Development
Development for .hack began in early 2000 with the goal of shocking and surprising the player, creating a distinctive product that "could not be ignored". CyberConnect2's president Hiroshi Matsuyama played a key role in developing the concept for the series. A number of core ideas were explored including "slaying dragons or being a thief in London", but they were dropped in favor of an "offline/online game". Matsuyama felt that this would give young gamers an opportunity to experience online play without monthly fees or powerful Internet connections. The developers looked to a number of MMORPGs such as Phantasy Star Online, Ultima Online, and Final Fantasy XI for inspiration. The concept also drew influence from the prior works of character designer Yoshiyuki Sadamoto (Neon Genesis Evangelion) and scenario writer Kazunori Itō (Ghost in the Shell). Itō noted that casting the player into the role of a subscriber of The World creates a unique story-telling situation which draws the player deeper into the plot.
.hack was envisioned as a four-part series from the beginning of development, said to mirror the four-volume story arcs found in manga. Matsuyama theorized that the act of transferring save data across the four volumes would help to create a sense of the human drama embodied by the games' story and invest the player into the narrative. The games were developed simultaneously alongside other elements of Project .hack such as .hack//Sign in order to emphasize the multimedia aspect of the franchise. However, the three-month gap between each game's release allowed the developers to make minor changes in response to criticisms. The games were packaged with DVDs featuring episodes of .hack//Liminality, an original video animation (OVA) series that depicts events that occur concurrently with the games. The OVA series was meant to give perspective on fictional events happening in the "real world" outside the game. Players in Japan who purchased all four games were rewarded with .hack//Gift, an OVA parodying the .hack series. Following the completion of the series, the development team produced .hack//frägment using the same game engine as the .hack games with an added online multiplayer component. Their goal in creating the game was to observe player interactions in an online environment and gauge interest in an online .hack game.
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