Genre: Role Playing Game
Platform: Sony Playstation
1999 Square Co. Ltd. Screenshots and images courtesy of Amazon.Com.
Shop: Final Fantasy Games, Strategy Guides and Artbooks, Toys and Figures, DVD, Videos, Music

Cover Description:
A member of an elite military team, Squall is forced into a conflict beyond imagination. To survive, he must content with a desperate rival, a powerful sorceress, and his own mysterious dreams.

Realistic, detailed characters and background graphics enhanced by a breathtaking musical score. An epic story based on the theme of love, set in a massive new world. New Junction System allows characters to be customized with powerful magic spells drawn from enemies. Nearly an hour of stunning motion-captured CG cinemas seamlessly integrated into gameplay.

FAQs / Info:
Semi Walkthrough by Skysenshi
Boss and GFs Battle Guide by Skysenshi
Extra Subquests by Firesenshi
Ultimecia Castle by Skysenshi

Some people think that FF8 is all hype—all graphics and FMVs which are too focused on presentation. But FF8 doesn’t focus on just that. It is clear that FF8’s main strength lies in its very sophisticated character development and gameplay, where it brings the battle system to high development that FF7 revolutionized.

Game developers of Square interviewed on European cable channel MCM said that they thought of FF8 as a painting. They also concentrated on making the characters more involved so that the player would identify more with the character and thus relate more in the story. This answers what FF8 critics say regarding FF8’s story and plot as not being good mainly because it focuses greatly on characters. The fact that Square achieved this expectation with its audience gives them greater lead in RPG development among game developers.

Gameplay 10/10
Other people would say that FF8 is just more on the theme of love and a showcase of fine FMVs. However, FF6’s Espers abilities and FF7’s Materia pairing concepts were what seems to be combined in the Junction system made this one of the defining points in the game. But FF8’s Junction system does have a higher learning curve than most FFs. For my part, it took me while I’m in the middle of the game just to get a hang of it.

What is really a breakthrough here is removal of MP. The fact that you DRAW magic and junction it with your stats for you to learn abilities and summon GFs makes you in control of almost everything. Whoever is the healer or magic user isn’t defined in this game. Mostly, the weapons and the Limit Breaks define a character’s specialty, but unlike in previous RPGs, it is not preset here who is the healer or who is the one who has the higher attack. It is all up to you! Not only is this a major breakthrough where the possibilities of you being able to position the stats of your characters, it is very loyal to Square’s objective of character development.

It is hard though, to think of everything—from stats, to magic, to GF compatibility, to abilities to summoning. But this is all part of the challenge. Much like in FF7 where if you raise one stat by pairing Materia, you can still save yourself by raising another stat if you have the right combination of pairing Materia. This is the same with FF8. In FF9, to learn abilities, you should change weapons or equipment, but that is a big sacrifice! If you change weapons, you’ll decrease a lot of stats and that is not helpful at all! (I really find FF9’s battle system bad because of a lot of things.)

Other things like building weapons by collecting material from enemies, card games where they can be modified into very useful items, and mini-sub quests (although, this is where FF8 lacks from FF7 since FF7 has more fun subquests!) make the gameplay totally challenging and different. New RPGamers might find these things more complex, though.

The short version: The junction system is clearly one of the best gameplays in all FFs because there are a lot of possibilities and a lot of things you can control for your characters. But its main drawback is that since it is more complex, it’ll take more time for new RPGamers to learn it. But for seasoned gamers, this is the most challenging best gameplay of all FFs.

Story 7/10
As what is said earlier, since Square did not seem to focus on story but rather on character development, FF8’s story can still be a memorable cinematic experience. The futuristic background blends well with all the fine elements of magic and machine, which did not seem like a very likely combination, but hey, it was done here! Other than that, there are many twists in the story that really make you think. Excellent climaxes and surprises that especially center on love make you hold on until midnight just to play. The FF8 World where all other Gardens exist is even probable.

But sometimes, it’s just all way too complex! There are many debates on time travel and FF8 opens a lot more for that. There seems to be many questions after you play. Didn’t you feel that sometimes you just go, ”Huh?”

The characters here are the main specialty. Each has its own unique personality that matches even with the abilities and their limit breaks. The villains themselves are enigmatic. Who can ever forget Edea or Seifer? Edea isn’t shown much in the second part but everyone remembers her! For one thing though, Squall has an attitude that makes people want to hate him. In FF9, though, Zidane’s character is totally different because you find a character without the cluelessness of both Cloud and Terra, and the attitude problem of Squall.

The short version: Magic and machines? In FF8 World, it very well shows that these two can mix wonderfully in a futuristic theme. The plot has a lot of loopholes especially in time travel and sometimes, it’s just too complex! But the concepts surrounding it, especially the development and charm of the characters are the best stuff!

Audio/Video 9/10
The FMVs are great and wonderful. Isn’t this what other people are saying the ”hype” is all about without considering how challenging the gameplay is? Finer CGs here. You can clearly see the faces of the characters here and how very well the CGs defined each character’s hair and facial expression.

Each character is like Parasite Eve’s cinematic theme. They’re all gone from cutesy ”chibi” mode to normal shaped characters. We thought this takes out the charm of RPGs but FF8 disproves just that. They all fit very well into the theme, unlike FF9’s ”chibi” modes until the CG where the characters appear distorted and physically abnormal. (hey! In FF7, they were all in ”chibi” mode but in the FMVs!!!)

Nobuo Uematsu’s music here isn’t one of his best works, as some Playstation magazine claims. Hmm…. didn’t Edea’s ”Fithos… Lusec…” theme just chill you out of your hair?

Replayability 9/10
Because there are endless possibilities, you can be sure that the outcome of your characters may be different next time. This is like in FF7 where when pairing different materia, say as best example, the Final Attack Materia when paired with different magic can give you the best result.

Like FF7, the story may be unilinear (there is only one ending), but just as in FF7 there are many ways to defeat the Ruby Weapon, there are also many ways to defeat the
Ultima Weapon in FF8.

To buy or rent? BUY!!!
I think this is by far the best FF ever. I played this a year ago and I’m now on FF9 and I must say that FF9 did not pick up where FF8 left off especially in terms of battle system.

I guess, that must be an unfair comparison since FF9 is an attempt for Square to get back to basics on its nostalgic trip, being that FF9 is the last game on the PSX, but still FF8 fares better.

FF8 has a lot of challenges, just like FF7! Although FF7 has more fun subquests but still something that gamers should take seriously, FF8 improved everything from CG to gameplay.

Most important of all, FF8 is more memorable from start to finish. Those of us here who played it were chilled from the opening CG alone and the ending was just very beautiful.

Should you call it sentimental, at least the ending did not really leave a bleak note unlike in FF6 or FF7. And FF9… well… storywise it is better, but I find the gameplay totally faulty. Besides, up until now, I remember Squall, Rinoa and Edea and I’m on FF9!

Genre: Role Playing Game
Platform: Playstation 2
2001-2002 Squaresoft. Screenshots and images courtesy of Amazon.Com.
Shop: Final Fantasy Games, Strategy Guides and Artbooks, Toys and Figures, DVD, Videos, Music

Amazon.com (Editorial) Product Description:
Final Fantasy X is the first title in this landmark RPG series to be released for the PlayStation2. The main characters are Tidus, a star of blitzball (a hugely popular sport in the Final Fantasy universe), and Yuna, who has learned the art of summoning and controlling aeons, powerful spirits of yore. These two people of different backgrounds must work together as they journey through the world of Spira. This installment of Final Fantasy has a distinctly Asian influence, bringing a fresh feel to the characters, music, settings, and story.

Features include voice-overs for the first time in the series (utilizing the Facial Motion System), high-polygon, motion-captured player characters designed by Tetsuya Nomura, and a camera that automatically adjusts its perspective to correspond with the movements of the characters — a feature now possible because the game is largely polygonal.

First off, I would like to make it clear that what I’m about to discuss is Final Fantasy X International Version (FFXi). Firesenshi would be the one writing a review for the regular FFX game, so those who are so hooked into FFX would do well to wait for her take on it. Our experiences of the game are almost starkly different from each other, which only means that the version really matters. But first, the good parts…

Story and Characters
You basically have seven party members: Tidus, the ace blitzball player; Yuna, the summoner; Wakka, the retired blitzball player and guardian of the summoner Yuna; Lulu, the black mage; Kimahri, the hornless Ronso; Rikku, the naughty Yuffie-like Al Bhed; and Auron, Tidus’ father’s friend. All of which have lives that are chronicled quite well in the story. Everyone gets equal focus, with the exception of Tidus, of course, since he is the lead character.

Tidus becomes you. As Tidus, you are the star player of the Zanarkand Abes. You are great. Everyone loves you. You have everything else you can ask for in this world. But deep inside, your father’s shadow looms over you ominously. He is the player that you think you will never be. With this depressing thought in mind, you get ready for your next game. Again you think of your father…just as this being known as Sin arrives and destroys your city, your fans, and your entire life right before your very eyes. Amidst all the turmoil, you are thrown 1,000 years into the future. Or was it that you were unconscious for 1,000 years and woke up in a completely changed world? You make friends, but their lives are nearly devoid of any form of enjoyment. Sin has been their greatest fear since time immemorial. Suddenly, everyone’s problem—Sin—becomes your own and for every mystery you uncover with your new allies, a horrifying realization dawns. This adventure is your story. And your story might spell the end of your existence…

What can I say? The approach for the FFX storyline is quite different. There really aren’t any surprises because all the facts have been laid out from the very beginning. Gawd knows how many hints have been scattered here and there that would tell you the real score. So don’t expect much of twists as to who is Sin, or what’s behind Auron’s mysterious countenance, or should Seymour the blessed Guado be considered a highly suspicious person. I’m saying the approach is different because the writers purposely placed a dark cloud full of tragedies hanging over your head while you fight your way to the final battle. You already know that the outcome would be tragic, yet you go on. And with the stunning visuals and sound effects, you can’t help but be moved. I even cried. I don’t think I remember crying over any other Final Fantasies.

Visuals
The most obvious of all the good things this game has to offer is of course the highly sophisticated near lifelike graphics. All the FMVs of the characters look so real that you’d be praying they’d be actual people you can have a crush on (*ahem* Lulu for the guys and Tidus for the girls). Even non-FMV CGs have improved tremendously, especially the summons. Shiva, in particular, who is a mainstay in all Final Fantasies, has evolved into a lovely goddess that suspiciously resembles supermodel Elizabeth Hurley. The only thing I find quite weird is that Yuna in the FMV looks different from her regular self. Other than that, I have no complaints in this department. In fact, I’m even happier that Square finally realized we’d want to view those FMVs again, so now you can buy these movies in one of the FFX towns.

Sounds
Another department worth a non-stop applause. Truly, Nobuo Uematsu has outdone himself yet again. Of course he’s not alone. Junya Nakano and Masashi Hamauzu helped create a dramatic overall feel into this piece of work. If the piano intro hasn’t touched your heart yet, wait till you hear Suteki Da Ne. I would bet my love life that the FMV where this song is featured would be one of the most replayed movies in your adventure. I would like to go on and on about the wonderful soundtrack of this series, but I figure I should save that for my FFX OST review. The good news is, like the movies, you can also buy sound spheres from the same place where you buy the FMVs.

Gameplay and Battle System
What you’ll definitely miss here are the abilities to explore the world map and to level up. But the sphere grid system is definitely another groundbreaking innovation brought to you by Squaresoft. This is quite difficult to explain but you have this map-like structure known as the sphere grid, which contains all the skills you can have your characters learn while you go along the way. For every battle you finish, you earn AP and these are converted into “moves” that you can use to progress in the sphere grid. The more AP you earn, the more moves you can make, the more skills you can acquire.

What I appreciate about this sphere grid is that you can actually customize your characters. Sure, it’s already been established that Lulu is your black mage, Kimahri is the blue mage/dragoon, Rikku is the thief, but you have the option to mess things up and make your characters go through different paths on the grid.

Each party member has his or her own Limit Break gauge called Overdrive. This is similar to FF7 and 8’s Limit Breaks and FF9’s Trance. In the previous FFs, the gauges charge when an enemy hits the character. This time, however, you can set your Overdrives. You can decide whether it will charge if the character gets hit, his ally gets hit, when he hits, when it’s his turn, when he heals, when he wins a battle…Actually there are about 17 Overdrive options available to the player, depending on what he’s been able to activate.

One other important battle fact to note is that the summons, also called Aeons in this game, can now fight like regular party members. And, like regular characters, your Aeons also have Overdrives.

Other Features
True to Final Fantasy tradition, you still have time to enjoy yourself by playing some extra games. This time you can do blitzball, an underwater soccer game, and even participate in chocobo races to get some rare items. Unfortunately, I didn’t find blitzball as exciting as FF8’s card game and the chocobo race here is nowhere near as fun as FF7’s. In fact, while I’ve always found chocobos to be cute, I couldn’t help but want to shoot them here. The controls for riding them are a mess and you never really have a chance to develop your own high breed chocobo.

FFX International Extras
Well, this is where 90% of my gripes come in. See, the reason why I bought FFX International and not the regular FFX game is that I’ve heard that the plot closure that wasn’t in the original FFX would be found here. That was all I wanted to see. I didn’t really expect the FFXi extras to actually ruin my enjoyment.

True enough, FFXi is more difficult and I do understand why. The bosses in FFX are quite easy. Many of them are susceptible to status attacks. The game itself is too easy. You already have a map that tells you where to go, and auto-scan weapons that tell you your enemies’ weaknesses without spending MP. So the developers up and made FFXi more challenging by placing ridiculously difficult bosses, with equally ridiculous amounts of HP, over the sub quest areas. What frustrates me is that I couldn’t go through areas—that regular FFX players can just go in and out of—without running into an eternally berserk Dark Aeon.

Like for instance, I went back to this dungeon where I could get the key to Tidus’ special weapon, and whoa! Dark Bahamut comes in and wipes out my party with an attack that takes out 99,999HP. He might as well have cast death over me. It would’ve had the same effect. I go to another area, Besaid Village, to retrieve some sub quest items and what do I find? Dark Valefor! And like Bahamut, he takes out my party with the same moves without giving me a chance to even run away. Oh yes, there’s also everyone’s beloved optional boss Omega—except FFX players were able to defeat him with the same stats I had. How? While Omega had a paltry 99,999HP in FFX, he had 999,999HP in FFXi. That one extra “9″ made a whole lot of difference. Yes still seems easy to defeat. He had a very obvious pattern. But I don’t want to spend the next few hours trying to wear him down. Truthfully, FF5’s Omega was much more difficult in that his battle tactics require more thought. FFX’s Omega only requires patience.

There must be a way to defeat them, you say. Yes there is. You have to get all the legendary weapons and go through the entire sphere grid to max out your stats. In short, you have to have a whole lot of leveling up and a whole load of tedious tasks to do. Maxing out your sphere grid takes the pleasure away from having customized characters because by then all your characters would have the same stats, the same skills, and the same abilities. Now where’s the fun and challenge in that? Also, in my refusal to fight all these ultra beefed-up Aeons, I lost the pleasure of exploration. I’ve accomplished very few sub quests and my game ended too soon.

Was it worth it? I should’ve just played the original FFX. I never lacked buddies who were able to view the extra movie anyway. If I had done that, I would have been able to enjoy the game and just wonder about the extra clip later.

Player Status:
Difficulty: Easy (FFX) - Difficult (FFXi)
Completion Time: 52+ hours
Highest Level Achieved: N.A. (Auron with 7K+ HP; Yuna with 3K+ HP)
Ratings: Gameplay 10; Battle 10; Story 9; Visuals 10; Characters 10; Sounds 10; Replay Value 5

Genre: Role Playing Game
Platform: Playstation 2
2002-2003 SquareEnix. Screenshots and images courtesy of Amazon.Com.
Shop: Final Fantasy Games, Strategy Guides and Artbooks, Toys and Figures, DVD, Videos, Music

Cover Description:
Taking place two years after Yuna’s fateful journey to defeat Sin, the once chaotic world “Eternal Calm.” The people of Spira now shun the teachings of Yevon and have opened their arms to former foes, the Al Bhed and the use of machina. It is a time of the “Machina Revolution” where people now believe that machina is useful and beneficial, as long as it is used properly. However, even with the peaceful life they now lived, there is emptiness in Yuna’s heart that is keeping her from moving on as others have. One day, Yuna obtains a mystical sphere that contains imagery of what might be the Blitzball player she thought was gone forever. Although Yuna isn’t certain that it is him or if he is even alive, she’s driven to seek him out. Yuna needs closure to their unexpected parting, even if only to find that she will never see him again. So begins her journey. This is Yuna’s story.

WARNING: For those who haven’t played FFX or FFXi, please keep away from this write-up. This page is a land mine of FFX spoilers.

Two years (of Spira time) after we bawled our eyes out in Final Fantasy X, we see that “The Calm” had changed the way everyone lives. No longer do they fear going out or going after their desired futures. Sin is no longer there to take away friends and loved ones.

But then Spira has been divided into two factions: The Youth League and the New Yevon. And Yuna, along with Rikku and a new colleague, Paine, had formed the Gullwings—a group of sphere mercenaries who’ll do anything for a good adventure. So…dare we take a peek at how our guys and gals are doing?

Audiovisuals
We’ve experienced the good stuff in FFX. Now it’s time to bring our senses to greater heights. With so many new characters, as well as getting reunited with the old ones, you can’t help but drool at how natural everyone acts. You even get to see Yuna sing and dance. How’s that for a change of scenery? I must admit, however, that Yuna’s face looks a whole lot prettier in FFX than here. And though I might think that Paine has the loveliest face of the three, her 80’s punk rocker getup and that horrid horrid hairdo just don’t sit well with me. Rikku is as cute as ever, of course. The only downside to this is that FFX-2 can use more FMVs.

The sounds are a fusion of techno, jazz and a whole gamut of other eclectic tastes. Very chic and classy. I might almost believe what one of my male friends said about this game being targeted towards girls with fondness for Charlie’s Angels. One beautiful ballad to remember is 1,000 Words (or Sen no Kotoba in the Japanese version). The FMV where that particular song played really brought me to tears. Gotta love that warm and fuzzy feeling.

By the way, you won’t be hearing the trademark Final Fantasy battle victory theme here.

Gameplay and Battle System
This is where most of my frustrations lie. See, if you wish to concentrate on the story, you’ll realize that this game is rather short. Most of it is made up of side quests and the actual plot takes a back seat. There are three totally different endings and it depends on what side quests you did and didn’t do. I’m ranting about this because I believe FFX-2 has a very low replay value despite having a New Game Plus feature. It isn’t like a bishoujo game you can repeat over and over and not be exhausted. It isn’t Chrono Cross, which has an EX mode that you can end anytime after you get your first ending. Most importantly, FFX-2 is not short like Parasite Eve. Most of the FFX-2 side quests and missions that you’re required to do in order to get the Good and Perfect Endings are nuisances, to say the least. You may subject yourself to mini-games that you’d rather not be bothered with, especially as some of them are mind-numbingly tedious. You think things would be easier with the New Game Plus? Hah! If you want to get the Perfect Ending the first time around, I advise you to arm yourself FFX-2 Ultimania or a well-written strategy guide. It’s nigh impossible to achieve this on your own.

Spoiler Notes for the Normal Ending: I think it’s grossly unfair that Yuna kept pairing up “soul mates” during the entire game—from monkeys to amusement park heirs. She even solves a 1,000 year old love problem! And yet she ends up with nothing for herself. No Tidus. No love life. So if you don’t want to grit your teeth in frustration, strive to get that Perfect Ending.

The battle system is fairly easy to comprehend. It isn’t as complicated as FFX’s sphere grid, wherein there are multiple rooms for errors. You could end up with one very weak-assed party member (Tidus) while the rest of them (Wakka and Auron) would do maximum damage. FFX-2 introduces the Dress Sphere. It’s a concept very similar to FFV’s job system. You gain several dress spheres that let you play different roles such as songstress, white mage, black mage, samurai, berserker, dark knight, alchemist and more. With this arrangement, I like the fact that you’re only concentrating on Yuna, Rikku and Paine, as opposed to developing so many party members. This prevents you from drowning in too many jobs. What’s even more exciting here is that you can change jobs within a battle, letting you see ultra hip transformation sequences you thought you’d only see in SailorMoon.

The downside? You literally bitchslap baddies from Chapter 1 to Chapter 5. If you thought FFX was easy, you haven’t played FFX-2 just yet. The bosses are as difficult as shampooing your hair. And the traditional Omega Weapon is a regular enemy. I must’ve complained too much about Omega’s 999,999HP in my FFXi review that the developers decided to cut us demure and delicate RPGirls some slack. Okay, so I cheesed my way from the first till the very last chapter. I probably shouldn’t complain about it being too easy this time, as Square might make my life a living hell come FFXII.

Story and Characters
The good thing about doing the side quests is that you uncover some branches of the story for the people who aren’t Yuna-centered. You wanna know what happened to Wakka and Lulu? Or the score between Paine and the three hotties—err, men—that dominate the Spira factions? Whatever happened to Khimari and the Ronsos? You’ll meet new characters like the feisty LeBlanc and the mysterious Maechen that will definitely spice up your game time.

Yuna herself has transformed from the annoyingly submissive and perfect wallflower of FFX to a first class pop idol that makes a fool of herself from time to time. I found myself laughing over some of her antics, which almost match Rikku’s. Paine’s exasperated lines, uttered in bored and calm tones, are also fun to hear.

The story? Well, I do wish that they had retained the Final Fantasy tradition of having a linear ending, especially as there are many FFX gamers who just want closure. I was itching to get to the bottom of things, but I was aghast to find that I had to endure non-cloister trials only to end up with nothing on the first try.

Overall, I was actually happy with FFX-2. I was happier not worrying about getting the Good or Perfect Ending, because that meant a less stressful gaming experience. I recommend finishing this as best you can—without walkthroughs—and then just drag an obsessive-compulsive friend to do the hard work for you. Then you can watch his/her ending. Heh.

Individual Rating: Player Status:
Difficulty: Easy
Completion Time: 45+ hours
Highest Level Achieved: Paine 76, Rikku 74, Yuna 72
Ratings: Gameplay 7; Battle 10; Story 7; Visuals 10; Characters 10; Sounds 10; Replay Value 3

Genre: Role Playing Game
Platform: Playstation 2
Credits: 2001-2003 Bandai, Project Hack, CyberConnect2. Screenshots courtesy of Amazon.Com
Shop: .hack Game Shop, .hack Strategy Guides, DVD, Toys and Games, Music

Skysenshi’s Description:
You are Kite, a newbie who starts playing the bestselling game The World. You enter a portal that brings you to different worlds-from grasslands, to deserts, to volcanic plains. Sometime during your exploration, however, you discover a glitch in the system that puts a friend in danger and your existence at stake. You investigate to get to the bottom of the mystery and new friends come along to help you in your quest. Time is of the essence, because you come to the realization that The World is not just an ordinary game. It is something else. And that something else is affecting the real lives of its players.

.hack//infection is a welcome innovation in the realm of RPG. With so many things to do in such a short span of time, one can’t help but get addicted. Let’s start with the basics first.

Audiovisuals
While not exactly Final Fantasy X material in terms of graphics, .hack//infection looks pretty good. I actually expected it to be an anime look-alike, seeing as this game goes hand-in-hand with its various anime incarnates, but the developers opted to use 3D CG characters and scenarios. The sounds are decent, not really groundbreaking, but it’s pretty much above average. The best part of the audiovisual options is that you can change your settings, whether you want English with English subtitles or Japanese with English subtitles etc., anytime during your play.

Battle System
.hack//infection makes use of active time controls. Those who are used to turn-based RPGs might have to sharpen their reflexes, as there are a lot of menus to flip. You also control your party members’ menus so you switch between theirs and yours while you try to hack away at enemies and bosses. The battle system is similar to, but a little more complex than, Star Ocean.

You have skills, which can be used depending on what weapon or armor you’re wearing. The same case applies to your companions. You just have to toggle between using First Aid or Skills in battle so you can assure your party’s survival.

Gameplay
This is what makes .hack//infection quite different from your usual RPG. You are actually online . Your default view is your desktop computer, with icons lined up on the left side. You can check your email, read the news, change your desktop view/wallpaper, play music and movies, and save your data. You can also play The World, the popular online game that takes you to different adventures.

In the World, you can participate in message boards (BBS) and visit different servers to develop your character. When you want to go on an adventure, you just need to input a few keywords to activate worlds-there seem to be an infinite number of them, so you won’t get bored easily. You can level up without dying of ennui because you don’t have to sit in one place while developing your characters. With so many dungeons and fields to explore, you won’t run out of new items to pick-up and new enemies to add to your list.

You don’t gain money from battles. You just gain experience points (EXP). You advance in level for every 1,000 EXP you gain. To earn money, all you have to do is sell equipment or items that you don’t feel you need. You just go world hopping if you feel like you don’t have enough or trade with other players for items they might need. Don’t sell everything, though, because some of your party members might need new equipment to upgrade their skills. In this case, you give these items to your friends as gifts.

Noteworthy Features

• Grunty Raising - Grunties are cute beasties that resemble overgrown pigs. You can raise them yourself. They make good trading partners, depending on how you raise them. Of course, there was this time I first raised a.well, it was a gay grunty screaming, “Amore!” and “Oh, André!” It was amusing, to say the least.
• Field and Dungeon Exploration - Never boring. In fact, the items and chests “reload” when you log out and log back on.
• Skill Points - Similar to MP in most RPGs. Your magic and skills are dependent on this gauge. Why is it noteworthy? Well, the SP gauge replenishes itself so you don’t have to use SP items unless you are in a battle and need fast relief.
• Ryu Books - Special Key Items that lets you add more extras for your desktop.
• Data Transfer - Liked the first .hack installment? Well, make sure you finish it till the end credits because it will make your data transferable to the next .hack. Another feature that’s nice about .hack is that you can still play around with your desktop, especially your email, and go into sub quests even after you’ve officially finished it.

So, is there any gripe I could name for .hack//infection? Well, there’s one. There are no save points inside dungeons. I felt the need for them in particularly difficult boss battles because I didn’t want to go through long and winding dungeon paths all over again. But this is just a minor complaint. The game’s already too easy enough as it is, especially with the self-regenerating SP and items. What’s one minor difficulty, ne?

If you’re looking for an addictive game to add into your list of favorites, give this one a try. I assure you, it’s far more involving than a lot of newer PS2 games around.

Players Status:
Difficulty: Easy - Moderate
Completion Time: 20-30 hours
Highest Level Achieved: 34
Ratings: Gameplay 10; Battle 10; Story 9; Visuals 8; Characters 9; Sounds 8; Replay Value 9

Genre: Role Playing Game
Platform: Playstation 2
Credits: 2001-2003 Bandai, Project Hack, CyberConnect2. Screenshots courtesy of Amazon.Com
Shop: .hack Game Shop, .hack Strategy Guides, DVD, Toys and Games, Music

Cover Description:
As the outlaw player, Kite, you’re on a mission of truth. Take a journey into a virtual world where anything is possible and nothing as it appears. Fight your way through contaminated levels of cyberspace as you take on and eliminate enemies, and unlock codes that will allow you to gate hack to even more environments-all in a desperate attempt to discover what’s behind The World.

• Bring your saved data from Part I and hit the ground running in Part 2 with your leveled up character and items.
• Simulated MMORPG: no internet connection required!
• Dual Voiceover: choose either English or Japanese for a totally immersive experience.
• Multiple Quests with detailed environments that transform in real time.
• Combine Keywords to generate customized fields.
• From the creators of Ghost in the Shell and Evangelion! Includes a separate DVD containing an exclusive 30 minute original Anime movie! Watch it and uncover clues to solve the mystery of .hack.

For those who are new to the world of dotHack, I would suggest that you read my earlier review of it first. This is only because all the basic things that I should be saying here in .hack//MUTATION have actually already been said in the first part,.hack//INFECTION. The only difference? After Infection, I’ve started to play an actual MMORPG in the form of Ragnarok Online and the exposure to the real one, as opposed to a mere simulation, turns out to be an eye-opener.

You think .hack//MUTATION was repetitive? Hah! Try going through Ragnarok Online, leveling up for hours, which turn to weeks, which turn to months, and then going through the realization that you’re still not at the desired level that would allow your character to be promoted. Unless you don’t have a real life, a social life, or work…that is.

Like it’s father, INFECTION, this game allows you to see just how many experience points exactly are you getting from an enemy and if fighting that enemy in that dungeon is actually worth it. You can see how an opponent that used to give you 150 experience points slowly become stingy, until you can only get 3’s or 1’s. The bottom line: You need 1,000 points per level. The number doesn’t get higher, so you’re not left psychologically disheartened by an impossibly high numerical goal. I hate it when a game makes you suspect that you’ve been leveling up forever.

I actually used MUTATION as a substitute for Ragnarok in those hours that I don’t feel like going through an extremely real, overcrowded server and cursing just about every jerk that try to steal my kill or loot (or sexually harass my poor female character). The dungeons may look similar but they’re very very different—in structure, enemy difficulty, and treasures. You don’t spend months in one particular location, killing the same opponents and generally tearing your hair out in frustration.

There are no looters. No killstealers. No online sex offenders. Because everyone gets the same experience no matter if you’re just standing in the background, healing your comrades. Treasures respawn quickly. Gifts are given without strings attached. And since there are thousands of dungeons possible in so many 3-word combinations, chances of running into unethical players are nil.

dotHack has the good idea: the users database is separate from the actual gaming servers. That way, you could actually choose which server you want to log into, without having to change characters or develop a new one. The downside: If this were a real MMORPG, players would still be crowding towns because each server only has limited levels. For instance, in Lambda server, you can only get into levels 30-50 dungeons. So if there were 20 million players online, as the game suggests, 1/4th of that would probably be in Lambda…annoying the hell out of each other.

In INFECTION, I only had one gripe. Now I have two. I’m still whining about the save points. Real MMORPGs shouldn’t have to have save points except when a character dies. There should be respawn points, not save points. When you get disconnected from the internet, does that mean you have to re-log into The World and then to the town? That shouldn’t be the case. On the other hand, at least you don’t need to ask another player to warp you to a far far far town/dungeon for a price.

My second complaint is the gift-giving part. There are times when I make a mistake and give the wrong equipment to the wrong party member. The problem is, I can give but I can’t receive. I can’t take back what I erroneously gave! Some of my party members would say, “Wow, what a great weapon! I’ll repay you next time.” It’s been the second game and none of them have ever repaid me. If this were a real MMORPG, I would be reporting my party members as scammers and have them deleted by the admin. It’s not like I knew them offline before I played The World anyway.

In any case, now that Ragnarok’s novelty has almost worn off, I’d say the dotHack series is still the better game and could stand a great chance of surviving even if it becomes a real MMORPG. But of course, judging from the environment and current events on my desktop, I’m guessing this wouldn’t become real until the next century. Too bad.

Oh and before I forget, Mimiru from the .hack//SIGN anime does a cameo here.

Players Status:
Difficulty: Easy - Moderate
Completion Time: 20-30 hours
Highest Level Achieved: 34
Ratings: Gameplay 10; Battle 10; Story 9; Visuals 8; Characters 9; Sounds 8; Replay Value 9