Be warned the story is hard to follow if you have no experience with any dot hack games or animes
Avatar Battle system:
This battle system is a nice addition and is unlocked as you progress further in the game. Think panzer dragoon style battle within a confined space and with two buttons attacks and one dodge button. The fighting is fairly simple and easy to get the hang off but the battles really are fun and a nice move away from the button mashing and skill fighting battle system.
Story/Misc: The game in a way forces you to move along with the story, but as long as you do not log out of the world when the game tells you; you can choose to finish quests, go to other areas and level up or explore dungeons until you feel like moving along with the story again. The layout simulates you as the main char who is a high-school kid that plays the world using a M2D headset and a PC. You have emails, greeting cards, forums, and a limited browser which simulates active events in his world. An interesting part was the videos and the short series of the reporter with 3 2-4 minute shows. The game has an affection factor which you build up your affection with the people in your member address or friends list, but I didn't really see any impact from building up my affection with the party members as the story progressed. The story in itself is great and original compared to other rpgs but it is extremely difficult to follow if you have no experience either seeing dot hack sign, dot hack roots, or played any of the previous dot hack titles. Reason being is because one you have no knowledge on World R-1 which is previous stated in this game a few times. When the story begins it starts off at the very beginning of the dot hack roots anime but only the first episode or so; after that it skips all the way to the end of the anime and begins the game from that point. This is where the flashbacks will make little to or no sense at all because you have no idea what happened previously. This is possibly why the gamespot reviewer said that the story doesn't really move anywhere. I recommend you look dot hack roots or anime or if you are not into anime then read the all the forums in the game and the news related to the World within the game. This will give you a slight understanding of the plot.
Graphics:
The graphics are nothing to brag about but they are not horrible either. The player graphics are average PS2 graphics and the spell effects and skill moves look nice and flashy but nothing ground breaking.
Sound:
Sound is nice but nothing apart from most standard sound effects except for the avatar battles. However, the music rocks during the cuts scenes and some of the areas mostly ones without monsters have good music as well.
Value:
I gave the value a little over average because the game allows you to continue to play within the world after you have cleared the game. In addition it will use your clear file to play the next installment of the game which comes out next month. The cleared part of the game allows you to play the world as freely as you want and you can enter arenas to kill players or visit areas and kill monsters to lvl up or build up your weapon skills and unlock more abilities. I am not sure to what extent the impact will be on the next installment but according to the email you receive after you clear the game it should be significant. In addition, you still have some movies, bgms, backgrounds, and small cut scenes to unlock that do not really progress the story but does progress some relationships with other players that you formed while progressing through the story.
Review tilt:
All in all the game is fun and hard to put down if you understand the story and are a fan of dot hack. I believe this to be one of the best games of the dot hack series and look forward to the next installment.