.hack//G.U. Last Recode

.hack//G.U. Last Recode for PC and PS4 is a collection of three remastered Japanese RPGs initially released on PlayStation 2. The Last Recode collection comprises 2006's .hack//G.U. vol. 1//Rebirth, 2007’s .hack//G.U. Vol.2//Reminisce, and .hack//G.U. Vol.3//Redemption. Both the original games and their remastered editions have been developed by CyberConnect2.

Plot

The games form a trilogy, thus it is not necessary to know the stories featured in the previous installments of the series. The main protagonist is a gamer by the name Haseo, whose friend has been killed in the virtual world by a player known as Tri-Edge – as a result, she ended up in a coma in the real world.

A player is tasked with taking revenge and discovering what caused this anomaly, which poses a fatal threat to anybody, whose avatar dies in the virtual world

Mechanics

All three games in the PC and PS4 release of the .hack//G.U. Last Recode are classic Japanese RPGs. During the game, a player has to explore the in-game world, complete quests, as well as develop the character and theircompanions. Combat takes place in real-time, however, the action is paused upon opening the menu, allowing a player to select given abilities, items, and spells to use in the battle. In the games, the world surrounding Haseo is not a real one – the main protagonist can log off his computer and e.g. check his mailbox and Internet forums.

Interestingly enough, unlike most remasters, the developers decided not to limit themselves to refresh only the visuals. Instead, Last Recode features improved gameplay mechanics and fixed bugs that bothered the players in the original releases of the trilogy. Moreover, one has the option to repeat a battle, should all the characters happen to die. There is also the new Cheat Mode, in which a player starts the adventure with maximum experience level and best equipment available.

The character now moves much faster; also, the maximum number of carried items has been increased up to 90 for each character. The equipment interface now features a new option to sort and choose items to use multiple times.

In the remastered edition of the trilogy, the battles now do not feature the annoying pauses between issuing an order and executing it. The gameplay has been rebalanced to limit grinding, while players can develop their characters much faster. Moreover, one can pause the game at any moment.

Technical aspects

In comparison to their original releases for PlayStation 2, all three games offer significant visual improvements, the most prominent being 1080p, and 60 FPS. Moreover, both the cutscenes and the interface have been overhauled to fit the new visuals.

Last updated on 21 August 2017