Title .hack//G.U. vol. 3//Redemption Date 09.19.2007 Genre RPG Platform PlayStation 2 Developer Namco Bandai Games Publisher Namco Bandai Games

The long awaited final part of the .hack G.U. trilogy has finally been released, and it both follows the path laid out in the previous two games, as well as treads into some new territory.

Gameplay
The game itself played out much the same way as the other G.U. games. Travel to a root town, make a party, then either go explore a random dungeon or one that progresses the story. The formula is simple, yet the execution is fairly well done. Two new towns are available as the game progresses, one offering dungeons from level 100 to 150 and the other acts as an all-in-one town. Both new locations are filled with NPCs that you can talk to and trade with. Unlike the other two games, the responses you get from the NPCs, as well as your party members, change dramatically as the game progresses so there is plenty of reasons to talk to everyone you come across after every major plot change.

Dungeon crawling will take up the majority of your game time, but don't expect more of the same. Three new dungeon types have been added to the game, each one with their own quirks and traps. One of these new dungeons is a sub-dungeon found in almost every field, giving you the chance to fight some strange enemies in a dungeon unlike anything else in "The World". Unfortunately, the dungeons themselves can feel somewhat repetitive, as there are less than a dozen unique locations, not including the Lost Grounds.

The battles are more or less the same as the other two. You have your basic attack, which you can combo in different ways depending on your weapon. Your skills, which use your SP to unleash powerful attacks, and finally your Awakenings. A new awakening and a new skill for each weapon may seem to add a lot of depth to the game, but chances are you'll find that one skill or weapon you really like and use it more than the others. To help with the insane SP cost of the final skills, a new feature has been added. When your weapon level reached 22, the final skill of that weapon becomes cheaper to use, and the change bar fills quicker. This means by using the skills of a weapon often, the SP cost will decrease, allowing you to use those oh-so-powerful and awesome skills more often. But don't think that these new skills and powers will make battles easy, quite the opposite. The battles are harder, as many enemies have damage reducing abilities and numerous status skills, not to mention much higher HP. The bosses are brutal and can take over a half hour to finish, though your level can drastically effect how hard the fights are.

Visuals
The graphics in this volume don't appear to be any better than those in Vol. 2. That said, the details on your party members are well done, and the new dungeons look wonderful. The new skills and spells are also dramatic and visually appealing. The problem arises during battle in the form of slowdown. When you have your party of 3 members up against an enemy party, the game can slow down to a snails pace in certain places, mainly when skills and magic are used.

Audio
The sound effects in the game are nothing new or special. You have your standard footsteps, your hit and block sounds. Nothing really new. The voice acting, on the other hand, is incredibly well done. Each person fills their role well, and put all their feeling into their performance. You can hear the sadistic nature of Sakaki every time he talks, or Haseo's rage. A few voice actors have been changed, most of them for the worse.

Playtime
The story moves along fairly quickly, but the many dungeons you go through for both story and leveling purpose extend the game time a lot. Finding all the items and completing all the quests can take a long time, but only two will feel like a total grind. Trying to fill the Book of 1000 is both time consuming and rewarding, so much so that you may barely notice the time pass. If that wasn't enough, there is a 100 floor dungeon, one that actually has a reward worth working towards. It'll take a good chunk of time to finish everything that can be finished. Once you do that, you're free to perfect your characters by going through countless random dungeons, or going to the arena.

Replayability
The only reason to play it again is if you want to experience one of the many epic fights again. Beyond that, there aren't any bonuses or anything different when you play again.

Overall, .hack//G.U. vol. 3//Redemption is a worthy conclusion to a wonderful series. It has a good blend of new and old aspects that will keep you happy and entertained for a good length of time.

Game Score

B

Reviewed By: Contributed