Title: .hack//Link Volume 1 & 2
Based on: The .hack//Link game for the Playstation Portable console.
Story by: Cyberconnect2
Art by: Megane Kikuya
Published By: Tokyopop (United States however sold in Australia by some stores)
Release Date: Out Now
Language: English
Pages: Approx 170 pages per Volume
Cost: It can vary from $10 – $20 depending on the store
Classification: This series is rated T (Teen Age 13+) and may include Non-Sexual Nondescript Nudity, Aggression, Mild Gore and Mild Fanservice.
Blurb: “As the final game in the .hack series, they decided to bring back characters from all series ranging from .hack//Sign to .hack//G.U, thus .hack//Link was born. The storyline is lackluster and in comparison to previous storylines, feels like they just put it together for the sake of having old characters in it. The design quality however is above average, especially in terms of character designs. As with all .hack//Manga series, there is some decent extra content.
Tonight I was going to release my review of Chrome Shelled Regios, however I have decided to save that for tomorrow, and instead going to be reviewing the next manga series along on my bookshelf, the second last series of .hack// that I own. .hack//Link is currently the only game in the series that has not been released to an English market and therefore the only way to enjoy the storyline of it is to read the manga series. Sadly, due to Tokyopop recently closing down, it will not be possible to read the whole series, however I shall review the first two volumes that I own.
This series is more of a Cross Edge-esque game in which they give the characters from the previous series a final Hurrah! and have them all, regardless of game version, take part. Thankfully, there is an original storyline to this series and it isn’t a recap manga, so those who have played the game do not be wary. However, how good is the series? Read on to find out in my review of .hack//Link Volumes 1 & 2.
Volume 1 Synopsis
Tokio Kuryu is an avid gamer who misses his chance to play the new release of the hugely popular online game, The World. His problems are seemingly solved when a mysterious transfer student offers him a black-labeled copy only to be suddenly transported into a game where the legendary hero Kite is battling a brand new evil organization! Now it’s up to Tokio to figure out what’s going on in The World and set it right.
Volume 2 Synopsis
Tokio and his new friend Tsukasa move onward to the R:2 generation in order to add Haseo, the Terror of Death, to their ranks. They find that his memory has been tampered with, driving him on an old quest of vengeance to defeat the player killed known as Tri-Edge. When things are looking their worst, a mysterious person appears who can defeat players with a single tap! Having lost his confidence, Tokio becomes determine to make this person his master, but there is perhaps more to this new master than meets the eye.
Even after reading the first two volumes, the purpose of this storyline still doesn’t make sense to me. The World has recieved a brand new version, titled The World: RX, and this time the game is portable, allowing gamers to switch between The World and the real world in public. Whilst this is all fine, I don’t understand the justification of a random transfer student giving a random person a version that sucks them into the game itself. Whilst people falling into comas were farfetched, I think this is taking it a bit too far. But I will go with it. The other issue is that they have the same characters from many versions back suddenly appearing in the game having the same abilities they did in their respective series, which were not fully possible due to other plot twists in previous titles.
Anyway, once getting trapped inside the game, Tokio runs into Kite, who for once takes a backseat for once and gets killed off almost instantaneously, starting a fight between Tokio and a guild known as Schicksal, so to aid him in the fight to become a hero, he goes off to find Chrono Cores which are held by previous heroes such as Kite, Tsukasa, Haseo et cetera, with the assistance of Saika, the transfer student who is suddenly less friendly to him. In the first volume, the storyline primarily surrounds Tsukasa and Subaru, and introducing the abilities of Tokio, whilst in the second volume, it focuses on Haseo. Without getting into too many details, the story is okay, and has a number of plot twists that were famous in the .hack games, however I think for those who are well versed in the storyline of previous titles, it might come across as being a bit ambitious and far fetched, given past storylines. However, when has this series been based around a normal MMORPG?
In terms of designs, it is actually fairly decent. If you were to look at the real-life character designs, something that has never been focused on in other series, it is more or less decent with the people looking realistic-ish and nothing too ambitious. However, you will realize quite soon that for the first time, the series does implement fan-service into the design, especially with several bath towel alongside panty and cleavage shots on the part of Saika. In terms of The World designs, if you were to compare it to every other manga version of .hack, it most probably has the best character designs, and are accurate replications of the original characters, whilst the new characters are diversified in designs and are not generic by any means. Environment designs are, not so good however, and the designs are usually uninspired or they use flimsy visual effects in the background which let it down.
In terms of extra content included, as expected in any .hack manga, there is a nice little collection at the back of both volumes, which includes:
- A few colour pages at the front of the volumes
- .hack//Link Bonus Truck (Volume 2)
- It’s such a Hot .hack// – Bonus Page
- .hack//Guest Messages
- Celebration for .hack//Link Volume 1 Sale – Panty Shot included
- .postscript Chapters
- Preview of Next Volume
- A few pages of artwork in each Volume
- Normal Advertising
Overall, there is a nice collection of extras in each volume.
Personally, I would like to have a chance of playing the game before committing to reading this manga series, but overall, if you were to ignore the plot issues involved with this, it is an overall average to above average series which does a satisfactory job at bringing together characters from all game series together. The storyline was a bit too ambitious and they could have made the series flow a lot better if they were to cut out some content, whilst putting a bit more detail into the prologue of the series, as within a couple of pages, he is already whisked away to The World.
Final Score
Storyline: C
Character Development: C
Design: B
Extras: B+
Personal Opinion: C+
Overall Score: C+
