(Meant as a quick overview of the new set's features, rated on a purely subjective good/bad/odd scale)

.hack//ENEMY: Distortion

I've always felt that you need to see the first expansion of a CCG before you can really make any judgements on it. In the best case, there just isn't enough room in one set to really explore all the elements that the game can contain. In the worst case, it's not until the expansion that they find out that there *aren't* any more ideas to add to the game. So, let's see what we've got:

More PCs: The first set had enough PCs of each class, as long as you had the cash to chase down multiple X-Rares (or worse, Promos and Starter-onlys). Now, with a new batch of PCs at C and U rarities, you can build a solid Heavy Axeman deck without chasing down Subarus. Plus, it gives us lots of new abilities to mix and match. Rating: Good.

Level 2 Weapons that play directly: These are going to be a bit hit-and-miss, I think. On the plus side, you can skip a step getting to L3 (and the new L4) weapons, without having to monkey with L1 or weird element tricks. And bigger weapons faster is always a good thing. (The +3 Earth Axe will do well, if for no other reason.) The price is tricky, though. All of those weapons give something away to the opponent. The above-mentioned Earth Axe gives the opponent the opportunity to play a weapon and bounce itself back to hand (essentially giving away your card play to your opponent). The Wavemasters get hosed, getting a weapon that forces the bearer to log out. Rating: Odd.

New mechanics - Log in/out: I get the impression that they felt the need to do something called "logging out" to mesh with the series, and never got a good idea. Because logging out is the Fate Worse Than Death of .hack. When a PC logs out, he goes away, but he's still in play (and taking up one of your PC-in-play spots). You can't get rid of him. And you can only log in one card per turn. And yes, Virginia, when the PC logged out, all his items logged out with him. So those souped-up PCs are only one log-out away from complete uselessness. Rating: Bad.

New mechanics - Goblins and Speed icons: I wish the design teams worked together more. 2E Trek has this beautiful loaded keyword system they're using, where the game text gets printed after the keyword. Makes it easy for new players, and simple for experienced players. These icons are gonna take forever to teach kids, especially since the effects are a bit powerful and convoluted. For those who haven't read up, Goblin icons on items are worth +1 strength for every two items you have on the PC. Speed icons let you "flip an action from hand", one for each icon on the PC in the fight you're resolving. Yeah, that's easy to remember. Powerful, but silly. Rating: Odd.

New item types - for those Goblins, you can now accessorize your weapon and armor with boots and helms. Most of them don't offer any strength bonuses, but you can find the new mechanics icons there, plus the odd tolerance. Frankly, it would have excited me more if I didn't see each new item as another turn lost to logouts. But I can see the benefits to stacking some Speed icons on my main fighters. Rating: Good, I suppose.

Elements - lots more emphasis on elements, and especially on opposing elements. Everyone gets monsters that require sacrificing an opposing element, and rewards by forcing the opponent to sac an element. Some of the PCs get text along these lines as well. Considering that before now, we only saw opposing elements on actions (where the Water action gave bonuses against Fire and whatnot) this should be good.

Allen Gould, Gould Gaming Consortium