So the first game I played through this year and the first game I'll abandon ratings for is this one. It's been a while since a game has actually intrigued me as much as this beginning piece to a four part sequel series, even more so a rather obscure one at that. I'm shocked at how well this game is able to not only emulate but translate the feeling of an MMO into a single player experience. It's really dope. And even if the lore for the game is technically fictional even to the fictional characters on screen, it lays such an interesting groundwork for the setting of this game. In comparison to a lot of other first parters, this one actually manages to tell a very convincing tale from beginning to end, riddled in questions. I can't convey how excited I am to play more of this as I basically played through the entirety of this game in one go. It's just so very addicting. Also, maybe a more niche thing I enjoyed, were the conversations in the online forums and seeing them evolve. Things like the news board were certainly less interesting but reading rumors or "player experiences" helped a lot at getting more invested in the world. I really can't empathize enough how awesome some of the "conversations" on there were. So yeah what can I say about .hack//G.U. in a nutshell? It's a great video game with so much love and care out into it. This by all means is a game by people who dearly love the medium and find fulfillment in telling a tale about the things they hold dear. (also is it just me or do some of the "abilities" look like Yu-Gi-Oh anime monsters?)