Itsumi456
2002
This is uhh yup definitely the next part of infection. More of the same but slightly better imo. Enemies still feel bs though and combat still feels pretty janky. Story is picking up though and hey the characters are definitely improving. I feel like I'm gonna say this again for part 3 and maybe 4? Unsure as of now but hey hopefully they're still good cos I'm invested at this point. Can't not finish before I head onto G.U. ya know.
2002
I should hate .(Dot?) Hack Infection. The main story is paper thin and short, the characters are cliché and the gameplay teeters between a mundane slog and extremely infuriating. All the ingredients of a terrible game right?
Well in this case surprisingly no, the game is saved thanks to one key thing: It's atmosphere, the game is absolutely dripping in this thick sense of mystery and intrigue that I feel works extremely well thanks in no small way to the world.
Infection is part 1 of the IMOQ quadrilogy and having played the first part of .Hack G.U. before I wasn't expecting anything like closure or character arcs and yup pretty much, this is an introduction through and through and honestly the characters feel so threadbare but that's probably due to future parts fleshing then out more. Kite especially feels like he should have reacted to so much more but instead he's just "oh" and leaves even when the wildest stuff happens around him.
The combat is awful. I can't really sugarcoat it. You mash X for your basic attacks in real time and everything else like skills or items are done through menus that pause the combat. It's not only a bit of an immersion break, especially when you consider the hotbar centric MMOs these days like FFXIV and WOW, but it completely ruins any flow the combat could have. The worst part of the combat though has to be the grinding. The next main story dungeon will constantly be a few levels above you and don't even try and attempt them if you're below. Enemies hit hard, can basically stunlock you, constantly poison you and just eat through your items trying to keep you and your party members alive. As such you grind and grind till you get to the requisite level to continue and it gets extremely tedious.
Even if you're of level though you may not be able to enter a dungeon, this is where the virus core system comes into play. Kite has a move called data drain where when an enemy has a portion of their health dealt they'll have a protect break which when using data drain on them they award you with a virus core, in part one either A,B or C, and these also require a ridiculous grind especially considering these unlock some main dungeons you'll need to have more for future parts.
Now I know I've just mentioned negatives and yet this game just grabbed me in terms of the world and its music. It has this sense of intrigue and mystery which when paired with a story focused on giving no answers and all questions really works in you wanting to know more. It's honestly surprising how uneven my enjoyment of the story and world part of this and the combat being such a slog. The music is great. It's not as good as G.U. in my opinion but it's memorable and fits the tone amazingly. Going back to the mystery, it'll really set this foreboding tone of not knowing what's ahead and it works fantastically.
Despite my complaints I'm actually excited to go through the next parts and hoping they'll provide some kind of a satisfying conclusion. I have no idea if I've the will to get through the combat and grinding though but I guess we'll see.
Well in this case surprisingly no, the game is saved thanks to one key thing: It's atmosphere, the game is absolutely dripping in this thick sense of mystery and intrigue that I feel works extremely well thanks in no small way to the world.
Infection is part 1 of the IMOQ quadrilogy and having played the first part of .Hack G.U. before I wasn't expecting anything like closure or character arcs and yup pretty much, this is an introduction through and through and honestly the characters feel so threadbare but that's probably due to future parts fleshing then out more. Kite especially feels like he should have reacted to so much more but instead he's just "oh" and leaves even when the wildest stuff happens around him.
The combat is awful. I can't really sugarcoat it. You mash X for your basic attacks in real time and everything else like skills or items are done through menus that pause the combat. It's not only a bit of an immersion break, especially when you consider the hotbar centric MMOs these days like FFXIV and WOW, but it completely ruins any flow the combat could have. The worst part of the combat though has to be the grinding. The next main story dungeon will constantly be a few levels above you and don't even try and attempt them if you're below. Enemies hit hard, can basically stunlock you, constantly poison you and just eat through your items trying to keep you and your party members alive. As such you grind and grind till you get to the requisite level to continue and it gets extremely tedious.
Even if you're of level though you may not be able to enter a dungeon, this is where the virus core system comes into play. Kite has a move called data drain where when an enemy has a portion of their health dealt they'll have a protect break which when using data drain on them they award you with a virus core, in part one either A,B or C, and these also require a ridiculous grind especially considering these unlock some main dungeons you'll need to have more for future parts.
Now I know I've just mentioned negatives and yet this game just grabbed me in terms of the world and its music. It has this sense of intrigue and mystery which when paired with a story focused on giving no answers and all questions really works in you wanting to know more. It's honestly surprising how uneven my enjoyment of the story and world part of this and the combat being such a slog. The music is great. It's not as good as G.U. in my opinion but it's memorable and fits the tone amazingly. Going back to the mystery, it'll really set this foreboding tone of not knowing what's ahead and it works fantastically.
Despite my complaints I'm actually excited to go through the next parts and hoping they'll provide some kind of a satisfying conclusion. I have no idea if I've the will to get through the combat and grinding though but I guess we'll see.
Placeholder for later. Regardless for now, I prefer this to TOTK
2017
I hate that I love this game.
2023
This was definitely stylish as owt and something Xbox certainly needed considering personally last year was extremely lackluster and tbh has been since the start of the generation.
This game though. THIS GAME. It's got style, great gameplay, fairly cliche but alright characters and it's all topped off with a great soundtrack. The whole match your hits to the beat I thought would feel a bit overdone with me having played games like metal hellsinger however it felt fresh and extremely well done.
The bosses especially are a massive highlight, all of them with multiple phases and unique animations, nothing feels half done and its a great showcase of the creativity that can be done when a team breaks away from what's considered their norm, in this case tango Gameworld and their usual games being a focus of horror or the occult like the excellent Evil within 1&2 and the awesome ideas executed less than stellarly in Ghostwire Tokyo, I'm really hoping Tango go ahead with branching out more but still giving us a title or too in what I'd say is their flagship with the afformentioned Evil within despite series director Shinji Mikami leaving.
Overall great game, real good time, hopefully we get more in some form whether it be a sequel or DLC.
This game though. THIS GAME. It's got style, great gameplay, fairly cliche but alright characters and it's all topped off with a great soundtrack. The whole match your hits to the beat I thought would feel a bit overdone with me having played games like metal hellsinger however it felt fresh and extremely well done.
The bosses especially are a massive highlight, all of them with multiple phases and unique animations, nothing feels half done and its a great showcase of the creativity that can be done when a team breaks away from what's considered their norm, in this case tango Gameworld and their usual games being a focus of horror or the occult like the excellent Evil within 1&2 and the awesome ideas executed less than stellarly in Ghostwire Tokyo, I'm really hoping Tango go ahead with branching out more but still giving us a title or too in what I'd say is their flagship with the afformentioned Evil within despite series director Shinji Mikami leaving.
Overall great game, real good time, hopefully we get more in some form whether it be a sequel or DLC.