.hack//Roots
(Vol.1)
(dr. Koichi Mashimo 2006)
published in Empire No.75, Sydney, 2007
Replete with impossible to spell titling only computer programmers would use, .hack//Roots is an intriguing combine of high-cute character play and densely complex game world logic. The story verges on James Joyce impenetrability at points via its heightened self-construction and the characters’ consciousness of their status in the game. The series is actually the ‘back story’ or pre-data configuration of the moody white haired Haseo and his friends Shino, Ovan and Tabby prior to them being ‘born’ in the PS2 series. A confounding yet engaging series which is sure to only become more complex.
