Data Hacker Initiation

About

Data Hacker Initiation is a single player role playing game with a science fiction theme. It was developed by New Reality Games and was released on July 21, 2014. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

The beginning of the Datastream saga... Set some years in the future, following a global economic and social crash, Data Hacker Initiation follows Jay; a retired hacker in search of vengeance. Jay is a prolific player of Online World: the escapist's dream game in a backwards-future, until an ironic case of mistaken identity, whereupon he is banished from the refuge that he so loved. Enraged, Jay…

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Single-Player

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67%Audience ScoreBased on 121 reviews

story19 positive mentions

gameplay5 negative mentions

Unique hacking mechanic allowing players to convert enemies into allies and customize a large variety of classes and skills.
Engrossing cyber-themed story inspired by MMORPG culture with deep themes about online identity and control.
Extensive content including multiple dungeons, side quests, two endings, and New Game+ mode offering many hours of gameplay.

Poor optimization causing slow performance, long loading times, and occasional technical bugs affecting gameplay experience.
Repetitive turn-based combat coupled with significant grinding especially in mid to late game, leading to pacing issues.
Uneven presentation with inconsistent pixel art, heavy use of RPG Maker default assets, and lack of clear tutorial or in-game explanations.

story
72 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
26%
64%
10%
The story draws heavy inspiration from early-2000s virtual-world narratives like .hack and Sword Art Online, blending turn-based RPG mechanics with a meta-narrative about hacking, identity, and mystery. While some find it unique, immersive, and rewarding—especially for fans of sprawling, cryptic storytelling—others criticize it for being slow-paced, opaque, and occasionally boring, with key plot elements often hard to follow or missable. Overall, the story is appreciated for its concept and depth by niche audiences but may feel dense or unengaging to players preferring straightforward narratives.
- “It draws heavy inspiration from early-2000s virtual-world narratives, blending classic turn-based RPG mechanics with a meta-story about online identity, power, and obsession, resulting in a game that feels simultaneously nostalgic and unusually dense for its presentation.”
- “Your hero, a hacker named Jay, was just banned by admins of the “online world” game, but that’s not going to stop him from creating a new identity and diving into the game again – on his quest to gain more power. He soon gets involved in a mystery of players vanishing from the online world, and the real one too.”
- “The story is coherent, there are multiple (two) endings that affect the story of the sequel, there is quite a bit of customization in party composition, and there are a fair number of side-quests.”
- “Story might be okay-ish but you need to go through so much slog to advance it that it's not worth it for me.”
- “The storytelling is intentionally opaque at times, favoring cryptic dialogue and fragmented lore over clear exposition.”
- “The first real issue that I want to bring up is that the plot makes itself scarce.”
gameplay
27 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
11%
70%
19%
The gameplay in Data Hacker: Initiation combines traditional turn-based JRPG mechanics with a unique hacking system that lets players convert enemies into allies or resources, offering notable depth and flexibility. However, it suffers from repetitive combat, poorly documented and occasionally unwieldy mechanics, balance issues, and frequent grinding, which can detract from the overall experience. Despite these flaws, the game’s ambition and concept are praised, making it a bold but somewhat rough first entry in its series.
- “Gameplay is rooted firmly in traditional turn-based combat, but Data Hacker: Initiation distinguishes itself through the sheer complexity and flexibility of its progression systems.”
- “One of the game’s most distinctive mechanics is the ability to “hack” enemies and NPCs, converting them into playable allies with unique classes and abilities.”
- “Gameplay-wise, it could be considered as an above-average JRPG with a typical combat system, a multitude of skills, and one non-typical mechanic: instead of defeating your opponents for experience, you can try to “hack” them and convert them to data to sell for good money instead (not to mention that you can add more characters to your team this way).”
- “Interesting premise with RPG charm, but repetitive combat, unclear mechanics, and frustrating grinding ruin the experience.”
- “Endless grinding and poorly documented mechanics in a ramshackle world that thinks it's an MMO is your personal notion of one of the circles of hell.”
- “Gameplay: 3/10 (worse balancing).”
grinding
27 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Grinding in this game becomes a significant issue in the mid to late stages, with progression slowing down due to repeated leveling, farming, and fetch quests needed to overcome increasing enemy difficulty. While some players accept grinding as part of the RPG/MMORPG experience, many find it tedious, poorly paced, and frustrating, especially when combined with unclear mechanics and frequent repetition. Overall, grinding is considered a major drawback that dampens the otherwise interesting story and features.
- “Progression can slow dramatically in the mid to late stages, and grinding becomes more noticeable as experience gains taper off and enemy difficulty spikes.”
- “Interesting premise with RPG charm, but repetitive combat, unclear mechanics, and frustrating grinding ruin the experience.”
- “The game is pretty fast-paced in the first half although it becomes grindy and super slow on the latter half since enemies will take a longer time to kill.”
graphics
15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
60%
20%
The graphics in Data Hacker: Initiation feature a utilitarian pixel-art style blending custom and RPG Maker assets, with a notable overhaul that improved visuals but left some inconsistencies and sprite mismatches. While some find the visuals plain or stuttering during movement, others appreciate the detailed atmosphere and classic 2D RPG charm, emphasizing that the graphics serve the game's imaginative and atmospheric goals rather than high-end aesthetics. Overall, the graphics are functional and suited to fans of traditional RPG Maker titles, though not universally praised for creativity or polish.
- “Visually, Data Hacker: Initiation embraces a utilitarian pixel-art aesthetic that mixes custom assets with familiar RPG Maker elements.”
- “The creator tried their hardest to make the glitch areas like a mess of graphics that are out of place and the regular dungeons to be their own biomes.”
- “I've had a blast playing this in the past and I'm looking forward to a replay once Reboot Initiative is ready to go; the new art style and enhanced atmosphere and mapping look great, and I know Ross – the main developer – has been busting his ass on the trilogy so far.”
- “The graphics look stuttering while moving around.”
- “Boring graphics: houses just look like crap, characters look nearly the same except for skin color. I've played SNES games that looked thousands of times better than this one.”
- “To be fair, there was a massive graphics overhaul done on this game which made it easier on the eyes, but it also made the areas missed during re-spriting and the quirks caused by bad quality control much more apparent.”
music
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The game's music is widely praised for its atmospheric, melancholic tone that effectively complements the digital world and enhances the overall experience. While not always standout or highly memorable, many players find the soundtrack delightful and well-crafted, with several tracks worthy of repeated listening and even purchase. Overall, the soundtrack is considered a strong and enjoyable component of the game.
- “The soundtrack complements this approach with atmospheric tracks that reinforce the digital, slightly melancholic tone of the world, even if it rarely pushes beyond ambient support into memorable standout pieces.”
- “A special mention goes to the game's soundtrack, I found it extremely well done.”
- “I paid backer rewards for reboot to get the soundtrack, but even the version in the game files themselves are quite nice, and a number of tracks are going right on my music player.”
optimization
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
16%
67%
Optimization for this RPG Maker title is notably poor, with significant performance issues such as stuttering, low and inconsistent frame rates, and a broken fullscreen mode. Despite its depth and strategic gameplay, the technical problems severely impact the overall experience.
- “The depth here is impressive, especially for an RPG Maker-based title, and it rewards experimentation and strategic planning rather than straightforward optimization.”
- “Extremely poor default performance, with a flat-out broken fullscreen mode.”
- “Stuttering in the major cities, even after my fix.”
- “Performance: 4/10 (The game needs to be reworked; 28 fps max, 40 fps in hometown? Lock it at 30 fps if it won't run 60, it hurts players' eyes with constant frame drops and lags!)”
atmosphere
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The game's atmosphere is well-developed, effectively conveying a digital, slightly melancholic online environment through its soundtrack and thematic elements. Despite largely using standard RPG Maker assets, the world feels immersive and engaging, enhanced further by new art styles and mapping in updates. Players appreciate the strong atmospheric design, finding it a significant strength even without standout musical pieces.
- “The soundtrack complements this approach with atmospheric tracks that reinforce the digital, slightly melancholic tone of the world, even if it rarely pushes beyond ambient support into memorable standout pieces.”
- “Although DH:I relies mostly on standard RPG Maker assets, the online world rendering has a strong atmosphere.”
- “I have to say though, not once did I feel like the visuals were a detriment to the game, RTP or not, and the atmosphere itself was brilliant.”
replayability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
75%
The game offers moderate replayability with two endings and items or companions that carry over or are exclusive to subsequent playthroughs. However, its overall simplicity limits long-term engagement, though save/load mechanics for item farming add some extra incentive to replay.
- “With two endings, and a number of items and companions that cross over between playthroughs - and some that are only available in the second playthrough - it has a bit of replay value.”
- “It's pretty simple, but fun - adds some extra replay value as you can just save/load and reloot the chests a while to try to get the rare good stuff.”
- “So its replay value is lacking, unless you want certain items in new game plus.”
- “Length and replayability.”
- “With two endings, and a number of items and companions that cross over between playthroughs – and some that are only available in the second playthrough – it has a bit of replay value.”
stability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game suffers from notable stability issues, with frequent bugs impacting gameplay, especially when using alternate controls. Follow-up titles are reported to be even more unstable and problematic.
- “The follow-up games are buggy messes, and I do not recommend those.”
- “It is also pretty buggy when I try to use alternate controls, screwing up my gameplay.”
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is well-crafted, blending wit and fun seamlessly with a strong plot and engaging intrigue.
- “The writing is good, bringing a strong plot, humor, and wit.”
- “There's humor, there's intrigue, and there's fun!”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect is criticized for having a dull and uninspired story that lacks originality, with many elements feeling recycled from other games and animes. The narrative fails to engage players or provide a compelling introduction.

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12h Median play time

9h Average play time

2-15h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 2 analyzed playthroughs

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Frequently Asked Questions

Data Hacker Initiation is a role playing game with science fiction theme.

Data Hacker Initiation is available on PC and Windows.

On average players spend around 9 hours playing Data Hacker Initiation.

Data Hacker Initiation was released on July 21, 2014.

Data Hacker Initiation was developed by New Reality Games.

Data Hacker Initiation has received mostly positive reviews from players. Most players liked Data Hacker Initiation for its story but disliked it for its gameplay.

Data Hacker Initiation is a single player game.

Similar games include Last Dream, Data Hacker: Corruption, Skyborn, The Bard's Tale IV, Labyronia RPG and others.

Data Hacker Initiation

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story

gameplay

grinding

graphics

music

optimization

atmosphere

replayability

stability

humor

emotional

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