A man once dreamt that he was a butterfly. Once he awoke, however, he began to ponder: am I a man who dreamt that I was a butterfly, or am I a butterfly dreaming that I'm a man?

That, sadly, is all the Taoist philosophy you're going to get from me today, but I recount you all with that story to make an interesting point about this game. In the 4-part series of .hack, you do not play the part of a character that you actually see on screen - you play the part of a character who is playing the part of a character that you actually see on screen. That may not necessarily seem all that mind-boggling to you at the moment, but once you totally immerse yourself in "The World" of .hack, you just might discover for yourself how many levels of consciousness and concept this game works on.

First, there is the "real world" that is not too many years beyond our own. You play the part of a nameless gamer whose best friend invites him to participate in a wildly popular MMORPG entitled "The World." Access to this game is allowed through the fictional OS known as Altimit, which is installed on 100% of households and businesses all across the world. (Yes, just a little bit less than Windows. Keep trying, Altimit! Keep trying, little guy...) While in this mock OS, you can check and reply to e-mails, customize your desktop settings, and check a simulated Message Board for incremental event-released tips about the game. Once you're done with that, you can enter the next level - the game itself.

As soon as you log on, you meet up with your best friend, Orca, who takes you to a rather simple dungeon to give you a taste of the game. Unfortunately, something goes totally awry during the orientation tour, and the next thing you know, your best friend is in a real-life coma. It's now your job to find out why as you discover the mysterious nether regions of an online world that you were not meant to explore. In your investigations, you fall upon the existence of an unknown viral force that threatens the lives of all of The World's 20 million inhabitants. And, despite the fact that you were just an average player looking for some online fun, you realize that you're the only one who has the key to stop this menace.

Of course, you can't do it alone - that's why the game supplies you with a supporting cast of NPC's. Most of these characters will automatically join you on your quest while others need to be actively recruited. All of them seemingly have a life outside of the game, despite being at your beck and call no matter what ungodly hour it is. Still, the fact that these characters will sometimes talk to you about things in the real world brings up the possibility of a third level of consciousness: interacting with imaginary people who are also assuming the identities of imaginary people.

I shall leave the rest of the philosophical musings to those who are more interested or qualified to speak of such things, and perhaps this is for the better. Some of you who are reading this probably care little about the concept of existence, so I'll move on to the subject of gameplay.

Gameplay in .hack is abysmally simplistic for a simulated MMORPG - in fact, it may even be too simplistic for a genuine MMORPG. Once you approach an enemy, your only requirement is to slash at it until it dies - nothing more, due to the lack of a combo system. For a change of pace, you can try to cast an elemental magic spell, although they are, for the most part, totally unnecessary until the very end of the game. As for acquiring such spells, the system to obtain special physical and magic skills is very similar to that of Final Fantasy IX in the sense that you can perform different skills depending on the types of weapons and armor you equip. Unfortunately, it also differs in the sense that it is impossible to permanently learn a skill - once the armor's off, the skill vanishes from memory. It can be quite frustrating to lug around a few extra pieces of armor just because you want to use a certain skill, but there are worse things, I suppose.

Ah, here's one! One thing that I truly didn't like about this game was the fact that you were not given the option to customize the look and job class of your character. Instead, you're stuck with equipping twin daggers throughout the entire game despite the fact that you can pick up all sorts of nifty weapons that you will never be able to use. In future installments of this game, if it is vitally important that your character is a Twin-Blade user with blue hair, then I might forgive the developers. But, they must still live with the fact that they lost out on the possibility of creating yet another dimension for this game.

As for the graphics, you may be pleased to know that the character designs were created by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, who worked at Gainax for many years as the designer for such shows as Neon Genesis Evangelion and FLCL. The designs translate fairly well into the third dimension, although the detail on each character could have been a bit more lavish. However, smooth textures as opposed to detailed figures are usually what you get when you convert a 2D animated series into a 3D video game. The physical environments of The World aren't exactly expansive (the above-ground fields loop around infinitely), and the dungeons and villages aren't exactly breathtaking or even highly detailed. However, they still do a sufficient job in creating somewhat of an immersive atmosphere. Still, one might say that, despite taking place in an online game two years in the future, this game actually gives the feel of playing an online game two years in the past.

One plus in the graphics category, however, is the unique look of certain environments that are infected with the mysterious virus. Walls within the dungeons are littered with strange holes that only reveal raw data. Occasionally, the screen will intentionally flicker and give you momentary static, which can be nerve-wracking, but it ultimately serves its purpose.

In terms of sound, be thankful that this game offers the option to hear the dialogue dubbed into English or in the original Japanese. And this may be a plus or a minus depending on which RPG school you subscribe to, but every single line of dialogue stated by a major character is spoken out loud. Those who want voice acting in their RPG's may rejoice (although their voices may eventually get on your nerves), but those of you who are purists may be turned off by this. Take heed either way.

The music in this game may give you mixed feelings: on one hand, some of the tunes are fairly catchy (although none of the tracks really grab you by your shirttails and make you listen all the way through), but on the other hand, there just isn't that much music to go around. There is a nifty system that allows you to activate a track of your choosing as background music to your Altimit desktop, but you'll have to play the game in order to figure that out for yourself.

But, will you actually go out and play this game? Sadly, that's not a very easy decision to make, since this game excels in a few things, but fails in so many others. The story is fantastic, and the inclusion of a 45-minute DVD that can't be watched anywhere else definitely contributes to its complexity. In addition, the game (as well as the anime series on Cartoon Network that accompanies it) subtly examines the potential dangers of on-line gaming. We've seen certain tragedies occur in recent history when certain players can no longer distinguish the fine line between fantasy and reality, and this game debates the topic even further by asking: is online play something that humanity is presently ready for?

Unfortunately, the many faults in .hack's gameplay might just sway your final opinion of this game as it has swayed mine. Just the lack of a choice in job classes alone cuts what could have been a potential 60-70 hour experience into something just a little over 25 total hours. The members of Project .hack may have been trying to combine the feel of an MMORPG with the advantages of an offline RPG, but in essence, they only succeeded in combining some of the worst elements of an MMORPG (stale and repetitive battle engine) with the disadvantages of an offline RPG (lack of customization).

The score that I have given reflects the overall judgment of my experience with this game, but I realize that this is nearly impossible to gauge, considering that there are still 3 parts left. I may one day change this score after taking all 4 parts into account, but only if Bandai manages to release a box set of all 4 games for under $100. Otherwise, the price tag of $200 for 4 "individual games" and 4 DVD's seems a bit steep, don't you think?

But, as far as this game goes, I can at least tell you one thing it surely succeeds in. After playing .hack for a while, you just might be enticed into popping in an old MMORPG that you haven't touched in quite a long time. Now, excuse me while I try to find my old DC copy of PSO...