#.hack//g.u. vol 1 rebirth

[vgadvisor]

[bearpillowmonster]

.Hack GU: Vol 1 (Gameplay)

The complete experience is overhauled so that you're not exploring this big open area to find one little dungeon, instead it's set up so that you have "islands" and bridges to them so that you collect specific pieces to unlock the dungeon, bingo bongo, it's that simple. It may sound like a hassle but really, those ones are kind of the dungeon in themselves, you more or less just collect the treasure after that but then there are some regular dungeons that you just spawn in from the get-go, no key necessary (mainly the keywords that aren't main quests.)

The movement speed is much faster in comparison, it's almost like you have a speed charm on at all times, which for someone of my nature who gets dizzy easily, this is not in my favor but it becomes manageable and matches the size of the worlds. I do wish there were a few more movement options though-

Is that-

Unfortunately it doesn't control very well…

The combat has proper combos and specials, if you thought it needed more flash, there you go. It still feels similar in nature with the hack and slash but you don't really do everything from the menu anymore, you can leave your party members to their own and treat them as you would Donald and Goofy from KH. You don't hear their battle quotes as much but that's because you hear those same six ear grating grunts and groans from Haseo, it gets old very very quickly.

But like said, the combat at its core is still similar to Kite's because he's an Adept Rogue but you get an extension later on that allows you to play a bit differently (more like BlackRose would) which is a big shift with going from fast paced small attacks to slow paced big attacks but I also feel like should've been done for variety, it's a toss up.

There's a morale bar, where doing things right such as taking care of your party members, using special attacks and so on and so far will start to manifest the bar to fill up, once it does, you get a team attack, normally a stat boost like a rage factor. Doing stuff like that can net you more exp and prizes after battles so rather than every enemy dropping a chest, they just give the crap straight to you. At the end of a dungeon/your leave, you'll get a ranking which tells you how efficient you collected everything, the better you do, the better prize.

You can block now which I don't normally use but hey, it's better than running around like an idiot hoping you don't get hit with the way the hitboxes were in the past games. Hubs are pretty large, to the point where there are even warps so that's quite handy. Even the dungeons themselves have warps that you can use both to get out at certain points and a rest if you need it, recovering your HP and SP, saving all your items.

With the concept that you were once a PKK, there will be instances where you run into a big blue circle in the middle of a field. This is a player battle which you can choose to intervene in and help to take out the PK. Man, did that climb right up my alley.

Now, difficulty. I said about how underneath the new skin, it still feels like IMOQ but a lot of it is dependent on difficulty. A lot of things from IMOQ return such as scrolls, fairy's orbs, trading, buying equipment and stuff I found essential to .hack beforehand. Now I'm not one to say that it should be loyal to the .hack games before it but I didn't even find myself using these things, I didn't need to. With some of the items, that was only good for dungeons which past a certain point is no longer the main quest, it's the Arena which items can't be used in and many of the players don't have anything to trade anyway. With IMOQ, you didn't have that luxury of choosing a difficulty and it just started throwing curveballs, causing you to exhaust everything at your disposal, I beat the final boss by the skin of my teeth. But this time you have some lead way even having an easy "story" type mode where you just kick back and knowing the reputation, I picked Normal but I prepared for a battle like I had in Infection and I ended up being ahead of the curve, I'd actually almost compare it to Kingdom Hearts 3's normal mode. On one hand, I want an easier experience than I had with Infection but at the same time, I think the dedication I put into that game put me into a corner because I knew those things and I didn't need anything like that anymore and nothing replaced it so it felt a bit empty. And I didn't skimp, I did all the side missions and stuff which actually ended up being pretty good because some featured characters that don't appear as much in the main story.

This game isn't without annoyances though like Chickie Dadas (yeah, that's what they're called) but having the Hungry Grass to compare it to from IMOQ makes everything seem like it's not worth complaining about. What's weird is that with Infection, I spent about 18 hours getting to level 30 and this one I spent less time and got to level 40, how does that work?

I think someone technically could play this without IMOQ. As far as story, there's a recap in the options if you want it but as far as gameplay goes, it certainly helped to have already played it because I would've been so lost towards the beginning. It was more just figuring where stuff was moved to and how it was updated for me. There's a wealth of information at your fingertips, from lore to instructions to worldbuilding and additional story content to a greater extent than the previous series, it can be a lot to chew on which can be overwhelming at first. And I was already familiar with how .hack works. That and you get a whole lot more out of the game (as if it isn't already vast enough) seeing all the references and connections. I certainly recommend it but at the same time, I understand the novelty of playing it without prior knowledge (as well as much better accessibility).

From an overall standpoint, it improves on almost everything from hack but I still feel it has more potential and will improve. What an ending though, ho boy! Everything leading up to it was meh but the ending got me hype for the next one. For now I'm going to give it a 2.5 out of 5 because of how average it felt for most of it but it definitely had it's moments and I said "for now" because I'd like to look at the bigger picture once I finish the final volume and anime, this was just an appetizer.

[videogamepolls]

Requested by anon

[pitagain]

#365DaysOfVGM Day 139:

LieN - Gentle Hands (.hack//G.U. Vol. 1//Rebirth [2006])

I know I won’t be able to play this game for a good few months at least, but hearing this song after originally hearing its shorter version in Project X Zone 2 impressed me even more than Stairs of Time from 19 days ago, which had just about the same personal history of discovery too!

Since I’m planning to play G.U. after the original saga, wanting to take in its story and other aspects, I don’t want to waste your time with an incomplete description that’d do the music a disservice. Instead, you should simply know that this is one of the most emotional themes I’ve ever heard in a video game, and I look forward to finding the respective context on my own!

(Length: 4+ minutes)

[vtuber-boostin]

🔴 WilliamTWisp : .hack//G.U. Vol. 1: Rebirth 🔴

[blisscast]

[.hack//G.U. Vol 2//Reminisce ✅] More at my blog blisscast.wordpress.com, and www.vintagepeople.it, links in bio! 🆕 Journal Page 34 about .hack//G.U. Vol 2//Reminisce is out NOW! Link in bio. Disponibile anche in italiano 🇮🇹. . .hack//G.U. Vol 2//Reminisce is an MMORPG-like action game, and the direct sequel to the first Volume, Rebirth. Without spoiling anything from the first title, just after the ending of Volume 1, the plot takes an unexpected turn; the characters get suddenly stuck inside the MMO because of a certain group of hackers, and can’t log out in any way. And if being stuck inside a game that can put you into a coma wasn’t scary enough, more mysterious characters appear in The World R:2, and seem to have the same powers Tri-Edge has! Plus, known characters suddenly get infected by the same hackers who trapped the protagonists in the game, making them crazy and able to gain that extremely harmful ability as well! Not being able to trust anyone, poor Haseo, who had just learned how to make friends, will have to get to the roots of the problem, and maybe he’ll get closer to the truth about Tri-Edge… always if he doesn’t get killed first. 🙂 . I was having a look at Japan-related Instagram reels with my mum, and there was one about this Golden Gai district in Shinjuku, with many cafes and small restaurants where they set a famous tv series. I kept thinking "I know those streets, I know those streets!". So I googled the place, and it's exactly what I thought it was! See, I'm a huge Yakuza fan, and the city they're mostly set in, Kamurocho, is basically a reconstruction of the irl Kabukicho district in Shinjuku, and that Golden Gai is the Champion District ✨. I'd really love to go to Kabukicho one day, it would be so hilarious to just recognize places like that! . #dothack #dothackgu #dothackanime #dothacklink #dothacksign #dothackgulastrecode #cyberconnect2 #bandainamco #mmorpg #ps2 #playstation2 #jrpg #haseo #azurekite #gamergirl #gamergirls #llamasoft https://www.instagram.com/p/CnXoufZIqDo/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[omgtatercat]

.hack//G.U. Last Recode Vol. 1: Rebirth- Part 21: Tri-Edge (Final)

Okay, NOW the video is fixed. Sorry.

[shehulksworld]

.Hack//G.U. Vol. 1 Rebirth - Warring City: Lumina Cloth

My second channel Video game Music 0.2 https://www.Youtube.com/channel/UCgxG_Z2wLDURFTB8XhaxEEA

[fighterxaos]

.hack//G.U. Last Recode American Physical Release Announced

.hack//G.U. Last Recode American Physical Release Announced

Bandai Namco Entertainment has announced that they will be releasing physical release copies of .hack//G.U. Last Recode in North America. For those who aren’t aware .hack//G.U. Last Recode is a HD remaster compilation of the three .hack//G.U. games titled, Rebirth, Reminisce, and Redemption.  

Here is the official announcement details released by Bandai Namco.

  BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America…

[theanimeview]

Theory: The True Voice of Yusuke Urameshi

By: Casea Mhtar, @madamekrow​

Yu Yu Hakusho is ultimately my favourite anime, to the point where I can’t bear the thought of liking an anime more than it. For example, Berserk (1997) will be my “number 1” while Yu Yu Hakusho has exceeded the list altogether because its pedestal is just that high. That is the length I must go to secure a strange sense of balance for myself and stave off yet another identity crisis for a different reason. So you can probably imagine how much chaos was thrown at me when I found out that Yusuke Urameshi’s voice actor is completely different than the one I vividly recall when I found myself rewatching the series a few weeks ago. I have a memory of my sister and I watching a single episode she had taped on VCR and we would specifically watch the credits nonstop. We were trying to memorize the song (with great success, I might add).

At the time, there was still no means of listening to the ending theme anywhere other than its source. YouTube wasn’t really a thing, and even if it was we didn’t have access to the same databases we have today. So we watched that part over and over and over again. I remember etching each image into our minds, every lyric into our internal roster of songs as it played on repeat. The names kept popping up just as they did before the last and the voice actor of Yusuke Urameshi, my favorite character, was none other than Yuri Lowenthal.

I distinctly recall thinking “Yuri, that’s a cool name” to myself as his name came up again and again. Not to be rude, but “Justin Cook” just isn’t exactly a name that would elicit such a thought from me and, indeed, never came to mind since I am certain it wasn’t in the credits of my beloved Yu Yu Hakusho VHS. 

So, in my rewatching of the show, present-day me had the initial assumption that what was going on here was a perverse version of the Mandela Effect. However, looking into it now, I feel that completely waters down my experience and doesn’t actually explain what happened. 

I mean, I can’t simply ignore my recollection as being a false memory, as every Mandela Effect is reasoned away with. No. I needed to find true reasoning for this madness. 

For the sake of convenience and for the lack of a better theory, I will settle on there being an unexplained dimensional shift. Certainly, any reasonable person could argue that I made a mistake. I simply misread the credits, maybe even pulled that name from somewhere else. Or perhaps Yuri was Yusuke’s voice actor from a different dub! But that isn’t the case as seen in this YouTube video comparing EVERYONE who has voiced Urameshi. 

So... Let’s say this was all a misunderstanding on my part. BUT THEN it didn’t just end with me incorrectly reading names in the credits over and over. I didn’t wrongly perceive the Funimation dubbing as being someone else and then call it a day. I was validated in my belief for a long period of time by outside sources.

.Hack//G.U. Vol. 1: Rebirth (2006)

The overall series of .Hack// is a subject I will certainly indulge in more in the future, but for the purpose of staying on-topic, I shall restrain myself. The reason I bring it up now is because in 2006, when .Hack//G.U. Vol. 1: Rebirth was released (I will always say it in full!), the protagonist--Haseo--sounded so familiar. I couldn’t quite figure it out until I saw who was credited with the voice acting. Out loud, in front of witnesses (if you count my birds), I said, “Yuri Lowenthal?. . . Wait, is that the voice of-”

I looked up his name to find he was-at that time-credited as the voice of Yusuke Urameshi. Quite a mistake that is since officially he is unlisted in the series yet multiple people around the world think otherwise, the same as me. Not only that, but updating all of Lowenthal’s pages to be credited with Haseo in addition to Urameshi. Many people had to review those pages, many people happened upon those pages and never bothered to correct them. That’s what really gets me. Sure, if my Ego was backed into a corner then yes, I can perhaps admit that my eyeballs had failed me and that’s all you’re gonna get out of me! Yet there is no copy I can find of him voicing the character online.

Could this be an example of lost media instead then? Well, no. Apparently not. Most anyone I’ve told about this believes I am confusing him with someone else. They may not remember “Justin Cook” at the top of their heads, however they are adamant about Yuri Lowenthal never, ever voicing Yusuke Urameshi. Because he didn’t... in this dimension.

Perhaps I truly am mixing him up his voice with a different character? Yuri Lowenthal is also famously the voice actor for Sasuke Uchiha in the english dub of Naruto. An extremely popular character from an anime that is surrounded by an enormous and ever growing fan base. The problem with that is, I’ve never watched Naruto. I didn’t even know Lowenthal was in any way a part of Naruto until I was somewhat adjusted into adulthood. When explaining my entire theory to a friend, I asked them if they can imagine the essence of an other-dimensional Yusuke within the voice of Haseo. 

“All I hear is Sasuke from Naruto,” They bluntly said.

I’ll be honest... That hurt more than it should have, but I swallowed my pride and looked into it since I’ve never actually heard what Sasuke sounds like.

What I begrudgingly find is that my friend was right. Again, this was the first time I had ever heard Yuri Lowenthal as Sasuke and I didn’t know that he was the voice actor until a few years prior. This entire ordeal leaves me feeling unnerved that there are so many loopholes being found in the False Memory Theory. It can’t be completely dismissed as large scale misinformation or misremembering. That is why I had to settle on the theory that there was some strange dimensional shift, even with how outlandish that sounds.

The Discovery

I don’t know when it occurred and I’m not sure how I missed it, but it happened. You would think being thrust out of your prior dimension, or being crammed into a different one, would have some sort of impact. Maybe that’s why I developed back problems during my teenage years, I can’t really say. All I can recall is the feeling of my stomach hitting the floor through the bottom of my feet when I finally found out. I was watching the DVD box set of Yu Yu Hakusho that my friend lent me and I could immediately tell something was not right. Yusuke didn’t sound anything like I remembered, the voice--the tone--was weird, his inflections were way off, it was all wrong! WRONG, I TELL YOU. So, to the internet I went only to find someone else being credited...

“Justin Cook this” and “Justin Cook that” appeared all over. There was even a video of him yelling “spirit gun” for a fan and I was still in disbelief! There was no way! This wasn’t possible! 

Apparently, in this dimension it is though, and that is a fact that I will have to live with for the rest of my life... or until reality throws me back to my own dimension. The knowledge that I will look crazy whenever I tell this story, as well as the reality that there could be more dubs out their with voices unknown. Not just voice actors, but entire animes—maybe video games, even people I thought I knew! Who knows what was left behind with Yuri Lowenthal as Urameshi! I don’t care to think about it too much. My heart is wounded enough I tell you. I already have a crippling fear of one day finding out my whole life is a lie—I don’t need to rack my brain about all of this as well.

In Conclusion,

Yuri Lowenthal was fantastic as Urameshi and I wish I could somehow put my memory into an audio clip for everyone to hear. Not so much to prove that he was better, but to solidify why my experience is very real to me. Though, if you did hear the Yusuke that I knew, I truly believe you would think it was pretty good at the very least. (Not that Justin is bad... just that it feels wrong to my beloved memory... sorry Mr. Cook.) On the bright side, Lowenthal is plenty successful and I am always rooting for him regardless. Sure, Justin Cook is my “number 1” Urameshi in this dimension, but the Yuri Lowenthal rendition that doesn’t exist in this world has exceeded the list all together in my heart. His pedestal is just too high.

What about those of you reading this? Do any of you have a similar experience? Maybe you also remember Yuri Lowenthal as Yusuke Urameshi! Let us know! (Let ME know! Please--I beg someone to find a copy if one exsists in this world. 😭) 

Happy Wednesday. I guess. Bye. 

[vgadvisor]

[bearpillowmonster]

.Hack GU: Vol 1 (Story)

With IMOQ, I did the gameplay and overall in one review and then split the story of all 4 into one post, this one, I'm just going to split it, this episode is going to be focusing on Volume 1, Rebirth. I know it's technically all one product now but a quick google search will tell you that the runtime can span around 50 hours, something that deserves to be split up.

And it is, in the menu at least.

Now, the other reason I even bothered coming back is because the concept is interesting. A PKK (Player Killer Killer) isn't a concept that hasn't been used before but certainly one worth exploring, I think. In fact, I had a dream of something similar but with aliens and all kinds of other junk that seemed really cool to me but something stood out in that dream. One of the guys names was "Haseo" aka the main character of this whole Hack GU saga. I see that as enough reason, I mean I revisited Kingdom Hearts because of a dream and you probably know how that sailed, so why not this one?

Well with the abundance of cutscenes comes with a lot of overexpositing and overexplaining, making the story kind of watered down. But I found it more manageable than the beginning because the cutscenes aren't nearly as long. I'll revisit the topic once I finish the series whether it's better than IMOQ but so far it's on par. I also have to mention how this game is longer.

One thing about the original series is that the characters were memorable enough for me to remember even a year later and their designs were great too. With this one, all the major characters have their own cards which have hand drawn art full body which I can really appreciate from someone who draws and likes to know exactly what they're drawing, I remember being hard pressed to find a full picture of BlackRose or Terajima Ryoko as reference because their in game models just didn't cut it when their drawings by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto were so beautiful. Even the lore gets similar treatment in the desktop sections having watercolor styled illustrations. But anyways, I'm not as big of a fan of the designs this time around but that's alright, I wasn't with Mass Effect initially either and look at how much that took me by storm.

Except players like Gaspard.

And THAT'S supposed to be one of the early introductions??

Atoli is kind of bittersweet because she has a similar player model to this 'Shino' that gets teased throughout the story and I really want to know who Shino is. Her character isn't bad, I mean she has a good arc with the whole showing Haseo how to look at The World through a different lense but she's way too happy-go-lucky for me. That's where Haseo comes in though because these types of characters might not bother you as a kid, in fact you might think "Why's he such a big old grump?" but as someone who's older you're like "I get it. He's out of line but he's right."

I-chi-go? I mean, Kuhn, they call him Kuhn. Wait, Yuri Lowenthal AND Jonny Yong Bosch? What is this? Code Geass? They basically have the same dynamic too, just reversed.

As far as a remaster goes, it makes everything clearer and not as grainy and adds more content (as I mentioned) but the graphics are still definitely PS2 but in terms of that, most of everything is leagues better than IMOQ.

[iuliathe3rd]

.hack//G.U. Last Recode Soundtrack Translation

Provided below is a basic translation of the tracks from the Last Recode soundtrack included in the Japanese special edition. I’ll be listing the original Japanese titles afterward for reference.

English Translation:

Come back to The World

Cradle of Ice

Kusabira

Growing Shadow of Calamity

Unopened Door

Sleeping Beauty

Returned One

Overflowing Disaster

At the End of “The World”

Sea of Calamity

All of My Thoughts

Follow Your Heart’s Desire

Everyone Is Here

Reconnection*

(*The title of this track in the original Japanese literally translates to something like “Or the Dreams Seen by the Snakes That Spin the World”. But as it turns out this is the official name of Vol. 4; much like Vol. 1 through 3, in Japan they had longer names for each volume, like “歩くような速さで” for the third game. In English though the naming scheme was just “Rebirth”, “Reminisce”, and “Redemption”. Keeping that trend, in English Vol. 4 is simply called “Reconnection”. Therefore I thought this translation would sound and fit better, but if you like the longer, literal title feel free to use that.)

Original Japanese:

Come back to The World

氷のゆりかご

クサビラ

陰なる災厄 

開かずのトビラ

眠り姫

帰還者 

溢れる災禍

『世界』の果てに

災厄の海

思いの全て

心のままに

みんな、ここにいる

あるいは世界を紡ぐ蛇たちの見る夢

[magiclad-ty]

Tatsuyo Play's - .hack//G.U. Last Recode Vol. 1//Rebirth Episode 7: Aren...

[blisscast]

[.hack//G.U. Vol 1//Rebirth ✅] More at my blog blisscast.wordpress.com, link in bio. ℹ Read Journal Page 28 about .hack//G.U. Vol 1//Rebirth at the link in bio! . It's always quite difficult to find music here on Instagram for these games, as of course none of it is available. So here you have another nice Retrowave release ✨. Milano 84 is a very talented band and I'm glad to have found their music 🎶. . My copy of the game has finally arrived ✨ a bit late to post it for the Journal Page, but better late than never I guess XD. So here it is. I also found a nice bundle offer for the 4 games of the first dot hack series, and you can see two of them in this picture ( ˙꒳​˙ ). . I passed my second uni exam with flying colors ✨! I'm so happy you have no idea! Now it's finally time to get everything on track again, so of course that means making new gaming stuff and software work, getting my manga archive done, and resuming the blog 🇮🇹 translations! Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about them ( ˙꒳​˙ ). . #dothack #dothackgu #dothackanime #dothacklink #dothacksign #dothackgulastrecode #dothackguvol1rebirth #superdimensionneptunevssegahardgirls #playstation2 #ps2 #sony #mmorpg #mmo #jrpg #actionrpg #gamergirls #gamergirl #retrogamer #retrogaming https://www.instagram.com/p/CmXNHzhouc0/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[omgtatercat]

.hack//G.U. Last Recode Vol. 1: Rebirth- Part 21: Tri-Edge

Had to reupload