As complex as it is fascinating, the video game saga .hack has a special place in the hearts of many gamers. This fictional universe telling the story of characters playing others in a fictional virtual world has been shaped around manga, anime, novels and collectible card games, but it is the video games that have marked the most fans.
The tetralogy Infection, Mutation, Outbreak and Quarantine released between 2002 and 2003 in Japan was followed by the trilogy .hack//GU several years later. Moreover, the latter has been compiled, improved and extended in .hack//GU Last Recoderecently ported to Nintendo Switch (and available from €24.90 on Amazon.co.uk). The last real original video game projects are starting to date, but while the series is still in people’s minds, it celebrates its 20th anniversary today, .hack//Infection having been released on June 20, 2002 on PS2 in Japan.
Bandai Namco Games broadcast a special video to mark the occasion, with a commemorative logo and especially the announcement of several initiatives. The publisher plans a .hack//20th Anniversary Book coming on July 19, a .hack//20th Anniversary Exhibit which will be held at Yurakucho Marui from Tokyo from August 9 to 28, a artbook Art Work: .hack//20th Game Art Works release in December, as well as a musical compilation in 3 volumes with unreleased .hack//20th Best, also confirmed for December. A priori, these announcements mainly concern Japan, and even if later locations are not to be excluded, it may be necessary to think about imports if you wish to invest.
For those who are still hoping for a return of the franchise, it could be that bandai namco has not yet completely put it aside. As for an original episode, no clues leaked, but the publisher had filed the title Last Recollection last aprilwhich gamers would imagine would be the subtitle of an HD compilation of the first tetralogy .hack. However, we will have to wait for confirmation for our dreams to come true.