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‘The World’ of .hack//GU Last Recode is the latest game to be ported to the Nintendo Switch. Developed by Cyberconnect2 and published by Bandai Namco, .hack//G.U. Last Recode is a collection of three games in the series: .hack//G.U. Volumes 1-3, plus volume 4 which serves as a quick 2-hour epilogue for the trilogy.
The Switch version of the .hack//GU Last Recode collection is a port from the PS4, which in itself was a remaster of three PS2 games, I’m going to focus especially on how the game runs on the Switch and whether the port can’t be seen as a valid alternative to the PS4 and PC older brothers. I will say though that as a game, .hack has some interesting ideas however I feel like it would have made a better anime (like its predecessor .hack//Root) than it would a video game.
PK Murder
Doing Sword Art Online, years before Sword Art Online, .Hack revolves around a fictional MMO video game called ‘The World’ which has recently been relaunched followings its servers being destroyed in the previous games. The game is famous for allowing PKs or ‘players killers’, players who kill other players for the fun of it. This has further led to PKKs or ‘player killer killers’, sniping down the virtual murders for their misdeeds.
You play as Haseo, a PKK in search of a PK called Tri-Edge who ambushed his friend’s character leading her to fall into a coma in real life. He’s killed and is revived at level 1, thus having to spend the game crawling back to where he was to challenge Tri-Edge once again and maybe learn about the many mysteries surrounding The World.
It’s a cool premise and I like the serious world-building based around the increasing use of technology. You can assess news reports and forums in-game talking about how kids no longer respond to their real names, the government is going fully online with their facilities and the events of the previous games. Considering how much we do use the internet in everyday life nowadays, some of it really feels ahead of its time. It adds a real sense of mystery to the world, both the game and the real one.
That being said, it took me a while to warm up the game. Haseo is pretty unlikeable with how edgy he is, giving off the vibe of a thirteen-year-old trying way too hard to role-play the darkest loner he can think off but admittedly he does get better as the game continues. After the first few dungeons, however, when the main objectives and characters are introduced, the story picks up a lot with interesting characters and a lot of intrigues especially if you’re a fan of sci-fi and fantasy anime, which it clearly takes heavy inspiration from.
The voice acting is pretty good as well with Yuri Lowenthal (Sasuke, Spiderman, Yosuke from Persona 4) doing a good job as Haseo, very much channeling that Sasuke broodiness in his performance.
The World of The World
You can definitely tell .hack is an upscaled PS2 game with somewhat blocky-looking character models and the world, that being said it still holds up well. I liked the vibrant character designs and they nailed a lot of the dynamic anime-style fights and expressions during cutscenes. The world itself looked a little on the bland side being just a run-of-the-mill fantasy setting with little to make levels stand out.
A good thing though is that overall .hack//GU Last Recode runs well on the Switch. There’s no slowdown or pop-in textures and the character moved fluidly. From what I’ve seen, the game pretty much runs on par with its PS4 and PC counterparts so if you want to play the game on Switch but are worried about the drawbacks, don’t be, You’re getting the same experience that the other consoles have.
The Combat
The weakest aspect of .Hack GU is the combat. It’s not bad but it does feel far too repetitive. It’s an action RPG where you hack n slash through enemies while throwing in the occasional special movie and ‘Rengeki’ attacks, an even stronger form of special moves that you can perform when enemies start shining blue.
It’s pretty fun however it does get old after a while and the over-gameplay loop doesn’t change. Between the story cutscenes, gameplay follows the same basic formula. You accept a quest, go to a short dungeon, and go on to the next cutscene. Dungeons tended to feel pretty similar and combat doesn’t really change.
You can tell .Hack is a more story-oriented game with the combat almost feeling like filler that has to be there to fulfill the game part of the video game. It isn’t bad but after a while, I honestly felt like starting again in the ‘cheat difficulty. This instantly gives you the highest armor and weapons to you can steamroll the enemies, basically acting as an extra easy difficulty for those that want to get through the gameplay quickly and enjoy the story.
If you really are here for the story first and foremost, I actually recommend this mode. It’s just doesn’t feel worth trudging through the bland dungeons otherwise. The only thing that stopped me is that this game is really easy already in normal mode. That’s not necessarily bad for a casual story-oriented game but it just makes the gameplay feel more of a slog.
Also, it’s kind of annoying how often you have to log out of the game (that is, the game in the game) to check your emails (in the game). The World needs a community tab.
End of ‘The World’
The term acquired taste can best sum up how I see .hack//GU Last Recode. This is very much a ‘play it for the story game’, it’s basically an interactive anime. The problem is that those interactive bits tended to be a bit repetitive and boring. The story is interesting and I was just barely willing to put up with the gameplay to hear more but I can see others being a lot less patient with it. I can certainly see how these developers went on the make Asura’s Wrath, and why they made that game a high-octane beat ’em-up instead of a slow-paced RPG.
If you do want to play it, however, I’m happy to say that the Switch version of .hack//GU Last Recode runs completely fine. The graphics are bright and the animations are fluid. The price of the game isn’t even that much higher than its PC and PS4 counterparts (RM199 on Switch vs RM179 on Steam).
The Review
.hack//GU Last Recode
PROS
- The story is interesting and touches on relevant themes
- Runs well on The Switch overall
CONS
- The gameplay and combat are dull and repetitive
- Dungeons and environments look pretty bland
