Platform	PlayStation 2
Price	4800 yen
Genre	Massively Multiplayer Offline RPG
Developer	Cyber Connect 2
Publisher	Bandai

Part of the fun of writing for a site like Tokyopia is that I can begin my personal game impressions with sweeping, unwarranted statements, simply because I feel they do a good job of encapsulating how I feel about a game. Like this: the premise of .hack, Bandai's latest videogame cum franchise, is absolute unfettered genius. Developer Cyber Connect 2 (best unknown for the underated Tail Concerto and the criminally underrated Silent Bomber) have crammed enough high concepts to fuel four franchises into this one. And though the execution is sometimes rough around the edges, the abundant creativity always carries through. In a genre famous for its stagnation and cliches, .hack is bursting with creativity.

.hack's premise is a doozy: think of it as a single-player, offline, massively-multiplayer online RPG. The game simulates the online MMORPG experience for a single player. Given the growing pains and struggles even industry behemoths like Square are suffering with their current online ventures, the decision to stay offline was a smart one; the simulated online experience is much more reliable, more stable, and smoother than the current reality.

.hack is set in the near future of 2007, when an MMORPG, "The World," has achieved international success with over 20 million subscribers. The game begins with your "real life" friend Yasuhiko introducing you to The World via his extremely high level avatar, Orca. The two of you travel to a low-level training area and enter its dungeon -- but instead of the expected low-level opponents, you encounter a mysterious girl and an impossibly high-level opponent. The enemy destroys Orca utterly, not only eliminating his avatar but sending his real-life player into a coma. A bit distraught by this happening in what he thought was just a game, the main character begins searching in-game and online for information related to Yasuhiko's sudden illness. And though The World may appear to be nothing more than a happy international community of twenty million adventurers, well, not to spoil, but Things Are Not as They Seem (tm).

The game is packed with small details that help build the illusion of an online world like Sega's Phantasy Star Online. The game begins not in The World itself, but on the player's Altimit brand desktop. From here, the player can log into The World, read and reply to e-mail, check out a World-related message board, and read external news sites. You can even tweak your background graphic and desktop settings! The message board provides a wittily scripted tutorial (in the form of "newbies" looking for advice), a place to discuss the game world and find new leads, as well as in-game flavor. The World is occasionally down for maintenance (though not often). Before joining up with other party members, you send them an instant message and see if they're available to group. The best equipment is obtained in The World via trade with other players, and party members will pipe up with personable (and sometimes surprisingly personal comments) while exploring.

The premise alone would be enough to make the game stand out from the pack, but Bandai and Cyber Connect 2 didn't stop with just one high concept.. .hack is a serial RPG in four fits; the first part, Infection Expansion, came out in Japan in June and will hit the U.S. in October. The second part, Malignant Mutation, hits three months later in each territory, and parts three and four are expected to continue the same quarterly release schedule. Each installment features about 15-20 hours of gameplay, and game clear save data can be imported from one title to the next.

The icing on the cake is the full synergistic marketing might of the Bandai corporation -- which, when fully mobilized towards a single franchise, is truly a fearsome sight. In addition to the core gaming franchise, Bandai has produced two animation series: .hack//SIGN and .hack//LIMINALITY. .hack//SIGN is a 26 episode television series that takes place within The World, while .hack//LIMINALITY is a four episode OAV that takes place in the real world. Episodes of SIGN are available separately on DVD, while episodes of LIMINALITY are bundled, one apiece, with the four episodes of the game. (dictionary.com tells us that "liminal" means "pertaining to the threshold of a physiological or psychological response," making it a fitting, if complex, title for the series that connects the events of the real world to the events of the game.) A network of official websites keep players informed of the latest happenings. Less central but still present are a weekly radio drama (more common than you might think in Japan); a free monthly mini-magazine, .hackey, given away at Japanese game stores; and the requisite number of toys, model kits, gatchapon giveaways ... nearly overnight, Bandai has made .hack a household name with Japanese youth. RPG fans want to check out the anime, anime fans are curious about the game, and Bandai and Cyber Connect 2 are smiling all the way to the bank.

So how does the game play? Very well, thank you. The basic gameplay is of an action RPG similar to Phantasy Star Online. Players group with two other party members in a town, then proceed through a "Chaos Gate" to a randomly generated field and dungeon, "Random" isn't quite right, actually; .hack uses a "Keyword System" to generate its levels. The player selects three keywords from a list (two adjectives and a location); each keyword has a sphere of influence over traits such as weather, time of day, type of field, enemy type, enemy strength, item rarity, and so on. Together, the three keywords generate the level. Though the majority of combinations simply create random dungeons for hacking and slashing, special combinations learned from other players, message boards, or through other means, generate levels that contain traditional console RPG "story" elements, rare items, special characters, and other unique events. Dungeons, whether "random" or story-based, are from two to five stories deep and filled with enemies to kill, items and weapons to collect , and on the bottommost floor a special, rare item or treasure. Story dungeons usually feature a unique boss, as well. This structure lets .hack eat its cake and have it too; players who enjoy hacking and slashing can diddle around in random stages, while those more story focused can accelerate through the story sequences and explore further once the main game is complete.

Graphically, .hack falls short of modern standards -- let alone those of 2007. The art resources, variety of generated levels, and character designs are all top notch, but the graphic engine renders everything as if it were a colorful, last-generation Dreamcast title. Though the game looks good, it's far from state of the art. The music is excellent in parts but mostly forgettable in others. Most story sequences feature universally good Japanese voice acting. Bandai is dubbing the U.S. version, as might be expected, but in a move sure to delight purists has retained the Japanese voices as well. (Bandai also plans to release .hack//SIGN on DVD in the states, meaning that US gamers will actually get access to the full monty of .hack's core properties.)

So does the game deliver on its potential? For the most part, yes; .hack does an excellent job of introducing the characters and world, both offline and on. Console RPG fans, especially Internet-savvy ones, should find the premise rewarding and the game a blast. The biggest problem is implicit to its serial nature; as part one of four, the game sometimes feels like a "pilot" for the rest of the series. The world and characters are introduced, a few questions and suspicions are raised, and just when everything starts to getting really interesting, the game is over--or more accurately, to be continued. Gamers are likely to have a laundry list of directions they'd like to see the story continue, features they'd like to see greater emphasis on, and characters they'd like to see spotlighted. With three installments yet to come, Cyber Connect 2 undoubtedly has a ton of tricks and surprises still up their sleeve. Even so, at the end of the first game, players may be left thinking, "That was awesome! ...but."

From a more objective standpoint, the randomly generated dungeons leave a lot to be desired. Though the wall textures and dungeon types are varied and creative, the geometry hails squarely from the "boxes connected by hallways" school of design. Even more egregiously, the pre-fabricated "story" dungeons have the same simple layout and are also devoid of puzzles or unique obstacles. Hack, slash, descend, repeat; though it works well enough as a fundamental gameplay conceit, it still would have been nice to see the developers mix it up once in a while. Hopefully, future installments will overhaul this aspect of the gameplay; though it may seem silly to demand "design" from random dungeons, larger variation in the shapes of rooms, dungeons, and connections would go a long way towards increasing the game's continued playability.

Though this won't be an issue in later installments, the first 5-10 character levels do an unfortunately admirable job of simulating the "MMORPG newbie" experience. You're weak, helpless, ineffectual, and almost completely dependent on the kindness of more powerful others to get ahead. Oh, and even though .hack//SIGN has been generally favorably received in anime circles, .hack//LIMINALITY is by-the-numbers cyberboredom. Though things may improve drastically with later episodes, right now, "free with the game" is about the right price.

But small flaws aside, .hack comes highly recommended. It's refreshing to see a creative, underappreciated developer finally hit a project out of the ballpark, and it's refreshing to see the conventions of both offline console RPGs and MMORPGs turned on their heads. In a genre where new ideas are a rare breed, .hack's biggest problem is that it may have too many. And with three more games in the series on the way, it's not just possible that the formula will be polished and improved -- it's quite likely. The first volume of .hack is a solid and enjoyable start to what promises to be one of the PS2's most unique role playing series.