Others say...

"A Grand Finale"
This being the last game of the ".hack//G.U. Series", one would expect it to go out with a bang. You get a decent amount of "bang" for your buck with this game. A TON of new characters to call upon, a plethora of new sidequests to challenge you, and an engrossing story to keep you entertained.

That being said, this game, in terms of graphics and gameplay dynamics, is identical to it's predecessors "Volume 1: Rebirth" and Volume 2: Reminisce". While this is not a bad thing, at the same time it would have been nice to see some improvements made to the core game itself. Rather than adding this feature and that feature, they should have focused on evening out the difficulty curve, and working with their localization team, to ease the Japanese-English translation (there are moments in Volume 3 that are reminiscent of old Bruce Lee films, unsychronized dialogue in places it shouldn't be).

While these things don't make Volume 3 a bad game by any means, one would hope that by the third game in the series, that CyberConnect Corp (the creators of the .hack series in general) would have learned from their mistakes with the previous games.

A good game overall, that I would recommend to any RPG fan out there.

"A satisfying conclusion...."
Our world.... "The World"... and the virus that threatens to destroy them both.

The first two games of this series (which itself is a sequel/continuation of the original .hack series, and goes with the animie ".hack//ROOTS"), tell us about Haseo, a player in the immensely popular MMORPG "The World", the people Haseo encounters throughout the game, and the threat that makes itself known to the players and the world as AIDA.

A good chunk of this game is "more of the same"; you level, you do quests, you get emails, you fight in the tournament. This was the only part that bored me, though often the plot winds its way through the various events in the game. The plot is very well written, with a few good twists, and fans of the original .hack series will be very pleased to see familiar faces and places that they knew and loved.

Fight the Sage Emperor Taihaku, learn the secrets behind the enigmatic Ovan, and save The World...!

"Incredibly fun game from a series that flew under the radar."
The first .hack series garnered more press than it deserved. Indeed, while the premise was very interesting, ultimately, the games were ridiculously short, and the sideparts were either far too short or incredibly boring (like the item collection at the end of volume 4).

Bandai must have heard the criticisms, because this three-game series sported games which clocked in at 50+ hours, with very nice (if repetitive) quests, an interesting story and lead character, and a fun experience all around. Volume 3, though, takes the cake.

I won't spoil the storyline, but I think it's a well-crafted ending for this trilogy. We meet new characters (lots of them, in fact!), save "The World," and again engage in sidequests. While some of them are indeed repetitive (such as the mecha grunty quest), there are some great payoffs (such as a mecha grunty side story). Moreover, the marriage ending is one of the funniest and best endings to a game ever (and yes, Haseo can get in touch with his inner woman, and marry Endrance should you choose). There is a 100 floor dungeon (the so-called "Forest of Pain"), together with secret items galore. I am sad that many of the new items won't get their just due - it would have been nice for Bandai to release a ".hack: G.U. Epilogue" just to see how these uber-weapons and super armors would play against tough foes. But all in all, I was very impressed with this series.

I dropped the game one star because some of the sidequests were just TOO repetitive, and also because I can't figure out how to get my favorite song "We are the Grunties!" to play during bike races. But in all seriousness, this is a well-crafted game, and deserving of the forty bucks it costs.

".hack and .slash forever"
With seven games to this series, and an inexhaustible supple of anime, film, toys, etc., the Dot Hack series has reached the heights of longevity shared by very few RPG's. Final Fantasy is the undeniable owner of the title, both in terms of number of episodes and sheer quality, but Dot Hack will always be a contender. And more to the point, a lot of fun as well. The premise of these games is that a multi-player online fantasy game can become larger than life and that threats within the game can endanger the real world. The first 4 games in this series were based on Kite, a young player who finds himself caught up in the game beneath the game. This set of games established the basic pattern - basically a dungeon game with a number of sidequests,

This second series - 'G.U.' - continues this pattern, this time centered on a new set of characters led by Haseo. Haseo, seeking vengeance for the loss of his girlfriend as become an avid killer of player killers whose nickname is 'The Terror of Death.' One of the things that make the three 'G.U.' an improvement over the original games is the strong element of character depth and development. Haseo starts out unlikable and, as the conflict with the viral AIDA develops, becomes more the responsible leader and hero and less the bitter killer. By the end of the game there are some twenty characters that Haseo can team with, oppose AIDA with, or even propose to.

Along with the quality of character the storyline has become more detailed and logical. And the character enemies have become more interesting as well. This last stanza carefully ties many of the threads together. The game uses the interactions in the game, in addition to resources in the computer interface such as emails and discussion groups, to drive the plot forward. In fact, one of the most noticeable flaws in the game is that faithfully reading your emails will drive the story forward faster than you want to go. Of course, this is one of the few games that will let you play all the sidequests after the main story completes but I found this a bit unsatisfactory. But there is a lot of gameplay here in any case.

The game offers a considerable number of sidequests and internal games to keep anyone happy. There's a fight card game where you can go on quests for special cards and challenge other players. There's motorcycle races and arena fights. All of this in addition to the find every one thing or another quests. There is a enough game time here to play until you are senseless. Since this is the last in a long series most of you know what to expect and I promise you that that is exactly what you will get. If you are new to the series I suggest you track down at least the previous two games if you want to understand the plot and the characters.

Now, what should I do until .hack starts up once again?

"Best yet!"
.hack//GU Vol. 3 is the last game in the second series of .hack games, meaning it has the conclusion to the much improved G.U. series contained within. While not necessary to have owned and played the last two in the series, you really should for the most enjoyment.

The series continues with smooth graphics, and a nice cel-shaded style that doesn't look cheaply done, not to mention the gameplay isn't nearly as monotonous as the old series (don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the story of the older games... but they were boring to PLAY). You also get Haseo's Xth form in this game, which adds new ways to play even now.

I fully recommend this game to any fan of the .hack franchise, and to many of you who never got into it, but thought it looked interesting. Even some of you who've never heard it before. It really is one of my favorite game series, particularly within the selection of the PS2.