Bandai Namco Celebrates '.hack' Series 20th Anniversary With New Commemorative Projects & Trailer

Never played the original four, but from what I've gathered they weren't as good as the G.U. games and those were... uh, decent. I wouldn't be opposed to a new collection, but I feel like it's not exactly something people are clamoring for.

@SwitchVogel A lot of people love the originals, the problem is their just a product of the time, so if they were remastered they would more than likely be handled differently. There was a lot more freedom with them though than the G.U. games and they had minigames in them that also didn't exist in the G.U. games.

@SwitchVogel Yeah, no. The original games were better even if they are dated by today's standards which could be rectified by relatively simple changes as well as QoL improvements.

Kite Saga, now. It is destiny by this point.

Also, curious if this is Namco's dipping into their back catalogue to see what franchises they can reinvest in. A new .hack would be interesting considering how technology has lunged forward.

It's just further my suspicion since Klonoa is also a thing this year, and rumors of Tekken Tag 2 is getting a port treatment as well.

Never got into the games. I don't remember them getting great reviews. But, given how much the isekai genre has grown, I could see .hack doing very well with an new updated series. I should probably try the games. The story sounds more interesting than the game mechanics.

@Daggot - I think the only thing holding the .hack games in people's hearts is the story. Most mechanics aged pretty fast going back to them. For me though, outside some QoL improvements, I don't necessarily enjoy overhauls to the original games.

But the point made about isekai genre growing is a good one. .hack came out around the same time MMOs were becoming huge, so the idea was an adventurous one at the time. Now with MMOs nearly dead as a genre and isekai being more accepting of an idea, it'd be interesting to see how a new one is accepted.

@Paraka Great point about MMOs being in decline. The combination would make an interesting storyline for .hack. Although, that's basically the for Overlord; where the MMO is shutting down and he gets isekai'd (is that a word? isekai-ed? lol). I think it would be a good time to restart (not reboot) the IP.

Scary thing to think that the series is already this old. The spin-off manga Legend of the Twilight was one of the earliest gateways I had to Japanese media, despite having grown up with other shows or games. Hard to explain, really.

I remember trying the first game and really not getting into it. I wonder if a remaster with a lot of improvements would help matters, but if it does happen, I'd be interested.

@Daggot - The .hack series has a very loose continuity between the original and G.U. So it is entirely possible to continue where they left off with no real loose ends to begin with.

So starting all over may not be entirely necessary.

@Paraka That's why I said restart instead of reboot.

WHEN are they going to make a proper .hack MMO for Switch??

@Daggot - Okay, I took "restart" sort of as a "begin from scratch" way of phrasing it.

Loved the Hack// Legend of Twilight anime as a little lad. Happy 20th!