|
DoubleNegative posted:All right, here's the deal. Starting the day after tomorrow I'm leaving on a trip and will be gone until the early part of next month. So this is the last update until May. While I would rather be ready to start Quarantine when I get back, Liminality 3 is awful and I don't want that to be the last update for such a long period. seems fair, though I don't remember Liminality 3 being that bad.
|
#
¿
Apr 22, 2015 23:12
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 20, 2024 00:28 |
|
|
John McClane posted:Oh hey, I don't know if this thread has covered this, but there's a random interview on the insert to a .hack soundtrack that might be of interest, with some character spoilers. Did this happen before or after IMOQ? Because if not that would either be hilarious or awkward living conditions.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 23, 2015 07:38
|
|
|
The truth behind Wiseman always makes me break down laughing. In fact one of the funner parts with the series is just how different the lives of those outside the game are to how they are in the game.
|
|
#
¿
May 3, 2015 02:26
|
|
|
Arcade Rabbit posted:Also, in regards to Liminality, I believe the "force" that's referred to means one of two things depending on context. With regards to the inside and outside, it would refer to the Force of The Wave, pulling people "inside" the game world from the "outside",at least partway. Naturally, people wouldn't normally being going in to comas left and right and the outside world wouldn't have so many problems. But The Wave on the "inside" is exerting its Force to either pull people in or make chaos on the out. Spoken from a different perspective, it could also refer to an "outside" force attempting to put something from the outside into the inside of the game but that gets into spoilery stuff that I'm almost positive hasn't been mentioned yet. Also the relations which you don't think about but which make other situations hilarious like Sora and Wisemans players were friends IRL if I recall, and since Sora is Haseo, and Wiseman moves on to play Yata, Wiseman becomes Sora's boss. Is it all that important? nah not really, but I think it covers a wide grade of people who are playing a game together. and almost always the party members help bring you back down. Yeah there's the infection and the wave, but Moonstones a dweeb who wants to go monster hunting and Nuke needs help on his comedy routine. And Gardenia is a troll.
|
|
#
¿
May 3, 2015 13:35
|
|
|
Something to note, is that Mia and Elk haven't had E-mail chains, despite having been part of the party for so long. Elk made sense, he didn't like us, but from the beginning, something was off for Mia
|
|
#
¿
May 8, 2015 10:33
|
|
|
Rachel remains a giant rear end. And man Quarrantine moves loving quick
|
|
#
¿
May 11, 2015 00:01
|
|
|
AriadneThread posted:I guess they ran out of game towards the end when they decided to stretch it across four volumes I'm not sure, but if it had been done by Valve we wouldn't have gotten passed Outbreak
|
|
#
¿
May 11, 2015 01:06
|
|
|
asymmetrical posted:So.... violently? Given G.U. they formed like 3 good clans and then tried to murder one another endlessly.
|
|
#
¿
May 18, 2015 13:12
|
|
|
I still do like a lot about these 4 games, I think it'd be really interesting if after the last e-mails get in, a round-up analysis of who the person is in-game, and who they are out of the game is pretty kick rear end to do.
|
|
#
¿
May 22, 2015 14:15
|
|
|
alcharagia posted:So basically the Liminaliteam just saved the day in the Corbenik fight by switching the server of the MMO to a backup. Yeah, mid Morganna crashing everything. Basically Morganna just realized "I'm not winning this" and decided to crash everything to gently caress everyone.
|
|
#
¿
May 24, 2015 03:04
|
|
|
by the way, in an effort to make the IMOQ games worse I guess, they actually introduced Cubia in the .XXXX Novels with a PC form! Let me just... copy the entry. quote:XXXX introduces Cubia in a PC form. He appears after Kite defeats Skeith, as a strange Twin Blade. He defeats the second Phase, Innis without much trouble, apparently on his own. His character has black hair, wears some sort of scarf, and his outfit consists of a very low shirt, and some dark pants with strange symbols. It is thought that this PC is related to the figure in the Cubia core in the canon. He also has access to the Data Drain ability, though it is inherent to him, rather than in an item he holds. Cubia proves to be a valuable ally and later a good friend of Kite's. Together, they defeat most of the Phases. Following the battle with Macha, Kite loses all his strength, and Cubia takes his body. What the gently caress.
|
|
#
¿
May 24, 2015 08:22
|
|
|
Shinjobi posted:That is somehow dumber than *spoiler for GU* Cubia in G.U., which was pretty loving dumb. That one made no sense and felt like it was there because they only had up to one certain boss fight and it's like "gently caress... how do we conclude this?" This is dumb in the sense that it misses the point that Cubia is not Kite's mirror. He's the bracelts mirror and that's attached to Kite. It feels like humanizing a villain who didn't need to be humanized kind of the opposite of *Spoilers for GU* Skeith talking to Haseo using Sora's mannerisims. Because Haseo IS Sora and so different from who he was. And Skeith spent a lot of time with Sora 'in' him.
|
|
#
¿
May 24, 2015 09:26
|
|
|
DoubleNegative posted:What in the everloving gently caress did I miss by not playing the last 3/4 of GU vol 3? Nah this is mostly just backstory info.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 5, 2015 03:32
|
|
|
Arcade Rabbit posted:I'm pretty sure Pi and Yata explain and allude to at least some of it in game, though most of it is through the supplementary stuff. Oh, and also? The PSP game Link reveals that Elk was there when Mia was ripped to pieces, so he got to see his love turn into a horrible monster and be torn apart before his very eyes. Again! And when he started playing the new release of The World to see if some trace of Mia was left in it, he found her! As another monster! And the horrific mind rape virus that had attached itself to her, and then him by extension! I wouldn't say he perseveres but.... he sure does drag his degrading psyche across the games? Like seriously by G.U. time Elk is so hosed up that in the second game, after Haseo has killed the horrible devil spawn that he thought was Mia, He basically refused to log out and spends his entire time in the fetal position in front of his computer. Unable to log out because he's a horrible wreck but not wanting to do anything. So yeah, sucks to be Elk!
|
|
#
¿
Jun 5, 2015 17:54
|
|
|
alcharagia posted:I'm just gonna ignore GU then I wouldn't. Ultimately G.U. is super fun play-wise (If ever devoted to revolving around the Arena) and is all about its characters moving on from their past. Heavy spoilers for a key moment in the last game, but ultimately sums up the entire point of the series https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NRWtYw0lK0&t=3s Like how IMOQ is about the growing stages of the infection of the World until its saving, G.U. is about Haseo's (So, ultimately, Sora's) Rebirth, Reminiscence and Redemption. The first time we see him (after being a level 1 Newbie who gets PKed by a couple of trolls) he's basically a psychotic Player Killer Killer just hunting down other players with not much regard for what's going on besides his own "REVENGE!" then he gets utterly curb stomped and data-drained back to level 1. He's reborn because over the course of the first game, while he's still a massive rear end, he's clearly growing to care about the people who have become drawn to him. Reminiscence has him re-reach the power he had before he was data-drained, and 'Reminisice' on his past. He's also dealing with other problems though, such as Atoli's LITERALLY EVERYTHING ABOUT ATOLI. And Redemption well... is ultimately him coming to terms with who he is now instead of what he was. Including a heart to heart talk with Skeith who... basically acts like Sora? A bit more in the japanese version. Also the soundtracks amazing and while you don't need to watch that video, you do need to watch this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtBW_liXkt4
|
|
#
¿
Jun 6, 2015 02:15
|
|
|
SSNeoman posted:Like in IMOQ, it's the subtler details that are the most effective. Like Sakaki meeting Atoli on a suicide website or the thing with Endrance/Elk. The actual plot is considerably worse because it tries to be a direct sequel to ROOTS whereas IMOQ was more of its own stand-alone story. Not helping matters was that ROOTS got super dumb in places, namely about the antagonists TaN. The other issue was that CC2 decided to put in a lot of poo poo For Fans so the story had parts where it suddenly decided to, as Onmi said, focus on Atoli. My own personal annoyance about that second bit was that Ovan still ended up being portrayed as a ~mysterious, supacool~ dude and not as a gently caress up of cataclysmic proportions. Volume 3 I think is pretty fine right up until the final battle with Ovan. Because while the scene with Haseo going over the events of the games and unlocking Xth form is really cool.... then the game sort of realizes it doesn't have a plot anymore because it just took out the main antagonist. So it just shrugs and goes "Cubia again!" Mind you I liked the multi-staged dungeon and leaving party members behind to fight the good fight as you advanced towards the final boss. It just didn't help that the games story was over and they had more plot left. I guess they were afraid of it going as quickly as Quarantine does.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 6, 2015 04:29
|
|
.
|
There's a lot of lore in the .Hack games that's actually really cool... be nice if more of it actually made it into the games, but then the question becomes "How does Haseo/Kite find out about this stuff"
|
|
#
¿
Jun 6, 2015 09:03
|
|
|
Kite is such an amazing rear end in a top hat sometimes, also him constantly trying to hit on AI Subaru was.... ridiculous in the failure emails. And I do find the Mia thing hilariously dark (like everything else attached to Elk and Mia) in that Mia's 'attraction' to Elk is mostly based on him using the same player model as Tsukasa, who Mia knew in her former life as Macha. Kite: Swooning the women by being kind of okay at emails I guess. Well at least Natsume will be fine  Oh right. Insane weapon hunter.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 6, 2015 14:59
|
|
|
IMOQ is a series that isn't fun to play but I agree that there's just something about it that draws me in. Even after playing games with better stories and gameplay I don't regret my time spent with IMOQ. If you took the gameplay from G.U. and the story of IMOQ there'd be an amazing game. Pity the .Hack series has been reduced to Guilty Dragon, essentially a tablet card game. Here's hoping a game gets made again. Hopefully it will be better than Link.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 9, 2015 01:07
|
|
|
also should point out the other bad things going on in regards to IMOQ to GU is the case of Sieg. After all Mai went through she wound up dumping and he took the loss so hard he basically became a womanizer who couldn't actually form any real relationships. Also he's become the host of Magus. Least he managed to stay concious through out the trilogy. I really think Sakubo is the most bloody hilariously dark thing in the game though. Sakubo is presented to the player as twins playing a single character, Saku and Bo. This is not the case, it's only Bo. Because Sakura was stillborn and his mother was an abusive rear end in a top hat who told him she wished he died in the womb. You can actually help Bo overcome this mental split, but if you do, you lock yourself out of the final end-game content. So instead you have to convince the mentally traumatized child that his split personality is a good thing he needs. It's honestly hilariously at contrast with literally everything else in the game. Oh yeah, and Gorre's latched onto him to.  .Hack G.U. The one with the roses is Elk. EDIT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFtZkcklPa8 Saku does have some amazing moments though Onmi fucked around with this message at 09:16 on Jun 9, 2015 |
|
#
¿
Jun 9, 2015 09:06
|
|
|
I like how you start getting hints that Balmungs kind of a ridiculous dork, and then 'Legend of the Twilight Bracelet' comes along and confirms that Balmung is a complete loon. Speaking of, that's a manga that could stand to not be a thing...
|
|
#
¿
Jun 10, 2015 13:45
|
|
|
By the way, it should be noted the Sora in Unison is likely not Ryou Misaki. It's mention that the Sora character data continued on without a player behind him, in fact Ryou's parents, in what was probably their smartest move given Ryou didn't remember a drat thing about The World, was to forbid him from playing it. He decided to get into The World: R2 after talking about it with a friend of his who'd played the original version. What I think is the case but may just be an old rumor floating around, is that person was Wiseman. Because you all probably realized it reading the E-mails, but Wiseman is played by a 10 year old as well. Making himself and Sora the youngest characters. Both ironically are running powerful characters in their own regards. Sora as a PK and Wiseman as an information broker. Wiseman in the G.U. games would go on to play Yata who is a C.C. Corp employee trying to combat the AIDA infecting the game, hilariously he's the one to drag Ryou back into this epitaph nonsense once more. The full list of transferred characters as I recall are Sora->Haseo (PK to PKK to Hero) Haseo's player, Ryou Misaki, is a sophomore student attending a famous private high school. He lives alone in Tokyo, and his dad owns a major company. He visits Shino, who is in a coma, at the hospital everyday. He decided to play The World R:2 after talking to a friend who used to play its previous version, The World. He was once the player behind Sora, but lost all memory of it and The World after being Data Drained by Skeith. Meanwhile his character data continued on as an AI and eventually reunited him as Skeith. Wiseman->Yata Takumi Hino is the same player behind Wiseman, Nala, and Naobi. He lives in a high-rise apartment in Tokyo. The name "Yata" is probably partially derived from his love of soccer (the mythical three-legged raven Yata no Karasu is the symbol of the Japan Football Association). Based on his experience as an information broker and one of the .hackers, and later as a hacker, he was hired by CC Corporation to investigate and exterminate the AIDA once they first appeared. Like Pi, he lives in Tokyo. Near the end of the G.U. Games, as Masato Indou was fleeing from the law, Yata appeared anonymously in a Conto TV interview denouncing CC Corp, revealing that the company was scapegoating Indou for its own wrongdoings. Due to his intervention, charges on his old friend were dropped. Elk->Endrance (In fullfiling his idolization of Mia, he plays a Blade Brandier, the class that replaced Blade Master) In the real world, Endrance is a computer addicted, reclusive 20-year-old named Kaoru Ichinose. He lives with his parents in Kanagawa Prefecture. According to Yata, he plays The World R:2 almost 24/7, logging out just enough to sleep. He doesn't appear to eat meat, as he says meat reminds him of blood and fish smells bad to him. He also states that girls scare him. He was also the player behind Elk seven years before. Sieg->Kuhn In real life, Kuhn is a 24-year-old man named Tomonari Kasumi. He works part time at an arcade in Kanazawa and part-time at CC Corp. Tomonari loves attending mixed parties and according to G.U.+, was hired by Yata. His flirtatious attitude online hides a trouble with forming relationships in the real world. He confesses to Haseo that the only serious girlfriend he ever had was in high school. He prides himself in having the private email addresses of 972 girls on his cell phone and plans to make Pi's his 1000th. Piros->Piros the 3rd In the real world, Piros the 3rd is a 39-year-old man named Hiroshi Matsuyama. As a graphical designer for CyberConnect Corporation, he helped design the graphics for The World and was promoted to the leader of the graphical team for The World R:2. A married man, he has a one-year old son. Natsume->Natsume In the real world, Natsume's player is a 22-year-old woman named Natsume Oguro. Natsume is a fan of foreign fantasy novels, but she has recently gotten into picture and pop-up books. While she is aware that it seems childish, she likes how they immerse the reader into another world and aims to make her own. She goes to the library every day to study art for that purpose. Natsume also enjoys Japanese confections such as urion (she likes the gummy texture), and on her way to the library she goes to a flower patch and occasionally picks one to make pressed flower bookmarks out of. Unconfirmed but speculated Helba->Zelkova The justification there is much like Helba, Zelkova has hacked maximum stats, and was able to repair and upgrade Haseo's character data after it was damaged basically beyond recovery. There's also the chance that Zelkova just isn't anyone. Now then, On to G.U. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-SYkGvB7RI Man when we first saw images of Azure Kite the community went nuts. G.U.'s story may be worse but I love it You know what? As an aside, the actual backstory of The World the game itself? is pretty cool http://dothack.wikia.com/wiki/The_World_R:2_History You could have made a game in that and it would be pretty neat Onmi fucked around with this message at 15:39 on Jun 10, 2015 |
|
#
¿
Jun 10, 2015 15:33
|
|
|
KapmK posted:Then it's all the more aggravating that G.U. makes several direct references to events in roots without trying to explain them even a little bit. it also directly contradicts roots multiple times. It's not like Sign where you can watch it and then play IMOQ and get a story. If you watch Roots you will be confused as to why events played out differently in G.U. KapmK posted:I'm pretty sure it's also stated that Taihaku, the sage palace emperor in G.U. was a dot hacker. It seems they never say which one, but one gamefaqs guide writer postulated it was Balmung. Onmi, the stuff you've written about the connections between the two game series is honestly more interesting than G.U.'s plot itself. I seriously had no idea Sora was Haseo. Actually, I didn't make any connections at all the first time I played through G.U., including the Endrance/Elk one, which is honestly just embarrassing. In my defense, I was like 14, I only played Infection and Mutation, and I thought it was just a subtle reference. The take away for Endrance to me was that he wasn't so much Gay as he just didn't judge based on gender. He loved the Aida that resembled Mia because it showed him affection and he's a horribly broken human being who is desperatly seeking affection. He then falls in love with Haseo because Haseo says he needs him. That being said, his design is super effeminete (I guess they wanted the fact that his avatar was The Temptress to stand out?)  He is also a marriage option though. And yeah my take away from .Hack has almost always been "Wow there's some really neat backstory stuff here, why is this not in the game?" of course then I wonder how it would actually get told to the player without 'Files'
|
|
#
¿
Jun 11, 2015 00:31
|
|
|
So worth pointing out that this is the only end-game content you're locked out of if you let Saku leave. Once you've recruited all party members (because the E-mail system was improved upon in G.U.) Aura will e-mail you a special e-mail that allows you to either swear a friendship oath The romantic path Where you can marry that girl you killed in the opening cutscene, or that other girl who only showed up in the Post Game you wont know if you didn't watch Roots, or Endrance.  Or, if none of those interest you, just go with the good old standby https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0KtKHQGJ-0
|
|
#
¿
Jun 11, 2015 00:59
|
|
|
Cleretic posted:.hack as I've seen it reminds me of the Mega Man Battle Network series, only grown up a little bit. They're both basically just actual computer problems blown hilariously out of proportion and given a heavy coating of anime, and that's a neat enough idea that I can forgive any problems either of them have. While .hack is certainly the less realistic of the two in that regard, it's still got some neat stuff going on, and I honestly think my favorite part is that it pretty much gets the social stuff down perfectly. With the exception of apparently some crazy poo poo in G.U., everyone seems to actually have a fairly realistic real life for an MMO player. G.U. has a few hilariously crazy people, but the plus side is it still portrays those normal folks just playing a game. Like Silabus... Silabus's player is Yuuichi Morino, a 19 year old college student studying liberal arts in Sendai, Miyagi. A self-proclaimed gaming addict, he carries a gaming headset with him at all times so he can play The World wherever he goes. However, he enjoys helping people in the real world just like he does online and frequently volunteers his time and energy to various charity and environmentalist organizations and hopes to become a journalist or reporter. Often he worries about his current state as he has a very messy room and spends more time playing The World than studying. To lose the weight of guilt he has taken up jogging to stay healthy. Silabus is a fan of Salvador Aihara and, unlike Kuhn, Silabus doesn't frequently attend parties nor does he have a girlfriend. He currently lives alone. He prefers Japanese food to western food and loves sashimi and grilled fish. or Gaspard Gaspard's player is a 13 year old middle school student named Kouta Maki who lives in Hokkaido. He goes to a cram school to study math and English. Overweight (nearly 200 pounds) and 5'9", sports are his worst subject. He has a crush on a girl named Yayoi. Gaspard is an expert at card games, including Crimson VS, being pretty much a celebrity in The World R:2, as he holds the Champion Title in the card game (although almost no one knows that Gaspard from Canard is the same Gaspard the Crimson VS Champion). He is also a fan of fatty foods like hamburgers and soda pop, though the diet on which his parents have placed him gives him few chances to enjoy these foods. He has also participated in Sumo wrestling. or Matsu In the real world, Matsu is a 17-year-old high school student named Shingo Kudou. He lives in Aichi Prefecture, and was formerly well known for his delinquency as a Bosozoku. After suffering from a motorcycle accident when he was sixteen, Shingou was required to remain at home in order to recover. During his recovery, Shingou first began to play The World; since then his violent tendencies have mostly vanished. Although he is admired by women, he isn't very interested in a relationship. even characters like Bordeaux and Antares In the real world, Bordeaux is a 14-year-old girl named Nina Kircheis. Her father is German and her mother is Japanese. When she was ten, her parents divorced and she moved to Toyama, Japan. She has a prideful personality and isn't good at dealing with change, so this part of her life was filled with stress. She discovered The World during her first year of middle school, and used it as an outlet for all the bitterness she had built up inside. She later became obsessed with Haseo. In the real world, Antares's player is a 35-year-old man named Mikihisa Ogata. In his youth he attended an all boys school, and was a wrestler. He now works as the editor of a professional wrestling magazine, and lives in Tokyo with his wife and two daughters, who are 3 and 5 years old. The only person who branches out of the realistic to me is Sakubo and Sakaki, mostly due to the latters age. The one that's TOO Real to me is Atoli Atoli's player is a 16-year-old girl named Chigusa Kusaka, who lives in the Chiba prefecture. She is part of Animal Club at school, prides herself at being a good cook, loves small birds and owns three pet birds in real life. During middle school, she was bullied frequently. Her parents harassed her about her failing grades, her loud and noisy attitude, (their belief was that girls should be quiet), and her decision to wear designer clothing one day. This led to her shutting herself in her room and browsing suicide websites, which is where she met Sakaki, who befriended her. Around the time she entered high school, Sakaki suggested for her to join The World. Chigusa also bears several marks on her left wrist from failed suicide attempts, but after playing The World and meeting Haseo, she has stopped attempting to end her life. EDIT: Oh yeah, and if anyone was concerned about the fate of Duke Alkaid's player is a 16-year-old girl named Chika Kuramoto (倉本 智香). She is a high school student in Sapporo, Hokkaido and is classmates with the player behind Nanase. She loves books, and is part of her school's library council. She loves the Chinese classics like The Water Margin and Romance of the Three Kingdoms, but also Western fantasy and thrillers like Stephen King's Dark Tower series. Her favorite food is miso butter ramen, and one day she hopes to go on a restaurant hop around Japan. She is also a big fan of comedians like Salvador Aihara and "Mr. Usagimaru". He succeeded in comedy! In fact After his adventures as a .hacker Nuke and Rachel formed a comedy duo named "New Creatures". Though they had little success at first, seven years later in 2017 a new manager was able to turn them into famous celebrities. At this time, Alkaid mentions that "Mr. Usagimaru" is one of her favorite comedians.  There's also this Picture for Ants of them in the real world. Onmi fucked around with this message at 03:20 on Jun 11, 2015 |
|
#
¿
Jun 11, 2015 03:15
|
|
|
KapmK posted:I'd agree that G.U. does a pretty good job of writing believable characters, with a few exceptions. They do tend to forget they're playing a video game sometimes, though. They tend to conflate problems like "there are too many pks in the world" with problems like "several of my closest friends are in comas and I'm the only one who can save them" a little too often. To be fair he still beat the Forest of Pain legitimately, but yeah he got hacked to an absurd level with his poo poo unlocked. It also sets up that the hacked 133 Haseo couldn't do anything to Azure Kite, while Haseo at maximum Level 50 with Kuhn and Pi was able to defeat him. Friendship! EDIT: In more interesting concepts that we wont ever actually see Guilty Dragon: The Sin Dragon and the Eight Curses is an Online RPG ISO game that's basically a card battle game but it's a Dot Hack concept and set in The World: Armed Conflict there are 6 Phantom bosses in these games all referencing past .Hack Characters Azure Flame Pursuer - Kite  Black Clad Destroyer - Haseo  Emerald Green Prisoner - Tsukasa  Sharp Black Rose - Blackrose  Silver Conviction - Balmung  Mischevious Cat of the Twin Purple Moons - Sakubo 
Onmi fucked around with this message at 06:36 on Jun 11, 2015 |
|
#
¿
Jun 11, 2015 05:37
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 20, 2024 00:28 |
|
|
SSNeoman posted:You gotta understand that this came when he lost pretty much everything. The girl he loved was comatose. His mentor and confidant was off god-knows-where. And pretty much the only thing he had left at that point was this last ditch on the forest of pain. It's actually kind of sweat of the marraige endings https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrfoPW3rsko I mean it makes more sense than Kaede who barely knows Haseo. at least Bordeaux has a twisted knowledge of him from fighting him all the time. Also I know it was meant to be an emotional moment but I just break down laughing when at the end of Redemption Haseo screams at Ovan's departing... conciousness? "You always leave before I can tell you what I feel!" mostly because Ovan consistently leaves Haseo in the absolute dark and never once answers his questions or helps him. There's this whole hero worship from Haseo because Ovan was introduced to him by avenging his death and he essentially was everything Haseo would have wanted to be.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 11, 2015 08:17
|
|