List of Review results .hack GU Vol 1 got

Kadaaju · Post by **Kadaaju** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 6:25 am

Here's a list of all the reviews given to this game, after it was released
I honestly was hoping for gametrailers to give a video review but..I guess they didn't have the time to try it or something.

GameSpy 3.5 / 5
GamePro 4 / 5
Worth Playing 6.5 / 10
GameZone 7.5 / 10
Gaming Age B+
Games Radar 7 / 10
1UP 7 / 10
All RPG 7.3 / 10
Gamerz-Edge 7.5 / 10
RPGamer 3 / 5
HonestGamers 8 / 10
GameBrink 68 / 100
Game Informer 5.75 / 10
Electronic Gaming Monthly 6.5 / 10
Play Magazine 9 / 10

Lysergic · Post by **Lysergic** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 1:37 pm

some of tham gave it a C avrege

I think it desrves more, besides maybe its not that popular because the new final fantasy came out at almost the same time...

XellAzureFlameGod · Post by **XellAzureFlameGod** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 1:51 pm

They probally played it for 5 minutes and couldn't get used to the gameplay.. They need to spend more time on it.

Kouen · Post by **Kouen** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 1:53 pm

Well they gave it a C average because they were probably pissed off at the fact you play like 5 minutes of gameplay, then it's half an hour of cutscenes.

Tolby · Post by **Tolby** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 2:32 pm

I think most of those scores are pretty fair. Maybe it deserves a little better. Of course Game Informer doesn't know jack.

Akuta · Post by **Akuta** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 2:35 pm

That's an rpg for ya^^
I endured playing Xenosaga, so i suppose i'm not one who complains about long cutscenes xD

http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/928400.asp
Gamerankings is always good for this purpose.
7.2/10 average. I'd expected atleast 7.9, since they've got great gameplay and a good story to boot, but i suppose the split up aspect just forces them to lower the score considerably...

Akaji · Post by **Akaji** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 2:37 pm

Review sites are utterly useless these days. The average score for G.U. was around a 6.0, while FFXII is averaging a 9.5 (Famitsu gave it a 10, which I believe is the first 10 Famitsu has ever given out) - and yet FFXII isn't even close to as good as G.U. is. FFXII is a game that has absolutely amazing production values, but absolutely horrible design (Gambit system

, licence system, horrifically boring transitions between plot points), while G.U. has great production values and an amazing design (true fantasy look, active and involved combat, and an incredibly deep story (although this really requires the Terminal Disk and some cursory knowledge of the original .hack series' plot, in my opinion)).

Gamespot's review starts off with a sentence that I've come to expect from those crappy review sites: "Apparently four .hack games in less than a year just wasn't enough, so Namco Bandai Games and developer CyberConnect2 are set to crank out another trilogy of .hack games for the PlayStation 2."

Yes, the reviewer seriously started off his review like that. Honestly, if you don't like the idea of the game before you even play it, you have no business writing a review about it...

Le sigh.

Dengar · Post by **Dengar** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 2:59 pm

Famitsu has actually given out several 10's.

And, by several, I mean single digits.

None the less, Famitsu are sellouts that only give good ratings to games that would sell well anyway.

shiroi · Post by **shiroi** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 4:14 pm

It's not that surprising. Those sites mainly review Rebirth as a stand-alone game title. To be honest, if it was the first .hack title I'd ever gotten, I would have been really confused about most of the story, and story is what this series is mostly about. When you look at it that way, Rebirth does have its share of faults.

Rebirth is good as a part of a much larger picture, and the .hack franchise has always been unique with its use of multiple media to show different parts of one story. And the reviewers won't ever see it that way. Their job is to rate the game, nevermind //Roots or the other two volumes.

...I never played FFXII, but my guess is that it wouldn't have gotten such good reviews if they only played the second quarter of it. =/

styleZsick · Post by **styleZsick** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 4:22 pm

Yah I like .hack games alot...but one thing is Rebirth isnt a full game it's the first of 2 others coming out. FFXII is a full game unlike Rebirth...and you have to watch the shows and play the games to know the whole story to everything going on...

Klein · Post by **Klein** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 4:31 pm

i think .hack is more like an rpg story rather than a full game. but that's what i like about it, the story is awesome and mysterious.

Hachibi · Post by **Hachibi** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 4:32 pm

To me the dot hack games are like an interactive anime.

HaseoDeath · Post by **HaseoDeath** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 4:35 pm

One think people need to think about when seeing reviews for your favorite game, is take a step back and look at it from the point of view of someone that starts out not knowing of it, or liking it...

What I mean is, People get upset if they love Inu Yasha, Naruto, DBZ and the games get bad reviews... but heck, I'm a FullMetal Alchemist, Naruto and Inu Yasha fan but I disliked the games. Heck, my favorite Anime based game will always be the Ranma 1/2 fighting game for the SNES lol.

I love .hack, it's one of my absolute top series but like I've said about the past games, good story but gameplay was boring, repetitive and the dungeons the samne thing over and over.

G.U. though...

Music: 9/10
I loved it, but somehow I didn't like it as much as the older .hack music. Maybe because it's a different artist if I recall, and I'm kind of tired of how all the Phase/Avatar music is basically the same but a few different feels... it's still emotional and I like how the ending theme had words, along with other music that before were just BGMs. Heck I even like Piroshi's theme. Still I don't like it as much as the older music.

Graphics: 7/10
I like the cel-shaded feel but sometimes it seems like it's there to hide the flat on textures and sometimes stuff looks a bit pixal-y, even the cut scenes. I mean the cut scenes could have been better, there are games out there that do better and have more cut scenes yet they still said G.U. used up most the spaced on the game?... odd. I do like the emotional facial expressions like the Anime style sweatdrop, anger vein and shadow of gloom... but sometimes I'll find it slows the video and makes my PS2 rattle from reading the disk..

Plot: 10/10
What can I say, it's why I like .hack, although I'm giving this to vol 1 since I don't like the plot of vol 2.... some grand surprise..

Characters: 9/10
I'm not going to go into this since I can write forever on how I like how people do with characters.

Script: 7/10
A lot of the stuff they said, the dialouge and wording was really... well, made it seem they were just filling up time, or killing time... I mean simple back and forth banter like "I'll win" "No you're not as good" "I'll get better" ....just lame one liners..

gameplay: 6/10
a little above average since it was something new but was basically button massing, rengeki got boring after a while and the dungeons... I personally have to say they were lamers then the past games. You have field.. cave and shrine.. only 3 types of areas, very boring and got old after a while... a short while. Also boss battles and quests... they are FAR too easy... I mean they don't give you hints more then they tell you what to do! I mean the quest where you wrap all around a dungeon to get your Job Extention, it was bad enough they said go to the center... but then telling you to go north, east...ect, there was no fun to it puzzle wise. Besides that they keep on telling you what to do in battles like dash to the side to avoid.. I like to battle a boss and try and figure out his pattern and what to do myself.

Anyway, I love .hack and love this game but from a review point of view, it's a pretty average game.

Maromi · Post by **Maromi** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 5:43 pm

I think some of you are failing to see that //G.U. is a B game (7-8/10 max). I think you can love the series and still admit that it's not a 9/10 game, because it isn't. Can the "reviews suk!" and "FF suks whyd it get better scorez!!1" and "they must not of palyed it!!1" comments cease? I enjoy .hack, yes, and sue me, but it's not an A game. That doesn't mean you can't enjoy it.

EDIT - Kind of along the lines of HaseoDeath's post.

Wan · Post by **Wan** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 5:44 pm

Maromi wrote:I some of you are failing to see that //G.U. is a B game (7-8/10 max). I think you can love the series and still admit that it's not a 9/10 game, because it isn't. Can some of the "reviews suk!" "FF suks whyd it get better scorez!!1" comments cease? I enjoy .hack, yes, and sue me, but it's not an A game. That doesn't mean you can't enjoy it.

Got to agree on this one. rebirth is a D+ imo

Maromi · Post by **Maromi** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 5:51 pm

Also, regardless of the body of the reviews, the medium scores are very appropriate, in my opinion. I'd be likely to leave out the 5.75/10 and the 9/10, and there's your most accurate score range.

Akaji · Post by **Akaji** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 10:35 pm

Maromi wrote:I think some of you are failing to see that //G.U. is a B game (7-8/10 max). I think you can love the series and still admit that it's not a 9/10 game, because it isn't. Can the "reviews suk!" and "FF suks whyd it get better scorez!!1" and "they must not of palyed it!!1" comments cease? I enjoy .hack, yes, and sue me, but it's not an A game. That doesn't mean you can't enjoy it.

EDIT - Kind of along the lines of HaseoDeath's post.

Ironic that you think that, somehow, just because you and a bunch of 'professional' reviewers say a game is a "B" game, it must be, but then you turn around and you say that you enjoy it. What makes a game an "A" game is entirely subjective, and it ought to be based on how enjoyable the game is.

To me, .hack//G.U. Rebirth is an "A" game - in my GameSpot reader review I gave it an easy 9.1. FFXII gets a nice stinking "F" and a middle finger for being a waste of $60. This is exactly why I say "reviews suk!" (although I believe I put it a bit more elegantly than that).

Reviewers are, as far as I have seen, entirely incapable of even attempting to give an unbiased review of a game. This is not a fault of their own; it's extremely difficult to give a good rating to a game that you didn't enjoy simply because you believe that others would think that it is good. For the life of me, I cannot understand why anyone at all likes FFXII, and this is coming from someone who has played and loved every single Final Fantasy prior to X-2. I am not willing to admit that it is a good game (and I don't believe that it is), despite the fact that reviews for it were overwhelmingly positive. Professional reviewers are no different.

So, enough of my talking. What objective proof do you have that .hack is a "B" game?

PK Murderer Nickey · Post by **PK Murderer Nickey** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 10:55 pm

Don't worry! Because when the second and third chapters come out, they'll come back and kiss ass. Other wise, forget them. Besides, Game Informer is just a Encyclopedia Dramatica of Gamer mags.

Maromi · Post by **Maromi** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 10:57 pm

Akaji wrote:To me, .hack//G.U. Rebirth is an "A" game - in my GameSpot reader review I gave it an easy 9.1. FFXII gets a nice stinking "F" and a middle finger for being a waste of $60. This is exactly why I say "reviews suk!" (although I believe I put it a bit more elegantly than that).

...I'm not even going to bother with this one.

I never said anything about proof. I simply said you can get a good idea of the overall quality of a game through the medium/average score of reviews, even through the biases. Why is it ironic that I enjoy a B game? There's no irony there. I enjoy B movies. 7/10 or 8/10 isn't bad by any means... Bottom line is, there's always going to be a dissenting opinion with anything. You're that dissenting opinion with FFXII -- hell, even with .hack. It's not necessarily wrong, but fewer people are going to agree with you, and I really don't see you making a point where I can say, "Oh, well I can kind of see that," since all you're saying is "This sucks, this sucks, and this sucks, so it gets an F."

I fail to see how FFXII is a waste of $50 or $60, while //G.U. isn't a waste of $120-$150, for that matter -- or the first four games weren't a waste of $200. I respect your opinion and all, but I find it a bit flawed. I still think, if anything, //G.U. gets a -1 for being incomplete.

TwilightSkeith · Post by **TwilightSkeith** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 10:59 pm

The 7-8 range is where I would put Vol. 1. Not sure how the other volumes will rank though that weapon change system in 2 is very helpful.

Most of the reviews were far in my eyes except for the GI review.

Then again I don't buy games depending on reviews.

Also, I rather wish a little bit that they just released the whole series as one 2 disc game.