Worlds within worlds within…

Questions first:
(1) Can this description of this game be true?
(2) Would any sane person play it?
(3) If they did, would they need counselling later?

.hack / infection (Dev: CyberConnect2, Pub: Bandai / Atari, Plat: PS2) is an RPG with a plot centred on a fictional MMORPG.

So you’re a single player, playing the character of person that is playing a character in a multi-player game, replete with fictional friends that want to trade with you, I mean your character, I mean your character's character – ohh I need a lie down.

... and if anyone even mentions the Matrix they get a /slap.

Comments

[Steve]

1.

It needs to be a lot better than the comic. I love manga and when someone lent me the first volume this I was a bit taken aback by how poor the story-telling and characterisation was.

[David Maduram]

2.

I actually played the first and fourth volume of this game (and watched the anime series ^_^)

Yes, the game is indeed set up within an Everquest-esque world, complete with in-game coversation with AI-simulated MMORPG players. However, once you delve past the initial story, this plays like a standard (i.e. non-Squaresoft) RPG.

Personally, I liked the anime series much more than the game itself, since it discussed some insightful points about mortality within an RPG (i.e. main protagonist can't log off, computer AI becomes self-aware, sysadmins start losing power over their creation, etc.).

Just fyi, here's GameSpot's review of .hack (the game):

http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/rpg/hackpart1infection/review.html

[Lee Delarm]

3.

Yes the description is true and they do surprising well. They came out with a new "part" or game every couple months or so. You could take your character and transfer them through your memory card as you leveled througout the games. Myself I've only played the first one so I'm not sure how it's supposed to work if you only bought #2 and never played #1, I'd imagine most people are smart enough or interested enough to play them in the correct order though ;P

It has an interesting concept in the game as well, one which I'd like to bring up as a discussion for the blog (a news post).

In the game as you progress you can go to higher level servers as you complete certain quests. Would this be an interesting concept in MMORPGs we now have? After you hit level 20 let's say or maybe completed a certain quest you could then play on another server which had totally different areas than your current one. If so, should you be able to move freely between both worlds or perhaps be restricted to only the new one?

Interesting concept indeed...

[weasel]

4.

If not the film-that-must-not-be-named... perhaps one could safely cast a reference toward Neuromancer?

As I understand it (aside from the virtual reality being a game itself) much of the content of the series is right inline with Gibson's novel.

If you use that analogy to navigate with, it's rather easy to see the attraction/feasibility of such a game. (imo anyway)

[Euphrosyne]

5.

It needs to be a lot better than the comic. I love manga and when someone lent me the first volume this I was a bit taken aback by how poor the story-telling and characterisation was.

Well, the anime is also somewhat low on characterization, but as David mentions, its focus is more on the mechanics of MMORPGs and its possibilities--which is actually quite an achievement for broadcast TV. Being familiar with the storyline, playing the game causes no cognitive dissonance at all.

[bbc]

6.

I have played some of the first one. I think it has all the bad parts of a mmorpg (treadmill gameplay) without the good parts (other people). The 'ding' is less leveling than getting more of the story - which seems to be all about the evil developers putting the gamers into comas with the game.

I don't need counselling, but maybe a cold bucket of water over the head to wake me up after playing it for a while.

[Alan Stern]

7.

My belated 2 cents:

It's an old concept with a new veneer imbedded in current technology. Doesn't surprise, shock or excite me in the least. Some of my most favorite "old-school" movies (I'm only talking 10 years ago) share the similar concept only without the modern conventions. Easy to name a few: Keanu Reeves' (aka Neo's) "Johnny Nmemonic" and Stephen King's Movie "The Lawnmower Man." Or what about the video game/book "Hell: A Cyberpunk Thriller" or any of the other myriad Sci-Fi books that delve into this realm.

So Hack is the modern analogue on modern equipment with a modern face. Big deal.

[Alan Stern]

8.

Forgot to throw out a plug for one of my semi-favorites in the Anime realm: Serial Experiments Lain. Similar thing - girl + computer ("navi" in the series' lingo) + virtual game/world with other people in her world. 'Course the lines start blurring etc.