I'm not sure where this should go honestly, but I thought this would be the best place since it's mainly a gaming question. That said I'll get on with my question. The bonus dvd that comes with the game includes a 45min dot/hack anime, but how does this fall in with the game? Will it ruin anything for the game if I watch it, and if I watch the part 2 anime will it ruin the 1st game for me? Finally, how do these episodes fall into the other episodes I've seen at BB etc? Thanks

I played the first Dot Hack, and it was garbage, and that is being nice. Quite possibly the worst game I ever played in my life. I never bothered to watch the DVD.

x10

I don't understand how giving my opinion on the game he asked about is a thread crap. I didn't like the game, it's not like I said "DON'T BUY IT, STOP BEFORE YOU MAKE A MISTAKE!!"

sheesh

It is a threadcrap. Please take the time to actually read someone's post before you chime in with "IT SUCKS!".

He wasn't asking for opinions on the game, but rather something specific about the DVD of it.

Your opinion was unsolicited and thus a threadcrap. Please refrain from threadcrapping in the future, thanks.

bah, I was just telling it like it is, it's not I was being mean or something.

I've been playing .hack and watching the anime as well, which just finished its run on TV a few weeks back. Its pretty interesting how the game and the shows tie into one another and reveal the real story. The story is looked at from different angles by each of the three .hack series. That would be .hack//sign (a 26 episode anime series on TV), .hack// (the games) and .hack//Liminality. If you just watch one or play one you'll probably not like it so much and be lost or confused at the end because where each one leaves off another one picks up. Basically the order of the series goes like this:

.hack//sign - takes place before the game, it revolves around character playing inside the game.
.hack//infection (the 4 games take place next)- you play as a character inside the game.
.hack//liminality takes place along side with the game, but deals only with people on the outside (the real world).

I've been renting them all to save money since I knew you'd have to play them all. But to answer your question, I would play the game a bit and get a feel for the game. After that, the DVD will be more enjoyable. I didnt' like the dvd anime as much as the .hack//sign anime they had on TV, but it not too bad. Watching the 2nd DVD before beating the first game probably won't spoil anything too much. But some of the news announcements and game related events are related to stuff that happens in the second dvd, soooo.....

You won't get spoiled too much by the Liminality DVDs. It's pretty much a side story. You do need the game, however. There are some dvd fans that want the dvds released separately, but they won't make much sense without the context of the games. There has been some confusion by people trying to tie the characters in Liminality with those in the game too closely, and trying to predict plotlines, but they're related tangentially, not really directly, if that makes any sense.

.hack//sign, as someone mentioned, is actually a prequel. If you played the first game, it does help to get into the anime, as you'll at least understand how the game works.

BTW, the 2nd game is already on sale at Target for 29.99, so I expect other stores to follow suit. It really is just a poor ploy by Bandai to get early adopters to shell out 200 bucks for a spaced-out RPG, but I'll buy it discounted. The worst part is that they artificially limit you in each game, so you're not uber-powerful in the next. You can spend a lot of time getting the best weapons in the first game, but it'll all be obsolete in the first 30 minutes playing the second...

BTW, forgot to mention that keywords are "hidden" in the Liminality DVDs that enable you to reach special areas.

I enjoy the .hack games and the anime. Watching the DVD will not ruin the game, it adds to the story of the game.

it's supposed to help flesh out the whole .hack world. i'm planning to get the games once they're all in one cheap package.

don't forget to get the manga that's starting to trickle out.