.hack//G.U. is a series of single-player action role-playing games for the , developed by CyberConnect2 and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment between 2006 and 2007. The series contains three games: .hack//G.U. Vol. 1//Rebirth, .hack//G.U. Vol. 2//Reminisce and .hack//G.U. Vol. 3//Redemption. 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 produced by Bee Train, which depicts Haseo's first days in The World. However, due to narrative and character discontinuity resultant from Roots being written by a completely different production team than the games, manga and novels released as part of G.U., Cyberconnect2 now considers the prequel anime to be one of the non-canon entries within the .Hack Franchise.
The series has also been adapted into a manga, a light novel, and an animated film.
The story focuses on a character named Haseo. He hunts another player named "Tri-Edge" who killed his friend Shino within the game which caused her to be left 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.
Critical reception to the games upon release was mixed, 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 focused on developing the cast beyond Haseo himself and their relation with him had been labeled as filler despite such advancing the purpose of the greater story, Haseo's own development, and such sidestories fitting with .hack 's motif of the time as framing itself as a story occurring within the world of an MMORPG and defined by a set player's experience in that realm. Though the character depiction and development of Main Character Haseo remained consistently praised with how such was executed.
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 due to such solving some issues with the gameplay and presentation.
Gameplay
.hack//G.U. simulates a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG); players assume the role of a participant in a fictional game called The World. While in The World, the player controls the on-screen player character, Haseo, from a third-person perspective (with optional first-person mode). The player may control the camera using the game controller's right analog stick. Within the fictional game, players explore monster-infested fields and dungeons as well as "Root Towns" that are free of combat. They also can "log-off" from the game and return to a computer desktop interface which includes in-game e-mail, news, and message boards, as well as desktop and background music customization options. In Reminisce, an optional card game called "Crimson VS" becomes available. The player may save the game to a memory card both from the desktop and within The World at a Save Shop. After the player completes the game, a Data Flag appears on the save file, which allows the transfer of all aspects of the player character and party members to the next game in the series. This can also be applied to previous games if the player first finished the Reminisce or Redemption.
Root Towns are non-combat areas in The World. The player may restock on items, buy equipment, or chat and trade with other "players" of The World. The player may also undertake optional quests and visit guilds. A key feature of all towns is the Chaos Gate. This blue portal is used to travel between towns (called "servers") as well as access the fields and dungeons where battles take place. A password system controls the characteristics of each area. Depending on the characteristics of each word in the three word phrase, the resulting area may have different attributes such as prevalence of monsters or items, among other features.
.hack//G.U. is an action role-playing game; players attack monsters in real time. However, the action pauses whenever the menu is opened in order to select magic to cast, items to use, or skills to perform. The player only directly controls Haseo; the other characters are controlled by the game itself. The player may either provide guidelines ("Free Will", "Rage", "Life", etc.) or issue direct commands (for example, to cast a particular magic at a particular enemy) to the computer-controlled characters. Monsters roam the environments freely or guard treasure chests. Once combat is initiated, via a "surprise attack" or the player being spotted, a wall erects around the combat area to prevent escape. Weapons give the player access to the Skill Trigger feature which allows Haseo to perform a powerful attack. At his initial power level, Haseo can only wield dual short swords; he earns the right to equip additional weapons like broadswords and scythes over the course of the game. In Reminisce, he gains the ability to instantly change weapons in the middle of combat and scan the enemy for weapon weaknesses. If a party lands a large combo against an enemy with one of those hits being a regular attack, the victim becomes vulnerable to an enhanced type of Skill Trigger called "Rengeki" upon the landing of the regular attack. Rengeki attacks deal double damage, give an experience point bonus, and fill the aggressor party's Morale gauge, which allows the party to use a combination attack. Certain plot-related fights, called "Avatar battles", use a different interface which incorporates shoot 'em up gameplay elements. After depleting the opponent's health, players must charge up a "Data Drain" to end the battle.
Plot Setting .hack//G.U. takes place in an alternate version of Earth in the year 2017. As depicted in the first .hack game series, the "2nd Network Crisis" was an incident that occurred seven years ago in which many computer systems across Japan malfunctioned. Through the efforts of those games' hero, Kite, the incident resulted in the birth of Aura, the ultimate artificial intelligence (AI), capable of making decisions for itself. Under the guidance of Aura, The World, the most popular MMORPG at the time, flourishes and the events of .hack//Legend of the Twilight occur during this four-year period.
In late 2014, Aura disappears, resulting in the slow decay of The World and the Internet as a whole. In response, the company that administrates The World, CC Corp, sets up "Project G.U." and tasks them with remedying the problem. They come up with the "Restore Aura (RA) Plan", in which they attempt to retrieve the fragments of Morganna—an AI that served as Aura's "mother"—and seal them into player characters (PCs) of The World. In theory, this would allow the Project G.U. programmers to manipulate the Morganna program to recreate Aura. Only certain "chosen" players could control these special "Epitaph PCs".
After locating candidates to operate the Epitaph PCs, the team proceeds to test the RA Plan despite concerns over "anti-existences" that might damage the Internet. The program fails catastrophically and destroys over 80% of the data for The World. Instead of trying to salvage the data, CC Corp develops The World R:2 and releases it to a new generation of players. However, this new game is less popular than its predecessor and becomes plagued by "player killers" (PKs), players who target other players for fun and sport. The Epitaph PCs which had been lost during the RA Plan disaster resurface in the new version, attached to certain players of interest.
Characters
The main playable character of .hack//G.U. is Haseo, a player of The World whose friend Shino fell into a coma after being attacked by a PK named "Tri-Edge" within the game. As a result, Haseo becomes obsessed with gaining the strength to defeat Tri-Edge and save Shino—he earns the nickname "Terror of Death" for his relentless hunting of PKs. As an Epitaph PC, Haseo is recruited into the new incarnation of Project G.U., which now handles debugging of The World. Yata, who played a key role in the events of .hack under the name Wiseman, leads Project G.U., while other Epitaph PCs including Kuhn and Pi make up the rest of the group. Haseo's hostile nature attracts the attention of Atoli, a member of the peace-loving Moon Tree guild, who resolves to befriend him. Haseo is also searching for Ovan, Haseo's and Shino's former guildmaster who disappeared during .hack//Roots under mysterious circumstances.
Story Vol. 1//Rebirth After months of searching, Haseo finally encounters Tri-Edge and attempts to kill him but is hopelessly outmatched. In the battle, Tri-Edge uses an illegal skill on Haseo, Data Drain, which corrupts his character data and resets it to level one. Lacking the strength he once had, Haseo meets two friendly players, Silabus and Gaspard, who invite him to join their guild. Haseo is also approached by Kuhn and Pi who recruit him into Yata's organization of Epitaph PCs, players who can summon Avatars. This group's goal is to protect The World from AIDA, a mysterious software bug that has been infecting parts of the game which can only be defeated using an Avatar.
During this time, Haseo is contacted repeatedly by Atoli, a gentle healer from Moon Tree guild who tries to convince him to enjoy the game and its world more. He is brusque and standoffish with her because her character model strongly resembles Shino's but she persists in trying to befriend him. Haseo awakens his Avatar, Skeith, while fighting in a tournament and he prevails over the champion Endrance, who was being controlled by AIDA. After Endrance's defeat, Atoli finds a strange red mark made by Tri-Edge and falls into the portal it creates. Haseo, Pi, and Kuhn follow her through the warp and see her struggling to open a locker in a white void. Tri-Edge ambushes them but they manage to defeat him. After he fades away, the locker opens to reveal AIDA, which infects Atoli.
Vol. 2//Reminisce Haseo and the G.U. staff find themselves trapped inside the game, physically unable to leave or log out. Atoli recovers, but is rendered mute, able to communicate only through instant messages. Yata explains that AIDA has copied The Worlds server, trapping everyone inside to experiment on them. They transfer everyone back to CC Corp's servers to escape. Ovan directs Haseo to gather the Epitaph PCs together to solve the mystery of AIDA. Shortly afterwards, Haseo is approached by a player named Alkaid, concerned for her friend Sirius, who has been possessed by AIDA. They enter into a tournament to fight Sirius, but Alkaid is ambushed by the AIDA-infected PK Bordeaux, which leaves her in a coma. Haseo requests Endrance's assistance for the rest of the tournament. They defeat Sirius and purge him of the AIDA that had stolen Atoli's Epitaph.