.hack//G.U. Vol. 2: Reminisce
.hack//G.U. Vol. 2: Reminisce is the second part of the .hack//G.U. series: Vol. 1: Rebirth, .hack//G.U. Vol. 2: Reminisce and .hack//G.U. Vol. 3: Redemption. As in the previous .hack games, .hack//G.U. simulates a massively multiplayer online role-playing game in which the player controls a character who begins the game. Players take on the role of a participant in a fictional game called The World. In The World, the player controls the character Haseo from a third-person perspective (with optional first-person mode). The player can control the camera with the right analog stick of the game controller. In the fictional game, players explore monster-infested fields and dungeons, as well as "root cities" that are free of combat. They can also "log out" of the game and return to a computer desktop interface that includes email, in-game messages and message boards, and options to customize the desktop and background music. In Reminisce, an optional card game called "Crimson VS" becomes available. The player can save the game to a save store on a memory card both on the desktop and in The World. After the player completes the game, a data marker appears on the save file that allows all aspects of the player character and party members to be carried over to the next game in the series. This can also be applied to previous games if the player completed Reminsce or Redemption first. Players can attack monsters in real time. However, the action is interrupted whenever the menu is opened to select spells, items or abilities. The player only controls Haseo directly, while the other characters are controlled by an artificial intelligence. The player can either give the computer-controlled characters defaults ("Free Will," "Rage," "Life," etc.) or give them direct orders (e.g., cast a specific spell on a specific enemy). Monsters roam freely through the environments or guard treasure chests. Once combat begins, such as a "surprise attack" or when the player is discovered, a wall is erected around the combat area to prevent escape. With the weapons, the player can make a powerful attack that costs SP. As a skilled rogue, Haseo can use multiple weapons for close combat. Although Haseo can only use one weapon per battle, the player can switch weapons in Reminisce in the middle of the skill trigger. Under certain conditions, the player can perform an improved type of skill trigger called "Rengeki". These attacks do more damage and fill a morale meter, allowing the player and their teammates to perform a combo attack. Certain battles related to the storyline, called "avatar battles", use a different interface that includes shoot 'em up elements. After the opponent's health is depleted, players must recharge a "data drain" to end the fight. Root cities are combat-free areas in The World. Here the player can replenish supplies, buy equipment, or chat and trade with other "players" of The World. The player can also take optional quests and visit guilds. An important feature of all cities is the chaos gate. This blue portal is used to travel between cities (called "servers") and enter the fields and dungeons where battles take place. A password system controls the properties of each area. Depending on the properties of each word in the three-word phrase, the resulting area can have different attributes, such as the frequency of monsters or items.
Story
.hack//G.U. takes place in an alternate version of Earth in 2017. As described in the first .hack game series, the "2nd Network Crisis" was an incident that occurred seven years ago and caused many computer systems in Japan to fail. Through the efforts of the hero Kite, Aura was born, the ultimate artificial intelligence (AI) capable of making decisions for itself. Under Aura's leadership, The World, the most popular massively multiplayer online role-playing game at the time, flourishes, and the events of .hack//Legend of the Twilight take place during this four-year period. At the end of 2014, Aura disappears, leading to a slow decline of The World and the Internet as a whole. The company that manages The World, CC Corp, then calls "Project G.U." and commissions it to fix the problem. They develop the "Restore Aura (RA) Plan," in which they attempt to retrieve the fragments of Morganna - an AI that served as Aura's "mother" - and lock them into player characters (PCs) of The World. Theoretically, Project G.U. programmers could thus manipulate the Morganna program to recreate Aura. Only certain "select" players could control these special "Epitaph PCs." After finding candidates to operate the Epitaph PCs, the team tests the RA plan despite concerns about "anti-existences" that could damage the Internet. The program fails catastrophically, destroying over 80% of the data for The World.[9] Instead of trying to recover the data, CC Corp develops The World R:2 and releases it to a new generation of gamers. However, this new game is less popular than its predecessor and is plagued by "player killers" (PKs) who attack other players for fun and sport. The Epitaph PCs, which were lost during the RA Plan disaster, reappear in the new version and are tied to specific players. Vol. 2: Reminisce: In Reminisce, Haseo and the G.U. staff are trapped in the game and cannot leave it, log out, or remove their hardware. Atoli recovers, but he is mute and can only communicate via instant messages. Yata explains that AIDA copied The World's server and is trapping everyone inside to experiment on them. After infiltrating the administrative control area, they take everyone back to CC Corp's servers. Shortly after, Haseo is approached by Alkaid, who is concerned about Sirius, a player infected with AIDA. They enter a tournament to fight Sirius, but Alkaid is ambushed by the AIDA-infected player Bordeaux, who causes them to fall into a coma. After learning that Sakubo is another Epitaph user, Haseo asks Endrance for support for the rest of the tournament. They defeat Sirius and free him from his AIDA infection, which contained Atoli's epitaph. As Atoli's epitaph returns, she recovers as well. However, her superior from the Moon Tree guild, Sakaki, causes Atoli to slip into a depressive fugue and be used again by AIDA. Sakaki attacks his own guild, Moon Tree, to drive Atoli to the point where she uses her avatar to actively support the AIDA plague, controlling the real world via the web and using AIDA as a cat's paw. Haseo frees Atoli, removes her infection, and drives Sakaki away. Haseo pursues Sakaki and defeats him after deliberately infecting himself with AIDA to gain control of the web at the last second. Ovan then appears and reveals that he is Tri-Edge, who is infected with AIDA in his left arm. The enemy Haseo thought was Tri-Edge was actually Azure Kite, one of the three AIs Aura had created to destroy the AIDAs.