Pros and cons

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Keyaki
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it would be stupid

Post by Keyaki »

Kazeki wrote:Like: Everything?

Dislike: The fact that it's for PS2 and not Game Cube T_T.... why did i get a game cube... damnit... I'm soooo sad T_T I rue the day I ever got game cube *sigh*.

it would be stupid if they but it on Gamecube XD
Chaos17
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pros and cons

Post by Chaos17 »

Hmm let me review this game:

I must say buying this game was the most difficult task ever. After buying .hack infection from EB games about 2 yrs ago and finding it to be the most pathetic, terrible, disgusting, worthless, piece of trash to ever come out on ps2 I was real skeptical about buying .hack//G.U. Sure the hype and all the trailers seemed nice, but what if I was going to be disappointed as I have been with infection. Anyway I went to Best Buy, bought it, left the store, sat in my car, and right before I left I almost went right back to return it. Being only 16, spending $42.23 on a game that might end up being garbage isn't something you'd take lightly.

Anyway fast forward 20minutes and im sitting at home loading up G.U. Can I just say this made my day. The game was amazing, from the very start. It was every playstation gamer's dream. For me to describe it, it's like playing through an entire game in CG Cinema (well almost there are a little exceptions here and there.) I played the game for 5 hours straight waaaay into the night (like 3 am) and I couldn't get enough of it. I felt like I made the best purchase of a PS2 game anyone can make.
The storyline, graphics, battle music(amazing), battle engine, party system, and everything else was just great. Basically you'd have to take .hack//INFECTION literally burn it and then create a version that is 1000000000X better and you'll have .hack//G.U.

As great as the game was there are some precautions to take when buying it.

First of all, I don't know why they keep saying this is an MMO. Sure its created to appear that way, but I think of it as an RPG, since you can't really do anything that Haseo wouldn't do. For example in a real MMO you can go pk anyone in a pk map or go swear at the nearest person, and do other random stuff (the sky's the limit). Well this isn't the case in this game. I must say however they made a great improvement over the .hack//infection series where all the NPC's said the same ol' boring **** over and over and over. This game was designed so that'd be impossible. There are NPC's going back and forth, teleporting in and out, and many other factors which make this hard to happen. Due to PS2's 128MB RAM and weak CPU there can't be that many NPC's (i.g. a random generated NPC system is not in play here so you will notice over time the same NPC's passing by you and sometimes saying the same thing)

Another factor to consider that made me feel ripped off was the games length. This game was so damn short! Maybe it was because it was soo good. And also, back to PS2's weak engine and the limit that you can fit on a PS2 DVD disk, this is probably why, since the CG movies and CG game play graphics probably took up a lot of room(lets hope that we can fit a whole .hack series into a ps3 disk in the future), but I mean come on get real here. The game was at tops 25hours to beat (story line only) and maybe 40hours if you added all the other subquests, items, and lvling up your characters (which is actually fun to do unlike the old .hack series and makes this game that much better.) However if your gonna sell 3 games separately for only 20hours(approx) of storyline then thats a huge rip off. You finish the game in no less than a week if you play consistently(which you probably will since the game is so damn good.)

The real downer I would say is that you start feeling that this .hack genre is getting over played/marketed as you approach the end of the game. The story line is fresh and new, but once you get back to the data draining it feels like .hack infection all over again. They should have just stuck with Haseo's pkk role in the game and thought up something new. Although the AIDA additon was crucial, it just feels all to familiar to those of us who have played .hack//INFECTION series. The anime .hack//ROOTS however is as great and excellent as .hack//signs lifting the genre that much higher.

Overall I'd give this game a 8.2 out of 10 It's an outstanding improvement over .hack//INFECTION (5.5 out of 10 in my book) and has a substantial storyline and potential for improvement, but the game's length and repetitiveness (especially as you near the end) really hurt this game from reaching the 9.0's For those of you that are new Id say go buy this game 100% and my review is so harsh only since I have played the other games in this genre and seen the anime's that are connected with this therefore allowing me to consider many aspects when rating the latest to come out of it. It is still an outstanding game and will give you a lot of fun over a long weekend. Go get your copy and join the .hack CRAZE!!


NOTE~ I wrote this off the top of my head in like 10mins I know I may have repeated some of you or left out certain parts that I would have liked to include. Feel free to respond with your opinions or criticisms.
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ashley
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Post by ashley »

Pros:
Almost everything...
improved graphics
Improved battle System
ETC>


CONS:
NO JAPANESE VA OPTION!!!!!
I hate English VA's
Jimbob
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Post by Jimbob »

Let's see.

Pros:
Haseo can use more than one type of weapon.

Game forces you to use different chararcters regularly instead of always using the same ones like the first series.

Characters are more diverse now.

English VA's are awesome(Don't know what the problem is people have with them. They are just as good if not better than the Japanese VAs.)

Cons:
Game forces things on you. (Like "losing" in the arena battles and having to use Skeith no matter how you were faring before hand>)

Forcing party members on you. (Having to use on Atoli and Silabus in the arena finals. Gaspard refusing to fight in the arena period. Having to use Kuhn and Pi in the final battle despite them being unusable most of the time beforehand.) Making it difficult to get a strong party going.

Not having all classes available.(You don't get any Flick Reapers or Macambre Dancers in this Volume. At the end of INFECTION you had at least one of each class.)
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Kryuzei
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Post by Kryuzei »

Pros :
New battle System OMG XD XD
the chara design ? nah...i prefer the CG...
weapon design
Cooler stories, and much more dark than the previous one..
An anime expression in the games
Avatar battle
Cons :
Just like many people..no Japanese VA..damn..i want to hear that Cold n Crazy Haseo again..
Party Member...
Level up too fast....damn...i'm at 50 just before the tournament.....this one thing need to balanced #_#
Too many unneded bookmark....some of them just trying to get an item...but in the end, when i got there..is still just a piece of trash considering my level #_# well, for someone who want to complete the ryu book its a challenge :d

btw, chaos-san, you maybe right..but still there are some points like..
due to PS2's 128MB RAM and weak CPU there can't be that many NPC's (i.g. a random generated NPC system is not in play here so you will notice over time the same NPC's passing by you and sometimes saying the same thing)
yep....but it still more lively right ? ^^
releasing it in ps 3 might be a conclusion..but when will it be ?
This game was so damn short! Maybe it was because it was soo good
no, even that its not good, is still short. and you're right. its just because its in dvd
However if your gonna sell 3 games separately for only 20hours(approx) of storyline then thats a huge rip off. You finish the game in no less than a week if you play consistently(which you probably will since the game is so damn good.)
yes ...a week T_T and it also because of the story too... i hope its not going to be like .hack//Quarantine , because it took really long to finish it, just because we must to collect the Damn virus core..
, but once you get back to the data draining it feels like .hack infection all over again.
.hack without data drain ? it is like infection. but without data drain, .hack wouldn't be good. You don't want a character who can't do anything to a virus right ?
The anime .hack//ROOTS however is as great and excellent as .hack//signs lifting the genre that much higher.
yep...its only just that the fansub is quite rare #_# and the chara design too
They should have just stuck with Haseo's pkk role in the game and thought up something new

Only a PKK ? i'm sorry..but its not a .hack style. .hack style combine both mystery , action n myth altogether. in addition of Sci-Fi , considering the AI..
if it just a PKK , try to watch other anime..there's much more gore anime like higurashi that you could watch...
even if there is a story of PKK (like Midori for example) , and watching Haseo personality, perhaps The World itself doesn't have any meaning to the story...
The World has a more meaning than an online games, because of Aida and Data drain...

Perhaps you like this game because of it action n graphic ?
Nostal
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Post by Nostal »

I'm hoping someone that might have completed Vol. 1 could assist me in a few matters of my Con list, but I shall list my Pros first.

Pros:
- Everything not listed in my Cons. :D

Cons:
- Voice Acting. I would rather read English translation then have to listen to another voice actor. Maybe they should have gotten Voice Actors from Final Fantasy XII. :P
- Steam Bike on Ryu Book. Too easy? 17 crashes and its maxed to level 3.
- Lack of rares? *
- PKK problem I have. **


* I searched GameFAQs.com for reference regarding any rare equipment you might be able to find in Vol. 1 and there were no FAQs at all for G.U. to my surprise. And since the EBGames where I live near never got any strategy guides, I'm wondering if there are any rare equipment at all? In .hack//infection there were equipment that you especially had to trade for to obtain and only trade. I see that in G.U. it is different. If anyone could confirm, I'd appreciate it.

** I went through the Hunter quest to hunt for PKs and after this happened, any PK Battle Areas I run into now all have Greedy in them who deals 2 blow hits to my party members. I'm around level 35. What's up with that? Shouldn't they be more.. random encounters?


This isn't on topic, but if an Administrator could change my username from Nostalgicmix to Nostal, I would really really appreciate it. :wink:
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Dengar
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Post by Dengar »

Pros:

-Haseo
-Combat system
-Avatar battles
-ARENA!!!!
-Piros the 3rd
-No more gear related skills!
-Customizable items
-Huge ass sword
-Haseo
-Ovan

Cons:

-No real time weapon change (although I can deal massive damage to giant enemy crabs none the less)
-Needs more field/dungeon types
-That's all I can think of right now (yes, that's a con)
Nostal
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Post by Nostal »

Just out of sheer annoyance, I must say that Atoli's Voice Actor is quite painful listening to. I know her character is suppose to be all cheerful and wholehearted, but my god, why does she have to sound like a blonde-headed bimbo?
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Bulletcatcher
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Post by Bulletcatcher »

Nostalgicmix wrote:Just out of sheer annoyance, I must say that Atoli's Voice Actor is quite painful listening to. I know her character is suppose to be all cheerful and wholehearted, but my god, why does she have to sound like a blonde-headed bimbo?
She is a blond headed bimbo.
Nostal
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Post by Nostal »

Bulletcatcher wrote:
Nostalgicmix wrote:Just out of sheer annoyance, I must say that Atoli's Voice Actor is quite painful listening to. I know her character is suppose to be all cheerful and wholehearted, but my god, why does she have to sound like a blonde-headed bimbo?
She is a blond headed bimbo.
Well obviously here character is blonde-headed, but is the real Atoli? :P

I'm sure she'd sound much better if it were Japanese dialect.
Jimbob
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Post by Jimbob »

She's just as irritating in Japanese. I don't know why everything thinks it will make everything better.
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blackphoenix
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Post by blackphoenix »

Dengar wrote:Cons:

-No real time weapon change (although I can deal massive damage to giant enemy crabs none the less)
Err, last I tried, the weapon change isn't instant, it does take a second or 2 to change....but as for a realistic weapon change, it is a game about a game now isn't it?
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Bulletcatcher
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Post by Bulletcatcher »

blackphoenix wrote:
Dengar wrote:Cons:

-No real time weapon change (although I can deal massive damage to giant enemy crabs none the less)
Err, last I tried, the weapon change isn't instant, it does take a second or 2 to change....but as for a realistic weapon change, it is a game about a game now isn't it?
Yeah, but it seems quite boring to change weapons.  You get a fast weapon change system in Vol. 2, so I can't wait to use it.
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d07_h4ck_3xp3r7_01
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Post by d07_h4ck_3xp3r7_01 »

con:

no Jap VA option
too easy and went by way too quick...or maybe i'm just that good :D
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Dot-Hack-Rocks
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Post by Dot-Hack-Rocks »

d07_h4ck_3xp3r7_01 wrote:con:

no Jap VA option
too easy and went by way too quick...or maybe i'm just that good :D
Maybe..but I go with the "too easy.."
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blackphoenix
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Post by blackphoenix »

I just hope the 2nd one provides a little more of a challenge
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k-su
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Post by k-su »

Pros:CHEAT CODES!!!!!
Also makes leveling up and 100% completing the game fun, unlike previous titles.
More characters NPC's to interact w/
Lots of character development
Greeting cards is a nice touch
Alkaid's voice doesnt suck, its just Alkaid's bad attitude
Cons:Need more PKKing(maybe a whole party of pkers in one battle area)


Would like to see: massive battles w/ multiple parties in the fray, but that wont happen.
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wave killer
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Post by wave killer »

Nostalgicmix wrote:Just out of sheer annoyance, I must say that Atoli's Voice Actor is quite painful listening to. I know her character is suppose to be all cheerful and wholehearted, but my god, why does she have to sound like a blonde-headed bimbo?
I thought Atoli's VA was the best in the whole game. Sure, she can be annoying but she sounds a lot better then the Japanese VA. (Sorry, but's what I think.)
Alkaid's voice doesnt suck, its just Alkaid's bad attitude
They still could have at least made her sound more feminine. Like cutscene "Alkaid's Fury", that voice was good. They should have made her sound like that through the whole game.
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Rental Daughter
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Post by Rental Daughter »

I agree with so many people's pros...

Pros:
- Haseo suffering
- Haseo's personality
- Graphics! (G.U. ; Graphics Unbelievable xD)
- Skills acquired are not based on what is equipped
- No virus cores to hoard!
- Steam bikes!
- I can get wallpapers from Akpallu (or however you spell it...)
- Tri-Edge...er...Azure Kite =.=
- Avatar battles @w@

Cons:
- Uber long cutscenes (although I enjoyed a few of them)
- Alkaid sounding like a dude
- Atoli's voice at times
- The whole storing equipment thing... where you can't store 40 'types' (oh forget it... I hope you know what I'm talking about)
- What's this? I can't gate out of a field?

I know I'll probably add more to this list later on...
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blackphoenix
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Post by blackphoenix »

I do agree that some of the cutscenes were rather lengthy at times, but weren't bad...but I liked the fact that you can't gate out of the fields unless at a warp point.

One more thing I liked, a controlled battle field...no more fighting one monster and getting jumped by 10 others out of nowhere causing severe lag and sudden death
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