Cheat Mode status doesn’t transfer across games, meaning that one can concentrate on Ryu Book farming rather than level grinding in the first game, then transfer to the second game and play normally.
in fact, Do you need to play .hack before Gu?
EDIT: So I think the resounding majority says that you do not need to have finished the first games to enjoy the GU series, which is good.
for instance,
indeed
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