Parents' Guide to .Hack//G.U. Last Recode

This collection of older remastered adventures is enjoyable, but you really have to be into this series, and/or Japanese role-playing games (JRPGs), to get anything out of it. The game gets really fun, yes, with a lot of meat here between the three games, an intriguing story of the physical world colliding with the virtual world, some real depth and evolvement of the characters, and more challenging gameplay than the original games that were far too easy (but there are some aids to help you, if you need it). Much of the RPG gameplay will be familiar to players, where you'll travel with your party, encounter some baddies in a dungeon, and engage in some fast-paced hack-and-slash action. You'll assign orders to party members, such as using a special skill or healing others. While the fast-paced approach makes it feel like a real-time action RPG (like Diablo), the game pauses whenever you call up a menu, giving you time to consider which action you want to perform.

With more than just simple melee and ranged combat against enemies or bosses, .Hack//G.U. Last Recode offers some interesting gameplay mechanics. That means things such as collecting keywords as you roam about towns and dungeons, which allow you to construct three-word "codes" that teleport your character to a randomly generated dungeon area. What's more, the keywords affect the appearance of the environment you're zapped to, its enemies, and the treasure found inside, meaning that your adventures will change based on the words you choose. All that being said, the game's graphics and voice-over work isn't always that great. it does still look dated when compared to today's titles, so perhaps there's only so much the developers can do to update the gameplay. Similarly, you probably need to be a big fan of Japanese role-playing games to enjoy fighting through this full collection, because if the story or the characters lose your interest, you're not likely going to find something to keep you playing. Overall, .Hack//G.U. Last Recode is a fun JRPG that's half the cost of other games, with a lot of bang for the buck, but make sure you enjoy this genre before you pay.