Bandai Namco Games today announced .hack//LINK for PlayStation Portable. The game is developed by CyberConnect2, developers of the PlayStation 2-based installments of the .hack series. The new title will tell a different story than the manga ".hack//LINK Tasogare no Kishidan" (Order of Twilight), even though there will be common features. The basic flow of gameplay will be similar to the series' older installments. Players will move around in parties of two. The battle system is said to be very action-oriented, to the point that the movement and direction are likened to those of fighting games.

.hack//LINK takes place in the year 2020. The .hack series' main setting, an online game known as The World has received another update, as The World R:2 (used in the .hack//G.U. series) has been replaced by The World R:X. The game's protagonist is a game-loving junior high school student by the name of Tokio Kukyuu. Saika Amagi, the game's heroine, is a beautiful yet mysterious girl who only recently has become Tokio's classmate.

Thus far, .hack//LINK has only been announced as a standalone title. Whether or not it will progress in a multi-part series, like the PlayStation 2 titles, has yet to be determined. At the time of the announcement, no sequels were mentioned.

.hack//LINK for PlayStation Portable has yet to receive an official release date.

• Geemu Jouhou! Geemu no Hanashi