.hack//Mutation

-Visuals- 8.5/10
I am simply going to re-write exactly what I wrote for .hack//Infection because it is pretty much exactly the same game visually. Typical anime look and feel. The characters are rendered nicely and the various worlds are very nice looking as well. It is certainly a case of the game design looking as needed/wanted and not a truly graphical masterpiece. If you are a fan of the typical JRPG then you will really like this, if you are looking for next-gen graphics then you will be left wanting.


-Sound- 8.8/10
A soundtrack which is just as good as .hack//Infection. The voice overs are pretty much the same and once again the music is fun and fits the game perfectly

-Gameplay- 9.0/10
I love almost every aspect of the gameplay. The basic idea is you, the main character, are playing a MMORPG and it is portrayed wonderfully. The various other players AI is great, they seldom repeat the same comments twice and you have the ability to interact with them via adding them to your party and/or trading items with them. It is a RPG but once the battles start it becomes a real time action game. One thing I really like is even once the battles start you still have time to decide what exactly you choose to do, run around a bit and you will garner enough time to cast spells, use magic scrolls and even command your allies to preform different tasks. One of the big drawbacks in the battle scenes is the camera angles. The camera is 100% in your control and often this can cause issues in tight places and surprise attacks. Having said that I simply loved the whole idea of a "simulated" MMORPG. Be prepared to juggle the various scrolls (magic items) , various weapons/armor and abilities as each has it's own strengths and weaknesses. Once again copied and pasted from my review of Infection, there is nothing added except more characters, a different server to play around in and more items, so on that note I scored it a tad higher as there are some improvements, albeit it minor ones.


-Story- 8.6/10
While there are some questions answered here you will still have a ways to go to get to the end of this convoluted world.

-Overall- 8.9/10
Like Infection it is a great game to play, many hours of fun and the variations of areas to explore seems limitless. Here's the big draw back...if you have not finished Infection stop right now and do so. By finishing Infection you can import your data (which means you will start at whatever level you finished with AND carry over all of your data, items, experience, etc.) if you have NOT finished Infection expect one heck of a huge learning curve, not to mention hours of leveling up in order to complete the quests.