NEW .HACK GAME ANNOUNCED BY CC2

[[Dill]]

ANN article
Siliconera article

ANN

This week's issue of Enterbrain's Weekly Famitsu magazine is revealing that the latest .hack game is planned after next month's .hack//The Movie anime. Work on both the film and the game were launched simultaneously as part of the ".hack 3rd season" project.

Hiroshi Matsuyama, the head of .hack's CyberConnect2 studio, said in an interview in Famitsu that he cannot reveal which hardware that the new game will run on. However, he emphasized that graphics are being rendered in real-time (as opposed to pre-rendered). He acknowledged that the ".hack 3rd season" project has taken a turn for photorealism after the anime-influenced look of the previous titles.

Famitsu published preliminary images from the game this week. When Famitsu asked Matsuyama if the images show Haseo (the protagonist of the earlier .hack//G.U. games), Matsuyama simply answered, "It is Haseo." However, when Famitsu pressed him ("Is it that Haseo?"), he responded, "I can't answer that yet! (laughs)"

OH SNAP GUYS.

OH SNAP.

Images from the Famitsu scan are in the ANN article!  

[Darkly_Doomed]

emotion_kirakira blaugh heart blaugh emotion_kirakira blaugh heart emotion_kirakira blaugh heart emotion_kirakira blaugh heart blaugh emotion_kirakira blaugh heart emotion_kirakira blaugh heart emotion_kirakira blaugh heart blaugh emotion_kirakira blaugh heart emotion_kirakira blaugh heart emotion_kirakira blaugh heart blaugh emotion_kirakira blaugh heart emotion_kirakira blaugh heart emotion_kirakira blaugh heart blaugh emotion_kirakira blaugh heart emotion_kirakira blaugh heart emotion_kirakira blaugh heart blaugh emotion_kirakira blaugh heart emotion_kirakira blaugh heart
*ahem* I think that properly expresses my internal reaction to this news. It better come out in English! scream  

[Robotic Draconian]

HOLY s**t! I THOUGHT THEY WERE DONE WITH .HACK!

...WOOHOO!  

[fk12]

I'M STILL SUSPICIOUS OF .HACK// ANYTHING NOW THANKS TO //LINK.

But I just want this to be good, so that in the off chance this is the ~*last .hack// game ever*~ which //Link was supposed to be so it's unlikely, it at least goes out with some dignity.

But I see they still re-use character designs yet again. Oh, CC2.  

[[Dill]]

Kotaku uploaded some of the first higher res images from the game, thanks to Famitsu.



Holy crap.  

[TheRaggedQueen]

Haseo sure looks happy to see all his fans again.  

[Mobius92]

Yes please! emotion_kirakira  

[[Dill]]

New Siliconera article, with information on both the movie, the game, and just how related their plots are.

Things confirmed because of this article:
- The movie will take place a few years after the events of .hack//Link in the year 2024, while the new game will take place one year after the movie.
- The game protagonist will be Haseo, or someone with a Haseo character model.
- Aura will be a major part of the plot of the movie with some form of "big twist" promised, after the events of .hack//Link. .hack//Link still has not been brought outside Japan, which will likely leave even more questions for english viewers.
- The game plot is heavily affected by the movie, such that playing the game without watching the movie may leave players with some questions.
- New art direction. Hiroshi Matsuyama, in his interview with Famitsu, confirms this, saying that they wanted to give the game a slightly photorealistic feel.

So, the game is a sequel to the movie, which itself is a sequel to Link. Still no confirmation on system.

Welp.  

[fk12]

- The game protagonist will be Haseo, or someone with a Haseo character model.
I really hope it's the former, then. Because .hack//, as much as I loved you, "Hey look, it's a new character with the old character's design!!!" is getting kind of overused. Kind of... a lot. I swear to god if they use Kite's design in it beyond Movie Chick, I will have no words.

- Aura will be a major part of the plot of the movie with some form of "big twist" promised [...]
.hack//, as directed by M. Night Shyamalan.

- New art direction. Hiroshi Matsuyama, in his interview with Famitsu, confirms this, saying that they wanted to give the game a slightly photorealistic feel.
Oh. 8|a Unsure how to feel about this. .hack// are you trying to pull a reverse The Wind Waker? Though I guess I can't complain, it does look kind of pretty.



Overall I guess I'm still wary. I want to like this, really, I do! But I think I'll have a hard time enjoying it if it makes me acknowledge //Link. Ignoring, of course, the fact I don't even have a PS3 so I'll probably never play it anyway.  

[Robotic Draconian]

Personally, I preferred the more anime style of the games.

 

[Kyoki DirzettE]

I've seen a few news updates on it on tumblr and on the twitter thing I follow. I'm REALLY excited for it, even though I wish I wasn't because it will likely only come out in Japan. I'm still wishing I had the money and stuff to buy //Link, but I have a couple of the manga so that's been satisfying my need for the game I guess.

.hack//Versus details.

.hack//Versus is a fighting game based off of the .hack// series for the Playstation 3. Although no details on its gameplay have been released, it has been confirmed to be similar to the recent Naruto games in style. It will be bundled with the Blu-ray release of .hack//Sekai no Mokou ni, and a limited edition version will be available.

.hack//Versus will be available for the PS3 in Japan on June 28th, 2012.

Source is here I guess, I just found the post on it on tumblr today; http://www.lukgaming.com

I'm sort of confused though, what does it mean by 'based off the the .hack// series for the PS3'? It is saying there are going to be more .hack// games for the PS3 or that there already are and I apparently don't know about it?  

[fk12]

And thus, CC2 saw Atlus making Persona 4: Arena and thought "Hey, we can make a fighting game too, guys!"

But seriously. I'm still unsure of my exact feelings on this. Besides thinking it's somehow hilarious...  

[[Dill]]

Another link, although they're unsure if versus is the game meant to take place a year after the movie or not.

http://www.siliconera.com/2012/03/21/feast-your-eyes-on-screenshots-of-hackversus/

Looks like Sora will have access to the other characters from the film, while Haseo has access to his Form Changes, though that can't really be confirmed either way from just screenshots alone.  

[Robotic Draconian]

Woohoo! Haseo Xth form! And Skeith!