a clump of deviant data in an online game. It's only natural that Tsukasa grows up more naturally and becomes more well-adjusted while Elk just became more detached, lonely, and hopeless. Seeing him lose Mia a second time as Endrance was heartbreaking, and his subsequent over-reliance on Haseo is almost humorously excessive and extreme, but it all strikes me as understandable. Haseo was the first living being to save him from his own seclusion and not abandon him after that -- Kite was still Elk's friend, but Haseo became an intrinsic part of Endrance's life. Even though Endrance should have found camaraderie in the other Epitaph Users but instead he just sort of latched onto Haseo, it's still moving. It's like he finally found his begrudging, emo Subaru. I sincerely hope things get better for him with Vol. 3 and beyond.
• Sakubo: Bo is so darling and I love him and I want Haseo to protect him. That is all. Saku is good too, but I have a feeling her development doesn't come until Vol. 3, since she still ends Vol. 2 as the "You're OKAY but you're no Master En, Haseo!!!" asshole.
• Gaspard: I love Gaspard and I want to protect him. It's so, so, SO fucking sweet how Haseo can warm up to him and even invite him to hang out if he ever comes to Tokyo. I'm so damn weak to Haseo actually becoming Gaspard's cool big brother!! And learning about how he's got self esteem issues since he's not particularly cool or athletic but he found his passion in card games because he could be good at them! For a character that seems obnoxious at first, I'm amazed by how much I love and care for him now. I want him to succeed... Good luck, li'l guy...
• Matsu: What a fucking dumbass. But I'd be lying if I said he and Haseo didn't fit the exact Spicy Gay Rivalry dynamic I'm a sucker for. He's pretty fun, too -- I can see him and Silabus both being just as good at making Haseo grin. And there is nothing I seek more in life right now than that pissbaby's smile.
• ωRICE & Kaki Leader: How the FUCK did I end up so genuinely invested in background yaoi? These two fuckers are adorable and getting to actually see them in-game was such a treat. The fact that they only talk about each other in-game is cute as fuck, too. Always fighting on the forums but being honest when you meet them separately... I love them.
• Kazubolo/Salvador Aihara & Blue Eye Samurai: Similarly, they're gay. They're in a gay relationship. Blue Eye Samurai even gets called Blue Eye Tsun. They're fucking gay. They're embarrassing and gay. Salvador Aihara is probably bi if anything but his relationship with Blue Eye Samurai is nothing less than homoerotic.

Gameplay

• I'm so fucking glad the others can kick Chims too, now. I just let them handle the Lucky Animals as well. It has saved me so much time and quite a few headaches.

Etc.

• The voice acting is back and forth in the dub, with both good (Haseo! Ovan!) and bad (Atoli! Gaspard!) performances. Haseo, however, is fucking excellent in this volume. How profoundly bereft he is after losing Alkaid and then how even more empty and shattered he is by the end are both breathtaking. I already felt for the dumb shit, but his voice did make everything sting more.

What I did not care for

Gameplay

• It's pretty annoying how you have to decide whether or not you'll switch an item out of your inventory without knowing what the items does. What the fuck.
• Raising weapon levels is not very fun. I love Rengekis as much as the next guy but grinding for levels up in the arena when you've already hit level 100 is just a bit tedious, especially when you're itching to move forward with the story.
• I hate inventory limitations. This isn't unique to .hack or anything, I'm just terrible at budgeting storage space and it does get frustrating in G.U.

Story

• This is less something I dislike and more something that I'm just not as big a fan of, but the difference in the plots of //IMOQ and //G.U. are interesting. I feel like the core games were about a mythology as manufactured by a mysterious man based on the musings of a lost poet, but //G.U. focuses more on the actual game itself. It's like //IMOQ was about the creation of The World, and //G.U. is about its propagation. Project .hack// followed the birth and growth of Aura, Lycoris, Zefie, and Morganna, but //G.U. hinges more on what developed as a result of those vagrant AIs -- and the capacity the advanced technology has for potential abuse by humankind.
• So it's more of a matter of personal taste and less of a "this one is better, this one is worse!" thing. I love the mystique of Harald's visions getting out of hand and deluded as more of his story was uncovered with the progress of the .hackers. It felt more like a mystery coming slowly unraveled, whereas there isn't really a mystery in //G.U. It's more of an adventure story. You even have a damsel in distress, in a way, with Shino -- although she's really in peace at the moment, and Haseo is the one distressing and getting put into more danger. ...Haseo's the actual the damsel in distress, isn't he?

Etc.

• The game had many instances of "then" used in place of "than." It was pretty distracting. I could write it off as "well, not everyone online knows proper grammar," buuut it's hard to let it pass when it happens in news articles, too. I wonder how this went under the radar of the localisation team.
• I also didn't care much for Crimson VS. even though it's so fun seeing the cards and characters and various artists' work. I just... bleh, I'm not into card games. I do find it funny how .hack// predicted that online card games would absolutely be a huge thing by 2017, too. I ended up concocting a deck that got Haseo to #1 anyway even though I wasn't totally sure of what I was doing. So it didn't bring the game down, it was just something that didn't feel perfectly integrated -- or maybe it did, I'm just not a card game person. After all, I could never get into other digital card games either.

All in All

Just fuck me up, I love this game