I present to you .hack//G.U. : Rebirth (WIP)

[thedudewhosadude]

Well, I finally got around to posting. It is...VERY hard to pull ones self from that game! I don't want to post a review until I have beaten the game, which sadly doesn't look very far off. What I CAN tell you right now, however!

1. That whole "First game longer than all four" thing? Total bull. I feel like I'm playing KHII again (VERY short)

2. The visuals? Astounding. A MAJOR jump from //I.M.O.Q. The cutscenes are rather lovely, with [spoiler]the first one almost mimicking the opening of Ghost in the Shell.[/spoiler]

3. Is it import friendly? A very heavy NO. I know VERY little japanese, and I can't read a letter of it. However, it's still somewhat easy for a person like myself to progress in the game; the "next area" system from the first game was kept.

4. Namco Bandai? When I first booted up, I noticed a new logo: Namco Bandai. I guess they merged?

5. You can convert your data from //I.M.O.Q, and //Fragment. Save //fragment, I was unable to convert my data (since it's all USA) so I've no idea on what that does.

Note that I WILL NOT be posting a review until I have COMPLETED the game. I feel it's only fair. However, you may ask questions! PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE THOUGH! USE THE SPOILER TAGS IF NEEDED! Lord knows I'll be using them!

//ROOTS summaries to resume this weekend.

[Fragment]

Do You Have Fragment ???

[Elk]

Do You Have Fragment ???

Yes, he does have fragment... He said so.

[thedudewhosadude]

Do You Have Fragment ???

Before you ask about it, trust me on this: it's horrible. I actually managed to play online, and it's nothing better.

http://dothack.info/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3164

It's honestly //I.M.O.Q...without the plot or fun ;_;

ADDITIONAL THINGIES ABOUT G.U.

6. If you played ANY of //I.M.O.Q, you will feel RIGHT at home here. When you talk to someone, the options are still the same (talk, trade, [leave, was it?]) Trade is relatively the same, except that now you have to fill a bar to make the trading transaction, rather than the stars.

7. The fighting system is new and exciting at first, but after a while the novelty wears off, especially due to the lack of skills. Nevertheless, it's still more enjoyable than *stand, mash X, heal, mash X, data drain, X, win*

8. The game pulls a Xenosaga on you very often. ("Pulling a Xenosaga--You play the game for about 4 minutes, then enter a string of LONG cutscenes. However, it isn't so absurd as the whole 'save-between-scenes' that Xenosaga had.)

9. //Online Jack is included IN the game. In the news section, you can view clips and such that look like they were taken from an actual news report. Online Jack just so happens to be a type of reporting show, although the episodes are quite breif.

As you noticed, I'm trying to hedge spoilers here, but if anyone wants one, go right ahead!

Oh, and BEWARE OF YOUTUBE. The ending of the game, as well as most of the other scenes, are already posted there.

[MeultimaSama]

1. That whole "First game longer than all four" thing? Total spoon. I feel like I'm playing KHII again (VERY short)

Considering 25 of the 40 hours spent on the first quadrilogy was for hunting virus cores... Really, with cheats, one can breeze through IMOQ in three hours, sans sidequests. But it's not really that short if you take the time to read everything/do the sidequests in Rebirth, methinks. About 23-25 hours.

And the IMOQ/Fragment transfer nets you a book each. Although, what exactly the books do, no one knows yet.

Level cap for GU 1 : Level 50, 999 EXP. Will the stats be retained by Haseo and Co, or inherited by a new character in 2? It's anyone's guess. A regular continuation seems likely, however, unless they pull a Roxas.

AND just one thing: Keep in mind that the art for the third GU disc is Tri-Edge. He's gonna last that long, that's for certain.

Here's some info from the Terminal Disc, as I understand it: (Note: The following is not explained in-depth in the game, as the Terminal Disc Story Data acts as a complement to the games. However, some really deep explaination of the reasons behind the GU phenomenon is explained.

[spoiler]All the wierd stuff happening in GU is due to a psychopath in CCCorp who thinks he can surpass Harold's programming, and starts a project where character data is integrated with Phase data. I think he was able to release the original black box data, including Morganna's data. However, the character data was lost/disposed, presumably in the fire, and somehow ended up in the encoding of eight new characters. Furthermore, due to Aura's absence... (Recap of the Pedestral scene)

Shino: There used to be a statue of a girl here. Her name was Aura.

Haseo: Where has it gone?

Shino: I think she has lost her love for The World.

With Aura having disappeared, the world starts to act all glitchy. Programming was used to try and fix the problems, which probably only increases the internal problems involving the black box data.

It doesn't explain Tri-Edge, however. But it won't be surprising if, when that mad man released the Phase data, the original Kite data was released as well. And without a player, it gains its own consciousness.[/spoiler]

Oh, and of a different kind of Spoiler: Endrance calls his cat... [spoiler]Mia. [/spoiler]However, he tells Haseo that [spoiler]'Mia is gone'.[/spoiler]

[thedudewhosadude]

10. There are two main types of fields: Fields, and dungeons. The old fields of //I.M.O.Q are no more; now they are split. Fields have several chests, and after opening the "correct" one (or maybe it's all of them?) a door opens. Through the door is the Gott Statue, and the chest. The dunegons start you right in it, without a field. Apparantly kicking things is very important in this game; you have to kick these little blue thingies to get what I call "gate points." These gate points are used to open doors, most which charge just 5 or so points.

11. Remember that little horse that sat next to Shino in //ROOTS? Well, that horse is just part of several small animals in the game. These animals run rather fast, but once you kick them they reward you. The pill bug increases your Money, as well as the seahorse, but the actual horse increases your luck and acts as a summon. While it lasts, everytime you enter a battle on that field, it will start by FLIPPING THE CRAB OVER AND ATTACKING THE WEAK POINT FOR MASSIVE DAMAGE...sorry Anyway, it'll release this VERY powerful attack, usually taking off about a half of all enemies HP.

12. There is now a third dimension added to fighting. Certain enemies will by flying, and rather hard to hit. When you do hit them, a blue bar will start to empty. Once it does, they lose their flight, and are easier to hit.

13. There are special areas, Battle Arenas, where you have the chance to save a player. These players are either under attack from another player or monsters. Regardless, your objective is to defeat them before the player in trouble is vanquished. If you do, you are rewarded.

I'll keep on doing updates like this, just little periodic facts and such, unless someone wants to know something specific.

EDIT: I noticed one of the spoilers above me, and just to comment [spoiler]The cat, named Mia, was an AIDA.[/spoiler]

[MeultimaSama]

Actually, it's evident from the trailer when a black ball forms in the cat's forehead.

[kiruku]

heh, you guys got the info on everything, lucky ducks, cant wait for the review !!!




-kiruku-

[jinthemaster]

is tabby in the game? you know from .hack//roots.

[Elk]

is tabby in the game? you know from .hack//roots.

I certainly hope not... but as it seems, the only people from roots appearing in GU are Ovan, Haseo, & Tri-Edge.. [spoiler](Bordeaux & co. have also made a brief appearance in the anime, though.)[/spoiler]

[thedudewhosadude]

Well, as of the first volume, no. Then again, back with //I.M.O.Q, we didn't see any cameos until the second volume either. I'd say that a future cameo is most probable [spoiler]presuming that nothing happens to her in the anime ~_~[/spoiler]

[jinthemaster]

yeah i didn't think of that. and we'll see when .hack//roots comes to an end. hopefully that won't be too long...

[thedudewhosadude]

Well, episode 11 first airs this Wednesday. It's weekly, so we'll be at the end of the series in about 16 weeks. That's 4 months!

[jinthemaster]

hey i was wondering you know
[spoiler]the "signs" in roots are they still there in the game?[/spoiler]

and also
[spoiler]if you can travel between them like in the show? and do they explain why its there?[/spoiler]

I'm only on eps 11 so if any of theses questions were answered, I'm sorry.. well the second question anyway..

[Tsunami the Silver Dragon]

So let me get this straight.

[spoiler]Mia isn't Endrance?[/spoiler]

Does that mean that [spoiler]Mia isn't in this game at all?[/spoiler]

[spoiler]If so then I have two questions.

One: Does that mean that Elk isn't in this either?

Two: If THAT is true then what happened to both of them? They were the only reason that I continued to play the games.[/spoiler]