Monday, April 21, 2008
.hack//MISS
Lately, I've been in ".hack" mode, as I played through the first game (.hack//INFECTION), bought the first .hack//Roots DVD and am downloading again .hack//SIGN (can't find the DVDs anywhere :( ). I plan on playing the second game soon, and get the novels and so forth. So you see, I don't even know why, but I'm now, years after the launch of the whole project, enjoying it a lot.
And thinking about it. Because there's a lot of things going on. For those who don't know, the .hack project is a way for Bandai to sell many things at once : Anime series, video games, mangas, novels, OVAs, ... A lot of things. What's special about it is that all those medias are linked to each other, each part revealing new aspects of the .hack universe, which is centered around "The World", a fictionnal MMORPG. And, of course, strange things happen in and around the game.
And it was a good idea, as there are many great things about it :
- The overall idea is pretty neat. Playing a game set in "The World", and watching an OVA depicting some of the same events, but seen from the "real world" gives you the feeling that something bigger is happening.
- "The World" is a good MMORPG. From what you can see in the anime series, at least. The landscapes are vast, the concept is simple but it works, and the idea of using separate areas generated by keywords is pretty cool. Watching .hack//SIGN (first anime in the project's timeline) really makes you want to play it.
- Who wouldn't like the idea of playing a game and then suddenly coming across something really strange, before trying to solve the mystery ? Doesn't happen in real life, but would still be cool ^^
So with that, you'd figure that making something awesome would be easy enough. Unfortunately, I think that Bandai missed a really really big opportunity. And what's to blame for this is the overall story. Even if the various medias interact pretty well, the whole plot is too slow to develop. Granted, I've yet to see and play everything, but I've read numerous reviews, and the vast majority of them agrees with what I'm already feeling. If the second game is like the first, it will consist of around 15-20 hours of dungeon crawling with little progress in the scenario. Granted, it'll be some good dungeon crawling, but not much than that.
It's really a pity though, what Bandai should have done is maybe not making that many games or anime series, but focus on like two games, with OVA's and one anime, and then get the whole thing online. Yes, I'm aware there was a semi-online game called .hack//Fragment, but there could have been so much more...
Imagine a game where there is not one monolithic server (like in most MMORPGs), but a myriad of servers, with anyone able to run one. What would be on each server is a Root Town, that could be created by the server's admin, maybe by building it from basic blocs so that it is easier. Then, from those, players can either teleport to combat fields (as it is done in the games, in fact) or to another server's Root Town. Now, add the possibility to have some kind of "Game Masters", who have the possibility to modify things in the world, or control NPCs at will. Then, include big incentives for people to roleplay properly (like a moderation system that can get one banned or something). With that basic concept, you could have a game where "strange things" COULD happen. People could set up servers maybe organize special quests for their friends or something, with maybe others caught in the middle because they were there and happened to see something fishy was going on. As an added bonus, this kind of gameplay would enable users to introduce new content to the game, keeping it fresh.
Well, enough daydreaming, something like this didn't happen. But I still think it would have been awesome...
Now if you'll excuse me, I still have plenty of .hack material to go through. And who knows, maybe I'll change my mind about the whole project afterwards!
And thinking about it. Because there's a lot of things going on. For those who don't know, the .hack project is a way for Bandai to sell many things at once : Anime series, video games, mangas, novels, OVAs, ... A lot of things. What's special about it is that all those medias are linked to each other, each part revealing new aspects of the .hack universe, which is centered around "The World", a fictionnal MMORPG. And, of course, strange things happen in and around the game.
And it was a good idea, as there are many great things about it :
- The overall idea is pretty neat. Playing a game set in "The World", and watching an OVA depicting some of the same events, but seen from the "real world" gives you the feeling that something bigger is happening.
- "The World" is a good MMORPG. From what you can see in the anime series, at least. The landscapes are vast, the concept is simple but it works, and the idea of using separate areas generated by keywords is pretty cool. Watching .hack//SIGN (first anime in the project's timeline) really makes you want to play it.
- Who wouldn't like the idea of playing a game and then suddenly coming across something really strange, before trying to solve the mystery ? Doesn't happen in real life, but would still be cool ^^
So with that, you'd figure that making something awesome would be easy enough. Unfortunately, I think that Bandai missed a really really big opportunity. And what's to blame for this is the overall story. Even if the various medias interact pretty well, the whole plot is too slow to develop. Granted, I've yet to see and play everything, but I've read numerous reviews, and the vast majority of them agrees with what I'm already feeling. If the second game is like the first, it will consist of around 15-20 hours of dungeon crawling with little progress in the scenario. Granted, it'll be some good dungeon crawling, but not much than that.
It's really a pity though, what Bandai should have done is maybe not making that many games or anime series, but focus on like two games, with OVA's and one anime, and then get the whole thing online. Yes, I'm aware there was a semi-online game called .hack//Fragment, but there could have been so much more...
Imagine a game where there is not one monolithic server (like in most MMORPGs), but a myriad of servers, with anyone able to run one. What would be on each server is a Root Town, that could be created by the server's admin, maybe by building it from basic blocs so that it is easier. Then, from those, players can either teleport to combat fields (as it is done in the games, in fact) or to another server's Root Town. Now, add the possibility to have some kind of "Game Masters", who have the possibility to modify things in the world, or control NPCs at will. Then, include big incentives for people to roleplay properly (like a moderation system that can get one banned or something). With that basic concept, you could have a game where "strange things" COULD happen. People could set up servers maybe organize special quests for their friends or something, with maybe others caught in the middle because they were there and happened to see something fishy was going on. As an added bonus, this kind of gameplay would enable users to introduce new content to the game, keeping it fresh.
Well, enough daydreaming, something like this didn't happen. But I still think it would have been awesome...
Now if you'll excuse me, I still have plenty of .hack material to go through. And who knows, maybe I'll change my mind about the whole project afterwards!
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I remember being extremely excited for .hack//infection, only to be really disappointed by it.
Years later, I even tried .hack//G.U and the disappointment was the same.
The .hack series had so much potential. :(
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Years later, I even tried .hack//G.U and the disappointment was the same.
The .hack series had so much potential. :(
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