best cover art, best pacing, best character arcs, best lead-up to a boss area (you all know what i'm talking about), best twist, best everything...
all the problems from volume 1 are fixed here...except the core gameplay. i still think dungeons are a terrible time because you're effectively just button mashing, but at least there's no intense arena grinding!
MMORPG drama suddenly mixing with tech-horror is...probably the best thing ever.
remember whiny haseo who, while somewhat justified in his attitude due to his circumstances, ruined the fun for you, the player? the fight he had with atoli at the end of volume 1 really did change him. er, well...
hiroshi matsuyama, the director for the game, admitted that by the end of vol. 1, he ended up silently agreeing with many of the people playing his game -- even though atoli was being presented as the main love interest, or at the very least the most important character shown thus far, he didn't really like her, especially not in a romantic pairing with haseo. i think the fight at the very end of vol.1 that goes too far on both sides was a way to open up another side to both atoli and haseo for vol.2, and it works flawlessly. atoli only buries herself deeper into her victimhood and dependency on sakaki, making the perfect gateway into her becoming involved with AIDA. meanwhile, haseo genuinely feels bad about the fight and starts seeing things from atoli's perspective, not just as "someone weak" who he will never get along with. it absolutely feels natural and i love that vol.2 doesn't completely alter these characters to a point where they're unrecognizable -- it only fixes what was making their relationship so boring to watch.
this is the success of G.U., the golden piece that never feels too melodramatic, too dull, too ridiculous. it's another go at tackling what the .hack series was always about; exploring the world of "the world". this truly feels like an adventure into something much bigger than you.
all the problems from volume 1 are fixed here...except the core gameplay. i still think dungeons are a terrible time because you're effectively just button mashing, but at least there's no intense arena grinding!
MMORPG drama suddenly mixing with tech-horror is...probably the best thing ever.
remember whiny haseo who, while somewhat justified in his attitude due to his circumstances, ruined the fun for you, the player? the fight he had with atoli at the end of volume 1 really did change him. er, well...
hiroshi matsuyama, the director for the game, admitted that by the end of vol. 1, he ended up silently agreeing with many of the people playing his game -- even though atoli was being presented as the main love interest, or at the very least the most important character shown thus far, he didn't really like her, especially not in a romantic pairing with haseo. i think the fight at the very end of vol.1 that goes too far on both sides was a way to open up another side to both atoli and haseo for vol.2, and it works flawlessly. atoli only buries herself deeper into her victimhood and dependency on sakaki, making the perfect gateway into her becoming involved with AIDA. meanwhile, haseo genuinely feels bad about the fight and starts seeing things from atoli's perspective, not just as "someone weak" who he will never get along with. it absolutely feels natural and i love that vol.2 doesn't completely alter these characters to a point where they're unrecognizable -- it only fixes what was making their relationship so boring to watch.
this is the success of G.U., the golden piece that never feels too melodramatic, too dull, too ridiculous. it's another go at tackling what the .hack series was always about; exploring the world of "the world". this truly feels like an adventure into something much bigger than you.
3 Comments
@llamadev (god i wish we had a reply feature!!) alkaid is so cute and awesome! she's treated with such dignity and respect that i think a lot of tomboy characters don't get unless it's an "ally in battle" plot/scene, i absolutely love how the game sets you up to think you're just training in a random field until boom, it's the same field with lit honeysuckle... haseo is so faraway in thought in that scene, and alkaid completely jumps the gun... it's a really wonderful little moment in vol.2 that i think is extremely memorable to a lot of people for how it just... naturally happens. i don't think it wouldve worked with any other character! alkaid is super great!!
what ends up happening to her really does give haseo the push he needed to finally finish his character arc of "AIDA affects everyone in the present, not just what it did to shino in the past", which is also great. just a fantastic character all around!
what ends up happening to her really does give haseo the push he needed to finally finish his character arc of "AIDA affects everyone in the present, not just what it did to shino in the past", which is also great. just a fantastic character all around!
@denpaloli I’m happy you’ve loved that scene as much as me! I still think about it occasionally after a little more than a year since I played it. Haseo’s character arc was shown subtly at the end of vol 1 but vol 2 the series hits it’s stride in all categories. Just as I think all media should be, it only gets better and better overtime.
Llamadev
1 year ago