Fans of .hack//G.U, rejoice as it’s time to re-enter The World R:2 in .hack//G.U. Last Recode. Containing all three games of the G.U. series—Rebirth, Reminisce and Redemption—players will once again join Haseo as he fights desperately to save his dear friend Shino from her comatose state caused by The World R:2. With updated visuals that allow 4K support, updated gameplay tweaks and tons of new content, .hack//G.U. Last Recode is the definitive editions of all three games in the series. If you want to relive the brilliant PS2 classic that released 11 years ago then you’re going to want to pick up .hack//G.U. Last Recode.

.hack//G.U. Last Recode offers up players the fun action RPG elements from the previous three games but adds new content and some much-needed game alterations. Battles have been updated to be faster paced, graphics have been upscaled and altered to 1080p—and even 4k resolution—and there is even a new volume included in .hack//G.U. Last Recode called .hack//G.U. Reconnection. Also, included is a few bonus items such as a Terminal Disc—which was previously a DVD only included with the special edition of the first .hack//G.U. title—and some parody videos. Whether you’re a fan of the trilogy or a first timer into the amazing world of the .hack series, .hack//G.U. Last Recode allows you to see one of the best action RPGs ever created in a new form but without losing what made it great in the past. Four games and tons of content for the price of $49.99 makes .hack//G.U. Last Recode a title very much worth it.

A young man named Haseo has entered the long running video game MMORPG called The World R:2. With a rough start thanks to some Player Killers—or PKs for short—Haseo takes his hard-learned lesson and becomes an unstoppable force known as the Terror of Death. However, Haseo doesn’t care to just kill other PKs or gain fame but is looking for a player called Tri-Edge who he feels was the cause of his friend Shino’s recent coma. However, little does Haseo know that Tri-Edge is the least of his problems as he begins to learn the true realities within The World R:2 and how these current events mirror a past that has long since been forgotten by most. Haseo trials and tribulations will make him stronger but can he endure the weight of responsibilities that have been placed upon his shoulders?

One thing we’ve noticed here at Honey’s Anime is that as of the last several years—namely since the PS4 and Xbox One consoles became popular—game companies continue to release remastered games. While we don’t mind seeing some of our favorite older titles come back to life on the newer consoles, often a lot of gaming companies take the easy route and do little to offer up new content and or changes to their games. Thus, most of these remasters end up becoming just a means to make gamers shell out cash for games they paid for once before. That’s why when .hack//G.U. Last Recode was announced as a remaster, we here at Honey’s Anime jumped for joy but also realized this remaster fate could also happen to it as well. Did this ultimately happen to developer CyberConnect2’s famous series? Let us find out in our review of .hack//G.U. Last Recode.

Now, in case you’re new to .hack franchise and or the .hack//G.U. series let us give you some quick—but important—notes. Back in 2006, .hack//G.U. Rebirth released for the PS2 and from there within 1 year two other volumes would follow making G.U. into a trilogy of games. Even if you had never played the past .hack games—like Infection—you could still understand .hack//G.U. and would be in for a pretty amazing ride as your save data from each volume could be used in the sequel to really feel like you were progressing in the story and not restarting each time. .hack//G.U. Last Recode contains the whole trilogy and thus if you maybe could have played them all in the past or never did in general here is the opportunity to do so.

First, let’s begin our review by talking about the gameplay. In .hack//G.U. Last Recode, you take control of Haseo and do the usual RPG things such as leveling up, battling foes in a small closed off space—though with actual real time combat—and exploring new areas to get new gear and such. However, .hack//G.U. Last Recode isn’t your atypical action RPG thanks to players being able to gain new skills, weapons and even gaining new powers as they progress in all three games. If we were to compare .hack//G.U. Last Recode to the past titles then we’d say a lot of the older mechanics that gave us a headache in the past have been corrected and altered for the better. Now, if you’re wondering what has been changed exactly, we’ll get to that right now.

.hack//G.U. Last Recode has changed up the speed of combat and has even added other new gameplay elements. Battles are more forgiving thanks to a retry button if you should die in combat, Avatar Battles—which is a thing later explained in the game—have been completely worked to feel less clunky and even load times have been reduced. Fans of the original trilogy can also put .hack//G.U. Last Recode into Cheat Mode which gives you full stats and gear for each game so you can just enjoy the story and avoid the grind though we feel part of the fun is the grind even if we’ve played the trilogy multiple times over.

As we mentioned earlier, .hack//G.U. Last Recode also includes a new volume 4 titled .hack//G.U. Reconnect which acts like an epilogue to the G.U. story. This isn’t a long game by any means—we clocked 5 hours after doing everything possible in game—but offers up a new gameplay style thanks to Haseo getting a new form that truly makes him feel even cooler than before. Though we do wonder if CyberConnect2 was trying to mimic a certain other anime series based off an online game in Haseo’s new design. Regardless though, .hack//G.U. Last Recode truly offers a significant amount of content and that is pretty amazing.

Graphically, .hack//G.U. Last Recode suffers a slight bit in comparison to its great action RPG gameplay updates. While we won’t say .hack//G.U. Last Recode looks bad, you can see that it clearly is a decade old title thanks to the details in some of the environments and even character models. Volume 4 also suffers from this but at least is slightly better thanks to cutscenes not using the in game engine but actually using anime scenes. Thankfully, one thing that hasn’t age poorly is the incredible music and wonderful voice acting from the cast of .hack//G.U. and as far as we could tell most of the original voice actors retook their roles in Volume 4 meaning it truly feels like a solid epilogue and not a tacked on one.

.hack//G.U. Last Recode seems to be nearly perfect from what we’re describing, right? Unfortunately, even though we love .hack//G.U. Last Recode, there are some issues that should be mentioned so gamers won’t be too surprised when they notice them. While the combat of .hack//G.U. Last Recode has always been fun thanks to its stylish design and quick pacing, even with the updated fixes .hack//G.U. Last Recode combat still can get repetitive. You might not feel it within the first 5 hours but when you’re in the second game or even the third you’ll start to feel that each title plays out exactly the same even despite various new skills and powers being given out in a healthy portion. Plus, let’s face it folks, exploration still feels formulaic thanks to the maps all being the same in nature, go here, kill this here and then move on to repeat the process. .hack//G.U. Last Recode is still a ton of fun but we strongly recommend taking breaks from it and not trying to power through all 4 games in one sitting.

To say we’re fans of the .hack//G.U. series is an understatement. We have always loved the franchise and that’s why we were terrified that .hack//G.U. Last Recode would just be yet another remastered title with little to no changes at the end of the day. Thankfully we’re happy to say that .hack//G.U. Last Recode is beyond amazing and truly one of the best remastered packages we’ve ever played here at Honey’s Anime. Not only have a lot of the issues of the past games been corrected but fans and even newcomers will get to enjoy new content thanks to a new 4-5-hour games on top of already three decently long titles that will probably take you 50-60 hours to complete. While .hack//G.U. Last Recode might not look the best in the current gaming landscape and its battle system and world might still feel repetitive, for most these issues will be a minor drawback and not distract from a great overall package. If you are a fan of the previous .hack//G.U. games or you’re just looking for an impressive action RPG series then we 100% recommend picking up .hack//G.U. Last Recode.

We here at Honey’s Anime rarely gush over any gaming series because it’s important that our reviews stay as unbiased as possible. That’s why we made sure to scour through .hack//G.U. Last Recode with a fine tooth comb to make sure that our fandom didn’t impede our judgments of the game. Honestly, at the end of the day .hack//G.U. Last Recode is a truly brilliant collection of impressive games from the PS2 age with huge gameplay tweaks and fixes as well as adding hours of new content for fans to enjoy. It should be said that if a remastering is to be done right then it needs to be done like .hack//G.U. Last Recode. Alright folks, our review of .hack//G.U. Last Recode has finally come to a close so we’ll take our leave now and leave you to comment down below your thoughts about the game as well as our review. If you loved this review—which we really pray you did—then you’re in luck as our hive here at Honey’s Anime is filled with more gaming reviews for your reading pleasure.