I can't explain the strength of my boner I got while watching the announcement trailer for one of my favorite childhood games...
First of all, I was happy when I saw that Square Enix started announcing and releasing remastered versions of Final Fantasy games. I was thrilled when Capcom announced and then released Resident Evil back in 2015 and then it's prequel Resident Evil 0 in 2016. Capcom also announced that they are working on Resident Evil 2 remaster set to be released in 2018. I can only hope that they will remaster Resident Evil 3: Nemesis and Code Veronica as well. My heart was pounding really hard when Nippon Ichi released Disgaea: Hour of Darkness and Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories in February 2016 and January 2017 respectively.
I never owned a console but having access to my friend's PSOne and PS2, I spent a great amount of time into these gems. As technology progressed, emulators were released and I spent a nice amount of time on them, once again on my PC. Now... Seeing that I can play these games once more, through the remastered versions with updated graphics, sounds, extra levels. Those feelings are priceless...
Back to the point... I was discussing some PSOne and PS2 emulators with my friend earlier today because he wanted to revisit some games that he himself played long long time ago and I mentioned that I have already configured PS2 emulator on which I play .hack//GU without any problems and the only thing he said was "oh that reminded me" and went silent for about 5 minutes... What followed were two words: "Rejoice motral" and then he dropped this on me.
And then, I was left speechless...
Video's first 35 seconds consist of an old footage/renders and then transitions into new remastered one with a glitch of a screen that was known to appear in the game, and it looks awesome.
Back in the days when I was no-lifer, I used to spend hours and hours playing this game. The game that my very friend, taunting me with the trailer, has infected me. Shitload of time was spent playing this trilogy, unlocking hidden levels, unlocking hidden weapons, enjoying the overall story of the game... And now, just like with Resident Evil and Disgaea, I will be able to go through the exploits of Haseo sitting in front of my computer with native PC support.
For those who never had the pleasure of playing them, .hack//GU is a Trilogy consisting of:
Vol. 1//Rebirth, Vol. 2//Reminisce and Vol. 3//Redemption.
Games simulate a MMO-RPG as the player controls a character who starts playing it.
The story focuses on a player named Haseo who hunts a player nicknamed Tri-Edge who defeated his friend Shino and left her in a coma in real life. Haseo comes into contact with other players who know of Tri-Edge and wish to stop him. The reason for Shino and several other players falling into a coma is connected with AIDA, a mysterious computer anomaly that infects the characters. Source: Wikipedia
.hack//G.U. Last Recode is a remaster and till feature all three games under one title and will feature a brand new Vol. 4//Perhaps a Dream of the World-Weaving Snakes that happens after the events of Vol. 3.
The game will feature new elements that “make it feel like a new game.” The full-HD remaster will have high-definition movies, including all movies from the Terminal Disk that bundled with the special edition of .hack//G.U. Vol. 1: Rebirth. System improvements will include an added retry function, Cheat Mode, and rebalanced avatar battles. The release will increase movement speed, item slots, battle tempo, Skeith's shooting speed, and other systems. In addition, "Haseo with an unfamiliar look" will appear. Unfamiliar look appears at the end of the trailer at 01:19.
Last Recode is scheduled for release on November 1st in Japan and November 3rd 2017. in North America and Europe.
