Yesterday we had a chance to speak with Brian Glazebrook, the localization director, about .hack://G.U. vol.1: Rebirth. The next series of .hack games begins after the demise of “the World”. Everything is shut down and the ALTIMIT Corporation begins work on the World R:2 a new MMO landscape. The new World attracts even more since technology to play the game is readily available. With more players comes rise of a new group of player killers and Haseo, the main character, hunts PKs (a player killer killer?). Early on one of Haseo’s friends is attacked by Tri-Edge who has a similar appearance to Kite, the hero of the first .hack series….
When is .hack://G.U. coming out?
The release date is October 24th.
Will there be data continuation from .hack:// Quarantine?
Yes and it’s something really cool. (Editors note: We tried to get them to spill the beans on it, but they wouldn’t. We do know that they might reveal details about the secret closer to the release date.)
What is the most difficult part of the localization aspect?
The general grunt work difficult translating it. Then there was trying to time everything so when the mouth opens it starts and when it closes it ends. Also whenever you have a mixed media franchise you have to try to make sure everything is consistent with working with other companies and divisions. (Editors note: .hack://G.U. has a manga and an anime series) Getting synergy is a little difficult since everyone is on a different timeframe.
Check below for more details about .hack://G.U. and some videos of arena matches.
Who are the characters in .hack://G.U.?
Haseo – The main character of the game who swore revenge against Tri-Edge. Haseo begins using two daggers, but he can change classes to equip different weapons.
Pi – Contrary to Haseo’s tennager mentality, Pi acts more like an adult. At the beginning her attitude causes her to butt heads with Haseo. In battle Pi is a grappler and uses her fists to fight.
Kuhn – A flirtatious womanizer, flirtatious, who wields a gun sword combination. Kuhn hangs out in the back row and acts as a ranged fighter.
How long is the game?
We had someone sit down and play it from beginning to end. It took 40 hours knowing what to and not skipping with the movies. The gameplay could be longer if you spent time exploring the World.
Will the amount originality justify buying three games?
The developer went through the comments and feedback when creating .hack://G.U. They recognized that the changes in gameplay for each volume weren’t what people expected. .hack://G.U. changes this with different and new content from one installment to the next instead of a continuation with the story.
Now for some Arena combat videos….
