Can you play this game without playing the others?

[Yhwach]

Just checking, I'm very interested in this game and curious if i have to play any other titles in the series.

[Kiss My Ax]

No you dont have to i never did

[Shomlakone]

As someone who has played the original 4, you don't need to play the games to be able to fully enjoy this one.

There are definitley references to the previous titles here and there, but nothing that will make the plot not make sense.

[Lissahearn]

.hack//GU took the four //IMOQ games and did things a bit differently. This is better in some cases, others are not, but there certainly is more to do here. You don't have to play IMOQ but I would had prefered those to get a remaster first as they need a bit of a touchup more than GU did. That being said IMOQ is harder to find and you'd be spending more (possibly even more for each) than just the single purchase of GU. However you can get around some of the plot-references by watching or reading the previous series of anime, manga, or novels since this is a cross-media franchise. Part of the issue with that though is that different pieces may show the same events but not ALL the same things and some are more comical and lighthearted while others are more serious.

[Albireo]

Yes. .Hack is too large. If you want to know more then there is a small mountain of novels, comics, anime, and games on about 5 different consoles. some of which isnt even in english.

G.U. and its acompanying Roots anime were a soft reboot for the series, a new starting point for a new audience. Go nuts my friend understanding its still an older game at this point and although the updates help, it still shows its age in a few ways.

[Shomlakone]

And as someone who has all of the anime/ manga. Who has several of the books, who is collecting the card games...who has all of the games and a few figures. If you want some clerification on things in GU that might be references to older things. hit me up, i'll give you the best non-spoilery summary i can.

[Yhwach]

Originally posted by Kalmana:

And as someone who has all of the anime/ manga. Who has several of the books, who is collecting the card games...who has all of the games and a few figures. If you want some clerification on things in GU that might be references to older things. hit me up, i'll give you the best non-spoilery summary i can.

I ended up buying some of the tales game on pc and this on the ps4 since it was half off, but a watch/play order would be fantastic.
This is my first .hack game, not sure if that's a good idea or not..

[Shomlakone]

The GU games are a fine starting out point. You wont miss too much when it comes to lore. If anything, if you want just a basic rundown of the GU-verse, you might want to look into .hack//roots. As it's the anime prequel to the game...well. kinda. It takes place after Haseos first mission with Asta and iyoten. Like, directly and his journey with Ovan and the trilight brigade.

In terms of playlist according to what happens:
.hack//gu vol 1 tutorial mission
.hack//roots.
.hack//gu vol 1 post tutorial mission.

It's weird. but watching roots will explain some things that aren't explained within the game. Mostly Haseos connection to Shino, Ovan, and how he got his title of "Terror of Death."


But if you want to delve into the series, my recommendation:

.hack//sign (anime) - Its a big set up for the rest of the series. It basically shows that there are things within The World that are troubling. Especially since one of the leads, Tsukasa is complerely trapped in the game. As in, he can feel, smell, everything in the game and cannot log out.

IMOQ (original games) - To sum it up without spoiling it is basically solving the mysteries that were introduced within sign. Just be warned, if you want to go full legal for the games, they are expensive. Especially the last title. It usually goes between $80 to $150 depending on the seller.

Then the three i listed above for reasons i listed.

[Yhwach]

Oh geez that's a lot of cash to roll out...
I appreciate the watch order though, thanks!

[Shomlakone]

Originally posted by Scarecrow:

Oh geez that's a lot of cash to roll out...
I appreciate the watch order though, thanks!

There is a second option to the games, you could read the Another Birth books. It goes over the events of the games from the perspective of the second MC, Blackrose. While it wont cover all of the events or bosses you'll come across in the game it's something.

Or, if you are ok with it. Just look up cutscenes on youtube. Since most of the important events happen in them anyways. Heck, just casually searching, there is a video that has all of the cutscenes from all of the games lumped together. It's 4 hours long...but RPG so it makes sense.

[Sekkuar666]

This game comes with the "terminal disc", which has small video clips summing up the story of the first games.

Maybe just watch that before starting to play and you're set.

(Also, check the terminal disc regularly, more clips unlock as you progress in the games)

[Vulpis]

.hack//GU is playable just fine on its own without knowing all the other material...but there are a lot of hints, crossreferences, and back-references that make a *lot* more sense if you at least know the first game set. SIGN fills in some more references, but still isn't necessary as such...and as pointed out, the Terminal Disc is meant as a 'synopsis of the first game set for those who didn't play them' anyway.