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| Re: .hack by Lizard_King 08/06/2003, 4:09pm PDT | ||||
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FABIO wrote: The answer is Yes. But a qualified Yes. First off, you have to realize this is supposed to be a simulation of sko Everquest type thing, so by its very nature and design, it is going to be gay. That means some allies that communicate via "THANX FOR HEALING ME :-) xoxoxoxoxoxox" or "Greetings, friend of friends!". That means, after each plot development, trying to run into every other asshole wandering about the hub towns and hitting "trade", on the off chance that one of them will have a powerful item he will inexplicably trade for ten of your worthless ones. That means a limited inventory (by category, natch, not by weight or anything really bad) in a game that relies almost entirely on barter. Also, it means you can slog through a five floor level 30 dungeon, randomly generated and thus essentially similar to the other 50 you've walked through, and find nothing more valuable in the chests than some crap armour x20 and 30 copies of the same level one scroll (they have only gone up to level 3 so far, as of the second part, but still). Also, you are supposed to put yourself in the shoes of your 12 year old character, and answer the "Do you like eating Octopus?" type emails that apparently emulate how fruitbaskets on these online worlds get to know each other, to ensure that they will answer your call when you need them (I think. No one seems quite sure how it works, since no one is apparently willing to risk being deprived of an NPC for choosing the WTF? response to their emails.). Plus, it's designed by Japanese anime people, which means lots of pseudo-crucifixion and youthful, uncute protagonists are par for the course. Mind you, at no point is it even reminiscent of Xenosaga's raw awfulness; it is far less pretentious, nowhere near as intrusive, and only aesthetically linked to the plot. Other than that, I guess it is not all that gay. Is the plot decent or at all exciting? Now, this is where things get complicated. I *want* to be jaded and hate the whole computer network gone mad scheme at work here. I really do. But on the two levels that matter to me, the plot works. 1. Mechanics: It has a very respectable blend between linearity and freedom. At most points, you have at least two or three different plot aspects to explore, and you can also wander about and fight anything that moves. Also, the sidequests are all truly optional(ie not mandatory to obtain the most powerful weapon, like in certain other RPG's I could mention, but still providing interesting rewards). If you want to raise (and in part 2, race) the repulsive Grunties in all their different forms, they will provide you with certain advantages. If you are disgusted by the very first Frenchman-like one you raise and say fuck it, there appear to be no problems. It guides you along, usually via emails and board messages in the faux computer interface that forms your starting point. Most of all, there is a definite sense of progression, both in the sense of how your improved levels affect your enemies and how much information you are given. 2. Substance: Your character operates on several planes within the game, both as a character in the online world, advancing as they do to ensure his survival, and as a person trying to hack the system, all done rather seamlessly with the existing game mechanices. At various points, people and enemies far more interesting than the dinks that populate the server come up and interfere actively in what you do; alas, you have absolutely no real choice in anything. Unlike many other RPG's, tho, I have yet to be forced on a rail into making dumbass/perilous decisions, which I consider a big plus...your character seems to exercise reasonably good judgment, and thus I don't mind not having that big a part in the major plot events beyond killing things or dying. What's more, I suspect the various eccentric and occasionally irritating people you team up with are similar enough to the sorts that populate those games in real life for it to be an accurate simulation; unlike in any of those games, you don't actually have to rely on their good will or individual ability. Combat system any good or is it just choosing your most powerful attack over and over? Here's another tricky one. It is a very actively engaged combat system, in many ways similar to 3d platformers in that you actually have to pursue your enemies, the range at which you are affects the accuracy of your attacks, etc. Attacks and spells, aside from those on scrolls and single use items, are linked to your equipped items, which means that virtually every new item you come across must be weighed against the previous one (ie is it worth trading an inexpensive combo for a more expensive (in SP, which are your slowly regenerating magic/special points) but more damaging one)? It is entirely possible, and often practical, to simply rely on your NPC's and their AI instructions to do the actual fighting, and hang back in a support position, thus ensuring when particularly difficult bosses are sufficiently weakened to be attacked with your virus/hacking device, you won't be unconscious or dead and miss your window. The NPC AI is actually pretty good; they will heal you with whatever tools they have available when you order "First Aid!" and also repair status effects (mercifully dealt with through only 2 different remedies). .hack makes it very, very easy to die unexpectedly if you do not pay attention. No matter the level of the fight. Once you get the hang of it, it is not likely you will actually GAME OVER all that often, but you do have to practice some on-the-fly resource management as well as pursuing your foes and killing them, as well as changing the focus of your NPC's depending on what you want them to accomplish. Also, encounters are reasonably avoidable and controlled by you; while you fully expect more monsters in each room of a dungeon, you have a great deal of control about when and how the encounter will be triggered as you can see where the monsters will gate in, often from a safe distance. Music any good? Well, unlike virtually any other RPG I have played recently, I have thus far gone 40+ hours in the series without muting and switching on my stereo. Part of it is that the sound is useful for keeping track of what is going on in fights, and part of it is that it does not annoy me. So I'd say while it's nothing earthshaking, it is competent. When choosing the final verdict, compare it in terms of final quality to any other RPG (Xenosaga/gears bad? Chrono Trigger good? Wildarms 3 hellish?) I would say it is ultimately a mediocre to good RPG. It is also a reasonably good pseudoplatformer, with excellent camera and general controls (something which made Kingdom Hearts, for instance, irrevocably broken in my view). .hack is in many ways frustrating, due to the opportunities that would seem obvious gaps in the design; for instance, except for non-combat/miniquest encounters, you do not run into other "players" in the field, nor do you get to PK anyone and take their shit. Also, there is no sense of reaction to what you have done, beyond generalized "what's going on with the server" when you really fuck things up and main character/plot conversations (ie, no acknowledgment of how powerful you are, etc by other random players who ignored you in the past, much repetition of opening comments, etc). Even more importantly, you have no choice in character class or design; you are destined to be a sort of middle of the road between a fighter and a mage whether you like it or not. There are the requisite Japanese sadism-is-fun bits, like having you appear in a nondescript field and wander around for ten minutes in widening circles to find where the hell the dungeon is. But they are relatively few and far between. There seems to be little desire to push the envelope on the part of the design team; the visuals are occasionally impressive and mostly adequate, and the general Ringu/Matrix 1 motif of the important levels is well done. Most of all, each part does not require more than 20-25 hours to complete successfully. While brevity is not in itself a virtue, one does accomplish a good amount in that time, and very little is spent purely levelling (due to the well done scaled XP system) and doing monotonous things like that. I find it hard to play more than 2-4 hours at a time, but at the same time do not feel the soul grinding, ohshitheregoanotherfewhoursoflevelling I have been put through by virtually every other RPG in recent memory. It provides a good balance between allowing for powergaming and simply playing through the story, with each path being more a matter of taste than one of how many times you wish to reload the final boss. If anything, the latter seems much preferable in retrospect. Also, you can put it down for periods of time and not be particularly out of it when you return, without it necessarily being shallow and formulaic. I give it a solid B, with Planescape being the A+ and Wild Arms 3 being the pits. |
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curst and Fabio, re PS2 recommendations by 08/05/2003, 10:26am PDT  Re: curst and Fabio, re PS2 recommendations by 08/05/2003, 2:51pm PDT .hack by 08/05/2003, 11:52pm PDT Re: .hack by 08/05/2003, 11:57pm PDT Re: .hack by 08/06/2003, 4:09pm PDT Ape Escape 2 by 08/06/2003, 4:11pm PDT |
