.hack/ /Mutation

Reviewed by Leland Bonaparte
September 15, 2005

Developer: Cyber Connect Publisher: Bandai Consoles Available: Playstation 2 Players: 1 ESRB Rating: T (Teen) Website: Click Here

Bandai's next installment to the .dot hack series is Mutation. Something just doesn't seem right in the neighborhood and Kite is now trying to find out what the notorious developer of the “The World” is up to. After being defeated in the final dungeon of. hack Infection, the mighty Skeith returns to surprise Kite and Blackrose. Before Kite can do anything, Skeith unleashes a very powerful blast of energy that knocks the young hero down. Fortunately, Kite survives this attack, his friend Blackrose sends him an email, and the both of them try to figure out what went wrong in the final dungeon.

One of the great features of .dot hack Mutation is you can use your saved data from .dot hack Infection. Doing so will allow you to transfer party members, equipments and levels from one game to the next. This is like a rare treat, because many RPGS don't allow saved data to be transferred between games. Players who feel like their levels are too low can return to dungeons in. hack Infection to better prepare themselves for. hack Mutation. The key to this game is to build up your character's levels to be close to your enemy's levels because going into dungeons with low levels will result in frequent deaths.

Once again I have a real problem with the pesky camera that uses angles that are hard to control. Having to adjust to these awkward angles can quickly become tiresome, just like the voice acting. On the other hand, the visuals are nice, the game play is smooth, and the lighting is surprisingly good.

The replay value is very high, due to the fact that you can transfer data throughout the hack series. The included Limininality Anime DVD also can help you understand what is going on in the game. Some of the characters from the Anime are also in the game. What's really cool about .hack Mutation is that if you don't like the direction in which you are going you can always go back to part one until you are comfortable. This is a very good RPG to add to the collection.