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brilliant, fun and captivating game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 9 / 11
Date: March 19, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Everyone's intitled to their opinion. I thought the complex concept of controlling a group of characters was done simply and effectively!

The game keeps you on track always giving you hints and pointers as to what to do next to keep the story moving. For those that have played everquest, the way the dungeons and creatures are presented will be very familiar. Sometimes, yes, the 'typed text' from your allys gets in the way (it depends on how zoomed in you are looking at things).

It was fun to interact with other 'player characters' in 'The World.' It did give you an online feel. Of course you 'know' you're not online--but it did a fairly good job at simulating it! It took me about 30 hours to get through (my characters were at lvl 34.)

The music and animations are very (VERY) well done! I played the whole game in japaneese with english subtitles--thou the English voices were actually decently done (in the short spirts I turned on the English track to compair)...

I AM a big fan of the .hack//sign series. The game takes place after the first series... With a new set of characters discovering what's happening.

It has totally left me waiting on pins and needles for the next part! Didn't give it 5 stars because I benchmark against FF10. Who knows, by the 4th installment of this game (due in Nov '03) maybe it will be 5.

ups and downs of hack

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: October 30, 2003
Author: Amazon User

The Good
- amazing story line that leaves you hanging
- Graphics are pretty decent
- you are able to create different parties (friends to accompany you on your particular adventure)
- the sense of an actual living network is very strong
- free range the game allows an amazing amount of freedom..you can explore hundreds of different areas..optionally. Even after you complete the game!
- Mini games, like raising grunties (pig like creatures you can ride)
- the game comes with a 45 min. DVD, which like the game has a strong storyline.

The Bad
- The game is pretty short..though you can still play, the storyline just doesn't advance.
-repeating graphics..the dungeons have different catagories.. ice castle, normal castle, cave, and insides (human, dog or snail) In the beginning they are all very exciting, but towards the end a little tiring.
- monsters also tend to repeat

overall this is a very fun game...but still not the best.
I definately would buy, but if sceptical rent.

.hack//

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: September 21, 2004
Author: Amazon User

It's only a game...a game about playing a massively multiplayer online role-playing game...

Plot

You play as a player who is just introducing himself to a MMPORPG called "The World." Your friend, a veteran player and your mentor of the game, mysteriously falls into a coma after his game character is killed...and the reason behind his incapacitation lies within the game, which is mysteriously ridden with viruses. You must infilitrate the dungeons and rid of the parasitic evil, in hopes of finding a cure for the plight of your friend.

Graphics

There are many different kinds of fields and dungeons, including grasslands, snowfields, deserts, dry sea basins, etc., and you'll infilitrate ruins, castles, palaces, even dragons' bodies.

In viral infected levels, the screen flickers, and programming code floats about through the area.

Sound

The music is very trance-like, white-noise if you will, but not necessarily purely ambient; it is constant, but not monotonous...

Definitely a plus on the part of the developer, you are offered the choice of English or Japanese voice-overs with English subtitles...the English voice-overs can definitely be embarrassing to listen to at times.

Gameplay

You check e-mail and read message board posts for objectives, which are updated with each mission.

The game is very open-ended; in manner, you can "create" your own dungeons by inputting keywords at portals, which specify the strength of the enemies, and the value of treasures within the dungeon. Naturally, greater rewards mean greater risks. E-mails and message board posts will tell you different keyword combinations for dungeons related to side quests and advancing the story, but if you want to level build like crazy too, you can input intense keyword combinations for dungeons with insanely powerful enemies and valuable treasure.

Gathering allies and communicating with them is effectively reminiscent of real MMPORPGs, you have to meet them, and they gives you the means to contact them so that you can add or remove them from your party whenever you like; of course, allies aren't always available, and that is a strategic limiter. You can also give and trade items to and with your allies.

Battles are rather reminiscent of Star Ocean 2 and other action RPGs; just press the "X" button near an enemy to attack, or call up menus to use your skills or magic spells. You can also call up menus for your allies to use specific skills or spells, or you can specify certain general strategies that the AI can act upon.

Overall

If you want a game that effectively emulates a MMPORPG without actually being one, .Hack is your piece of cake. All of the nuances are there, including characters who make irrelevant comments about the state of the real world, or other things that do not relate to the game at all. Characters even use emoticons and online speak in their text boxes :D LoL.

Good idea, bad execution

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: December 02, 2003
Author: Amazon User

The concepts and ideas for this game are excellent, and I bought it as soon as I could. However, while this game was pretty enjoyable, it has its downsides.

First and foremost, there is very little plot. Bandai tried to give this game a more epic feel by splitting it up into 4 games, but it ends up just being very slow and very little happens by the end of the game. Furthermore, the "sequels" are the same as the first game, just with continuation of plot. If you have a friend who is willing to share the cost, buy one part of the game and your friends by the other parts and just share them so that you can play all 4 parts while only paying for one.

Anyway, the gameplay is pretty straightforward. You control a single character, Kite, and have up to two characters follow you around and fight with you. There are a good selection of characters to choose from, but only a couple have any significant amount of character development(others are just like, "cool, you found this sword. can i have it? thanks, now ill join your party whenever you call me"). Also, all the characters are pretty much the same(fighters), they just look different. There are a couple "mage" characters as well. The AI handles your two allies very well, based on the commands you give them. They automatically heal, fight, and cast spells on the enemy.

Speaking of the battle system, I like the way it's executed. You walk around on the map which has "nodes" scattered around it. When you come close to a node, monsters appear, the background music fades into battle music, and you start fighting. Very seamless and well done.

The levelling and skill system is one of the biggest problems that I have with the same. Characters DO NOT learn skills or spells. The abilities that they have access to depend on the equipment that they are using. To use a heal spell, you need a hat that has a heal spell on it. Remove the hat, and the heal spell is gone. You dont learn it. You end up using the same moves over and over again untill you find a better piece of equipment, and then you use that over and over again. Cool at first but gets repetitive.

I don't see why they couldn't have just compressed all four parts into just one game. Then it would be a worthwhile buy. But to buy four parts to a game when each part is the same as the last is a waste of money.

.hack//infection is a great game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: June 26, 2005
Author: Amazon User

this is a great game with a great storyline. Anyone who enjoys anime or Rpgs will really enjoy this game. The way this game is layed out makes it, to me, better than the Final Fantasy series. There is a DVD that comes with it is a great addition to the game cause it tells you and lets you follow more with the story. The way the story unfolds within the game is pure genius. How everything you do is centered around the E-mail and the message board. But it is not an online game. Once more this was a great game and i would reccomend it to alll and i am looking forward to playing the other three.

.hack//infection

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: March 18, 2004
Author: Amazon User

While .hack// is quite a phenomenon, a review of the enjoyment of this game has nothing to do with the anime series (although fans of the series can find little easter eggs in the game series).

When I first played .hack//infection, the play style came across as a mix of Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts. Like Kingdom Hearts, you have control of your main character and can have two other characters in your group at a time (similar to some FF games). But this game goes beyond just this action style RPG mode, your character in the game also receives email and has access to "The World"'s message forum (The World is the "mock" online-game your character plays).

I enjoyed this game like I did the first two Final Fantasy games. It was a new refreshing RPG that livened up the market - however, not without some flaws of miss-convenience (like the original FF games as well). In .hack//infection, your character has to earn some of the convenience factors in the game that you'll take for granted in the next 3 installments (such as improved walking speed and the money to buy use of recall items and so forth). This is only a minor problem and I believe it detracted very little from the game.

The strength of this game is that it has a great plot line, interesting new skill system, easy to use interface, and you can continue on your character into the next of the series.

If I were to say this game has a weakness, it would be that it is quite a bit shorter than many comparable games. With completion of the story line (in this installment), the extras, and just having a little fun, I completed the game in about 40 hours.

Overall, the .hack//infection is a must have if you wish to play the series. I don't think that the series would have been as much fun if I did not play all of the installments.

Addictive but short.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: October 15, 2003
Author: Amazon User

If you're a huge fan of either MMORPGs, running around collecting rare items, or levelling your characters to godhood, this game is for you. I find the battle system/skills system to be quite enjoyable. It lends itself very well to mindless levelling and good old-fashioned carnage. The dungeon set-ups are pretty sweet, and I like the variety to the environments. Another really big plus is the option of using the Japanese voice track, which is something a purist like me has been begging for in the new generation of RPGs.

Now, on to the bad news. The gameplay is rather shallow. There are no minigames to speak of, though some of the extras you can unlock will keep you amused for a little while. There isn't much to the game, either. I think I'm going to be lucky to get 25 hours out of this one, which is somewhat disappointing.

YES!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: April 09, 2005
Author: Amazon User

YESS!!!! I LOVE THIS GAME!!! I have been a fan of the .hack manga and anime forever, and this game was great!!!

I really suggest you look at the manga and anime before you buy the game. If you don't like that you probably won't like the game. If you STILL insist on playing the game, check it out at the video rental shop, k? That way we dont get people claiming it was a total waste of money here ;)

Oh, when you buy a game it's basically like saying that you are going to play the game in the future. If you DONT play games more than once, yea, you did waste your money.

For those who are pissy about how people liked this game partially because of the anime, you should probably realize that the game was made from the anime. In order to completely get it you have to look over manga, anime, card games etc. Thus, THEY GET IT MORE THAN YOU DO. THE ANIME AND THE GAME FEED INTO EACH OTHER, SO IF YOU LOVED THE ANIME YOU'LL PROBABLY LOVE THE GAME, morons...:(

Also, I bet that the people who despised this game didnt watch the DVD with the game. THAT IS IMPORTANT. Generally when they give you a DVD with these things it'll help you see the point of the game.

Also, after you play the game you should read the ".hack//LEGEND OF THE TWILIGHT" manga. It's a cute little manga. Rena, a beginner player of "The World" wins a contest to gain the character avatars of the legendary .hackers, "Kite" and "Black Rose." Rena gets her brother, Shugo, to play with her. Soon after they enter the fields they encounter a level 40 monster which shouldn't be in the beginners area. Shugo is killed by the monster and wakes up to see Aura and is brought back to life by her kiss. Then she gives the braclet of twilight. Actually I suggest you read it BEFORE AND AFTER the game.

THIS GAME IS GONNA BE THE BEST EVER!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 16 / 39
Date: December 04, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This game is gonna be awesome. You take on the role of Kite, a kid who plays an online game called "The World" with his friend, Orca, when something goes terribly wrong. A virus attacks them and in the real world, Orca becomes seriously ill. Kite is determined to play the game more and find a way to revive Orca.

This is soooo awesome. This isnt no same-old-boring rpg plot. All rpgs are the same now. This is finally a new, cool idea. Just think, you are playing a video game within a video game. This game is gonna be great!

You can equip many different weapons and skills, level up, and even meet new friends in the "game game" and ask them to join your party and give them your email address (which is NOT real email). In the game, in the real world (not "The World" game) you can go on your computer and you get email from people that have your address. This email feature helps you during the game because characters email you and tell you important things that are needed to complete certain tasks and that help you.

This game is so detailed, if you didnt know better, you would think you were playing a real online video game. It is made to look like you are actually playing a real online rpg (by the way, this is NOT a real online game).

I almost forgot a great part. This game is part 1 of 4 games, so more will come out after! They will probably come out 4-5 months between each other, so you'll have plenty of time to beat each one and enjoy each game thouroughly.

When this game comes out in early February, I tell you BUY BUY BUY!!!! Definitly No Doubt BUY THIS GAME. It is gonna be an excellant game and it will be a different kind of game (a rest from normal rpgs) I know i will buy this game and you should too.

Complex game that becomes deceptively simple...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: June 21, 2003
Author: Amazon User

.hack//Infection continues the story that begins in .hack//SIGN, the anime series on Cartoon network and DVD in America at present. You don't necessarily need to know or understand the .hack// storyline previous to this game to dive in and begin the playing. As a story, it is a long, complex series of products going from 26 episode //SIGN into the 4 sequential .hack video games (this is the first) and their DVD OVA (original video animation), then into a 12 episode series in Japan currently called .hack/Udeden.

Infection can be quite a wall of information to overcome, and the structure of the game (being a game within an internet connection layering outward) seems strange at first. Read the meager manual first! Once within the game, the story unfolds and teaches you how to play the game. Further hints fly at you in emails and BBS messages while playing inside the game. After a couple of hours trying to understand how to work The World you will grasp the finesse without needing help or manuals. If you get to any stalled areas, jump servers, wander about, read messages and emails for new dungeon addresses and use your time to gain experience points and up your level. Infection is really almost just a fun training ground for the three games that come after to complete the story. Data WILL transfer to the next game once you complete the one you are on, thus you can adventure and gain experience, money and items that can be continued in the next edition. If you are a medium skill gamer, Infection will take about 40 hours of game play. Mutation, because you know how to play the game at start, will take even less (24-30 hours). Regardless, it is a fun game. Not a pinnacle, but nice.

Each video game edition comes with a DVD OVA anime following a story that is taking place outside the game in the real world. Together, I assume, the game and DVDs will tie together into a cohesive finale at the end of the 4th video game.

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