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A great concept and nice graphics, but repititive and short.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 5 / 8
Date: December 08, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I remember seeing and hearing about this game before it came out and how it was going to revolutionize the RPG as we know it with it's new concepts and innovative game play. Primarily, .Hack: Infection was supposed to provide us with the feeling of playing an online game without being online, and I admit that while I'm not the biggest fan of online games, the game within a game concept sound like a really great idea and I was really looking forward to getting home so I could play this on the big screen. Howerver, after getting home and playing through the first few hours, I quickly realized that this game did not live up to the hype. At it's core, once you trim away the one innovation they added with the game within a game, the game is nothing more than your generic dungeon hack with a very weak story between the dungeons. While the graphics are decent, the fighting is mindless and the dungeons you fight through start to feel the same after a while. The game is also very short for an RPG, clocking in at a maximum of 20 hours to beat. This may be a blessing in disguise given the repetitive nature of the dungeon fighting. The scenery of the dungeon does change, but after the first half-dozen they all feel essentially the same.

Most console RPG's are closed ended stories, though some of the newer ones have added features that allow the latter part of the game to change based on the way you played in an earlier part of the game. This one is no exception, but unlike the other games in this genre, it does a bad job of hiding the fact that you're essentially watching a scripted game. There is nothing to break up the monotony like interesting mini-games or side quests. That's not to say it doesn't have a mini-game, because it does. You feed and raise pig-like characters called grunties, but it's not much fun. The game does allow you to explore the many non-required levels by using the area password mechanism, but these levels start to feel the same after a while. Basically it follows this progression:

Teleport to area.
Run around area killing monsters and collecting food for the grunties.
Find dungeon entrance.
Run through dungeon, fighting monsters and collecting more food for the grunties.
Find and beat dungeon boss.
Leave dungeon/area.

When it's all said and done, this game is like riding a stationary bike or treadmill without any of the benefits of physical activity. You've worked and worked but you never got anywhere. The game finishes with no more information than when you started; Interesting characters are introduced and the conspiracy plot is presented, but you learn nothing about these new characters and the plot goes nowhere. While this is the first in a series of four games and it's understandable that the story will be told over all four volumes, you'd expect that a certain amount of plot and character development would come from 15-20 hours of game play. You can skip this first game entirely and go directely to the second game in the series. .Hack: Mutation will even summarize the first game for you if you haven't played it. And at $50 when it came out or $25 now, you're looking at $100-200 for 60-80 hours of game content over all four chapters, which seems like a ripoff to me.

In the end I just felt like I'd wasted my hard earned cash and several hours of my life in an activity that ultimately left me unfulfilled. If you've never experienced some of the better console RPG games out there, then add two stars to this review. If you have, then this game will be a huge disappointment. The one area where this series really shines is in the ability to import character data from your previous games into the progression games if you choose. Other than that one feature, the game is ultimately unsatisfying if you're looking for an overall experience.

Pros:
Decent graphics
The ability to export your Hack: Infection saved character to the next game in the series.

Cons:

No plot development
No character development
Repetitive hacking and slashing through dungeons.

Changing my review.....

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 3 / 22
Date: February 14, 2003
Author: Amazon User

In my first review I gave .hack only two stars,but after having played a couple more hours,I can honestly say that that's too good of a rating for this terrible,back-end stink of a game!I would give it zero stars but that's not an option...

How many horrible things about this game can I mention?Let's see,oh yeah,your weapons and armor level up by tossing them into a pond,and depending on what the weather is like,it get's weaker or stronger...sound stupid?Wait there's more!

You can only use skills(spells/special moves) if you're wearing certain weapons or armor.Levels mean nothing;no learning cool spells by leveling up the old fashoined way,all you have to do is sport the right threads!WOW!

You only get a certain amount of EXP depending on how many levels the monster is stronger or weaker than you.I guess just having a set amount of EXP for each monster is just too much to ask!Let's make something even more complex even though you already have to learn 5000 diffrent rules just to play this peice of junk!

Don't be fooled by thinking that this game has two worlds... this game always takes place in the online game"the world";the real world is just the computer desktop with that annoying music.
All you do on the desktop is read pointless e-mails that tell you
boring ...,and if you don't kiss every character's ... in the game they'll get mad at you and won't play with you....oh,darn!

As for the whole "illusion" of being on an online virtual world,
that's a total joke!The dungeon graphics are VERY bland and repetitive; in fact if it wasn't for the flashy cutscenes,this could easily be put on the playstation 1!Oh,and the other "online players" say the same three things over and over, including the ones that join your party!

And as for the whole story,I just didn't care!It doesn't ever make you WANT to find out what happens next.The plot isn't gripping at all;I mean yeah,you're friend goes into a coma,but as to why he did,it's just abstract and stupid.Some ghost chic get's chased by a guy with a pink staff and then he beats your friend with it!UGH!! And you're telling me that Bandai wants to drag this out to three more sequals!?

Also,controlling the camera manually gets really,really old!At first it might seems like a good idea,but you'll get a headache constantly switching the camera back and forth.It gets tiresome doing this just when walking in a dungeon,but when you've got a group of enemies that always run out of view....

Lastly,the music was completely indistinct and unnoticeable; Super Mario Bros.1 had better music than this!

Please rent this game before wasting your hard-earned cash on it,like I made the mistake of doing!

Disappointing

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 14
Date: April 06, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I was excited about this game at first but found the game to be a big disappointment. Zenasaga is a much better game.

My biggest disappointment was game play. Graphics are poor and the dungeons are plain and boring. Bandai should take note of the game play in Kingdom Hearts.

The movies, however, are well done.

A fiend broke his .hack CD. Bandai would not replace it for a small fee as other video game companies do. They wanted the full [amount].

Dissapointing

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 10
Date: October 02, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I found this game to be one of the worst games ive ever played. Why, why is it so bad. Heres an idea, get a life. Get over the anime and stop voting 5 because you "love" the anime.

This game is way too short. I did plenty of extra dungeons, and found this game to be so, incomplex. I traded this guy for these knives at the beggining, and I NEVER found a better weapon, too easy.

Anyways, heres the problems.
-Cannot change the class of character, any weapon you find that aren't dual sabers cannot be equipped ever.
-The dungeons are repetitive. They use the same terrains and pots and dead bodies and stuff.
-Trading system boring, its basically the only interaction you need.
-People say the same thing constantly.
-In total, this game has 64 characters i believe. All together, civilians and players. I got the ryu book and it told me. I honestly don't know how boring it can get then 64 characters.(like 12 of them being playable)
-Boring plot, your friend goes in a coma, some chick is running around, and the game doesn't have any plot.
-In order to mooch as much money as possible from the game, Bandai decided to release FOUR, F-O-U-R Games. For FIFTY dollars each. Meaning this series requires 200 bucks to be completed. Considered the first one took me 15 hours basically, Bandai could of easily fit in more, instead they want more and more money. Basically this means the game isn't even a full game. Its a PART of a game.

Good things
-There are so many bad things. Dungeons that look the same over and over, the same pots, dead bodies, and destructibles, and the same items. BORING
-Theres no good things I can think of, its a boring game, get over the anime.

Boooring!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 17
Date: October 27, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Overall, this game was annoying, long, and stupid. The only reason I finished it was for the cut-scenes. Wish I had a shut-up button for this.

Junk

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 10
Date: August 21, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This is the most boring role-playing game I've experienced. The first 5 hours have a great plot, and then *nothing*. Just hack'n'slash for the next 20 hours. I quit the game before finishing.

Waste of Money

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 5
Date: August 04, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Now don't get me wrong, I love dotHack. I'm one of those kids who sits around in the bookstore reading the manga. So I thought even if the game wasn't so good, I could deal with it. Right? Uh. No.
I forced myself to play for about two hours. The graphics were insanely bad, the voice acting made me squirm, and the dungeons were just horrible. There were a couple of intriguing concepts in it, which could've been awesome if handled right - as it is, I think they ultimately take away from the game. For instance, the idea of picking words to shape a custom dungeon was really cool, but maybe if they hadn't done that they would've been able to spend more time on actually making the dungeons interesting and playable. Also, being a total Warcrack addict, I liked the idea of a simulated MMORPG, but after a while reading the stuff on the forums to get new words and hints and stuff just gets tedious.

Lame, repetitive, and how many more do I have to buy???

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 4
Date: August 23, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Wow. I was thuroughly disappointed with this game. I feel lucky I am going to sell it to a friend for a fraction of what i paid for this.

The story is spotty, the graphics are soooo 4 years ago (hehe), the gameplay is boring and repetitive and the game is so short that an introductory price to this INSTALLMENT of the whole game should be around $20. If you paid full price, for this game, and the rest in the series, I hope you have a fat bank account.

With the lackluster graphics being so cheap looking, found and won items being uninteresting or not useful until you buy another game in the series, I have to say I want to WARN everyone that you do not get what you paid for.

If you are one of those who are happy with this game: good. I'm not... so off to Target to buy Final Fantasy Unlimited Saga. Final Fantasy series, not that's a REAL game.



Blah!

Bandai's Best

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 2 / 5
Date: May 05, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This is Bandai's Best vg ever! As a .hack//fanatic , I watch the show, and it's not the same. You'll still enjoy it though. It's an rpg where you don't take turns (thank god!), and you try to find out what happened to Bear (Orca). You make friends like Mimiru (Blackrose), and Tsukasa (Elk)on the way. You obtain the power of the braclet, which gives you DATA DRAIN. You can trade with people and raise/command grunties
(>=O which are different than from the show!)I'm not going to give the end away ,but I'll tell you this ... ... it's a great game.Here are some of the +s and -s
+s

have a party of up to 3 inc. you
based on the show
grunties
DATA DRAIN; GATE HACKING
awesome magic and physical attacks& effects
Free 45 min. ANIME DVD (Japanese ANIME all the way!)
much more I can't fit

-s

You can't choose you're ilk (you have to be a TWIN BLADE)
leveling up [is not good]
time dungeons
It's a "to be contiued"

It's deserves 4 stars.
Also : if you like Xenosaga GET THIS GAME

Weird

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 1 / 9
Date: December 26, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This is a weird RPG with a weird plot. Bad graphics. Ugly environments. The The fighting system is bad. You have to stop. Characters are not who you'd care about. Just a bad game.

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