In a surprise piece of news over the weekend, one of the most beloved RPG series ever is getting a brand new entry for the first time in over a decade.
What RPG series is getting a brand new game?
Over the weekend, CyberConnect2 announced that they were working on .hack//Z.E.R.O., a brand new entry in the iconic .hack RPG series. The game is said to be in development “for home consoles” and will be developed and published by CyberConnect2, who previously developed 12 different .hack games.
According to Bandai Namco and CyberConnect2’s announcement, Bandai has given CyberConnect2 permission to manage the development of the game in its entirety. Violinist Tara Hakase has penned the music for the game, which is said to blend “the series’ trademark duality of fantasy (game world) and reality (real world) with modern expectations, infused with 100 percent pure CyberConnect2 spirit,” according to CyberConnect2.
In an interview with Famitsu (via Gematsu) on the news, CyberConnect2 CEO Hiroshi Matsuyama said the title of the game is centered around the idea of “restarting .hack from zero,” and has no connection to .hack//ZERO, a light novel series by Yokote Michiko. The game will be set 10 years in the future and will utilize real-world drama and other connections to the real world.
According to Matsuyama, the game will incorporate both action and adventure elements, but still be sticking to its RPG genre. The .hack series originated in 2002, with an anime series titled .hack//Sign, as well as a PlayStation 2 game, .hack//Infection. To date, the series has produced a litany of projects, but this marks the first time a game has been released in the franchise since 2017’s .hack//G.U. Last Recode, a remaster of 2006’s .hack//G.U.
