The Relevance Of .hack, Both Then And Now

When Namco Bandai announced it would be remastering all of .hack//G.U., I was beyond ecstatic. Not known for having the most stellar gameplay out there, the .hack series always had a huge place in my heart, with its unique (for its time) setting and fascinating story premise. The first four entries in the series focused on the original version of "The World," the online game in which the .hack series takes place. Its sequel, G.U., took place in the second, with an all-new story and gameplay enhancements to go with it. After foolishly selling all seven copies of the PS2 games years ago, I finally had another chance to revisit The World once again. Was it worth it? Can a series that came out in the early 2000's (with notably outdated technology) still hold relevance as we approach the end of 2017? I believe the answer is yes. Not including the fact that G.U. takes place in 2017 itself, there is so much more ground to cover.

While hosting numerous differences, both stories focused on characters who got involved in playing The World, only to face a strange circumstance that would bring a close friend of theirs to get attacked in-game, and put the actual player into a coma back in the real world. This set the stage for a new type of storytelling back in 2002/2003 that has continued to impress. On top of playing the game and leveling up your characters, players would view an actual desktop interface, complete with forums and news sites, to gain further clues and insight into the mystery behind The World. I'm continually shocked by how well it holds up.

It's very easy to screw up a setting like this. All it takes is a bunch of robotic forum posts or poorly written news stories to take a gamer right out of the experience. I'm happy to say that was never the case with this series. For example: Multiple forum posts were started by someone who went by the username ωRICE. The character in front of the word rice means "O-h-m," but another forum poster stated that it looked like a butt to them, and began to call the user "Butt RICE," causing multiple "LOL's" from the other users, even though it had no relevance to the post or the story's plot. Little moments like these really helped keep the illusion going.

I was even more impressed by the relevance of the news articles you would read throughout each title (especially in G.U.). For a game made in 2006, they were pretty darn accurate with their predictions of what 2017 would look like (technologically speaking). One story talked about people farming and trading in-game items for real world currency, which is very much a thing people do in gaming today, not even including micro-transactions.

On top of all this, the main story is also worth revisiting. The .hack games have a knack for giving you an enticing mystery (with surprisingly high stakes), following it up with a relatively satisfying conclusion, and leaving you with many other questions after you leave. I think this is the perfect setup. One of the things that made the original .hack story so engaging was the way it kept you continually guessing. Game series' such as Silent Hill have always relied on this type of model to keep each entry fresh and new, and it's worked quite well for them. I'll never forget the way my jaw dropped the first time I took .hack//Infection for a spin, and how surprisingly grotesque the earliest parts of the game were, despite not having any actual violence in them. Lackluster gameplay or not, I knew I was in this for the long haul.

The story would not have the "oomph" it really needed without a great cast of characters. While each game certainly had a few duds to go with it, the great characters far out-weighed them. Alongside your regular interactions and experiences with these character in The World, you also had the option to talk with them through your email. These conversations would lead to the reveal of much more personal information about each player (things like favorite foods, hobbies, goals, what inspires them, etc.) and once again, add to the illusion that I mentioned above. Again, it was not a perfect setup, but I was absolutely blown away by how well-structured the whole thing was.
I have to also mention that the concept of hacking in this game was quite interesting, and really did make me feel like I was doing something "wrong" as the game moved along further. It's a special kind of dread that I can't properly put into words; you just have to see it in action for yourself.

You may have noticed that review scores for the .hack games have never been very high. I have no problem talking about why that is, here (as they do have some valid points among them):

• For starters, (and as I have already alluded to above), the gameplay is clearly not that interesting. The original series had you limited to one main attack button, and a menu to select special attacks/items from. That. Was. It. The G.U. series thankfully improved on this formula greatly, with multiple types of attacks to choose from, as well as options like holding down the attack button to unleash a more powerful strike.

• The worlds/dungeons you explore in these games can become very repetitive very quickly (especially in the original series). While each zone feels like a random generation, there is simply not much to do in them, other than carry out the same objectives again and again. It doesn't help that they all look like the same three designs going back and forth either.

• Each entry in the series simply felt like an expansion to the last, with no major changes in the gameplay mechanics. (Though this is more typical of some downloadable content today, we need to remember that these were being sold as full-priced games with each additional installment.) This would cause the review scores of each entry to be lower than the last. G.U.'s scores were especially low due to this, as people were already burnt out from the multi-volume setup, and lack of enhancements with each entry.

I don't blame the reviewers for having issues with the games. In fact, if you look at the typical criteria to which game review scores are made up, the low numbers should make plenty of sense. On paper, it sounds like a lousy experience. I'm explaining all of this because I truly believe that the series is worth checking out, even despite these (obviously) glaring issues.

When a story pulls you in to the point where you feel you NEED to see how it all plays out? I believe this series has accomplished that. When you want to stick with something because you feel the people involved in it have become your own best friends, realistic personality traits and all? I believe this series has accomplished that as well.

I used to attribute my love for this series to the way it related with my own personal life, back around the same time (getting into more online games, internet forums, etc.). By the time G.U. came out, I realized it was more than just that, however. These games can have the same effect on you as a really great book, and leave you feeling that infamous "What am I going to do with myself now!?" attitude that you love to hate.

I hope my words have proven insightful for those who were on the fence about giving it a try. If you do have previous experience with the .hack games, or trying them out for the first time, I'd love to hear your thoughts as well! Thanks for reading, as always!