I love .hack//G.U., but not so much the original series. I played the first two volumes of G.U. and then I bought the first volume of the original games, and it was such a step back I just couldn't get into it. Anyways, I still have the third volume to beat, so I'm looking forward to running through that. Here's hoping CyberConnect2 will make another .hack series on current platforms (360 and/or PS3). I'd love to see The World on those machines. There hasn't been any word on another series, has there?

There haven't been any new .hack games announced as far as I know. If the new Naruto game is any indication, they could do some amazing things with a new .hack game.

G.U. is already a really pretty looking game. I can just imagine what they could do for a next-gen game. And considering how huge the franchise is, I think it's inevitable that a new set of games will come out.

I would bet they are working on a new .hack right now and just haven't made it public yet.

Wouldn't we have to wait for a new anime first?

Roots was going when GU vol 1 came out so you probably wont hear anything for a while.

CC2 is apparently working on a DS RPG...only problem is they have been for over a year now. .hack would work nicely on the DS along with all the other dungeon crawlers.

Woo, the Arena fight against (spoilers) Spoiler: show spoiler hide spoiler Kuhn, Pi, and Antares was pretty epic. We were all literally at the same level, and it pretty much went back and forth all match. I'm really getting attached to the Arena fight music as well.

As a big .hack fan, I can post a timeline for the first story for anyone who wants to know where and when things fall into place. Just to clear up any confusion.

As a big .hack fan, I can post a timeline for the first story for anyone who wants to know where and when things fall into place. Just to clear up any confusion. That would be extremely helpful. I'll even add it to the OP. Also, (big spoilers) Spoiler: show spoiler hide spoiler I'm guessing that it's very significant that the Avatars are named after the bosses from the first 4 games. Also...the fact that the Avatar users are called Epitaph Users...

As a big .hack fan, I can post a timeline for the first story for anyone who wants to know where and when things fall into place. Just to clear up any confusion. That would be extremely helpful. I'll even add it to the OP. Also, (big spoilers) Spoiler: show spoiler hide spoiler I'm guessing that it's very significant that the Avatars are named after the bosses from the first 4 games. Also...the fact that the Avatar users are called Epitaph Users... Well, I'll stick for now with what parts of the .hack media go where when it comes to the original plot. If you want more details and spoilers, you can just ask. Spoiler: show spoiler hide spoiler -.hack's original story is in four parts, much like the original game. The first part, (which I consider as the prelude to the whole story) is .hack//AI BUSTER, a short novel revolving mainly around a Long Arm player named Albireo. One day, he runs into a mysterious girl NPC, one who seems to go wherever he does in the game once he meets her whether she oughta be able to or not. Albireo soon finds himself teaming with a scantly-clad Wavemaster named Hokuto during his efforts to find out why the NPC is tagging along with him, resulting with the pair discovering the first hints of the World's problem. The novel also covers a very important event in the lives of two characters from the original game. -The next major chapter is the anime, .hack//SIGN. The anime is what I consider the first proper half of the original story. For those who haven't seen it yet, it focuses on a Wavemaster named Tsukasa who finds himself experiencing the World as if it were reality: no way to log out, no console by him or headset or controller felt on his body. He soon attracts the attention of a group of characters across the game's player-base, ranging from the casual to the hardcore-devoted. These players come together for various reasons but all centered on discovering what sort of situation Tsukasa is in, why he's able to suddenly do things not within the game's known programming and if it has anything to do with the Key Of The Twilight, a rumored game-breaking item that lets you do anything you want once you have it. More talk then action in this chapter of the story but it does set up things to come in the next. -Said next chapter being the original game or games as most tend to think of it. I usually tend to think of .hack//INFECTION, MUTATION, OUTBREAK, and QUARANTINE to be four parts of one whole game however. For those who never had a chance or didn't want to bother trying it, the game focuses on a Twin Blades player named Kite. Brought into the game by his well-known friend, Orca, Kite's introduction to the World's gameplay goes horribly wrong when a unknown and unkillable monster not only kills Orca's character. The truly bad part comes in when Kite discovers that Orca's player has actually fallen into a coma at the same time his character fell. Not long after, Kite soon finds his own character altered, giving him possibly the only chance he has to find out what happened to Orca and perhaps save him. With this being the first .hack game, it's somewhat understandable that the game had it's flaws. It tends to be unduly slammed in a lot of reviews however thanks to players who don't quite get the idea that it's one game chopped up into four parts and thus it shouldn't have major changes in each part, such as graphics-improvement. While it can get monotonous at times with it's gameplay, there's a good story in there waiting to be seen. -It wouldn't be right to move on just yet without mentioning what could be called the 'Side-B' to .hack's second half of the story, .hack//LIMINALITY. LIMINALITY is a four-part OVA made to supplement the game's story. Each part was packaged on a second disc with each of the game's parts, telling the story of a group of people in the real world who slowly come together due to the same problems that are afflicting the World. Mai Minase, Yuki Aihara, and Kyoko Tohno all know a World player named Sieg. After he drops into a coma in the same fashion as Orca, they end up being brought together by a man named Junichiro Tokuoka who knows a little more about what's going on then the general public. While each OVA-part occurs at some point of their corresponding game-part, it's a good idea to wait until completing said piece of the game first as the OVA has one or two spoilers on what occurs within The World. Especially the final part which ties in to the game's final battle. -The final major piece of the story is a three-volume manga that soon became an anime. However, it's the manga's telling of .hack//LEGEND OF THE TWILIGHT that's canon. The manga's main protagonists are Shugo and Rena Kunisaki, twin siblings who win a contest 4 years after the end of the game's events, a contest which reward them with more child-like versions of Kite and his partner, the Heavy Blade known as Blackrose. While they have fun and make friends within the game, Shugo soon finds himself outfitted completely like Kite as his character's given the same game-altering abilities as Kite had. This draws attention both good and bad from not just the World's owners but a mysterious little girl who insists that Shugo help her find her mother. Due to the general light-heartedness of the story as well as it's short length, I usually tend to view it as an epilogue for the entire original .hack story, wrapping up everything in one nice bow. Besides what I mentioned here, there's also some other media that connects to the first .hack plotline. Print -A sequel to AI BUSTER was released. However, AB2 was a collection of short-stories rather then one regular novel, the events taking place from AI BUSTER's point of time down to LOTT, filling in some holes here and there in the plot though nothing major at all. -.hack//ZERO was another (abet untranslated to English) novel, taking place in the timespan between SIGN and the game. It involved a female Heavy Axeman named Carl who would find herself meeting a couple of characters from SIGN. The story tends to be mainly about what occurred to a few of the SIGN characters after the anime ended. ZERO would also end up having a connection to LIMINALITY. -For those not into playing the game or up for a different take on it's events, there's the four-novel series known as .hack//ANOTHER BIRTH. While the game follows the events through Kite's eyes, AB does it through Blackrose's POV, including showing events in her real life as well as incidents in the World that happened while Kite wasn't around. -.hack//XXXX (or X-fourth as it's meant to be pronounced) is a manga version of the game's events. However, it tends to veer from the established plot and tell it's own way, much like how some stories tend to be different in their manga and anime telling. The biggest change is the addition of an unknown player who somehow manages to have the same hacking abilities as Kite does and perhaps even stronger as he actually destroys one of the game's main bosses by himself. Animated -While SIGN is considered a 26-episode anime, three half-hour specials were made that fall under it's banner. -The first is Intermezzo. It takes place during the first days of the World for one of SIGN's characters, Mimiru. Visiting a dungeon in SIGN's timeline with another character from the series, she divulges to him the adventure she had with the first player-character she made in the World and how it and the dungeon brought her into contact with an slightly unusual Long Arm named Mimika. -The second is Unison. Considered non-canon, it takes places a few months after the end of the game's events, showing off eventually a celebration that brings the cast of the game together with SIGN's. It's still worth a watch though you'll only find it officially in the US as part of a Limited Edition of the final SIGN DVD. -The third one is known as .hack//GIFT, the name coming from the fact that it was offered in Japan to those who bought all four parts of the game and found here in the last LIMINALITY disc. The half-hour special is basically one big parody of the characters from the game and SIGN, with it's plot revolving around members from both casts trying to find a special hot-springs field set up just for them in the World with the mystery of who killed Orca used as an excuse to see who can reach it first. I hope that was informative enough. Any questions?

^Added to the OP. Thanks! EDIT: Championship Arena Fight Spoilers Spoiler: show spoiler hide spoiler Did...Endrance just call the cat "Mia"? Is Endrance...Elk?!

Sorry for the double post, but I didn't want to muck up my last one with constant edits. I finally beat Volume 1. It figures that I'd get Volume 3 in the mail first before Volume 2. :| Some thoughts on the end: Spoiler: show spoiler hide spoiler I feel really bad for Atoli. For some reason her breakdown at the awards ceremony really hit me hard, and now she may/may not be in a coma. When she started saying how she felt herself that she was an idiot, I wanted Haseo to give her a hug and say that she wasn't, and that he actually does look at her not Shino. Unfortunately...he just ended up making things worse. I'm also wondering what the hell is Ovan's goal. He obviously manipulated Atoli to go to the Wall and find Tri-Edge. I'm thinking that he may not be a good guy after all...And it looks like all of the Guilds are eyeing up Haseo like he's some kind of superweapon, which he pretty much is I guess. Knowing Haseo, though, he'll just say "Screw you all" and do his own thing. But it does look like he's warming up to Pi and Kuhn. I really got nervous when Skeith killed Magus. Kuhn's awesome, and it would suck if he ended up in a coma. I must say I'm really looking forward to starting Volume 2. Also...I completed the Books of Ryu. Man, that was a pain. Also, G.U. has some of the best cutscenes in any game I've played. I was pleasantly surprised and impressed by all of them.

I think you will be pleasently surprised by the turns the story takes in 2 and 3. I wont say anything else cause it will spoil it but you will like it. and EDIT: Championship Arena Fight Spoilers Spoiler: show spoiler hide spoiler Did...Endrance just call the cat "Mia"? Is Endrance...Elk?! Yes he is.

Funny thing, my copy of Vol. 2 popped up in the mail nearly MINUTES after I finished all the Ryu Books. I had all the sidequests done (Including Abyss) and Doppelganger beaten, too, and made sure I had every Vol. 1 exclusive item, every wallpaper and BGM unlocked, etc. It's like the universe said, "Oh, you finally finished everything important in Vol. 1? Here's Vol. 2! Go get 'em, kid!" Vol. 2 showed up here way faster than Vol. 1 did, too. Vol. 1 took a little longer than a week, Vol. 2 only took about 4 days. I had actually expected it to show up Monday or Tuesday, so I'd have it right at the beginning of my 3 days of free time each week. (My sister has an odd work schedule, and I watch her kids for her.) I'm liking how they improved the returning weapons so far, the new attack anim. for Dual Swords is way better, and I actually want to use it over the Broadsword when my enemies don't have shields. The moving charge attack for Broadswords is really nice, too, it does an even better job of breaking shields than some of my skills do, and without the SP cost. EDIT: Also, the Ryu book that gets filled based on playtime and # of area visits nearly hit level 6 when I first took a look at them in Vol. 2. I nearly laughed.

I think you will be pleasently surprised by the turns the story takes in 2 and 3. I wont say anything else cause it will spoil it but you will like it. and EDIT: Championship Arena Fight Spoilers Spoiler: show spoiler hide spoiler Did...Endrance just call the cat "Mia"? Is Endrance...Elk?! Yes he is. Spoiler: show spoiler hide spoiler I'm curious to see what the hell happened to him in 7 years. He seems like he's just a meek kid in the first four games.

Actually... Spoiler: show spoiler hide spoiler Sora didn't BECOME Skeith, he mouthed off one too many times to Skeith's creator and got a Data Drain up the wazoo for it. He's the first person ever Data Drained. The episode of SIGN where this occurs has an awesome rendered version of Skeith in it. If I ever find it, it's going in my wallpaper file on my comp. I beat the first four games. Including the item collection quest. The novels are okay- I recommend the "Another Birth" series, in fact- but the anime's better.

I really enjoyed Another Birth. Even though it's strictly from BlackRose's perspective, I think I got a good understanding of the story of the first four books. She does seem like a pretty cool character. Spoiler: show spoiler hide spoiler I just wish that she actually admitted to Kite that she liked him. I know she sort of does that in a post game e-mail in Quarantine, but she adds "Just kidding!" to the end of it. The books really make it clear she has feelings for him.

I really enjoyed Another Birth. Even though it's strictly from BlackRose's perspective, I think I got a good understanding of the story of the first four books. She does seem like a pretty cool character. Spoiler: show spoiler hide spoiler I just wish that she actually admitted to Kite that she liked him. I know she sort of does that in a post game e-mail in Quarantine, but she adds "Just kidding!" to the end of it. The books really make it clear she has feelings for him. Man no one writes something like that and puts a meaningful just kidding on it.

Actually... Spoiler: show spoiler hide spoiler Sora didn't BECOME Skeith, he mouthed off one too many times to Skeith's creator and got a Data Drain up the wazoo for it. He's the first person ever Data Drained. The episode of SIGN where this occurs has an awesome rendered version of Skeith in it. If I ever find it, it's going in my wallpaper file on my comp. I beat the first four games. Including the item collection quest. The novels are okay- I recommend the "Another Birth" series, in fact- but the anime's better. About Sora (.hack and .hack//GU SPOILERS) Spoiler: show spoiler hide spoiler Jayson's pretty much got it right on the nose for the most part. The important thing is that unlike other players who were DDed, we know for sure where Sora's mind went afterward: right into Skeith's wand. It allowed Skeith to bop about for a few months under the guise of Sora (or at least allowed the Phase to use and emerge from a vagrant AI based on Sora's character data). The untranslated .hack novel ZERO goes into that somewhat. It was this special merger that eventually brought about the creation of Epitaph-Users in GU. As for Sora being the first DD-victim, that's not quite right. Tsukasa earns that title first. Between the first episode and last of SIGN, several more players would get Data Drained, but it would be short-term bouts of unconsciousness rather then a full coma.

I really enjoyed Another Birth. Even though it's strictly from BlackRose's perspective, I think I got a good understanding of the story of the first four books. She does seem like a pretty cool character. Spoiler: show spoiler hide spoiler I just wish that she actually admitted to Kite that she liked him. I know she sort of does that in a post game e-mail in Quarantine, but she adds "Just kidding!" to the end of it. The books really make it clear she has feelings for him. Man no one writes something like that and puts a meaningful just kidding on it. Yeah, I know. Still, I guess part of me wanted to see the reaction to it. Hopefully I get G.U. Volume 2 today! Volume 3 is staring at me mockingly. Meanwhile, I'm keeping myself busy by looking at the various voice actors for the game. It's always fun seeing what other things they've done. EDIT: Finally got Volume 2 in the mail. Seems like a pretty interesting beginning. Spoiler: show spoiler hide spoiler People can't log out of The World...kind of like Tsukasa in SIGN. It'll be interesting to see the various parallels between what happened in R1 and what's going on in R2. Also...Sakaki is starting to creep me out even more. And it was a funny surprise seeing Haseo act out "LOL" during the cutscene with him, Atoli, and Sakaki.

Damn, Crimson VS. is addicting. I love the art for the various cards. Heck, I love the whole concept of the Apalku forum. Pretty clever way to show off the game artists' works. I really wish people on the real internet were as nice as they are in .hack.

Damn, Crimson VS. is addicting. I love the art for the various cards. Heck, I love the whole concept of the Apalku forum. Pretty clever way to show off the game artists' works. I really wish people on the real internet were as nice as they are in .hack. I love reading the forums in .hack//G.U.. The amount of depth in these games is incredible. It's neat, too, because you can see those posters run around in the game world. So I'm finally going through volume three, and I've got Haseo's Lost Weapon upgraded to level 4. You can get it to level 5 if you beat some level 135 overpowered monster. Any tips for that? Should I wait until I'm 135 or 150?

Damn, Crimson VS. is addicting. I love the art for the various cards. Heck, I love the whole concept of the Apalku forum. Pretty clever way to show off the game artists' works. I really wish people on the real internet were as nice as they are in .hack. I love reading the forums in .hack//G.U.. The amount of depth in these games is incredible. It's neat, too, because you can see those posters run around in the game world. So I'm finally going through volume three, and I've got Haseo's Lost Weapon upgraded to level 4. You can get it to level 5 if you beat some level 135 overpowered monster. Any tips for that? Should I wait until I'm 135 or 150? Wait. Those battles become ridiculously easy if you're at least the same level. Wait until you're five levels over and it becomes a cakewalk. Same for the Forest-of-whateveritscalled.

Damn, Crimson VS. is addicting. I love the art for the various cards. Heck, I love the whole concept of the Apalku forum. Pretty clever way to show off the game artists' works. I really wish people on the real internet were as nice as they are in .hack. I love reading the forums in .hack//G.U.. The amount of depth in these games is incredible. It's neat, too, because you can see those posters run around in the game world. So I'm finally going through volume three, and I've got Haseo's Lost Weapon upgraded to level 4. You can get it to level 5 if you beat some level 135 overpowered monster. Any tips for that? Should I wait until I'm 135 or 150? Wait. Those battles become ridiculously easy if you're at least the same level. Wait until you're five levels over and it becomes a cakewalk. Same for the Forest-of-whateveritscalled. Thanks. I should just go grind myself some dungeons until I get there before continuing. How long is the campaign, anyways? Surprisingly, I'm about eight hours into the game, and it doesn't seem like I'm that far. I'm up to this point: Spoiler: show spoiler hide spoiler I've beaten the first match of the Sage tournament.