.hack// Legend of the Twilight

.hack//Legend of the Twilight

Art by Rei Isumi

Story by Tatsuya Hamazaki

Licensed by: Tokyopop
3 volumes

Topic: Action, Adventure, RPG

Warning: Ecchi, Mild Violence, Overall fairly tame

Summary:
In the enormous online adventure game "The World", the past exploits of the "dot hackers" are legendary. Two new players win a contest that grants them the use of the dot-hacker avatars. Pretty soon strange things start to happen, and the new players must band together with some other characters who knew the original dot-hackers and try to figure out what is going on, try to avoid having their characters deleted by the game administrators, and maybe save the world.

Commentary:
Can you say "gratuitous sequel"? I knew you could. To be fair, "Legends of Twilight" is fairly well done; it's a mostly pleasant read and I enjoyed many of the characters. But if you're looking for character development, meaningful conflict, a solidly constructed plot, or a satisfying ending, you're going to be disappointed. If you're already a fan of the dot-hack universe and want to hang out there a bit longer, you'll probably enjoy this series, but I don't recommend it to anyone else.

Note: There are a couple "extra" stories tacked on at the end of Volume 3. One of these drives home the lesson that it's more fun when you play by the rules, rather than trying to cheat. Yet in the main story, our heroes have abilities, items, and powers that are not available to other character and which they did nothing to earn. This seems a lot like "cheating" to me. I guess that since they didn't seek these things out but were granted them by an outside power, that makes it okay. Or something like that.

Rating: 3/10 (maybe 5/10 if you\'re already a fan of the series)

Reviewed by Forrest