When the first .hack series ended a couple of years back, it was met with mix results. Although the .hack series was broken into four different chapters with each chapter being release as an individual game, it was really just one long game or story that couldn't be fitted into one game package with multiple discs due to the length of the entire series. But the feeling that each game or chapter left behind after you finishing each game was that it was just a bit short on giving you that complete feeling of having played a complete game that was worth your dollar because the gameplay and story itself was just too short for a 1 disc game. In a sense each of the .hack chapters were just too short to warrant the game being released as an individual game package in itself but yet at the same time even though each of the game chapters were a bit too short it was too long to be release all four chapters as one game package. The series as a whole was base on a simulation of how a future MMORPG is played by players in Japan. This MMORPG as known in the game is called "The World". This style of a non online rpg game imitating a MMORPG was very unique and the first of it's kind. But despite its uniqueness in presentation, the .hack series didn't really offer anything great or groundbreaking overall. The graphical presentation was very early Playstation 2 achievements and the gameplay was somewhat repetitive and dull at times. Still the series did manage to garner a small and somewhat loyal fan base to help keep interest in the entire series for the long haul. Two years later the second series of the .hack series hits the North American shore with the introduction of Project G.U in the .hack series known as .hack//G.U. The first chapter of the G.U series is call Rebirth Volume 1. Here we'll take a quick review on Rebirth and see what improvements lies in this G.U series and what we can expect from future chapters of the G.U series.
STORY
"The Old vs The New"
Welcome to Project G.U.
One year after the first original popular MMORPG, The World, closed its doors for the last time with players saying good bye to each other, the CC Corporation introduced The World R:2 as the next generation MMORPG. Players from the first World weren't able to migrate their character data over to the new version but The World R:2 was the next step in introducing new players into this highly popular MMORPG. One of these new players is a player by the name of Haseo. Haseo for the last 8 months has established himself with the title of Terror of Death, a PKKer (Player Killer Killer). When Haseo first enter The World R:2, he was a newbie who got killed by a bunch of PKers (Player Killers). Since that time, he held a grudge on players that PK other players and thus establishing himself as a great PKKer. In the most recent events, Haseo has grown bitter, cold, and hateful due to the latest incident that occurred to his female friend Shino. Shino was attack and killed by a mysterious PKer known as Tri-Edge. The strange thing that resulted by this PK incident was that for some strange reason, Shino was left in a stage of coma in the real life world for some unknown reason. Haseo not knowing how to help Shino vowed to track down Tri-Edge to confront him in hopes that maybe by defeating Tri-Edge in combat, Shino will awaken from her coma. As the story begins, Haseo was given a tip by an old friend by the name of Ovan on where Tri-Edge might appear next. With this information, Haseo waited for Tri-Edge to appear and as expected Tri-Edge appeared right before Haseo. Lashing out in anger, Haseo attacked Tri-Edge but for all his efforts, Haseo attacks were pointless. The resulting battle ended with Tri-Edge data draining Haseo causing his PC and game to crash. When Haseo rebooted and logged back into The World, he found out that his character had been reset to level 1 and all his equipment and gear that he had earned in the past 8 months had disappeared. In essence he was back to being a newbie again at level 1. As Haseo started out to look for answers as to what may have happened to his character, he met a couple new friends by the name of Silabus and Gaspard from the guild called Canard. Canard is a guild that looks out for new players. Mistaking Haseo as a new player, Haseo was invited to join Canard which for the time being Haseo accepted. While being a member of Canard, Haseo met up with a player named Kuhn who is a member of the Raven Guild. Kuhn showing interest in Haseo invited Haseo to attend a meeting at Raven Guild where Haseo can learn about some possible information on Tri-Edge from Raven Guild leader, Yata. Haseo accepted the invite and went to Raven Guild to meet Yata. At this meeting, Haseo learned that Raven Guild is actually a front for CC Corporation system administrators to look into any possible problems that The World may experience during gameplay. Yata, himself, is considered to be a system administrator assign to monitor The World and the players that play The World. Here Haseo learned that The World indeed has been experiencing some unknown infections that CC Corporation can't resolve and that his friend, Shino, isn't the only one that is in a coma. There are others that are in comas as a result from being killed by Tri-Edge. Tri-Edge himself isn't an actual player but appears to be an infection in The World that Yata and CC Corporation called AIDA. What is AIDA and what is the cause of AIDA? This is CC Corporation current goal in trying to find answers to such questions. Yata would like to enlist the aid of Haseo in helping track down Tri-Edge and to find the meaning behind AIDA. Reluctantly Haseo agrees to join Raven Guild and to help Yata and CC Corporation in finding Tri-Edge in hopes of that by defeating Tri-Edge, this will bring players that are in comas back to life. Rebirth is a new beginning for .hack fans as we take a look into the new World and its new players.
Although .hack//G.U. Rebirth is nothing more than an introduction chapter in a four part chapter series, it's an excellent introduction chapter. What makes this chapter work so well is the fact that not only does the chapter introduce all the key players (characters) and overall plot of the storyline in the G.U series nicely it also manages to garner the interest of gamers for the next chapter as well. The whole purpose of this chapter really is to get enough attention from gamers to want to continue to buy the next chapters of the series. Keep in mind that unlike other rpg games where if a game is successful, a sequel will be made to continue the success of the original game and to please the fan base. Here in the .hack//G.U series, game developers have already made or in the progress of finishing all three chapters following Rebirth Volume 1. If Rebirth didn't manage to keep the interest of the gamers for the next chapters, you are looking not only at a possible flop in the series but at a major money loss of making three sequels ahead of time in hopes that Rebirth would be a hit. This is always the big risk of making sequels ahead of time without knowing if the original game would sell successfully. One can't predict the future but I think I can safely say that all those that have brought and played Rebirth will be back for chapter 2, Reminisce. Well at least I would be as I can't think of any reason why those that have played Rebirth won't be back for more. Not only did Rebirth manage to intrigue me greatly with the mystery surrounding Tri-Edge, it also got me emotionally involve with the characters and the overall story plotline involving AIDA. First in regards to the Tri-Edge plotline, it's not so much of a mystery on who Tri-Edge is. The game doesn't really try to hide the fact who Tri-Edge is and any fan that have played through the first .hack series can just tell by looking at Tri-Edge that you know that Tri-Edge is Kite, the main character from the first .hack series. The mystery is really how Kite became Tri-Edge and that's definitely a very intriguing plotline that would peak any .hack fan interest right away. In terms of getting emotionally involve with these characters, you just can't help but grow to love or hate some of these characters base on their personalities that you need to know what happen to them next. Yes, Haseo is a major ass in this chapter but even though he is a major ass and you can't stand him, it's the fact that the people around him like Gaspard and Atoli are such nice, loving characters that you want to see Haseo become a better person and treat them nicer. And when the gamer or reader cares about how a character should behave in a story than you know the story is doing an excellent job in getting readers interested in the story overall. Even the main mystery of what or who AIDA is will leave gamers guessing and wanting to more know for the next chapter. And let's face it, nothing gets people interested more than having an excellent cliffhanger to finish off a chapter and Rebirth definitely provided one of the best cliffhangers around in keeping the fans guessing on what will happen next in chapter 2. Rebirth isn't an open and ended story but it's a superb introduction chapter that will definitely have you excited and on the edge of your seat for the Project G.U storyline.
Score 9/10
CHARACTERS
The Terror of Death need no one.
Fantasy imitating real life is the best phase to describe the characters in this game. There are a lot of unique characters in this game from main characters to supporting characters but the main focus is only on five characters or so. The center characters in Rebirth Volume 1 are Haseo, Atoli, Silabus, Gaspard, and Kuhn. Those are also your main party members but there are also two other party members in the name of Pi and Piros the 3rd. But Pi and Piros roles a bit more limited in this chapter, especially in the case of Piros. Overall the cast of characters in this game are good if not great. What makes them good is the way they are portrayed in this game in terms of personalities and the voice actors involve. Let us start with the voice actors in this game. I have to say that Namco Bandia Games and Cyberconnect2 did a great job in picking each voice actors for each character in the game because not only is the voice acting excellent in this game but the voices actually match each of the characters and their personalities making these characters more life like and believable. Another plus is the way the characters are portrayed in term of personalities that mirrors how real life like players behave in a real MMORPG like say Final Fantasy XI or World of Warcrafts. You have characters like Silabus and Gaspard who are members of a guild that like to help newbies or new players get to know the mechanics of the game and it's environments in "The World". How true is that in real life MMORPG like Final Fantasy XI and World of Warcrafts where you have linkshells and guilds that helps out new players. You also have players like Atoli who plays "The World" for it's interaction with other players and the appreciation of the environment of "The World" and not care about who has the best equipment and biggest accomplishments in a virtual video game world like some other players. How true is that where there are real players in MMORPG that has the same philosophy as Atoli? Then you have the loners like Haseo who's all about big accomplishment, being a major high level player over others, and having the best jobs and gears. It's fantasy imitating real life players in MMORPG. This kind of portrayal is so true that it's scary. Some of the background developments on these characters could use a bit of a better touch up as we don't know too much on the characters that play these characters outside of "The World". But it's something that can be over looked as this is only the beginning chapter of a major storyline. I'm sure just like with the first .hack series, the other chapters in G.U will shed more light on the characters behind Haseo, Atoli, Kuhn, ect. The one drawback I have to say about the overall presentation of Rebirth characters is the actual main character, Haseo. He's not a very likable main hero in this chapter unlike Kite from the first .hack series. He's arrogant, mean, and disrespectful in this game. Now the story does this on purpose as part of his introduction in this game and his past background development on how he became this way. Still the drawback however is that as a gamer, I want to be controlling a character that I like and root for. There were many times in this game that I would rather not control and play this character almost to the point where I don't want to play the game further because I couldn't stand the attitude of the main character. And remember that in order for any story or any rpg game to be appealing in the long run, the main hero or character need to appeal to the gamer that is playing the game because the game and story itself does center around the main hero. Let's just hope Haseo won't be as much of a dick in the second chapter.
Score: 8/10
GRAPHICS
"Come on.... I call on
Skeith!!!"
The biggest improvement you'll notice in the G.U series from the first .hack series is the graphical presentation. This is a huge improvement and over haul from what was seen in the first series. The game is no longer done in a dull dark color setting with 3-D models. What you have is a new distinctive look and style unlike any other rpg games on the Playstation 2. Characters and cut scenes are now design in a style that is more anime in looks and a somewhat cel-shading appeal. But what truly make the graphical visual stand out is the awesomeness of the coloring and lighting effects used on the cut scenes and gameplay. You can't help but sit there and be at awe with the story scenes due to the beautiful rendering of colors and lighting effects used. It just make the whole game look so beautiful and bright and yet at the same time has a unique feel that you don't see in any other rpg game to date. And I'll say it again, using the right colors and brightness on any visual graphics can make even the dullest looking environment look great and this is what we have here. It really is the colors and rendering of the lighting effects that carry the graphical presentation in this game. Each story cut scene is just a treat to the eyes. Even as I finish this game, I'm still impressed with the graphics of this game. But as impressive as the graphics were it's still not 100% perfect. What holds the graphic down is that there aren't enough varieties of different background settings to appreciate the total graphics used in the game. The story cut scenes are great but outside of that where the exploration part of the graphics kicks in, things seem too over used and stale at times. Reason for that is that there really is only one city in this game. So the background setting for just one city isn't that great. You need different cities in a game to appreciate the uniqueness of each background design of a city. The design of the city is great but it gets stale very fast just traveling around in one city pretty much for the entire game. This also goes for the dungeons and fields out there for you to explore. At first you'd be impressed with the environments done for the fields and dungeons but then as you'll soon realize, the game pretty much re-used the same designs on all the fields and dungeons. No matter how good a field or dungeon is design, things get stale and boring pretty quick if all the dungeons and fields look the same. That's the case here. By the time you explored your 100 dungeons you get tired of doing dungeons because each dungeon seems the same as the next one.
The appeal of the graphical presentation starts to lose its uniqueness. The game needs more varieties in terms of background settings than re-using the same design over and over. But this is just a small thing compare to the overall presentation and I will tell you that you'd be impress with the graphics in this game.
Score: 9/10
MUSIC
Check out the BGM Settings!
Wow is the one word that comes to mind. Can you say quality over quantity? Because that's what it is when it comes to the musical presentation of .hack//G.U. Rebirth. When you play Rebirth from beginning to end, you don't really notice a whole lot of musical scores in terms of varieties. But what you do notice is the quality of each of the scores that are in the game. Each of the scores are excellently and I repeat excellently composed and orchestrated in the game. I would rank each of these scores from a minimum of 8 out of 10 to 10 out of 10. Case in point, when you start playing this game right away the two first things you notice in the game right away are the visual graphics and the musical scores right away. What makes the musical scores stand out even more is the fact that they are played perfectly at the right time in each story scene making the music a focal point in the storytelling. Nothing helps set the tone and mood of the story more than a perfect musical score playing in the background. And I have to say that it's the musical scores in this game that helps make this story and series more interesting than it seems. This just shows you just how much good music can influence an rpg game. I said it over a dozen time, memorable music that give a lasting impression are ones that make their mark on you even after you finish playing the game. Even as I write this review, I still hear the sound of the perfectly orchestrated choirs of "Very Important", "Responsibility", "Indieglut Lugh", and "Hulle Granz". The music just totally dazzled me in this game.
Score: 9/10
GAMEPLAY
Gang up on this one, Silabus.
Is that a lucky animal?
Game Information
Genre: Action RPG
Publisher: Namco Bandia Games
Disc: 1 DVD Disc
Memory: 489 KB
Players: 1 Player Mode
Analog Control: Yes
Vibration Function: Yes
Rating: Teen
Release: October 2006
Just like with the previous .hack games, .hack//G.U Rebirth is set up as a simulated MMORPG game base on a game called The World. You have your virtual desktop where you can access e-mails, news, forums, and media files. From the virtual desktop you can log into The World and play the game just like a real MMORPG but in a third person view. The set up of the desktop and The World is pretty much identical to the first .hack series. The mechanics of the gameplay is also pretty much identical to the first .hack series as well but only this times gameplay has been improved with more features from new ones to returning ones. As a returning .hack gamer, you probably can jump right into Rebirth without reading the instruction book at all. It might take a bit of time to jog out the memory of how the .hack games were set up and played since it's been almost 2 years since the last .hack game was released but once you settle down it's like riding a bike again. New gamers too wouldn't have any trouble understanding the mechanics of the game because as soon as you log into The World, Haseo two friends, Silabus and Gaspard, will help explain how The World is played out. The concept of the game is pretty simple and linear. Even though the gameplay is linear you can take a break from the storyline gameplay and do some random leveling in areas that you can randomly create with keywords. Gameplay is basically broken down into three sections. The first section of the gameplay is at your desktop where you can read your e-mails and browse forum posts to gain access to new bookmark areas that will either direct you to your next destination to explore or provide you with an extra area to level up in. Whenever the story stops and you're not sure on where to go next or what to do next, checking your e-mails or posts from the forums is your best bet in learning your next destination. The second section of the gameplay takes place in the simulated MMORPG game, The World. Once you log into The World, you are actually logging into the town called Mac Anu on the Delta server. For this chapter this is pretty much your base of operation in this game. Mac Anu is a pretty large town where you can see other PC players and NPCs roaming about that you can interact with. From various different areas of Mac Anu you can access your @Home, Guild Shops, Quest Shop, Equipment Shops, and Chaos Gate. Most of the story cut scenes will take place at different location of Mac Anu too. The game actually gives you direction on where to go next to progress the storyline by actually displaying a large blue circle on certain areas or location of Mac Anu that you need to be at in order to get the story moving. Once the story scenes are done, you're shopping is done, and you've cleared out your inventory, you would then head to the Chaos Gate to teleport to a dungeon or field of your next destination. This then bring us to the third section of the gameplay which takes place in fields and dungeons that deals with the battle system. Fields are various patches of areas connected to each other through bridges. Dungeons are set up as mazes. Some mazes are pretty deep with a few floors while others are really short. The objectives of both fields and dungeons are mostly the same where you need to find and gain access to the Beast Temple where the golden temple statue lies with a treasure chest containing an item. Once you reach the golden temple statue and open the treasure chest you can leave the area and go back to Mac Anu. When you leave the field or dungeon, you will be graded on how well you did base on a Rank score. The higher the Rank score the better the bonus item is that is rewarded to you for completing the field or dungeon. Keep in mind that not all fields or dungeons have a Beast Temple as some will have a mini boss instead. Now in regards to fields and dungeons, monsters will be placed in certain locations. The monsters don't really roam around or anything so you can actually avoid them if they don't see you. However if they see you or if you decide to attack them, you will enter battle mode. Like with past .hack games, the battle system here is base on real time action fighting where you control the main character while the CPU controls your party members. You can of course choose a setting on how you want the CPU to play your party members whether it's in an aggressive mode or a more conservative mode. The fights are still base on a simple hack and slash system but you can throw in a few combos here and there along with magic attacks and special attacks. Battle ends when either you or all the monsters are dead. So to sum up the gameplay in the three steps, check your e-mails on your desktop, log into The World to stock up on supplies and progress the storyline, then use the Chaos Gate to head out to the next field or dungeon. Rinse and repeat those steps and you basically have the entire gameplay of .hack//G.U. Rebirth Volume 1. Now of course this doesn't mean there aren't any new features and or key features in the game. Lets go over some of these features now.
Desktop: Your virtual desktop is very similar to a real desktop. You have access to your e-mails, latest news, internet forums, and desktop media such as music and wallpapers. Here you can make contact with your party members outside of the game when you aren't playing The World and catch up on the latest news on the real world outside of The World. The World: The World is made up of three sections, the actual game itself where you need to log in to play The World, the official website of The World, and the official forum of The World where players that play The World can interact with one another and exchange thoughts and ideas. In other words, The World is set up just like a real MMORPG game that you would normally play outside of Playstation 2 games. Chaos Gate: Chaos Gate is the warp gate to town, fields, and dungeons. Just like with all previous .hack games, you can access bookmark areas where you have already learned the keywords from e-mail conversation, topics in the forums, or just from party members. You can also have the Chaos Gate put together random keywords to create a random area for you as well. If you prefer to do it manually than you can just plainly match up different keywords that you have learned and picked up during your adventure to create your own access areas as well. @Home: @Home is the entry point for all normal Guilds for all the players that play in The World. In other words, if you wish to drop off items in your Guild inventory, sell items through the Guild Shop, check out the Book of 1000s, or just plain visit your Guild, than you would go to the @Home area and enter the @Home to access your Guild. Guild Shops: Certain Guild Shops will appear during certain time in Mac Anu. Guild Shops sell items and equipment that normal shops don't usually sell. Haseo (you, the player) also has his own Guild Shop. You should sell your excessive items through your Guild Shop than to a NPC shop as you will get more money back by selling items through your Guild Shop than through a NPC Shop. Trades: Like with the previous .hack games, you can trade items with your
party members and fellow PC players found in dungeons, fields, and Mac Anu. Trading
for items is a great way to gain and acquire hard to get items that normal shops
don't usually sell. Steam Bike: Very early in the game you will gain access to the Steam Bike. This little vehicle will allow you to travel through fields and the town of Mac Anu faster than simply running. Party Affections: By answering e-mails with various party members as well as trading items and giving gifts to your party members you can raise their affection up for Haseo. The point of raising their affection for Haseo is that their actions in combat will be friendlier toward Haseo. An example of this is that a high affection for Haseo will mean that a party member will more likely heal Haseo when he's low on HP than a low affection for Haseo. Arena: The game does provide a Battle Arena for you to fight in. This is actually part of the storyline where you need to fight in the Battle Arena Tournament to get your rank up so you can fight a certain key story character. However it is also possible for you to use the Battle Arena outside of the storyline just to have fun as an extra feature to play with. Chim Chims: Chim Chims are little egg like creatures that you can kick to get Chim Spheres. You can find them in dungeons or fields. By collecting Chim Spheres from Chim Chims, you can open certain gates or activate certain warp devices. Lucky Animals: Like with Chim Chims, you can usually find a Lucky Animal in a field or dungeon. Catching and kicking a lucky animal will have that animal grant a special effect onto your party to help your party for a limited amount of time. Each different Lucky Animal will give off a different special effect. In addition to Lucky Animals you can also find Unlucky Animals as well. Of course Unlucky Animals will give off special effects that will hinder your party instead of help your party. Surprise Attacks: During battles it's possible for you to get a drop or a first strike on the enemies if you are able to approach them carefully without being seen by them. Once you are close enough the Surprise Attack option will show up allowing you the option to do a Surprise Attack. A Surprise Attack is a massive rush toward the enemy knocking them backward while doing a critical hit damage to them. Skill Attacks: Each party member has their own set of skill attacks they can learn base on the weapon they can equip. All weapons have a default skill attack but once you start using the weapon more and start using a skill attack more, the weapon itself start gaining experience in level. You'll be able to unlock more skill attacks once a weapon reaches certain levels. Rengeki Attacks: Rengeki Attacks are basically higher level versions of a skill attack. If you attack an enemy with enough combos, blue and purple rings will appear around them indicating that their defenses are weaken and they are vulnerable for a Rengeki Attack. Translation, if you see blue and purple rings on an enemy it means you can do a Rengeki Attack on them. Awakenings: Awakening is a powerful group attack that you can perform for a limited amount of time. You have a morale gauge that goes up each time you are successful in doing Rengeki Attacks. Once your morale gauge is full you can perform an Awakening Attack. There are two types of Awakening Attacks that you can set your party to do. There is a Beast Awakening and a Demon Awakening. Beast Awakening is where all your party members for a limited amount of time will be stronger and faster doing greater damage than normal to all the monsters. Demon Awakening is where all your party members will gather to do an AOE magic attack on all the enemies for a set limit of time.
With the key features done, lets look at the good and bad of the gameplay. On the good side of things, the gameplay is definitely bigger and more improved from the first .hack series. There's more to do here and the flow & pace of the gameplay is more fluid. It also helps that the Rebirth storyline is more interesting than the Infection storyline. The learning curve of the gameplay is also great for new fans too. It's good to know that when you play this game, it doesn't feel like it's a chore that you need to do in order to get the story going. At times it can also be quite addictive too to the point that you hardly believe you can spend so many hours on it without feeling like you spend so many hours on it. At the end of the day, the good definitely out weight the bad. In terms of the bad, Rebirth still has the same flaw that the first .hack series had which is that it can get stale once you pass the midway point of the gameplay. The problem is that the entire concept of exploring and running through the same dungeons and fields over and over again can get too repetitive quite quickly at times. The dungeons and fields may have different key word names and some are bigger than others but they all look the same that it feels like you're not going anywhere in the game but just exploring the same old dungeon or field over and over again. The objectives in these dungeons and fields are all the same too. It's either just clear the areas and get the item in the chest of the golden statue or just clear the areas of all monsters opening various chests. There need to be more of an objective in these dungeons or else things can get boring after awhile. But the good thing is that even though by the time you're near finishing the game, you don't need to fully explore these dungeons any more to get a good rank score or even to look for items as by then you'd be full of stuff already that you can zip through these dungeons or fields fairly quickly that it doesn't come off too repetitive. At the end of the day, the repetitive aspect of the game isn't too bad that you still for the majority of the time be enjoying yourself with this gameplay overall.
Score: 8/10
EXTRAS/REPLAY
The Quest Guild is now open!
There are quite a lot of extra side quests to do in this game as well as other accomplishments to unlock various features in the game. The side quests themselves are broken down into two different categories, official quests from the Quest Guild and quests from various NPCs. Once you get into a third of the game, the Quest Guild will open up where you can take on various side quest assignments to get some extra leveling in and items as well. Completing these assignments isn't hard at all as it basically just requires you to kill a mini boss or pick up an item within the field or dungeon. Upon completing a Guild quest, you get a special item back as a reward. Treat these Guild Quests as extra areas that you can use to level up your characters outside of the storyline. You can also pick up side quest events from various NPCs in "The World". Each of these NPCs in the game will give you an assignment that you need to accomplish to 100% full to fulfill their needs. They will reward you with various items as you try to raise your accomplishment to 100% along the way. Some of these assignments are quite time consuming to do but for those that are 100% game perfectionists these assignments are well worth the time to do. You can also pick up various bookmarks on extra areas to explore and level up from forums and your e-mails from your virtual desktop. While these extra areas don't reward you with anything upon completing them, they do give you nice places to level up and seek out new items to sell and make money. And they are extra optional stuff for you to do. In addition to these side quests and NPC assignments, you also have the Book of 1000s to complete. The Book of 1000s is very similar to the Book of Ryu in the first .hack series. There are a total of seven Book of 1000s. You need to complete assignments from each of these books to achieve a score of 1000s. By completing these assignments, you get to unlock various features for your virtual desktop. Some things you can unlock are movie clips from the game to view them on your desktop, wallpapers for your desktop, and various BGM clips (music) for your desktop. These are very nice extra features for you to review and access at any time. The total amount of extras that the game offers will probably net you 10-15 hours of extra gameplay time.
In terms of replay…well the game doesn't really end at all. Just like with the first .hack series, once the storyline finishes, the game doesn't end at all. You get to make a save convert file for the next chapter but once that's done, you can continue to play the game but without the progression of an actual story. At this point you can continue to play the game to complete any side quests or assignments that you weren't able to complete during the story gameplay or you can just randomly explore and enter new key words for areas to level in and play. Of course the level up cap at level 50 in this game but just because it caps at level 50 doesn't mean you can't explore and kill enemies. Overall the extras and replay segment in this game is superbly presented to us. Just wish there were some mini games to play. If there were mini games than this segment of the game would receive a score of 10.
Score: 9/10
.hack//G.U. Rebirth Vol. 1 is an excellent introduction chapter to what could be an excellent sequel series to the first .hack series. The game itself overall is a good improvement in what was presented on the first Volume of the original .hack series, Infection. Everything about this game from story to gameplay is a huge leap from what was first seen in the first series. When you finish Rebirth, all you want and feel is the anticipation and need of wanting to play the next chapter, Reminisce. And when a game leave you wanting more like Rebirth did than you know it did its job in entertaining you for the value of the money you spent on it. If you are a big .hack fan than I can't see why this game would disappoint you at all, and if you're not a .hack fan yet than it's not too late to become one so you might want to pick up this highly underrated game before you miss out on what could very well be a sleeper hit rpg series.
