Back in 2002, one of Japan’s most enduring works about MMORPGs kicked off in the form of .hack//Sign, an anime depicting a series of events taking place in an MMORPG, and the .hack series of action RPGs for the PlayStation 2. Not that the MMORPG was called that; the MMORPG was called “The World,” and the games (and anime) were all talking about a completely fictional game that didn’t exist. (And yes, there were online games in the franchise.) We bring all of that up because the studio behind the series, CyberConnect 2, has proudly announced that it’s bringing back the franchise completely under its own control with the new .hack//Z.E.R.O.
Aside from having a title that would make proofreaders cringe, the teaser site and video offer no more details about the subject beyond the fact that the studio is self-publishing the game (meaning that Bandai-Namco is not involved this time) and that it promises the title will be accessible and interesting for veterans of the franchise as well as completely new players. Whether or not that’s exciting to you probably depends on how much time you spent not actually playing online in the past, but the important thing is that you can check out the trailer just below.
