I watched ed play this over the weekend and I like it. Keep in mind that I have only played through volume one of the original series, though I am very familiar with what happened during the original The World story.

The graphics are a lot better, not that I am some grpahics whore or anything, but I think they add to whole atmosphere of the game. The cinematography is MUCH, MUCH better because what pissed me off about the last series is that most of the cut scenes involved Kite and someone else standing around and talking. When there was action, it was cool, but just not that exciting for me. GU changes all that. It's very fun and pretty to watch.

The gameplay seems to be improved as well. Sure, it will end up being repetative because you are playing a simulared MMORPG, but from what I saw it looks like I would enjoy it more than the other .Hacks if I ever get around to playing this one.

The music is ****ing awesome. End of story. No more droning music that bores you to death. There were cool tracks in the original series, but GU outshines the original series in terms of music.