.hack/frägment is a multiplayer online game based on The World, a fictional MMORPG. It was only released in Japan on November 23, 2005, and the online service ended on January 18, 2007, after being extended for two months due to its popularity. Famitsu Weekly gave. Hack/frägment scored 29 out of 40 in four reviews, similar to how it rated the main series. Hiroshi Matsuyama, the game’s designer, described the game as an experiment to see how players would react to online play. Except for online mode, the game uses the same game engine as the. Hack video game series and thus has identical gameplay.
In real-time, players explore areas and fight monsters. The action does not pause when the menu is opened during online play, which is a significant difference. Players can still use the “Data Drain” skill to weaken monsters and gather rare items. The user interface and control scheme remains untouched. Players can create their characters by selecting from various preset body shapes and color schemes, a class (such as Wavemaster or Twin Blade), and a character name. In online mode, players can enter a lobby and look for up to two other players to go on an adventure with them. The game features a more robust communication interface that allows players to chat, send e-mail, post to an in-game Bulletin Board System, and receive server news updates. Creating ad hoc chat rooms separate from the public-access ones is possible.
Guilds are permanent, member-only chat rooms. Offline mode allows players to level up, obtain items, and learn new skills as one of their online mode characters without needing to connect to the Internet. Characters from the. Hack games, hack/Sign, and. hack/Legend of the Twilight can be added to a player’s party. .hack/frägment’s “story mode” is identical to the—Hack games, with the player’s created character replacing Kite. While offline, players can use the “HackServer” PC utility to develop and publish areas and dungeons online. The creators of the most popular sites have been granted the ability to add powerful monsters for players to defeat.
