Operation Backlog Completion 2026

CyberConnect2 Wants Fans to Ask Bandai Namco About .hack Remakes

 Video games  5 Responses »  Tagged with: ,
Jul 192023
 

Remember a year ago when we got our hopes up unreasonably for a potential collection of the original .hack games, only for them to be dashed?

(“Last Recollection” turned out to be a Sword Art Online game.)

Well, .hack hopes are in the air once again – not because of any rumors, but because the developers would like to see it return as much as the fans would.

For a quick explanation if you’re unfamiliar with the series, .hack began with four games developed by CyberConnect2 for the PlayStation 2 set in a fictional MMORPG.

These four games are .hack//Infection, .hack//Mutation, .hack//Outbreak, and .hack//Quarantine. This is why you might sometimes see the original quadrilogy referred to as IMOQ, taking the first letter of each title.

The original four games were followed by an actual MMORPG adaptation in Japan, an anime series, manga, novel tie-ins, and other additions to the franchise, and eventually a sequel trilogy for the PlayStation 2 called .hack//G.U., along with even more spin-offs and tie-ins.

So while conversations about the series often focus on IMOQ and GU, there’s been a lot of .hack media over the years.

Anyway, 2017 saw the release of a remastered collection of the sequel trilogy, .hack//G.U. Last Recode, which also added a short fourth volume. The original four games, however, remain stranded on the PS2 without any ports or remasters in sight.

I played .hack//G.U. thanks to the Last Recode collection, and I enjoyed it! Although some parts were repetitive, the story was interesting enough to keep me invested. It came with a recap of the first four games that I watched, but I’d love to have a chance to play them.

In a recent interview with Noisy Pixel, the Vice President of CyberConnect 2 said they would love to bring back or remake the original .hack quadrilogy, but can’t do so without Bandai Namco’s permission. They “urge the readers to fire away all the requests to them so that we can get the green light from them to work on those titles.”

This has led to a new wave of fans tweeting with the hashtag #dothack and petitioning Bandai Namco in the hopes that the series will return.

Fan movements are nothing new – some of my earliest blog posts here are about trying to get Capcom to localize Ace Attorney Investigations 2 (which I still haven’t given up on) – but it’s less common for it to happen at the developer’s request. If enough .hack fans make their voices heard, maybe we’ll see the a .hack quadrilogy collection or even a brand-new .hack series after all!

Yo-kai Watch News Teased On Its 10th Anniversary

 Video games  2 Responses »  Tagged with: ,
Jul 122023
 

Yesterday was the 10th anniversary of Yo-kai Watch, and Level-5 opened up an anniversary website to celebrate.

There isn’t much of note for those of us outside of Japan, especially since the Switch games were never localized (not even the port of the first game).

What’s much more interesting is a tweet from Level-5 CEO Akihiro Hino, in which he talks about the anniversary.

If Google’s translation is accurate, his tweet says the “next work” is progressing even though it isn’t ready to be announced yet. This follows a tease back in February, in which he similarly commented on “the next amazing thing” in the works for Yo-kai Watch.

It’s been a long time since we’ve had any reason to discuss Yo-kai Watch.

For a while, the series seemed like it was poised to become the next big thing. It was huge in Japan and had begun to gain ground in the west. Yo-kai Watch, three different versions of Yo-kai Watch 2 (following the Pokémon model), the first Yo-kai Watch Blasters spin-off (also with two versions), and Yo-kai Watch 3 were all localized.

Then Yo-kai Watch localizations ground to a halt.

We never got Yo-kai Watch 4 or any other spin-offs, despite persistent hope for 4. Back in 2021, the trademark of “Y School Heroes” made fans hopeful that the spin-off Yo-kai Watch Jam: Yo-kai Academy Y was set to be localized, but nothing came of that.

(Then again, in that same blog post where I discussed that trademark, I mentioned that nothing had come of the Baten Kaitos trademark, and the Baten Kaitos remaster was finally announced this year.)

Now we have another chance. With Level-5 already having announced Decapolice, Fantasy Life i, Megaton Musashi: Wired, and Professor Layton and the New World of Steam this year, with a new commitment to worldwide releases, I’m hopeful that the next time a Yo-kai Watch game is announced, we’ll finally get it again in the west.

Back in March when the 3DS eShop was being shut down, I played through the start of Yo-kai Watch 3 to get far enough to download the free DLC before the eShop closed. It was fun, and it made me sad that we never got more Yo-kai Watch. While I still need to play 2 and 3, here’s hoping there is a new Yo-kai Watch game in our future!

It’s the 23rd Anniversary of Final Fantasy IX

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Jul 072023
 

Today is the 23rd anniversary of Final Fantasy IX.

While it wouldn’t be released in North America until November (and not in Europe until the next February), July 7, 2000 was the date Final Fantasy IX first came out in Japan.

Final Fantasy IX holds a special place in my heart. It was my first Final Fantasy game, as well as one of my first JRPGs, although I might have already played Paper Mario and Pokémon.

I fell in love with it as soon as I started playing, and it got me hooked on the genre.

It’s been so long since I played Final Fantasy IX, I’ve probably forgotten a lot of details. Still, the parts I do remember are wonderful memories. The “You’re Not Alone” scene is one of the most powerful scenes in the series to me, along with a certain scene where two characters fight side-by-side.

So I keep wondering if we’ll see Final Fantasy IX return someday.

Most attention has been on Final Fantasy XVI and the upcoming Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, but there have been some whispers of Final Fantasy IX news. For one thing, there’s supposedly an animated series being made… although the total silence about it makes me wonder if it will ever exist.

There also have been rumors of a Final Fantasy IX remake for a while now. It was part of the Nvidia leak, and further rumors have followed since then. Even Gematsu says it’s in development. If the remake does exist, could it be set for 2025 for the game’s 25th anniversary?

I don’t often replay games since there are so many games I have yet to play in my backlog, but a Final Fantasy IX remake is one I’d play for sure.

Many fans think the rumored Final Fantasy IX remake will feature turn-based combat, as a love letter to the classics just like the original Final Fantasy IX was. I would love that. It would be amazing, especially with recent games in the series switching to action combat instead.

There’s no real news to discuss today or anything like that. But after seeing that it was the anniversary of the game that really got me into the genre, I wanted to make a post remembering it. Have you played Final Fantasy IX? Would you play a remake if one came out?

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