There is no denying that there are now dozens of memorable JRPGs that have come out over the years. Many gamers will have at least played one series, whether it be a popular title like Final Fantasy or a more niche title like .Hack. Even with the influx of great titles we’ve seen in the past few generations though, the .Hack games still remain on many top 100 lists and are a topic that that many fans of both anime and games love to bring up in conversation. To help celebrate this iconic franchise, we have listed ten reasons these PS2 games are still so popular.
10 Interesting Battle Features
When the games first released, players found a very interesting battle system that mimicked that of advanced MMO games. The game lets you use a variety of items, spells, and weapon types to combat foes. You also had the ability to send commands to your party members on the fly that could help change the flow of battle. In the second set of games, an arena area was even introduced along with new specials.
Unlike many JRPGs of the time, all the combat was real-time and made to be incredibly fluid.
9 Party System
The party system was designed to mimic that of an MMO; you gain players as friends and then can invite them to join your party of three. During the core game, some players would be online, while others would be marked offline. This forced you to develop multiple teams and even tackle some missions without a designated healer. The game would also offer subquests where you could gain additional party members.
This added a more interesting aspect to the normal party system found in JRPGs since everyone wasn’t a constant member.
8 Deep Lore
Whether you want to get into the lore of The World is up to you. Both sets of games will have a section on your desktop where you can read through pages and pages of lore about the fake game. This gives backstories for many of the characters and even ties in with some of the special in-game events. If players wanted to delve in even deeper, then they could check out the free OVAs that came with the first four games.
These free anime episodes where made to specifically complement the story of the series by showing the offline chaos.
7 Classic Soundtrack
The .Hack series has one of the most acclaimed game soundtracks to date. Almost every major part of the game is filled with high vocals and intense instrumentals that perfectly envelope the cutscenes. When you weren’t in major battles, you would be greeted by skillfully executed background songs that have a magical feel to them or songs that had a more technological feel for desktop sections.
The composers of this game gave it their all, and the soundtrack could fit into any modern game with ease.
6 Interesting Set-up
One of the most interesting things about this series is how much detail went into setting up this fake game and world. There are fake news reports, a desktop where you can access emails, forums, and even animes that tie in with the game. In the early days of gaming, it could be entirely possible to convince someone that this game was actually happening completely online just because of the set-up.
It’s interesting to see the way they handle having a game inside of a game along with setting up the events of the offline world.
5 Great Game Design
One of the most striking things about many of the characters and unique maps is the amount of detail the creators went through to make them stand out. The game has memorable character designs and some of the most beautiful levels. From abandoned churches with marble flooring to hidden lake encompassing massive trees, .Hack was developed with a level of elegance that still translates well today.
Even real MMORPGs that have been developed after these successful games haven’t touched on the unique character designs presented in the franchise.
4 Branching Stories
The creators of .Hack didn’t just want the series to be tied to the game; they developed a multi-media franchise to help expand upon the lore. This involved a prequel anime launching right before the first game Infection, and accompanying books from the character Blackrose’s perceptive. The second set of games also followed this logic with several books and a prequel anime.
For lovers of the lore, there are also several novels and manga that delve into the early days of the game. Even the games themselves come with complimentary anime.
3 Countless Dungeons
The series features a very interesting way to explore dungeons. Instead of relying on a set amount of developed maps, the creators wanted to make a game that felt endless. To do this, they made a system that generated maps using a combination of three keywords. You gain keywords as you progress through the game and can mix and match them to create different types of areas.
This allowed players to experience tons of different level layouts, and to this day, no one has played through every single keyword combination.
2 Interesting NPCs
The party members and overworld NPCs are all made to be interesting. You can find NPCs running around in the towns and talk with them as events unfold to get different dialogue. If you go on the forums, you will see them chatting about different topics. The game tried to make a living world where you felt like even the players you weren’t able to party up with are going on adventures of their own.
Most JRPGs don’t focus on developing the background characters as you are parading through several different settings over your journey.
1 Romance Options
While this wasn’t available in the first set of games, it did pop-up in the second. The game allows you to get to know the characters on a deeper basis and increase your friendship level with them. After beating the game, you can even choose to marry one of the end game characters, including Endrance, to create a same-sex option. While this isn’t on the same level as life sims, at the time, it was a creative bonus.
It’s also easy to save and go through every possible partner in the game to see all the unique dialogue.
NEXT: Persona: 5 Couples Everyone Loves (& 5 That Are Just Annoying)
