.hack//G.U.
Video game series / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
.hack//G.U. is a series of single-player action role-playing games for the PlayStation 2, developed by CyberConnect2 and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment between 2006 and 2007. The series contains three games: .hack//G.U. Vol. 1//Rebirth,[lower-alpha 1] .hack//G.U. Vol. 2//Reminisce[lower-alpha 2] and .hack//G.U. Vol. 3//Redemption.[lower-alpha 3] As in the previous .hack games, .hack//G.U. simulates a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) called The World—the player controls a character who plays the fictional online game. They were directed by Hiroshi Matsuyama who aimed to address criticisms of the previous series. Its narrative, by Tatsuya Hamazaki, was written concurrently with .hack//Roots, an anime set before the events of the games.
.hack//G.U. | |
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Genre(s) | Action role-playing |
Developer(s) | CyberConnect2 |
Publisher(s) | Bandai Namco Entertainment |
Creator(s) | Hiroshi Matsuyama |
Artist(s) |
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Writer(s) |
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Composer(s) | Chikayo Fukuda |
Platform(s) | |
First release | .hack//G.U. Vol.1//Rebirth May 18, 2006 |
Latest release | .hack//G.U. Last Recode November 1, 2017 |
The story focuses on a character named Haseo. He hunts another player named "Tri-Edge" who killed his friend Shino within the game and left her in a coma in real life. Haseo joins an organization that is also tracking Tri-Edge. The reason Shino and other players fall into comas is connected with AIDA, a mysterious computer anomaly that infects their characters. During the release of the games in Japan, Bee Train produced .hack//Roots, which depicts Haseo's first days in The World. The series has also been adapted into a manga, a light novel, and an animated film.
Critical reception to the games has been lukewarm with reviewers focusing on how the developers dealt with the issues regarding the previous .hack games and the execution of the storyline across the three titles. The first game got higher ratings; critics praised the addition of new gameplay features while parts from the story have been labeled as filler. Average scores declined across the three games. A high-definition remaster of the trilogy, .hack//G.U. Last Recode, was released for PlayStation 4 and Microsoft Windows in November 2017, and was released on Nintendo Switch in March 2022. The remaster marks the first time that .hack//G.U. was released in Europe. The collection received more praise than the original trilogy for solving issues with the gameplay and presentation but was criticized for the lack of variety in dungeons.