.Hack// Retrospective - Part 1: Infection

When .Hack//G.U. Last Recode was first announced, I started to remember just how much I love the entire franchise, and how fond I was of the original 4 games. Join ModalBeat as I take a look through the first game in the quadrilogy, Infection on the Playstation 2!
(And also briefly glance over the anime.)
If you liked what you saw, please like and subscribe!
Follow me on Twitter! - / modalbeats

[@CirosanWastesHisTime]

Well done. This deserves more attention.

[@mhiization]

WAY more attention

[@uniinvolved]

Clemps brought me here. Along with my deep love of .hack

[@icewolf1988]

Just went through a "I'm feeling nostalgic" phase and revisted the GU series on the ps5. This led be to buying a new ps2 controller to play the OG 7 games. Because yes I still own them

[@Whosthathufflepuff]

Dude this was incredible! I've been looking for a video that would talk about .Hack like this for a while and I'm so thrilled that you've made exactly that! Your explanations were spot on your humour had such superb timing that I went back and watched a few bits all over again just for that. I hope you keep making content in the future!

[@clams_pachinko283]

5 years and it’s still the only retrospective of the first quadrilogy.

[@KeyOfTheTwilight]

My first exposure to the .hack franchise was seeing the advertisement in the shonen jump magazines I like to collect. After that, I saw the .hack//SIGN anime and got super obsessed afterwards. After that, I got a ps2 and begged my parents to buy me the GU franchise because they were new and easier to find at that time.

[@populatethemoon]

Found you through Clemps. Good show.

[@jennabrutananadalewski412]

So so so glad I went to check out this video. Clemps brought it up in his podcast with superbutterbuns. It's weird because I almost NEVER listen to podcasts, but i'm glad I checked out that one. .hack brings me way WAY back to middle school. I remember always watching the show but never once having any idea what was happening, I just wanted to watch this crazy thing called anime! This is such a well made video! Seriously, especially for someone starting out! I'm very impressed. I'm excited to see what else you come out with, i'll definitely be watching whatever it is! Now I need to dig out my old, ugly .hack fanart and maybe updated now that I have talent in illustrating.

[@mischa3343]

Your videos are what I always wanted for many years, thanks so much for covering all of the games and the side history. Incredible stuff!

[@JessicaCentenoMcRobyn]

I grew up playing this game and I am honestly so happy that I found your video. I was looking through some old games the other day while cleaning out my storage locker and found my .Hack Infection game! Oh the nostalgia! I think the games and your video need more attention! Thank you for making this video!

[@Maniac536]

How the heck doesn’t this have more views?

[@ugandahater]

Elk was my boy. I loved that the series had soooooo many characters. Balmung, mistral, black rose, that crazy ass twin blade dude, piros,

[@TWoods_93]

Clemps brought me here, and I'm glad he did. Subbed! You're doing amazing work!

[@animegamergirl]

Thank you so much for this well formatted video! It’s been a long time since I last played or even thought about this series until cousin started to play G.U. recently. Which talking about it brought back fond memories on playing the original games, but the story started to escape me. I look forward to continuing ^^

[@trapfactory8600]

Incredible video! Gonna binge your whole series. Being quarantined at home I'm winding up selling my copies of infection, mutation and outbreak, (never was able to find quarantine as a kid to finish the series...) But getting to relive them through your videos is so nostalgic and cozy. Thank you for giving attention to such an underrated series~

[@HarbingerYT]

Ironic how you posted this while in quarantine, and yet you couldn't find Part 4: Quarantine.

[@backupschmliff1156]

I don't know how much change your life has gone through but I would love to see more videos from you. I love your style.

[@Vanisonic]

Nice pick putting the most chill background music ever on the introduction of the video. Made sure I stuck around for that at least. I'll stick around for the retrospective.

[@Back_To_Pray]

Very well done, this is exactly what I’ve been looking for. Can’t wait to watch the rest.

[@sorabu]

I always love a good retrospective video. Nice work.

[@WinkleAbiding]

Dude, this is a great video, thank you. Can't wait for parts 2-4!

[@e66head36]

DUDE this is an awesome summary of the .hack// series!!!

[@EsperElves]

I love the aesthetics, story and music of the original four games. So happy that you summarized them up so well. I still have copies of Infection and Mutation but I‘m not sure about the repetitive gameplay. So it‘s nice to watch your retrospective. SIGN was interesting to watch back then. Don‘t know why I never watched Liminality as a kid or teen. But for me, IMOQ, Sign and Liminality was THE .hack expierence which was so mystical, creepy and just unbelievable to exist.

[@Esskaden]

Hey, really good video! Great balance of information and entertainment. I never knew anything of the series outside of .Hack//Sign So you got my attention. Look forward to more.

[@NarutoloverHinata]

I love this, I played the first three, binged the anime series [include legend of the twilight], and even read a manga or two. My roommate and I would talk about dot hack for ages, and this video reminded me of that time just playing the game and being like fuck you elk and mia, I was terribly under leveled for those two areas when I first played the game. Thank you, keep up the good work, looking forward to the rest

[@golgarisoul]

Clemps sent me and I am very surprised how good you are. 👍🏼

[@ibmmdi6810]

beautiful ❤ I love .hack series 🔥 continue.. 👍

[@KisekiFox]

I feel bad about not watching .hack SIGN now, I didn't think it'd be necessary aside from a few nods the quadrilogy makes to them. I very recently played the Quadrilogy for the first time around 2 or3 months ago and enjoyed them, they aren't huge favorites of mine, but I definitely don't regret my time spent with them, and I enjoy Kite and his band But I enjoyed them enough to make the GU remasters a day 1 purchase, and I already enjoyed the beginning tutorials and bigger budget presentation a lot more, BUT THEN THE TIME SKIP HAPPENS AND IT BECOMES VERY APPARENT THAT .HACK ROOTS IS NECESSARY TO WATCH BEFOREHAND.

[@tracesigns9933]

this is delightful, there were like three videos with similar titles about dothack and I'm so glad I picked this one

[@hippiedave1362]

Great retrospective. Big .hack fan here! Can't wait for the next one!

[@kegaman8568]

Came here from Clemps. this is such a well done video, you have an instant sub from me. I'm really looking forward to more!

[@kindasomeviews]

That intro to Skeith got me really moist. cant believe i forgot how good it was as a kid

[@zadig08]

Thank you so much for this. I slept on the franchise and am so excited to learn more about it.

[@nathanlennox6056]

I'm late to the party but really good video. Its good to see this series get some indepth attention other than being one of those games, that somehow everyone had and was in stock at every store. (Fr I remember in the early-mid 2000's this game was on everybodys and every store's shelf.) I had them all at one point, but they were lost and remember trying to find the other 3 again at some point in 2010, Mutation, Outbreak, and Quarantine, and realizing that they apparently are all ultra-rare, it was a real-life quest in itself to seek and retrieve all of them again haha anyways great video man, subbed and looking forward to more videos!

[@ANTREU96]

don't know anything about the series but omg is thi video well made. I will certainly follow any new thing you will upload

[@MoaccyrK]

Hello, I really enjoyed your video, I'm thankful for having listened to Clemps suggestion. I'm wating for the next episode, keep the good work! =D

[@SpacexWitch]

Thanks for working on these games! I loved them too

[@asneakylawngnome5792]

Subbed by a fellow .Hack fan to another, respect. But also, the editing and script was easy to follow. Thanks man!

[@carlrygwelski586]

My buddy showed me this game once or twice when we were in elementary school over 10 years ago, I always wanted to know more as I became a refined gamer. Great video! "I'm simple minded and I get off on Big Red Numbers... *Ohhh Yeeahhh*"

[@tolkraft1883]

Found it! Got back into this series a couple days ago and was looking for a video talking about the ups and downs of. The start of this kinda hit the key points of letting me know I'm not crazy. Game didn't age well, dialogue was always weird, kid brain didn't get it. The atmosphere sold me and stuck in my head. The visuals, the bears around the bed, Hoerwick upside down, the opening, the songs, all top notch. And story itself and the five million years spent in recovery frames after each attack.... not so much. And hey, your video style is cool. You're a funny guy, subscribed.

[@Robersora]

Why do I only find this now? Superb work! ♥

[@BrockWalshCTD]

Excellent video! Reminds me a little bit of Clemps content on youtube AKA great. Keep it up

[@octiii8217]

ive gotta say loved the way you summed up the story so far might give the game a try in the future

[@sultan78787]

Well done brother you got a sub, amazing video please continue your beautiful craft.

[@RubyMVmistress]

I love the .hack series. I really wish I could restart my life, just so I could relive those memories.

[@HighPriestFuneral]

A lovely first part. I just finished //Last REcode today and, like you, I grew up with the original quadrilogy and though I enjoyed GU greatly, .hack//SIGN was my starting point, exactly like you. I enjoyed your synopsis and find that most of what you said was true to experience. (I think the trading system breaks the game wide open and can make going to find treasures in dungeons not worth the effort.) Skeith is a truly imposing boss and still memorable to this day.

[@pikemand1410]

Great video, gonna keep an eye out for your stuff Clemps says hi.

[@francescagreetham1804]

I know I’m late to this video but I loved it. Sometimes when you speak and joke it reminds me of MatPat from Game Theory! Would love to see more videos from you. Also thank you for covering .hack - this game has always stuck in my memory from being young. It always amazed me that it was a game within a game!

[@whiskeyii4515]

So I actually watched someone do a Let's Play for the original quadrilogy and G.U., and while he did add in bits and pieces of explanation as to what was going on when, I much prefer your retrospective; it's both informative and fun. Looking forward to the next video! (Also I was not a big fan of G.U., but maybe you'll change my mind? XD) P.S. Clemps sent me!

[@Seathasky]

Man your channel is soo underated! Great work!

[@HelikeLong]

Man, I always loved .hack//gu games and were aware about the deep history and lore but never really had time to look into all the Anime and games and Mangas and gosh, so much X'DD Thank you for the amazing, entertaining and well done video and series, you rock Bro

[@JeffreySmiles_]

You have definitely tapped into that young child I once was watching anime on Toonami. That's how I discovered the dot hack series and then the video games so forth. Thank you for making these videos.😊 P.s. I'm 24

[@karenwapinski4822]

One of the things I loved about .hack growing up was how big the world was but I didn't end up being able to find the first 2 games until way later so thanks for doing this series!! I always really loved Endrance as a kid lol and it was pretty interesting to see the backstorys for him and Haseo. As a side note though, I personally really liked the Lycoris character in AI Buster, it's very much foreshadowing the self awareness about her overall purpose Morganna gets later and I thought the contrasts between the two was pretty interesting when I reread it.

[@mishaberreau3510]

Wow and you video was so informative and fun to watch and reminds me why I 💗 hack so much. Aww the memories of my first MMR games. Without hack I would have never gotten into KH games.

[@kyleblecha1]

I love .hack, it always makes me feel nostalgic when I hear songs from the amazing OST. The gameplay hasn't aged well but goddamnit I still love it!

[@hypedrifter1715]

Thanks for these videos ! I'll watch them then jump into GU. I hope Bamco make a remaster for the first 4 games one day.

[@MrWader76]

I'm a fellow lover of Dot hack! Good to see the series I love getting some attention

[@jackoxendine7157]

Seeing that opening video again made me so nostalgic, I was too young to really get into this game but I somehow managed to get to the final boss without beating it. I've never forgotten it and always wanted to try and figure out the story.

[@chloeanstice8698]

I really enjoyed watching this! There was one misunderstanding I wanted to point out though. The dungeons actually are randomly generated, with exception to some of the storyline ones. They do a good job of making it not feel that way though. The reason the same keywords will always create the same dungeon is really cool too. In programming there is no such thing as a truly random number, so 'random' numbers have to be generated by a workaround. One of the most common ways of doing this is creating an absolutely gigantic number (pi, for example) and starting at a predefined location within that number. Then in order to make it not output the same set of results each and every time, you use something seemingly random to choose where in that number you start reading, this is called a seed. For example, you could choose to use the current time down to the milisecond as your seed, and so when you run something over and over again you will still get truly random results. However, what the .hack games do is they use the three words of a field name as the seed. So, if you use the same three words as someone else, the 'random' factors of the dungeon will always be the same, because it starts reading random numbers at the same place. It's a really cool system. I'd love to see it re-used for a real online game at some point.

[@ModalBeat]

Wow that's way cooler than what I thought they did. Would it be alright if I corrected myself and brought this up in the next part? I want to give credit where it's due and fix that mistake.

[@chloeanstice8698]

Absolutely! Feel free to do so! I'm happy to contribute! It's also potentially notable that similar systems do exist in other popular games. For a popular example, in minecraft you can create a world using a world seed. If someone else uses the same seed in the same version of minecraft, they'll end up in an identical world as a result.

[@pendantblade6361]

Clemps sent me here.

[@ghosttowntomato]

Legend of the Twilight is actually one of my favorite manga of all time. The 4th and final book especially was a near-masterpiece

[@CrossXNightmare]

Hey! Great video!! Going out of a limb here but I may have played FFXIV in years past, my character was Lenz! Definitely have a memory of discussing Dot Hack you in the past and I really enjoyed watching this video! Thought I'd leave you a comment years later to share the love. Hope you are well!

[@wirefireboy1]

Can’t wait for the next one!

[@michaelperrigo]

Excellent video. Lit my nostalgia on fire! Playing Infection now on my Pixel 6 Pro with the Gamesir X2. 😁 Cheers!

[@kivsto8130]

Madregora MANDREGORA MANDREGORA. my most vivid memory of this game

[@Doomcat1066]

So I'd like to note, you had the same experience growing up with .hack, Toonami, and all of this that I did, and I love it. Thank you for this video. It's similar to something I've always wanted to do with this series, and I'm glad someone is doing it. Here's hoping we get some new (decent) .hack games, while I liked replaying G.U., I think the series could really do with either redoing IMOQ, or trying something new. G.U. had good ideas, but I personally disliked the gameplay. X.x

[@nerdyknowledge6434]

the battle theme was a banger though

[@John_Doe32]

I LOVE the show, and the game as a kid! Don't remember much, so thanks for the refresher man! Look forward to the next video, and have a nice day! ;D

[@DemonDante1000]

Oh man dude. You are a dude after my own heart.

[@violetshadowstone5250]

You know what needs to reappear? . Hack fragments The create a character version. If ff15 can make a monster hunter like version of their game you can make a .hack version come on cyber connect, this is gold.

[@TIVIS014]

I still break my ps2 out to replay those 4 every few years. Absolutely love this franchise

[@dmankeyxbl]

Thxs for being a excellent gateway of gaining lore about the .Hack series , can't wait for part 2

[@ChilllClinton]

The Jet Set Radio Future music in the background is GOAT shit lol, nice video!

[@Wuropl]

.Hack was a really nice game but sometimes I feel like it was too complex for it's own good, things like trading objects with other people, gifting the membes of your party equipment so they use it, the puchiguso thing, giving your character an elemental trait from their armor, I feel like there were a lot of not that convenient stuff in the game that you could just ignore and finish the game without paying that much attention to it. Anyways It's nice to see people that are still interested in .hack nowadays, especially when it comes to the first games, I'll be looking foward to your next videos.

[@dayvidwithay]

Man this brings back so many memories. 😭😤💯

[@WillTheGreatest]

Skeith honestly has to go down as one of the most ruthless bosses in video game history. No wonder hes the only major phase in this game

[@meganhughes6279599]

Yesss the game opening is so iconic I love it

[@MrWader76]

You're a hero. I watched every second 🥰

[@Maniac536]

This needs more views. This needs ALL the views

[@nathanlennox6056]

Not a fan of having Mistral in "badass" fights but she is a MUST on healing for the Skeith fight. I had to pick up the slack occasionally, or get her back up when Skeith got her, but other than that, she let's Kite go pretty 1 on 1 with "The Terror of Death". I also remember this fight being incredibly long. I think my playthrough in recent years took something like 45 minutes to beat him. Skeith is the penultimate final boss for me. A final boss done right. Nondramatic, badass buildup, all business, major tone shift, looming threat finally faced, insanely overpowered but not impossible, optional level of confrontation. You know its coming, so get ready. Despite Skeith giving me nightmares as an 8 year old playing this game over a decade ago, I will always cherish that battle.

[@ShadowCedah]

Best 36:55 minutes of my life . Great great great video man. I had to beat infection first before I’ve watch this video.

[@justyouraveragecountrybump5558]

as a fellow .hack peasant imma subscribe to your channel. keep it up dude

[@lawlesslesplays8979]

Great video, very thorough and entertaining but I would have spent a minute covering Orca and Balmung vs The One Sin in the manga. The Skeith scene at the beginning with Orca is a lot more intimidating and Balmung's appearances are much less irritating if you know that these guys are considered the best players of 'The World'. Still very much a like and a Sub from me, looking forward to the next vid!

[@joshuabradford6957]

I just stumbled across you as I was looking for .hack reviews of the game and the initial anime. I really hope they remake the original four or let you play them on PS5 because I have great memories of playing them on PS2.

[@themufinman3]

looking forward to your next part

[@HarbingerYT]

As someone who is hooked on .Hack GU Last Recode, I'm looking forward to this. Don't see that many videos talking about this series.

[@poppyjiva]

Amazing review, it was funny

[@ugandahater]

Ohhh yeah and the 8 phases. Skieth was crazy as hell!! Cubia

[@kamn8r]

This is a great video thank you!

[@Renamoose]

My introduction to .Hack// was getting Legend of the Twilight manga when I little, I never heard of the series before then and I was hooked after reading.

[@ThatSleepingHero]

Maaaan, I love .Hack, so glad we filthy Europeans get to play G.U. now too. Also, great work on the video, well presented and a good mixture of jokes and information. Looking forward to the other games! Playing through G.U. right now, and I gotta say the areas are not as fun as in the original quadrilogy. Not as much variety in design, and it's all room-based, no open areas. Well, maybe things pick up in the other two games. Oh and don't get me wrong, I'm loving what I've experienced in G.U. so far, just that part that bothers me a bit. By the way, maybe I'm misremembering but can't you use Mistral in that final battle? Getting some good spells on her and putting her on healing duty got me through most of the games

[@ModalBeat]

You can bring Mistral, but I didn't have great luck when I put any wavemaster on heal duty. For some reason they would just cast one or two spells when you need them and then stop, and party members have a much more limited supply of items than you can potentially have. Maybe I'm just unlucky though, that or the AI hates me! :P

[@ThatSleepingHero]

You must've made Aura mad or something

[@FranK-tg7ou]

Berry good

[@StarBornMichael]

Skath SCARES ME still.

[@StarBornMichael]

Thou Sketh Theme is EPIC.

[@smithwillnot]

I didn't watch .hack anime,. nor play any of the games. Heck I haven't even watched more than 2 minutes of your video, before deciding to subscribe. Looking forward to your next video and I hope your channel will grow quickly. Also: Clemps sent me here.

[@misterfields87]

Gardenia is three girls playing as a character, they made the character strong as hell and was know for it. Cannot remember which anime had this side story.

[@_grofA]

Great video overall! I'm really happy to see that there actually are people out there who experienced and still remember the .hack series and I will certainly forward anyone who's interested in it to this video BUT come on! The music playing in the cathedral is absolutely beautiful and really adds to the mystery of the story. AND Mistral is unbearably annoying and hurts my ears (at least the original voice does) Black Rose is best girl and that's a fact. Fite me

[@aaronpop0083]

My buddy played this before me and didn't realize it was gonna be a 4 part game. He grinded kite out to lvl 99 before the last boss.

[@nathanlennox6056]

Mu Guardian grinding for Kite's blades was my personal hell.

[@bearryder9650]

Educational and funny. Love it.

[@JustHoum]

Great video! Finally someone actually talks about .hack!! I got one question though: Are you gonna talk about .hack//Liminality in the future, since is as important (maybe even more important) to the original quadrilogy as .hack//Sign.

[@ModalBeat]

I do plan on covering Liminality! I didn't go over the first disk in this video because I already had a whole anime to go over and I didn't want to make the video super long, but I'll be covering the first two disks when I tackle Mutation!

[@Strazz217]

yo i peep the jet set radio future music in the intro hell yeah