.Hack//Roots – 16 – Too Much Emo

I’ve got some major issues with .Hack//Roots. It just tries to be more than it actually is. The third episode was awesome. Why? Because Haseo had to think in order to make his decision. A whole episode was spent on it. What do we have when we reach episode sixteen? He goes to attack random monsters with an emo-face.

The fact is that .Hack//Roots seems to be forgetting that it’s an MMORPG. Haseo’s reaction just isn’t possible. Tabby’s reaction isn’t possible either. Everything is just virtual. The PC’s are just PC’s. When they cry, it happens offline. Right here, we have absolutely no clues at all that there are persons who are controlling the PC’s. That was one of the beauties of .Hack//Sign. It really made me feel like we were dealing with an MMORPG. .Hack//Roots feels more like a fantasy adventure.

The fact remains that Haseo’s strong now. How the heck did he manage to do that? The basic laws of the MMORPG’s say that the longer you play the game, the stronger you become. After all, the longer you play, the more experience you get. Still, this is a ridiculous amount of experience. If that’s the case, why can Haseo grow stronger than anyone out here when he just started?

Ah well, in any case, Tri Edge really had an impact on Phyllo, as he loses his cool against Haseo for the first time ever. The two of them fight a bit while Tabby stands on the side-lines, doing nothing. While this may have been interesting, it seemed a bit too direct. It felt like it was missing something.

Overall, I like the shy Haseo more. He’s really getting annoying right now. .Hack//Roots just doesn’t feel like an MMORPG anymore. Still, I wonder what Ovan’s planning to do. He hasn’t returned to Haseo yet. Yata also makes an interesting point: Tabby. Saburou gets sent after her, after she makes another cryptic remark towards Pai. I have no idea what that means. Also, why did Saburou claim that she’s on good terms with Haseo? Could she be the reincarnation of Tawaraya?