Just got this game and been playing it a bit. Surprised by how much I'm enjoying it, to tell the truth.

Questions for others who may be playing it:

Do any of you actually use Data Drain at all except for the battles against Data Bugs and similar "invincible monsters" which require you use it before you can kill them?

Is there a "cheap" or "quick" way I can get a bunch of each of the virus cores? I need them for gate hacking and it's very cumbersome to track down the monsters, plus the fact that it's a toss up as to which core I'll get.

Where can I find a weapon for Twin Blades that is at or near lvl. 70? The current weapon I have (Sora's blades) is great, but I want something that can really deal out some damage.

So..... you started at the 4th game and skipped the first 3? o_O;

Why not? You start the game with email messages and message board discussions going back to when Kite first joined "The World". Don't miss any storyline. Plus you can unlock movies from the first few games with bonus "Books of 1000" you get from overloading the bracelet, though you are gambling a bit there.

You may get all those things if you start with the last installment of the series, but you miss the whole experience and story line if you do what you did. You said that you don't miss any of the storyline? That isn't true! The story will not make sense if you start at the end of the series!

Um, the fourth game has the cinematics from the first three games on it, that you can unlock. Thus far I've unlocked all of part 1's cinemas, and part of part 2's. And then there's the fact that you have the entire story spelled out for you in the fourth Liminality disc that comes with QUARANTINE, under the special features section.

Oh, and .hack//GIFT is the funniest shit I've ever seen. (which, coincidentally, comes on the Liminality disc, as well).