Game and anime order

[LadyGrelka]

So I have decided to start playing the games through and watching the anime but it has been a long while since I have played the games and I can not remember when you should play the games in relation to the animes'
It would be very helpful if someone would be willing to take the time to post a list in the order watched and played, I have looked online and not found much.

Thanks

[Kuukai]

It depends on what you know. If you don't know anything at all about the plot of the games then SIGN might be a good place to start. Otherwise, you can do anything in more or less any order...

[TheKrempist]

I spent over 4 hours looking at the many lists provided and compiled what I believe to be the closest list to covering the chronology of the entire series. Here it is in all its glory.

The entire .hack series categorized and in chronological order.

Things that have the same number in front can be played/read/watched in any order, although it's recommended to go through everything in this given order.


Genesis (Takes place in Fragment, the beta/alpha version of The World)

0. Epitaph of Twilight (two Japanese only novels)

0. Intermezzo (Ep 27 of SIGN, can also be watched as a #5)


Project .hack (Takes place in The World)
[.hack//The World was a magazine published for the series in Japan only]


1. AI buster (Novel that starts the .hack series)

1. AI buster 2 (Sequel novel to AI buster, read the first story)

2. SIGN (Do NOT watch ep 28 & 29) (Prequel anime to the Games)

2. AI buster 2 (Sequel novel to AI buster, read the second story)

3. SIGN - Intermezzo(AKA Episode 27 of SIGN)

3. ZERO (A seemingly discontinued Japanese only series, read the summary online)

4. 4 Games (PS2 comes with LIMINALITY which can be watched 1:1 with the end of each game)

4. **.hack//XXXX (retells the games)

4. Another Birth (The Games told through Blackrose's PoV)

4. Liminality (Tells what happened in the real world during the Games)

5. *Unison (Ep 28 of SIGN)

5. ChupChopCase (Unknown Japanese Only)

5. Legacy (Novel Japanese Only)

5. AI buster 2 (Sequel novel to AI buster, read the third and fifth stories)

6. Legend of the Twilight (The manga is Cannon, the anime is just for fun.)

6. ***Rena Special Pack (More LotT with more information on the lovely Rena)

6. *Gift (OVA Ep 29 of SIGN)

7. AI buster 2 (Sequel novel to AI buster, read the forth story)


.hack Conglomerate (Takes place in The World R:2)
[.hack//G.U. The World is another magazine published with G.U. content in Japan only]


8. End of The World (A terminal disc that came with .hack//G.U. Vol.1//Rebirth, tells about the events between the end of Project .hack and the beginning of .hack Conglomerate)

9. First Login (Japan only Drama CD Read the summary online)

10. GnU (Read the English manga or the summary online)

10. CELL (Tokyopop will publish the first of two volumes in May, 2010)

10. Roots (Do NOT watch ep 26 & 27)

11. Alcor (Read the English manga or the summary online)

11. *G.U. Trilogy (Movie of the GU Games)

11. GU Games (PS2 only)

11. The End of The World (the Terminal Disc that comes with .hack//G.U. Vol.1 Rebirth)

11. *.hack//G.U.+, a manga adaptation of the three .hack//G.U. video games released under the .hack Conglomerate project.

11. *.hack//G.U. A Novel Adaptation of the three .hack//G.U. Video games released under the .hack Conglomerate project.

11. Online Jack (An anime side-story of the G.U. Games)

12. *G.U. Trilogy: Parody Mode (Bonus from G.U. Trilogy)

12. Determination & Returner (AKA Episode 26 & 27 of Roots)

12. *.hack//4koma, a manga series which throws a little humor into both .hack and .hack//G.U. alike.


Unknown Generation of .hack (Takes place in The World R:X, the portable version of The World)


13. Link (game for the PSP)

13. * ****LINK: Twilight Knights (Also known as Link, the manga series)

14. Bullet (a web novel that follows Flugel after the events of .hack//Link.

14. QUANTUM Introduction (Manga Prequel to Qunatum OVAs)

15. Quantum (Anime OVAs)

15. Quantum+ (Manga version of OVAs)

16. The Movie: Beyond the World (Anime bundled with Versus)

16. Sora: Beyond The World (Manga version of The Movie)

17. Versus (A fighting game for ps3)

18. Thanatos Report (An unlockable OVA from Versus)

Non-technical chronology* ****


000. Fragment (An MMO released only in Japan [I was born in the US = FML])

000. Enemy (Card Game)

000. G.U. The Card Battle (Card Game)

000. Project X Zone (Multiple game company crossover game for 3ds)

000. Guilty Dragon (Card Game for iOS/Android to be released in English)

*(Non-canon - Alternate universe)
** (partially not Cannon)
*** (May or may not be in the right place chronologically****)
**** (This may or may not apply to one or more entries)

[WeHadComeSoFar]

I also spent manyy hours looking over lists, reading descriptions and summaries, and compiling a timeline for the .hack// series.
TheKrempist, our lists are extremely similar, but I figured it wouldn't be a bad idea to have two lists for anybody's reference

--------------------------------------------------------------

[KEY]
G = GAME
A = ANIME/OVA/MOVIE
M = MANGA
N = NOVEL

--------------------------------------------------------------

[N] .hack//Epitaph of Twilight
[N] .hack//Epitaph of Twilight 2

[N] .hack//AI buster
[N] .hack//AI buster 2//2nd Character/Haruka Mizuhara's Situation
[A] .hack//SIGN
[N] .hack//AI buster 2//Wotan's Spear
[A] .hack//SIGN Intermezzo
[N] .hack//ZERO
[G] .hack//Infection
[N] .hack//Another Birth vol.1//Infection
[A] .hack//Liminality 1
[G] .hack//Mutation
[N] .hack//Another Birth vol.2//Mutation
[A] .hack//Liminality 2
[G] .hack//Outbreak
[N] .hack//Another Birth vol.3//Outbreak
[A] .hack//Liminality 3
[G] .hack//Quarantine
[N] .hack//Another Birth vol.4//Quarantine
[A] .hack//Liminality 4
[M] .hack//XXXX [NON-CANON]
[M] .hack//ChupChopCase
[A] .hack//SIGN Unison [NON-CANON]
[N] .hack//AI buster 2//Kamui
[N] .hack//AI buster 2//Firefly
[A] .hack//Legend of the Twilight [NON-CANON]
[M] .hack//Legend of the Twilight
[M] .hack//Rena Special Pack
[A] .hack//GIFT [NON-CANON]
[N] .hack//AI buster 2//Rumor

[A] .hack//End of The World (Terminal Disc)
[N[ .hack//CELL
[A] .hack//Roots
[M] .hack//Alcor
[M] .hack//GnU
[G] .hack//G.U. Vol.1//Rebirth
[G] .hack//G.U. Vol.2//Reminisce
[G] .hack//G.U. Vol.3//Redemption
[A] .hack//Online Jack
[N] .hack//G.U. [NON-CANON]
[M] .hack//G.U.+ [NON-CANON]
[A] .hack//G.U. TRILOGY [NON-CANON]
[A] .hack//G.U. Determination
[A] .hack//G.U. Returner
[M] .hack//4koma [NON-CANON]

[M] .hack//LINK: Twilight Knights [NON-CANON]
[G] .hack//Link
[N] .hack//bullet
[M] .hack//Quantum (Introduction)
[A] .hack//Quantum
[M] .hack//Quantum+
[A] .hack//Beyond the World
[M] .hack//Beyond the World: Sora
[A] .hack//Thanatos Report
[G] .hack//Versus

--------------------------------------------------------------

[Kuukai]

Just nitpicks, but Thanatos report takes place after Versus, and Versus takes place a year after the movie. Unison takes place before ChupChopCase, although ChupChopCase doesn't exist outside of Link. There's a short novel called .hack//Legacy that I intend to translate at some point, which happens after Unison.

[WeHadComeSoFar]

Just nitpicks, but Thanatos report takes place after Versus, and Versus takes place a year after the movie. Unison takes place before ChupChopCase, although ChupChopCase doesn't exist outside of Link. There's a short novel called .hack//Legacy that I intend to translate at some point, which happens after Unison.

Just to be clear, would the end go like this?:
[A] .hack//Beyond the World
[M] .hack//Beyond the World: Sora
[G] .hack//Versus
[A] .hack//Thanatos Report

or like this?:
[A] .hack//Beyond the World
[G] .hack//Versus
[A] .hack//Thanatos Report
[M] .hack//Beyond the World: Sora

[TheKrempist]

Just nitpicks, but Thanatos report takes place after Versus, and Versus takes place a year after the movie. Unison takes place before ChupChopCase, although ChupChopCase doesn't exist outside of Link. There's a short novel called .hack//Legacy that I intend to translate at some point, which happens after Unison.

PLEASE nitpick! I want this to be the perfect list.

Ahah! I knew it, so i got it right with my special get out of jail free card *** special clause! I hardly used it on anything except the ones you mentioned

Also I am having trouble even finding information on this Legacy novel you speak of, but you are godly so I am adding it just based of of your word.

Updated.

I also spent manyy hours looking over lists, reading descriptions and summaries, and compiling a timeline for the .hack// series.
TheKrempist, our lists are extremely similar, but I figured it wouldn't be a bad idea to have two lists for anybody's reference

Damnit I can't beleive someone's list is close to mine in completion of the series! I looks at everyones posts and opinions for years and no one came near to being correct! It is as if fate has drawn us toghether by the strings of the .hack universe. You sir are awesome and what a coincidance that we made lists so close to the same time! Hahha There must be a .hack bug in the air. ehhe get it? eheh bug? ehehe

also I believe the correct edit of the two you listed is the first since sora is just the manga version of the movie.

anyway awesome. I want one list to be the end all perfect list for all those who ask and it seems you do too. Now we must unfortunatly fight to the death. >.<

[TheKrempist]

I also notice that our versions of the world R2 are where we differ mainly. I wonder who is correct. Although my list makes it possible to include many series in one point on the timeline, so it is possible that even there we are similar.

It looks like too much conflics, however. I so hope we can get an opinion on this from someone. Else we duke it our ourselves.

[WeHadComeSoFar]

I also notice that our versions of the world R2 are where we differ mainly. I wonder who is correct. Although my list makes it possible to include many series in one point on the timeline, so it is possible that even there we are similar.

It looks like too much conflics, however. I so hope we can get an opinion on this from someone. Else we duke it our ourselves.

Yeah I figured that, with your numbering system, that ours weren't really that different, even in terms of R2. There was a Yahoo Answers post that was very helpful, and I believe I referenced that for the order of //CELL , //Roots , //Alcor , //GnU.

Like I said, I could be wrong, but I figured I'd bring it up here because this seems to be a place where people truly care about .hack// and their input would be most helpful in determining the true series order. I'm sure we will be able to come up with a nearly definitive list before the week is over! Then we can share it with the rest of the internet so they can enjoy the .hack// canon in the order the events "truly" happened! (:

I actually hadn't played .hack// in YEARS, because I borrowed //Infection when I was very very young, and beat it in one day, then bought the rest of the games. I finally got //Infection for Christmas this past year so now I'm playing through the games again. I've spent so much money on tattoos recently that I need something that doesn't cost me anything to consume my time hahaha.

[TheKrempist]

lol this seems like the thing to do. For me though, it is consuming quite a bit of my money since the series is so extensive. I just bought versus (the world edition) and zero bout $100. I am seriously considering buying epitaph novels and the rest of the untranslated novels because I have a decent level of Japanese.
I am surprised at the amount of fan translation efforts for this series. Not many series can say the same thing. Not even final fantasy.

[WeHadComeSoFar]

lol this seems like the thing to do. For me though, it is consuming quite a bit of my money since the series is so extensive. I just bought versus (the world edition) and zero bout $100. I am seriously considering buying epitaph novels and the rest of the untranslated novels because I have a decent level of Japanese.
I am surprised at the amount of fan translation efforts for this series. Not many series can say the same thing. Not even final fantasy.

As I finish up the original 4 games (should take me a while between band practice, girlfriend, work, summer classes, vacation, etc) I am gonna buy some manga and novels from R1 and watch as much of the anime and OVAs as possible. Once I get through as much of R1 as I feel possible, I'll buy the G.U. games. Surprisingly enough, I have never gotten a chance to experience ANY .hack// outside of R1.

Additionally, if i ever find time to fix up my old PC (although I'm dreading using Windows Vista ever again...) I mightttt play that Aion MMORPG. It looks interesting. I used to play Guild Wars a long time ago. It would be cool to get into a real MMORPG again after so many years. I tried WoW for a month about 2 years ago, but wasn't really that into it.

[Kuukai]

The .hack//G.U. timeline has manly overlapping events that make it hard to establish a numbering, this is more something where you would want a bar chart showing how they overlap. Roots intersects with CELL in the middle, and the games at the end. GnU predates the games slightly I believe, and Alcor also predates the games as it is partially an origin story for Sophora.

Just nitpicks, but Thanatos report takes place after Versus, and Versus takes place a year after the movie. Unison takes place before ChupChopCase, although ChupChopCase doesn't exist outside of Link. There's a short novel called .hack//Legacy that I intend to translate at some point, which happens after Unison.

Just to be clear, would the end go like this?:
[A] .hack//Beyond the World
[M] .hack//Beyond the World: Sora
[G] .hack//Versus
[A] .hack//Thanatos Report

or like this?:
[A] .hack//Beyond the World
[G] .hack//Versus
[A] .hack//Thanatos Report
[M] .hack//Beyond the World: Sora

.hack//Beyond the World: Sora is concurrent to .hack//Beyond the World. It's basically a demi-canonical retelling in the style of .hack//Roots - the manga and movie don't completely "agree" but aspects from the manga version are still "true" events in the .hack universe. Like Tokio battling the virus, and what happens to Aura after the credits (which is also on the movie's "extras" DVD as a deleted scene - actually if we're establishing a full list, for Thanatos Report to make sense that DVD extra is basically required viewing, and the Epitaph of New Testament book included with the .hack//Link Quarantine Pack is also required for the recent parts of the story to really make sense).

That is the correct order of the FORCE:ERA, VS:The World, and MaMa incidents.

Also I am having trouble even finding information on this Legacy novel you speak of, but you are godly so I am adding it just based of of your word.

It's part of .hack//archives_03.

[TheKrempist]

It's basically a demi-canonical retelling in the style of .hack//Roots - the manga and movie don't completely "agree" but aspects from the manga version are still "true" events in the .hack universe. Like Tokio battling the virus, and what happens to Aura after the credits (which is also on the movie's "extras" DVD as a deleted scene - actually if we're establishing a full list, for Thanatos Report to make sense that DVD extra is basically required viewing, and the Epitaph of New Testament book included with the .hack//Link Quarantine Pack is also required for the recent parts of the story to really make sense).

That is the correct order of the FORCE:ERA, VS:The World, and MaMa incidents.

Also I am having trouble even finding information on this Legacy novel you speak of, but you are godly so I am adding it just based of of your word.

It's part of .hack//archives_03.

I believe you are telling me to try and find my own answers by watching/reading everything on the list first. I half made this list so that I could finish the series in its entirety, since I have been indulging in the series in bits and pieces here and there and wanted a more complete picture.

I hope you can explain anything that I missed in my list, because I am already going through it quite quickly in my free time. Is there anything I missed other than the 'extra' you sited and Epitaph of New Testament?

Also are you saying that the era the VS takes place in is called the "FORCE: ERA"?

Also from looking around the Archive series is a series of artbooks/encyclopedias? I saw you had a comment posted in one a while back haha congrats!

Thank you for your input. I am glad to have someone mediating this or at least critiquing, because the series is so huge and I havent honestly gone through enough of it myself to be sure yet.

[Kuukai]

FORCE:ERA is the 4th version of The World, and it's the setting for the incident in the movie and manga version of Other Side of the World. After FORCE:ERA is released, an online fighting game called VS:THE WORLD is released alongside it, and that's the setting for Versus. Another version of The World released in 2030 called Armed Conflict is the setting for Guilty Dragon. I brought this up because it's just one more way of looking at the overlapping events (and somehow it seemed more clear at the time than saying "movie AND manga").

.hack//archives is predominately art, concept work, and explanations, but it does occasionally contain original creative content like .hack//Legacy as well.

I don't see anything obviously missing.

[TheKrempist]

Ah good to know. A graph is definately needed. I will begin work on it when I have the time.

I find it amusing that we have carried on this conversation so far unbeknownst to our fair Lady Grelka.

[LadyGrelka]

First, You guys are great, really this is great, I posted a few other places and got no answers but look at you guys, answers left and right, even if there is a bit of toss up with some of it. Next, sorry for not responding earlier, April was crazy for me between college and my kids and all the appointments for my kids I have had very little time to myself, I get just enough time to keep up with the two shows I watch and that is only about two hours a week. Lucky for me it looks like things are starting to slow down a bit so I am hoping that I am going to have a bit of time to so some reading, watching and game playing. Again thanks!

[TheKrempist]

Well .hack is a great resource for all of those activities! Gl I can only imagine how tough it would be to be a mom and a .hack fan!


If you have any questions feel free to ask! I think that the AI buster novels are a good place to start. They are wonderful ond very cheap if you get them used on amazon.

Edit: and a student! Wow!

[TheKrempist]

Also on another note: I am going throught the entire series so I can personally back up my list with COLD HARD FACTS! So here I am noting that in AI Buster 2's 'Afterword' They say that story "Wotan's Spear" [the second story] should be read with Volume 3 of the manga LoTB

[TheKrempist]

I also noticed that Alcor is after ROOTS but before the games.

PRetty sure unless someone wants to dispute.