Why does .hack is so unpopular?

[Mikes]

Hello. I was wondering, why the heck .hack//gu series is so unpopular? I mean, it has great story, one of the best soundtrack ever made, and really good action-rpg system. All .hack universe is really good planned and connected with themselves so why the heck all .hack games average rate is like 6.5-7.5?! And it wasn't even released in europe! ****! I totally don't understand why craps like FFXII(really, this game sucks) is so popular.

[LegendaryDarkKnight]

Why does spiderman shot web?

But seriously .hack has a storyline not everyone can get in to and boring game play. I mean honestly I had more fun watching the cut scenes then playing the game. Well except against Cubia. It also lacks online play which is a major factor for games now and days.

[Wan]

Hello. I was wondering, why the heck .hack//gu series is so unpopular? I mean, it has great story, one of the best soundtrack ever made, and really good action-rpg system. All .hack universe is really good planned and connected with themselves so why the heck all .hack games average rate is like 6.5-7.5?! And it wasn't even released in europe! ****! I totally don't understand why craps like FFXII(really, this game sucks) is so popular.

The reason is .hack is so unpopular is because...

1. It has a very eccentric storyline, not only that but its hard to get into because of all the game related dictionary terms. Another thing is because the games are chopped into making Tetraologies, Trilogies, etc. which makes continuing the series more expensive. In addition it's "too big" meaning it will take a couple of weeks to months just to get through the reading material if you haven't kept with the series. Finally you have to look at the title ".hack". Many people would over look the game because they aren't sure what it is exactly. It's anime looks may also hurt it for not everyone is into anime.

2. It is not a really good action-rpg game. It is a "single" button masher that dropped the data drain aspect (only used in avatar form) used in the first tetraology and your avatar is event based (meaning you can't use when you want to).

I also find it really hard to call a game like FFXII crap when it scores A+ in just about all the game reviews. It has excellent voice overs, great cinematics and a satisifiying combat system. My only beef with it was that it was too long and the story is the typical FF game the majority follow.

[AuraTwilight]

Most people's first exposure to .hack is Sign, so they figure "Oh jesus, is this gonna be as boring as that one crap anime I saw?"

[FallenDragon]

Many people I know that are into anime say SIGN it's boring and never even bothered to finish it, and those that actually saw it and decided to watch LOTB were a little freaked out by Shugo and Rena's relationship :\ and when Roots appeared they either didn't care or didn't hear about it. On the other hand, the gamers that actually have played IMOQ or GU, some are not really interested on following animes or mangas. And also some are quite surprised by how much mangas, anime, games, novels this franchise has whenever I talk about it, and not many will actually bother to keep up with it if they were never interested in it in the first place.

[SteamGunnerSharky]

this all pretty true. although the one button mashing system isnt as "fun" kingdom hearts has a similar system and is still big (though they got a huge company like disney behind it)
as said b4 the biggest reason why this series isnt as popular as most is because most ppl dont wanna fallow all the story thats in it, because then you have to get the games, read the mangas and books, and watch the anime. though you could just read up on it online, but that just takes all the fun out of it XP so you only get a certain amount of ppl that like the story enough to do all this. like most of us im sure =)

[d5t]

Believe me, .hack is more popular than everyone things - otherwise we wouldn't have seen another iteration in video games, manga, and anime. Success does not equal success in the United States - looking at the series in an ethnocentric way... it undoubtedly looks unpopular. The series did very well in Japan and moderately well in the United States. If it didn't, CC2 and Bandai would have pulled the plug on localization a while ago.

[Fragments.beta]

Honestly, I also thought SIGN was boring at first. Something kept me watching though( It might have been Kaijura's music she always makes boring series look great with music XD) and I eventually liked it. Not many get that impression though. It doesn't help that alot of non-.hack fans thought ROOTS was far worse than SIGN and that LOTT was an incest fest. And the games well....suck. Not many gamers have the patience to play games just for the sake of story.

.hack is, and has always been a niche franchise. While popular, it just means that the ratio of international .hack fans among anime fans are a little sparse to say the least. tIs also multimedia, meaning that being a real fan of it requires a bit of devotion and money.

[d5t]

.hack is, and has always been a niche franchise. While popular, it just means that the ratio of international .hack fans among anime fans are a little sparse to say the least. tIs also multimedia, meaning that being a real fan of it requires a bit of devotion and money.

Just ask Europe how the franchise is doing over there... looks like, aside from Beez Entertainment licensing .hack//G.U. Trilogy, there are no plans to localize the //G.U. games. You make a good point - internationally, the majority of the .hack fanbase are indeed from Japan and North America. Japan obviously has the larger fanbase based on video game sales released to the public and by hindsight. North America is harder to quantify because a lot of numbers are locked up secretly - so we're forced to really guess how popular the series really is by word or mouth and fan activity via the Internet.

[mr.classybear]

Believe me, .hack is more popular than everyone things - otherwise we wouldn't have seen another iteration in video games, manga, and anime. Success does not equal success in the United States - looking at the series in an ethnocentric way... it undoubtedly looks unpopular. The series did very well in Japan and moderately well in the United States. If it didn't, CC2 and Bandai would have pulled the plug on localization a while ago.

It doesent sell well here, its just that both .hack series were split into parts. So whlie we pay for 3 games, they only paid to make 1. Everyone who bought the GU series paid for 1 game 3 times. so maybe in total, 50,000 people buy .hack//GU in NA. To CC2, they sold 150,000.

[d5t]

It doesent sell well here, its just that both .hack series were split into parts. So whlie we pay for 3 games, they only paid to make 1. Everyone who bought the GU series paid for 1 game 3 times. so maybe in total, 50,000 people buy .hack//GU in NA. To CC2, they sold 150,000.

If I remember right all three volumes broke 100k sold copies in Japan. You can't say it didn't sell well in North America without backing it up with stats - which are scarce. You can say the same thing for the Xenosaga series (split three ways with 20 hours of gameplay max), although stats are more available as it was a less niche franchise.

[S1lentOp]

Most people's first exposure to .hack is Sign, so they figure "Oh jesus, is this gonna be as boring as that one crap anime I saw?"

That series should never be described as a "crap anime" -_-

[AuraTwilight]

Most people's first exposure to .hack is Sign, so they figure "Oh jesus, is this gonna be as boring as that one crap anime I saw?"

That series should never be described as a "crap anime" -_-

Agreed, but unfortunately, lots of people do.

[iuliathe3rd]

Agreed, but unfortunately, lots of people do.

Or worse, people will go from watching and hating SIGN to seeing and loving LotT anime.

[Rental Daughter]

Agreed, but unfortunately, lots of people do.

Or worse, people will go from watching and hating SIGN to seeing and loving LotT anime.

I know a lot of people like that. And sadly, from what I can tell, they're the ones that love mainstream anime like Naruto, Bleach etc. ... and only mainstream with the occasional this and that.

[AuraTwilight]

Agreed, but unfortunately, lots of people do.

Or worse, people will go from watching and hating SIGN to seeing and loving LotT anime.

I know a lot of people like that. And sadly, from what I can tell, they're the ones that love mainstream anime like Naruto, Bleach etc. ... and only mainstream with the occasional this and that.

And this is why I want the majority of humanity to die, among other things.

[Gemcrim]

Or worse, people will go from watching and hating SIGN to seeing and loving LotT anime.

I really don't understand how anyone can honestly say with a straight face that they enjoyed watching the turd that is LotT. I don't understand how anyone can find it appealing, unless they have a love for idiotic plots, potential incest, and TRULY feeling bored. Just recently I actually took the time to watch the dubbed version rather than the subbed, so these people who enjoy it also have a fetish for shitty voices.

SIGN was enjoyable, it made you think, the cast of characters was pretty good, all in all it just has to be my favorite .hack anime. But seriously, I don't get people who like LotT anime.

[Rental Daughter]

Gemcrim> What, seriously? D: I actually liked LotTB . . . Mostly because I can watch it when I'm bored without having to pay too much attention and whenever it airs, I don't have to go to bed early. ;>__> I do like //SIGN better though but... LotTB wasn't horribly bad... except for the ending. Oh how it sucked.

[Gemcrim]

Gemcrim> What, seriously? D: I actually liked LotTB . . . Mostly because I can watch it when I'm bored without having to pay too much attention and whenever it airs, I don't have to go to bed early. ;>__> I do like //SIGN better though but... LotTB wasn't horribly bad... except for the ending. Oh how it sucked.

Question on the ending, do you mean where in the dub they don't show what happened after the credits? Or where in the original there is one last scene. To me both suck. Just want to know where you stand on this.

[Rental Daughter]

Gemcrim> What, seriously? D: I actually liked LotTB . . . Mostly because I can watch it when I'm bored without having to pay too much attention and whenever it airs, I don't have to go to bed early. ;>__> I do like //SIGN better though but... LotTB wasn't horribly bad... except for the ending. Oh how it sucked.

Question on the ending, do you mean where in the dub they don't show what happened after the credits? Or where in the original there is one last scene. To me both suck. Just want to know where you stand on this.

The shortened dub version that CN aired. I have yet to see the little "extra" portion at the end... but I heard what happens. And wow... the ending still sucks either way.