When .hack//Infection was released here in the States back in 2003 I have to admit that I was very excited. It's a rare thing that an enticing anime and video game project comes along but with multiple tie-ins running a muck the franchise looked very promising. The main storyline closed out after four volumes and the tale surrounding The World continued long into two anime series (.hack//Sign and .hack//Legend of Twilight).

Now that some time has passed it's time for the second wave of .hack// titles. This time around G.U. promises an improved experience with a new (well, relatively new) cast of characters. The game series takes place after the events found in Bandai's latest release .hack//Roots so you can look at this new game franchise as something of a sequel. Confused yet? Good.

Put it this way, if you haven't gotten into .hack by this point then you're basically up digital creek without a controller. Five games have already been released and this latest marks the sixth with some more yet to come. It's not entire necessary that you get into the franchise from the very beginning but let's just say that your appreciation of the material will rest solely on your exposure to what has happened prior. If you're going to pick up now and start with the series you don't have to go all the way back to .hack//Infection from 2003 but you should at least make the effort to check out .hack//G.U. Vol. 1 Rebirth.

I'm not even going to bother explaining the details regarding the plot because, quite honestly, there are many and they are confusing. All you really need to know is that players are still in danger thanks to The World's glitches and it's up to you to get to the bottom of everything. The pseudo online environment is back in force and playing a game within a game is just as inventive as ever. This second installment picks up after Haseo and his party members realized they were unable to log out of The World. The stakes are higher now and with a few improvements to be found in the game you'll definitely appreciate it if you enjoyed the first.

Gameplay:

Considering .hack//G.U. Vol. 2 Reminiscence is supposed to simulate an MMORPG there are few things you can guarantee. Well, first of all, thankfully you're not going to have to mine for fish. Instead of building up worthless skills you'll be spending most of your time taking on worthless quests.

Walking around, talking to NPCs, and venturing off into the great unknown to do some menial task is one of the main flaws that come from the structure of this game. It gets boring way too quickly and you'll really get the sensation that you're just traversing the same landscape over and over again. To say that Reminiscence gets monotonous would be a gross understatement and unfortunately the combat doesn't help matters all that much.

With a similar style to the previous game, the combat in Reminiscence is in real-time which would lead you to believe that some strategy would be involved. Unfortunately this isn't the case. You can basically sit there and bash the attack button over and over again until the beast in front of you stops twitching. During battles you'll also be able to pull out some special skills called Awakenings and even though they are powerful, they really just feel like frosting on top of a bland cake.

Combat and annoying questing aside there are a few things that breathe a little life into Reminiscence. For starters you can work on your Steam Bike and ride around on that. This helps break up the monotony of it all and it adds a splash of diversity amidst the sea of blah. Another thing that helps break things up is the inclusion of a card game which will certainly appeal to the kiddies out in the crowd. It doesn't add a whole lot of depth to this title but it does give you something to do when the gameplay gets you down.

Apart from these elements the improvements made to Reminiscence are actually kind of negligible. A few new characters, some new attacks, and a couple of new elements don't really change the core gameplay that bogs the series down. I understand that with MMORPGs there is a certainly amount of level grinding and I get that this is supposed to simulate an MMORPG. Unfortunately it's not one. That leaves the strictly single player quest with a lot of room for improvement and with only one volume left to go in the franchise I doubt it's going to come.

Overall Reminiscence isn't a horrible title. The structure of the gameplay system has all of the fundamental pieces for success. Combat is light on strategy, powering up your characters is a blast, and getting to the next hurdle in the story is what .hack is all about. Sadly the tediousness of it all is starting to set in. I came to this installment wanting more, hoping that the franchise would broaden its horizons. Sadly I didn't walk away with an experience even remotely close to that expectation.

Graphics:

One area where Reminiscence does impress is with its graphics. Character models, enemy designs, and most environments look absolutely fantastic. Sure there are still some jagged edges and the blurring effect can be a little annoying but this is without a doubt the best looking anime game I have ever seen. That may not be saying much but I have been very impressed with the way Namco-Bandai has been handling their latest releases. Some of the dungeons in the game may lack polish like the rest but all around this is an impressive endeavor.

Sound:

Like prior .hack games Reminiscence offers some iffy sound direction. The music may be fine, if not a tad forgettable, and the sound effects are ok but the voice acting is downright abysmal at times. I personally love the .hack anime series but the voiceovers in Reminiscence don't come anywhere near to the point of capturing the scope of the game and what's going on. Characters are often whiny and obnoxious which makes them very hard to like. The audio here is a mixed bag for sure though the output is of decent quality with no glitches to muck things up.

Conclusion:

.hack//G.U. Vol. 2 Reminiscence is a tricky beast to look at. Jumping in at this volume is a big no-no but it's not necessarily a big improvement for gamers that have been following the series. I suppose the old saying "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" finds some application here but I can't feel that G.U. has already grown long in tooth. Fans expecting more will be left wanting but if you're coming to this installment looking for a similar experience to Rebirth then you'll be pleased. This is a game that's worth a play through but probably is best served as a rental.