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Link is now 5 years old!

Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2015 11:24 pm
by Lindz
Time sometimes flies huh?

Versus & Guilty Dragon have come out since then but as far as .hack rpgs we're getting to the point of being overdue! This one is prolly the most divisive game in the series an the first major one to not be localized (although a small dedicated team is working on it!). Alot of peeps don't like the intro animation, or the gameplay, or characters/story but there's still good stuff to be found within even for people that hate it. I for one like the gameplay alot for being very speedy! And the soundtrack as usual is really nice!

It certainly is far from being the worst game in the series for me since Outbreak and Rebirth exist. An while I've never played 'em, I'd like to think Link is a notch above Mobile & Fragment, prolly GD to. Even if opinions don't change, I still hope people'll give the game a fair shake once the translation is fully finished!

Re: Link is now 5 years old!

Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2015 7:39 am
by SSJScygoku
Lindz wrote: It certainly is far from being the worst game in the series for me since Outbreak and Rebirth exist. An while I've never played 'em, I'd like to think Link is a notch above Mobile & Fragment, prolly GD to. Even if opinions don't change, I still hope people'll give the game a fair shake once the translation is fully finished!
You can say that again, doesn't feel like that many years since .hack//LINK came out @.@

The opening animation grew on me, though it helps that that style wasn't kept throughout the game or atleast as far as i'm aware. I played LINK for 20 minutes or so to make sure my copy worked and enjoyed what I saw. Was just waiting for the next patch from that amazing group translating the game ^-^

?_? What did you not like about Outbreak? Was it too short for the price you paid? Can't say I've played Mobile,Fragment or Guilty Dragon (was waiting for UK release ^^') but surely LINK would be considered better than them as its a fully fleshed out game in comparison @.@

Re: Link is now 5 years old!

Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2015 9:52 am
by Kuukai
Rebirth? What's wrong with Rebirth?

Re: Link is now 5 years old!

Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2015 8:42 pm
by Lindz
SSJScygoku wrote:?_? What did you not like about Outbreak?
The amount of bugged monsters in both the regular story dungeons and bonus ones always make the game a real slog to play through! It totally fits the theme of the game and progression of the story but it makes the game unfun to play at time moreso then any other in the series. An the only shining beacon of light in it is Terajima Ryoko! Okay maybe thats being alil over dramatic but the bright spots are fewer an farther between than in the rest of the series.
Kuukai wrote:Rebirth? What's wrong with Rebirth?
From the first time I played it Rebirth felt like somewhat of a letdown. The super great fun combat everyone praises the G.U. games for isn't something I found in the first volume. Mash X + Gale Blade the game >_> Grinding for new skills can be painfully slow an really made me miss the IMOQ skills attached to equipment setup. Not helping matters was the sword being really slow and controls overall feeling sluggish. Game speed was improved in Reminisce with speed+ gear, the bike becomes signifcantly faster, even the sword feels quicker and more fluid. Attack cancelling with it in Rebirth feels completely different from the other two G.U. games. Alot of things just leave a bad first impression and since CC2 improved the engine/mechanics/etc. in later games, unlike in IMOQ, knowing there's much better feeling gameplay ahead of me makes Rebirth my most dreaded one in the whole series to replay.

Re: Link is now 5 years old!

Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2015 6:28 pm
by Bullet Biter
This only makes me realize how long .hack has been going on and now I feel practically geriatric.

 CC2 is not known for their battle system quality I really hope that changes with the next game they release

Re: Link is now 5 years old!

Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2015 4:49 am
by MizuTakishima
Oh man, it's really been that long huh? It feels like it wasn't that long ago, but at the same time, it still feels like it's been ages.

I've never played the game myself. Part of me still wants to, but it exists on a system I don't own and in a language that I don't understand.

I'll be honest, I couldn't really get over the main character's design. I know the sort of "Tai from Digimon" look is kind of an anime trope at this point, but...really..?
Image

The following design looks much better, but I still don't understand the unicorn horn.
Image

But if I had to give an award to "worst outfit in the .hack universe" I think Haseo's second outfit still takes the cake.
Image

Huh...I guess my feelings on the designs have really changed a lot since 5 years ago :O  Eh more or less

Anyway sorry for the image spam! HAPPY LATE/EARLY BIRTHDAY .HACK//LINK!!!

Re: Link is now 5 years old!

Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2015 5:17 am
by SSJScygoku
MizuTakishima wrote:I've never played the game myself. Part of me still wants to, but it exists on a system I don't own and in a language that I don't understand!
@.@ There is a fan translation underway so you'll eventually beable to play the game in english, plus you can get the re-release of //LINK for £20 or less just to show support if you decide to use it :D

Re: Link is now 5 years old!

Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2015 5:21 am
by MizuTakishima
SSJScygoku wrote:
MizuTakishima wrote:I've never played the game myself. Part of me still wants to, but it exists on a system I don't own and in a language that I don't understand!
@.@ There is a fan translation underway so you'll eventually beable to play the game in english, plus you can get the re-release of //LINK for £20 or less just to show support if you decide to use it :D
yeah I've heard about the fan translation and I'm really impressed that it's actually happening :D But who knows when it'll actually be done. Plus I'd have to download an emulator for it and it could get complicated x_X

I might give it a try some day though!

Re: Link is now 5 years old!

Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2015 5:26 am
by SSJScygoku
MizuTakishima wrote:yeah I've heard about the fan translation and I'm really impressed that it's actually happening :D But who knows when it'll actually be done. Plus I'd have to download an emulator for it and it could get complicated x_X
^_^ i'm pretty sure you can ask them for help if your stuck,also I believe they provided steps on what to do on their website. There were also videos on youtube with a summary of LINK with the translations @.@

Re: Link is now 5 years old!

Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2015 2:43 pm
by Oxidizer
I have //Link to thank for this lovely character.
Image
Even though I haven't played //Link yet... .____.

Re: Link is now 5 years old!

Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2015 6:34 am
by SSJScygoku
Oxidizer wrote:I have //Link to thank for this lovely character.
Image
Even though I haven't played //Link yet... .____.
@.@ And .hack//LINK Victory Spark for two cards of her among many others of the .hack cast.

Re: Link is now 5 years old!

Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2015 8:52 pm
by Keyaki
MizuTakishima wrote:
But if I had to give an award to "worst outfit in the .hack universe" I think Haseo's second outfit still takes the cake.
Image

Dude, you can't be serious...
The amount of bugged monsters in both the regular story dungeons and bonus ones always make the game a real slog to play through! It totally fits the theme of the game and progression of the story but it makes the game unfun to play at time moreso then any other in the series.
I'll admit, out of the 4 games, Outbreak does seem to be the most difficult of the 4. With its increased amount of databugs as well as monsters that seem significantly tougher than in the Delta, Theta, and Lamda servers combined.

Re: Link is now 5 years old!

Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2015 9:47 pm
by Kuukai
None of the games are hard if you just kill 98,989 Razines.

Re: Link is now 5 years old!

Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2015 12:57 am
by Keyaki
Kuukai wrote:None of the games are hard if you just kill 98,989 Razines.
Touche, monsieur Kuukai. Touche.

Re: Link is now 5 years old!

Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2015 1:16 am
by MizuTakishima
Keyaki wrote: Dude, you can't be serious...
I'm totally serious! Look at how spiky that thing is...and all of that black and red...plus it looks like he has a rack of baby back ribs on his back. That and I think the outfit is just unnecessarily complex. Usually "less is more", and simple designs are more memorable.

Re: Link is now 5 years old!

Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2015 11:25 am
by Kuukai
That sounds more like a critique of this particular Hosokawa sketch's art style than the actual character design in the game. Although it is complex, the simplest character designs in the game belong to the side PCs who fade into the background, demonstrating "less" doesn't do that much. This is anime, if it doesn't have 99 belt buckles or spikes it's not a main character. Yowkow has a fan, a cape, and a sail sticking out of her back, and she's still less busy than most of the main characters because she wasn't originally supposed to be that important.

That said, everyone's entitled to their opinion, and it's refreshing to see a dissenting opinion on an otherwise ludicrously popular character and design within the .hack fandom. It's boring if we all have the same taste and everything's a Haseo love fest.

Re: Link is now 5 years old!

Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2015 9:52 pm
by Keyaki
Kuukai wrote:That sounds more like a critique of this particular Hosokawa sketch's art style than the actual character design in the game. Although it is complex, the simplest character designs in the game belong to the side PCs who fade into the background, demonstrating "less" doesn't do that much. This is anime, if it doesn't have 99 belt buckles or spikes it's not a main character. Yowkow has a fan, a cape, and a sail sticking out of her back, and she's still less busy than most of the main characters because she wasn't originally supposed to be that important.

That said, everyone's entitled to their opinion, and it's refreshing to see a dissenting opinion on an otherwise ludicrously popular character and design within the .hack fandom. It's boring if we all have the same taste and everything's a Haseo love fest.
True. I agree.

And that being the case...
I'm totally serious! Look at how spiky that thing is...and all of that black and red...plus it looks like he has a rack of baby back ribs on his back. That and I think the outfit is just unnecessarily complex. Usually "less is more", and simple designs are more memorable.
I OBJECT!!!

The spikes are awesome! And sometimes in certain case, the simplistic designs aren't as memorable.

Besides, during Haseo's early life as a notorious PKK, he had to have an crazy appearance to spread the "terror of death" that he spread throughout the PK networks. It's a case of "the look makes the man".

Disagree? Too bad! Come at me!

Re: Link is now 5 years old!

Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2015 3:11 am
by MizuTakishima
Kuukai wrote:That sounds more like a critique of this particular Hosokawa sketch's art style than the actual character design in the game.
If I had a screen cap of him in-game, I'd still feel the same way :wink: I just so happened to have grabbed that illustration at the time.
Kuukai wrote:Although it is complex, the simplest character designs in the game belong to the side PCs who fade into the background, demonstrating "less" doesn't do that much. This is anime, if it doesn't have 99 belt buckles or spikes it's not a main character. Yowkow has a fan, a cape, and a sail sticking out of her back, and she's still less busy than most of the main characters because she wasn't originally supposed to be that important.
You have a point there, but that's kind of my problem with most of the character designs in G.U. Like, on one hand, I totally get it; anime protag rules state that you basically have to be decked out in a bazillion buckles or else nobody will care,  though to me, that feels kind of lazy- like a cop-out for actually being creative, or something and- seeing as how this is a video game- you can get away with having a more complicated design because you're animating a particular character model rather than having to re-draw the same convoluted outfit over and over again...but me personally, I kind of enjoy the school of thought that you can have a unique "character silhouette" without the need to add excessively ornate details.  (I could pick apart every outfit in G.U. if I wanted to, but I'm no queen of fashion myself so I won't go that far :yawinkle: ) I think it worked out pretty well for Aura in the original games, and even Kite to a point.
Kuukai wrote:That said, everyone's entitled to their opinion, and it's refreshing to see a dissenting opinion on an otherwise ludicrously popular character and design within the .hack fandom. It's boring if we all have the same taste and everything's a Haseo love fest.
I'm glad you respect my opinion! :) I have no beef with people who actually like the outfit, though when I was asked if I was being serious with my earlier post, I figured I should just clarify, that's all :lol:

Speaking of clarification, I'd also like to note that I actually do love Haseo as a character. But one of the reasons why I love him is how much he grows and changes throughout the story. I'm just not a huge fan of his fashion sense :oops:
Keyaki wrote: I OBJECT!!!

The spikes are awesome! And sometimes in certain case, the simplistic designs aren't as memorable.

Besides, during Haseo's early life as a notorious PKK, he had to have an crazy appearance to spread the "terror of death" that he spread throughout the PK networks. It's a case of "the look makes the man".

Disagree? Too bad! Come at me!
In 2007, it didn't bother me so much- like, I saw the design and was all "yeah, I see nothing wrong with this", but now...when I see a black and red character covered in spikes, all I can think of is something like this:
Image

Again if something like that is appealing to you, by all means enjoy it! I didn't mean any disrespect when I made that crack at Haseo's 2nd outfit. I'm curious as to which outfit- in any of the .hack games- is your least favorite.

Re: Link is now 5 years old!

Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2015 4:41 pm
by Kuukai
There's a Haseo pony? O.o

Re: Link is now 5 years old!

Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2015 6:24 pm
by Lindz
On the strange subject of Haseo's 3rd form I think it looks pretty crappy in the G.U. games. Looked alright in Roots, good in G.U. cutscenes, and great in Versus, but G.U. gameplay? Blech! It just doesn't work in motion, standing still, from any angle!