.hack..G.U.: Part 2

[Pokemaster Ash]

Does anyone have any idea when this game might be released, first off? I figure it's soon, but so far no official word.

Secondly, who's excited about the new .hack series? A lot has changed between G.U. and the original .hack games, but it seems to all be for the better.

[.hacker]

I have not heard of a release date for the second installment. I will probably call ebgames or Gamestop to see if I can put a reserve on it. .hack seems to be one of those games that is only available for a short time (here at least).

I'm also excited about the new series coming out. Haven't gotten to play it yet, but it seems to have alot of improvements from what I've heard.

[Pokemaster Ash]

Well let's start with what's been added/changed in the G.U. series.

The classes have become a little more varied. You may recognize a few old classes in this mix, but they aren't quite the same.

Twin Blade (uses Dual Swords, the ONLY class just copied and pasted)
Blade Brandier (uses Swords, formerly Blademaster)
Edge Punisher (uses Broadswords, formerly Heavy Blade)
Lord Partizan (uses Lance weapons, formerly Long Arm)
Harvest Cleric (uses Staves, good with healing and status magic)
Shadow Warlock (uses Grimoires, good with offensive magic)
Flick Reaper (uses Scythe weapons)
Macabre Dancer (uses Fan weapons)
Tribal Grappler (uses Gauntlet weapons, formerly Melee Fighter*)
Adept Rogue (can use a mix of above classes)

* - Melee Fighter was a very briefly used class. Ouka from .hack//Legend of the Twilight has a special class modified from it.

Adept Rogues have the slight advantage of being able to use a couple of different types of weapons. The downside is they aren't as powerful as characters of solely that class. Also there are limitations to prevent powerful classes being used together (ie Harvest Cleric and Shadow Warlock). Also they do not start with all of the classes they wish to have. They must unlock said classes via Job Extension.

Skills have been streamlined a little. First off, skills are now dependent on the class, not the weapon. Also they've added Skill Trigger, which basically allows you to hit a button (R1 by default) to go into skill mode, and then choose a preset skill with the X, O, triangle, or square buttons. Also added is Rengeki, which is a cool thing. If you can pull off a heavy combo against a given enemy (anywhere from 8-20+ hits, depending on your foe), then use a skill on them, Rengeki will be initiated and the skill will do more damage than normal. You also get extra EXP from this technique.

The known elements in The World right now are Fire (Vak), Water (Rue), Earth (Gan), Wind (Zan), Dark (presumably Ani), and Light (currently unknown). More might be added in Part 3 of the series, which is rumored to have 8 elements in it. There are no characters who have preset elements like in the original .hack series.

Quests have been added to the game, allowing for some....interesting (if not sometimes annoying) fun on the side. Naturally there are some story-based quests, but it's mostly optional. The rewards for these vary. Also added in G.U.: Player vs. Player combat. There's an arena where you can fight against other players for fun, but you can also encounter PKs in areas and teach 'em a lesson about picking on people weaker than them.

I'll mention things about the storyline next time, maybe. Let's just say there's a few more twists and turns in G.U. than in the first series.