Megadimension Neptunia VIIR (PS4) Review

The mainline Neptunia series is no stranger to updated re-releases, and Megadimension Neptunia VIIR (Vee-two-are) keeps it rolling.  Besides sounding like a new Star Wars droid, the name also clues you in to one of the biggest additions: there's new VR scenes.  Thankfully, you don't need a VR headset to play the game, because I don't have one yet.   In addition, there is a new graphics engine for smoother visuals, and the combat has be revamped.

For better or worse, the game starts with one of the new VR sections.  You can still view it without a headset, but I imagine it would be a lot cooler with the new hardware.  Some scenes pop up between chapters, while others have to be selected from the player's room.  In fact, most things are done from this new area. It's where you can view the scenes, or jump back into the stories.  As far as I can tell, all three stories from the original release are intact and unchanged, save for a few changes for the endings.

The other major change in the game is the combat.  Before, you would put your unlocked moves in a combo flowchart, which was determined by your weapon.   It...wasn’t my favorite, not by a long shot.  Now, moves require AP to use, but you can attack multiple times in a turn if you have enough stored up.  Plus, you have access to all of your unlocked moves...sort of.  Your weapon again determines which of the three types you can use, but you are free to use any in those.  It’s certainly an improvement.  The only real downside is that each move now costs money to unlock. Early on I just didn’t have enough to buy many moves, so I was stuck using the same ones for awhile.  After each combo or special move, you have to select “defend” now.  It’s not the most streamlined process, but it does work in the player’s favor.

That’s not all.   There’s now a skill that lets you heal when you de-transform from CPU form.  I think that’s pretty neat, and useful.  HP is fully restored after each fight, which does make the game easier and faster.  SP is used for special moves, which is built up while you fight.  SP build up feels a bit slow, especially in the giant battles, but the system is functional.  Thankfully, the middle act now allows all players to share items.  It should be less of a pain to complete.

Challenges from previous Neptunia games (like jumping a lot, or getting symbol attacks) return, but with a re-tooled purpose.  Before, they gave stat boosts. Now, they give bonus points that you can put into stats of your choosing.  The best part is that these stat points can be re-allocated on a whim.   No need to visit a special person, or use an item to respec your stat bonus, just decrease the number.  Part of the reason for this is weapon balance.  Now, weapons need a balance between to stats to keep a high accuracy.   You can pump everything into strength, but it will eventually lower your accuracy.  Keeping in mind what stats balance your weapon will still allow you to get stronger, but it’s not as simple as dumping everything into one thing.

I don’t like all the changes.  It might be minor to some, but the saving has changed.  It’s nice that it saves so often, but it is an auto save, and it’s all in the same slot.   I would think most RPG fans prefer to at least have a few slots, or be allowed to manually save before stopping.  I know I do.  I haven’t had any issues with it, but it makes me a little paranoid.  Oh, and if you had any DLC for the previous release (yo), it sadly doesn’t work here.  I can guess there was a licensing issue for some of them, but at least Umio could have been there.

The new additions and reworked combat are nice, but not necessarily worth coming back for.  It might be a different story if you have a PSVR.  If you haven't played the first release, or wanted it to be better, then it is worth trying out Megadimension Neptunia VIIR.


The Good:
Combat was re-worked and is much improved.  Graphics look better, too.

The Bad:
DLC doesn't carry over from the previous release.  Game is auto save in one slot.

The SaHD:
So is the next remake/rebirth game 4GO VR?

(Review code for Megadimension Neptunia VIIR was received from the publisher)

Megadimension Neptunia VII (PC) Review

Megadimension Neptunia VII (V-two, not seven) is a game I reviewed on the PS4, and like many other Idea Factory, Intl. games, has also been ported to PCs and is for sale on Steam.  The game was originally three smaller games that got compiled into one, with each smaller game now becoming a story arc for its full release.

Dungeon and battle controls are largely the same.  You walk and jump around the dungeon areas, and if you make contact with an enemy walking around, you will enter battle.  Battles are turn based, and when it is your turn, you can move around a set area to attack enemies with your combos.  What has changed, though, is one of the attack types.  The break attacks and break meters from previous games have been removed, with a 'standard' attack joining the 'rush' and 'power' ones to form your combo.  For better or worse, the number attacks you can use in a combo is defined by your weapon and not character level or skill.  Personally, I'm not a fan of that particular change, since stronger weapons may not be better at all, or even worse because you are losing out on full attacks for an increase in damage.

Another big change to the game is the overworld map.  Before you just selected the place either from a list or by moving a cursor, but now there are paths that you follow.  Paths are basically connected dots, with a fight possible on most dots.  Towns restore your health just by walking on them, so you don't have to actually enter the town menu to get healed.  The towns also offer shops and other functions that you will need throughout the game.  Sometimes the roads Neptune travels have to be built to connect, allowing you to travel there.

For all of my PC port reviews, I like to see how the game runs on my PC.  I have an Intel Core i7-4790, 3.60 GHz with 16 GB of ram, and the game ran fine for the most part.  It ran smooth, and loaded quickly.  The only area that was suspect was the victory and level up poses after battle.  They seemed a little choppy.  I don't know if that is because of the game, or my system or maybe even intentional, but the framerate was noticeably lower just in these parts.  Other than that, I didn't encounter any problems in the few hours I ran the game, and it looked just as good as the PS4 release.

The three arcs of the game give a good story length, though there will of course be times when you will need to grind.  Still, the game is a fun RPG, and a definite play for fans of the Neptunia franchise.


The Good:
Really mixes things up with the three arc story, and the new characters are pretty cool.  Bosses feel less tedious with the removal of the break meter.

The Bad:
Scouts can increase the difficulty of the enemies in dungeons, with no way to turn it off like the old blueprint system.  Combo length is tied to the weapons, and not the characters.

The SaHD:
The special attacks of the Gold Third characters are all pretty awesome.

(Review code for Megadimension Neptunia VII was provided by the publisher)

Fairy Fencer F Advent Dark Force (PS4) Review

Fairy Fencer F came to US shores on the PS3 two years ago, but has received a face lift and new added content for its Advent Dark Force release on the PS4.  Besides looking better, the game has added some content to the original story line, plus two new routes for players to enjoy.  The party battle limit has also increased from 3 to 6 - a welcome addition in my book.

One of the newer story changes is in the first 10 minutes of the game, where a new dungeon has been added.  It also seems that the game has relaxed a bit on the missable quests.  You can still mess up an entire playthrough if you aren't careful, but it isn't as easy to do so as it was before.  My only gripes with the new additions is some of the dungeons are very dark, which strains my poor eyes, and how easy it is to miss the new routes.

To make your way through the game, you basically view an event scene (usually in the town), and then proceed to the next dungeon to beat the boss and further the story.  Dungeons are zones that allow you to run around, do some light platforming, find treasures (hidden and not) and battle enemies.  Enemies wander around the map, and if you make contact with them, a fight will start.  If you manage to hit them with your weapon, then you get a preemptive strike, allowing you to move first.  If they catch you from behind, or early on in your attack, then they get the advantage in the ensuing scuffle.  Each dungeon can have anywhere from 1-5 areas to go through, and most of them have a save point near where the boss battle occurs.

Battles have a lot in common with the game's Neptunia cousin.  When you character's turn comes up, they have movement and attack radii.  It can be tricky to move around some of the other enemies and characters to get to the fringes of your movement when you need to.  Normal attacks can only hit one target, but the radius is one of the stats you can increase, ending up with a very large zone to target an opponent.  Eventually, your characters will have access to a combo that allows you to set your attack strings, and you get three separate ones to boot.

To fill these out, you will purchase attack moves from different weapon types as you progress through the game.  You can mix and match as you wish, but each attack has a certain wait value, that will push off your next turn, so it might be in your best interest to not put on all the strongest stuff.  Plus, enemies are weak to some kinds of weapon attacks, so it is also not best to fill all three strings with your character's default weapon.  There are also launch attacks to allow you to air combo enemies, which are fun and also practical (since any breakable parts will take damage in the air, regardless of weapon type).

Next to your character's portrait there is a tension meter, which will allow you to Fairize.  This temporarily merges your character with their fairy partner, giving them awesome and impractical anime armor.  It also boosts their stats and gives them access to their super move.  It's a very good thing to get you out of some of the harder fights, and it seems to last longer than the original version.

The furies you get through out the game can be infused with extra powers with the Godly Revival system.  Each fairy has a rank, which determines what power set you can give it.  These will affect the character that equips it, but also can be used on the world map.  A fury can be stabbed into the ground, and provides its battle effects to whatever dungeons its area touches.  They have a variety of effects, from raising and lowering stats, giving extra money, or even changing what enemies appear.  The latter is very useful in getting certain drops or completing several quests.  It's a unique and cool system, but every positive or useful effect unfortunately also comes with a negative one.

Even knowing several things to do because of the PS3 release, it still took me over 50 hours to complete my first run through the game.  Granted, I was grinding for several hours to finish some of the quests so I could get better stuff next run, but it is still a beefy runtime.  While this encompassed a few changes, I still had not run into the new story paths.  At first, I figured I would need to beat the game once to make them available.

I was wrong.  You do have to repeat the first half of the game normally (about 10-20 hours into the game) before you can do the completely new story routes.  There is also zero indication how to get to these new additions.  I had to look up info on the Japanese release to see what to do.  I don't think it is too much to ask to have some indication to the player what you need to do in order to see this new stuff, since I'm sure many of the players of this were also fans of the original release.  We already have to do the whole game over again because we can't import our saves, so why try to have us spend even more time we don't have to?  Part of me thinks I should have seen this coming, given how the game likes to make things missable.

The new game plus the game has is very, very good, though.  It shows you what carries over, and even allows you to disable certain things if you so choose (I keep it all).  This makes subsequent runs much, much faster (I got through the first half of the game in 4 hours).  Plus, you can keep using party characters that you don't have access to.  This is important, since different routes have different usable characters.

Overall, I am very happy with Fairy Fencer F Advent Dark Force.  I liked the original release, and this is even better.  I like all the changes and new content (except for how dark some of the dungeons are).  I would say the game is worth it for JRPG players and fans of the Neptunia series, and any others that wanted to play it but waited for this release.  If you played the PS3 release, it is worth it to come back, unless you are unwilling to play the game over again.  At least you theoretically only have to do half the game over again to get to the new content.

The Good:
Advent Dark Force improves every part of the original Fairy Fencer F release, and even gives return players a good chunk of new content...

The Bad:
That you still have to put in about 15 hours to even get to, assuming you accidentally trigger the new routes, or look it up.  It would be nice if the game told you!

The SaHD:
Seriously, I would have liked to know...I ended up going through the game twice (65+ hours!) to get to the new routes.  At least I have the trophy for beating it on hard now.  Also, did Tiara get a new voice actress or am I crazy?


(Review code for Fairy Fencer F Advent Dark Force was provided by the publisher)

Megadimension Neptunia VII (PS4) Review

Neptunia and her friends have finally crossed over to the new gen!  Megadimension Neptunia VII (it's V-two by the way) has noticeably higher definition graphics and a host of changes and new things so you can save Gameindustri from yet another threat, this time on PS4!

The story for Neptunia VII is separated into three arcs.  The first has Neptune and Nepgear meet a new CPU, Uzume, in a desolated dimension.  She is a pretty cool new character that uses a megaphone as a weapon.  The second arc has the characters split up to deal with new threats from the Gold Third, who are characters that represent four of the third party companies.  The final arc ties it all together to its conclusion.  It's actually a pretty long game, all things considered.

As would be expected, the game looks nice.  It is a step up from the previous iteration of the series.  However, what I was not expecting was the new enemies.  While there are some returning enemies, there are a lot of new models, like a few different big robots, crabs with sand castle shells and even good old Koitsu.  I really like the new enemy models.  Some of them even have voice files.  Not just monster sounding grunts, there are more human-sounding ones (even from obvious monsters), and actual spoken dialogue.

Battles have also been tweaked from previous iterations.  Break attacks are no longer present, so the guard meter isn't there, either.  This is actually really nice, since bosses really made use of that to be more of a chore than they should be.  Instead, bosses and strong enemies now have multiple health bars, represented by pip marks under the main bar.  This was a system used in Fairy Fencer F, and is a good way to show normal damage but have lots of health.  Rush attacks hit a more times and help build the EXE meter, while Power are for more damage.  The Standard attack is in-between those two, and is what replaced the Break attacks.

Attacks sometimes have a combo trait.  If you use the attack when the conditions are filled, it is a guaranteed critical.  These are pretty nice since they up your damage, but aren't necessary.  I'd still recommending juggling around where you put the different combo attacks to take advantage of it as best you can.  There is thankfully no CP system like some previous games, so you can put on a lot of your best moves.  Each attack can only be put on once, though.  Each weapon allows certain combo moves to be used, but you can fill the unused slots anyway.  I'm not too fond of this part of the new combat system.  It makes each weapon unique, and probably adds some balance, but a stronger weapon might not actually be better, and that bothers me.  I'd be happy if it gets reworked in a future title, though, since it does have promise.

Some enemies have different parts that can be broken off of them.  In my opinion, this would have been a good use for the Break attacks.  Either way, it is a bit tricky to hit them since you cannot target them directly.  You will do damage to them and the enemy if you attack them from the appropriate position to hit the breakable part.  For example, if the enemy has a weapon you can break in their right hand, attacking from their right side will also damage the weapon.  The system works...alright.  As far as I can tell, you need to use an item to see the health of the breakable part, and again to check its progress.  It's a bit cumbersome, but I would like to see the idea come back in a future game with some retooling.

C-Sha knows how to rock, man.

The EXE gauge returns, but starts over each fight.  The upside is that it fills much faster.  The gauge can be cashed in for either the EXE moves (if your level is high enough) or formation skills, which are powerful attacks that require your characters to be on different sides of an opponent.  Coupling has changed some as well.  Now the character in front temporarily gains 10% of the back character's stats, but only for either offense or defense, which is set by the player.  There are also giant bosses you fight at a few points in the game, where you can only damage them with SP attacks.  You move around platforms that surround them, which you can also use to avoid some attacks.  These are a fun addition to the game that adds something really unique.

The world map has also changed.  The different dungeons are connected by routes that you move over when travelling to your destination.  Battles can occur on the different points.  There will be times you must spend money to build the actual route to a given place, which seems a bit unnecessary.  I like the ideas, but I don't really think the game needs either of these.  The random battles are more annoying than useful, and I'm not convinced the game needed another way to use up money, like Investing.  Yes, you can now spend money to unlock more store items, more blueprints to develop and extra event scenes with items.

Scouts also return, but with changes to their function.  They are deployed to a dungeon of your choosing for a certain time length.  When they return, they might find items, money, a new dungeon, another scout to join, or nothing.  It's pretty nice.  However, they can also find stronger enemies in dungeons, which is annoying until you can deal with them.  If, after finding them, they could be turned off (like the previous blueprint system), that would be better.  Scouts at a location will also give it their effects.  Some give bonus experience, change the enemies, or even lessen the share penalty for transforming.  There are also negative effects, too.  You can send multiple to the same location, so definitely take advantage of them as much as possible.  At first I sent them one at a time, then I figured out you can send multiple at once (just mark them with the d-pad).  I am so glad I figured that out for myself.  It made it much faster to send them and keep track of where I sent them to.

With so many changes, did anything stay the same?  The item development is largely the same as it has been in previous games, but there seems to be less to make.  Also there are no more plans that change the dungeons, as a similar function is on the scouts.  The character challenges, which I really liked, are also back.  These give you stat bonuses for jumping, being the leader in dungeons, hitting a lot, etc.  The final level of some of them give a nice big bonus, which really helps out if you can get them as early as possible.  Moving around the dungeons and in battle is largely the same as well.

As mentioned earlier, the game is pretty long.  With three complete arcs, the playtime feels higher than previous Neptunia games.  There were still several points where I had to grind out some levels, especially during the second arc when you don't always have a healer in your group.  There are a few different endings too, so there is a reason to replay the game, which the new game+ will help with.

Like most of the other Neptunia games, Megadimension Neptunia VII was fun for me.  There were a lot more changes than I would have expected, and a lot of new enemies, too.  I like some of the battle system changes, but some of the others I would like to see reworked into something more fun.  The three arc story is pretty neat, and I do like the new characters.  It can take awhile to get through the game, longer than other Neptunia games, but still has parts where you will want to grind.  I also really enjoy the new references!  Fans of the Neptunia franchise should definitely pick up Megadimension Neptunia VII.

Hyperdimension Neptunia U: Action Unleashed (PS Vita) Review

The Hyperdimension Neptunia series is no stranger to having spin-off incursions into other genres.  Its latest game is their take on the hack and slash action genre, titled Hyperdimension Neptunia U: Action Unleashed.  So instead of an RPG, think more like Dynasty Warriors... or Senran Kagura.

Actually, it is a lot like Senran Kagura.  Considering that both were developed by Tamsoft, I'm sure it's no coincidence.  Anyway, you run around stages taken directly from the Neptunia series and kill lots of enemies.  You have a standard combo of normal attacks, and the Triangle Button is the power attack.  There are a few variations of the power attack, depending on when you press the button, and some characters can even combo it.  X is the jump button and Circle is a short range dash to get out of trouble, or move closer to an enemy.  Up to three special attacks can be equipped and used by holding the R Button and pressing Square, Triangle or Circle.  Each of these moves takes one or more SP bars, which are the little blue bars above your health bar.

Being a Neptunia game, you characters can ascend to their HDD forms.  Once your EXE meter is half full or more, you can activate HDD for a strong power-up.  Once the meter is gone, your transform back into your normal form.  You can also cash out the remainder of your EXE meter to perform your super attack.  Thankfully, all of these options are also available to the two new characters, even though they are just gaming journalists, and not gaming goddesses.

There are ten characters in all, but they mostly play the same.  They have different combos and attacks, but the biggest difference is if they are a ranged or melee-type character.  Ranged characters will strafe while you keep hitting the attack button while moving, rather than change the direction of attack.  There is a decent variety of familiar Neptunia enemies to wade through, with certain ones being boss monsters.  One strange thing is the dating sim enemies.  There are three types, although they are effectively palette swaps of the same base one.  However, all other enemy types don't have their palette swaps counted as different types, so I'm not sure why the dating sim ones do.

As either an intentional riff, or because they just wanted it in the game, the ripping clothes mechanic from the Senran Kagura series is also present.  If you take too much damage, you will get an all-too familiar series of shots showing the outfit's destruction.  Spamming the strong attack will weaken it too, but most times it was the damage that destroyed mine.  You do get half of the EXE meter when this happens, so it is actually useful.  It can also occur to the HDD forms, and will effectively increase the time you can stay HDD (since you get the half an EXE meter).  It's a strange choice for the series, but there don't appear to be any down sides.  Well, unless it happens to Rom or Ram, since that's a little creepy.

The story of the game is pretty much there to get you to play stages and kill lots of guys.  There are only three chapters, but many missions to complete.  The story mode isn't very linear.  When stages open up, it gives you several, and you don't have to complete them all or in a certain order.  To mix it up a bit, there are "irregular quests", which have hidden conditions.  They are kind of like puzzles, since you have to figure out what to do.  When they open up, it gives you all of them.  I figured they would just unlock along the way, but nope, they just post them all.  It's a strange way to do it.  I took about 10 hours to get through the story mode and all the missions, but there was still a few more things to do.

Once you complete the story mode, "Gamindustri Gauntlet" opens up.  This mode has you choose a character and then fight in a one on one tournament.  It's not a very interesting mode to me, but I did it to try it out and to unlock the next mode, "Neptral Tower".  Opening up with a silly discussion of translating names, the Neptral Tower is a 50 floor tower that has a stronger version of the story final boss at the top.  Most fights in the tower are pretty short, but a few drag on a bit too long.  Each fighter has to make their way up through every stage to make it to the top.  Thankfully, you can do it in pairs so as long as you can use five of the girls, you can get them all to the top in a decent amount of time.  It's a pretty fun mode, and a great way to grind out some of the trophies.

While the trophies in Neptunia U aren't hard to get, they can become really tedious.  Maxing out all the Lily ranks for all characters (which now go to 10), getting all accessories, winning the Gamindustri Gauntlet with every character... you get the picture.  And yes, for the Gauntlet, the HDD forms count as separate characters.  Ugh.  One cool extra though are cheats.  After fulfilling certain conditions, you can unlock perma-HDD mode, infinite health, and more.  These make a few of the trophies/parts of the game more bearable... like the max level story stages.  These levels aren't required for the "all stages" trophy, and it seems they were DLC stages in the Japanese version, and just lumped into ours.

As a fan of hack and slash Warriors-type games, I was looking forward to Neptunia U.  It definitely didn't disappoint me, and the game is really fun.  It isn't quite as deep as the Warriors games, but there is the clothes ripping mechanic from the Senran Kagura series if that interests you.  I really like that the Neptunia series is branching out into other genres.  The first three excursions have been pretty fun, and I hope they continue to do more.  However, I hope they expand upon the ones they have done.  I'd really like another Action Unleashed title, with more of the characters seen in the other entries in the Neptunia family.

Hyperdevotion Noire: Goddess Blackheart (PS Vita) Review

Noire, from Hyperdimension Neptunia fame, is now starring in her own game.  Instead of a normal RPG, this time it is a grid-based strategy RPG, like Disgaea or Final Fantasy Tactics.  Accompanying her is not only her console rivals/friends, but also new characters made to represent famous game franchises.  Instead of fighting her rivals in a console war, Hyperdevotion Noire: Goddess Black Heart instead focuses on recruiting the generals to unite the land.

While the characters are the same as Neptunia, this game has some very big differences.  Character models are super-deformed, with their big heads and little bodies.  Instead of Gamindustri, Noire takes place in Gamarket.  Battles are no longer old school turn based combat, but instead take place on a grid.  At least the CPUs can still transform in battle... if only for a few turns.

One big thing that sets it apart from other SRPGs are the fields themselves.  Not content with just having a battle area, a lot of them have traps or gimmicks to them.  These include moving platforms, pitfalls and areas that damage you when you move on them.  While these are a cool, unique idea, they are too in favor of the enemies.  Stepping on the damage zones will end your turn as well as damage you.  Ugh.  Most enemies you fight on these stages can float, so the floor doesn't damage them.  Or it just doesn't damage them anyway, because...reasons?  The CPU forms can float, but it is temporary, situational, and not all of your party can do it.  If it affected the enemies, it wouldn't be so bad, but it's too one-sided for my taste.  Plus, enemy attack ranges are better than yours.  At least that's legit, since the main games do that frequently.  Still, cheesy does not equal difficulty!

Noire contains some of the various systems from the Neptunia games, but tweaked a little to fit in with the different style of game.  Blueprints are still used to add new items to the store, but they are usually obtained as battle rewards.  It's also harder to know where to get the items you need, since some are drops from enemies, some are quest rewards, and the rest are from treasure chests in the battles.  In previous games, you could see what enemies and even what items were obtained from each dungeon.  Now, you just have to remember or look it up.  It's not horrible, just very inconvenient if you are missing a certain item, and have to figure out where you get it.

When Peter Moore talked about Wii360, this is not what he had in mind.

The lily system also makes an appearance.  Now when you use a skill when next to your fellow teammates, they will give you a peck on the check and reduce the cost of the skill.  Besides being a bit silly, it is a very useful thing to take advantage of, since skills are so costly.  Character challenges have also returned.  These were little things like killing enemies, getting symbol attacks and jumping, and rewarded you with permanent stat upgrades.  This time they are tailored to the type of game, so you get them for being the party leader, breaking objects, and of course, killing enemies.  I really liked this little addition to the Neptunia games, and I'm glad it at least returned in Hyperdevotion Noire.

Instead of quests like the main series, Noire has extra battles to complete.  Completing them will reward you with extra items, and usually a blueprint, so it is worth doing them.  They are all repeatable, just like the story battles.  Actually, re-doing a story battle gives new items, so it's best to do them again too.  It's a nice and convenient way to level up, but it's really a product of not having areas to run around in or random battles.  I like that you can repeat the story battles, but I feel it's also a cop-out to pad the game's content.  You will probably end up doing each battle a few times to grind some levels, since Noire also takes that from the main series.  I didn't have to grind for every battle, but there were a few that necessitated an extra level or two to make it through.

I really like SRPGs, and Hyperdevotion Noire is no exception to that.  It's a fun game, even though it has its flaws and frustrations.  It's still a silly take on the gaming industry, although this entry seems a bit more serious than the rest.  Not that serious, though, as the humor is still present.  I like the characters focusing on game franchises rather than consoles, as that opens up a lot of new possibilities.  If you don't mind some grinding or uneven odds, and like either the Neptunia series or SRPGs in general, I'd recommend trying out Hyperdevotion Noire.

Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory (PS3) Review

Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory has recently been released and continues the adventures of the CPUs as they try to save Gameindustri (again).  For the uninitiated, the CPUs represent the first party video game systems, past and present.  Many of the enemies, places and predicaments in the game are parodies of video games and the industry itself.  The plots are often silly, with lots of fan service and nods to other games.

There are slight improvements to the graphics this time.  Of course I like the look of the characters in this game, and their in-game models are better than Neptunia Mk2.  The cut scene graphics have more movement to them, but not much.  The dungeons looks better than the last game, with more detail in the scenery.  Some of the dungeons do get repeated, though with slight differences.  There are lots of new enemies, too, and some returning ones as well.

Another improvement over its predecessor is the UI and town.  It's not really important, but the towns look better to me.  The UI also seems easier to navigate, as I could figure out where to go to do what I wanted.  Finding the challenge list (more on that later) took me the longest, and even that wasn't more than a few seconds.  Setting combos and assigning party position is easy and intuitive.

Gotta love the enemies

Speaking of combos, there are a few changes to the battle system.  Yes, you still move around on a small field and position your attack, same as the last game.  Enemy attacks also seem to have a huge range again.  While standing still, holding L1 or R1 will slowly rotate you, making it easier to aim your attack box and hit multiple people.  I don't remember this in the previous game, and it is very useful when aiming your attacks to hit multiple targets.

Anyway, back to combos.  You have three different attack types, Rush (for multiple hits), Power (does more damage) and Break (does more guard damage).  Up to three attacks of each type can be set.  After your initial attack, you have up to three more attacks you can combo into.  It sounds much more complicated than it is.  As you level up, you will earn new attacks, and can set up the combos however you like.  Setting each attack requires a certain amount of CP, so you can't just set all the best attacks.  However, you could set less of one type to have more CP for the type you prefer.  I really like this setup, so you can choose which attacks you want depending on the situation.  For example, use only Break attacks to break the enemy's guard, then use Power attacks when they will take more damage from them.  It's fun to make your own combos, and makes combat pretty fluid.  You also aren't locked into using just one type, so you can avoid using an attack if the enemy is resistant to it (ex: initial attack -> Rush -> Rush -> Power).  There's also SP moves that use your SP gauge (similar to MP in other games).

You might think that sounds like the last game, and it does.  So to mix it up, they have now added an EXE meter that fills as you land attacks.  When a section fills up and it gains a level, you can do special EX finishers at the end of your combo.  Using an EX finisher will not deplete the gauge, so you just get extra damage, which is great on the bosses and fierce monsters.  An EXE Drive, on the other hand, will take a protion of the EX Drive Gauge for a super powerful attack.  This gauge resets when you leave a dungeon, which is why it's good that enemies will respawn while you are there.  Later in the game, you get team EX Drives, which can be activated when you have certain characters paired up or in the battle together (and the appropriate Lily Rank).  These take more EXE gauge levels, but are even more powerful than the single character ones.  So it matters what characters are in battle and paired with each other if you want to have access to more special attacks.  And if you are like me, you will want to see each special attack at least once.

"Yay team attacks!"  Also: "Yay, Vert!"

As previously mentioned, enemies will now respawn throughout the dungeon while you are present (they didn't in the last game).  In a lot of ways this is helpful, so it is easier to grind experience, certain enemies and items.  Of course, this can be troublesome when you are barely making your way through the dungeon and trying to run for the exit.  If you have one, an Eject Button can help, but it's actually not that hard to just avoid the enemies and make your way out.  So while there is a little inconvenience at enemies respawning, it's actually really helpful.

There are now challenges for each character to accomplish.  It's the same list for each character, and several require you to be the party leader.  They are fun to do (for me), but more importantly, they will increase your stats or unlock bonus voices.  The stat gains are small at first, but as you unlock each subsequent level of the challenge, the gains increase (and they are cumulative).  You get a lot of them by just playing the game (hit or miss with attacks, kill monsters, take damage, receive healing, etc.), so those don't require any effort other than having the character in your active party.  The challenges that require you to be the party leader will require some effort (or lack thereof), since you will jump a lot, run around, get preemptive strikes, and more.  There's even one for standing around in a dungeon.  It took me a bit to train myself not to pause so I could work towards this whenever I needed to go to the bathroom/ deal with a child/ eat food/ etc.  The challenges can take awhile for the highest level (especially standing around for so long with every character) if you want them all.  The added stats help, but they aren't necessary if you don't want to get them.

A new Scout system has been added too.  You can send out little avatars (people that reside in the towns) to check out the various dungeons.  They can find items, money, change what monsters appear, change experience/item drop/money drop rates, or find hidden places.  It costs money to send them out, but it is very worth it.  You need them to change the monsters to complete some of the quests, so use them as much as you can.  At the end of each chapter, Scout usage is also one of the things they grade you on, so keep sending them out.  Most dungeons now contain flags that you can break or stand.  This affects what the scouts can find or change about it.  It's worth using them as much as possible to get the most out of the game.

The story is silly, and frequently breaks the fourth wall, but I enjoyed it.  After getting yelled at for being lazy, Neptune goes out on a quest and ends up being sucking into the past of an alternate dimension.  Basically, she was transported to a time when Lowee was the only real console, and Lastation was just about to form. She meets a new Planeptune CPU named Plutia, and together with the other CPUs, must defeat the growing threat of the Seven Sages.  Don't go in expecting a serious piece about the troubles of mankind or the existential reasons for suffering.  If you enjoy parodies, just relax and enjoy all the oddball scenarios and jokes about video games.  A good chunk of the lines are voiced, but not as many as I would think (I played in English).  The voice acting is pretty good, though.  My favorite parts are mini-Histoire's emoticons when she's talking.  It's a little thing, but it really sets her apart from her other version and the other characters.  The music is also decent, with the Seven Sage's theme being my favorite since it sounds a little goofy.

While the story is fun, there can be lulls between segments.  Most times, advancing the story is gated behind the various quests obtained from the guild.  The game does tell you that some quests must be completed to advance the main story, and you will have to do the non-repeatable ones to move the plot forward.  This makes the main story seem aimless at times, since you have to do what could be considered side quests just to advance.  Most times you have to kill a powerful monster, so it might just be a way of making sure your level is high enough to complete the next portion of the story.  This can be good, since the bosses get pretty tough.  They take a lot of damage to kill and they can dish it out in spades.  It was kind of annoying to stop doing the story and figure out which quest to do so I can get the next event, or grind a bit to beat a boss.

Counting all of this, though, the main story can easily last over 35 hours.  It took me over 45, although there was a bit of that just spent sitting in dungeons (for the challenges of standing still, since it's better than pausing).  There's also three endings, but new game+ makes subsequent runs easier and shorter.  I'd say there is good bang for you buck here, as any RPG should have.  If you are after the trophies, the list is secret again (yuck), but they aren't very hard.  You get one for all the endings, so you will want to go through multiple times if you want that.  The longest trophy is maxing out each of the girls' Lily Ranks with each other, but there are some discs that make that faster.

Overall, I enjoyed Hyperdimesion Neptunia Victory.  As was the case in Neptunia Mk2, you probably don't want kids around for some of the scenes and dialog.  There is tons of fan service here, and a silly story.  The special moves are flashy and fun to watch.  It can be a bit aimless at times, and involve a bit too much grinding, but I ultimately enjoyed playing the game.

Hyperdimension Neptunia Mk2 Review

Hyperdimension Neptunia, the game about the gaming industry.  The first had a great concept, but had a fundamental flaw in the battle system (healing was terrible).  Will the sequel improve the game, elevating it to the highest of RPGs?  Thanks to NIS, we will now find out.

The characters and locations are done in the anime style, so if you like that (as I do), you will like the graphics.  Most cut-scenes use the 3D model of the characters instead of the HD sprite version.  I'd prefer the sprite version, but the 3D models look good enough that it's not really a problem.  Many times during cut-scenes characters that are talking don't always appear as one of the two characters that are animated on-screen.  It's a strange choice more than an annoyance, but I did notice it.  One thing that surprised me: most enemies I haven't seen in another game except the returning ones from the first.  There was a period where most Compile Heart (if you didn't know who Compa was representing, now you know) games all had similar enemies, and I'm glad they included lots of new ones here.

The dungeons can be a little sparse, though.  Especially the plains and the abandoned factory just have areas to run around in, but not much detail or atmosphere to them.  Some others are full of color and character.  I personally like the Tetris-inspired one.  A few of them remind me of Phantasy Star Online, and given the main character, I wonder if it's intentional.  Also, occasionally when running around the dungeon, the frame rate seems low.  It's not as though it drops or is choppy, it just doesn't look smooth.  That's admittedly a minor complaint.  Since I am reviewing the download version, it may not be an issue on the retail release.

The English voices sound fine to me in this game.  Compa, IF and the other returning characters have the same voice actors (even if some change pitch/tone), which is really nice when coming off a previous game.  While many purists will change it to Japanese, the English VAs do a good job.  The music is also decent, if forgettable.  Unfortunately, I haven't run across my favorite track from the first game, which was used in the tutorial dungeon.

Dood.

It will be hard for me to talk about how this game plays without comparing it to the first one, so bear with me.  Last time, it was old school party vs. monsters, turn based combat.  This time there is movement in combat, allowing good placement and strategy to help kill multiple monsters or beat a strong foe.  If you've played Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits, it's kinda like that.  A thing that bothered me was enemy attack ranges.  They seemed to have much bigger attack range and area (these aren't displayed for enemies) than anyone in my party.  They also had lots of turns in a row, making them pretty fast.  While they usually couldn't get in as many attacks as my characters could, it rarely felt like I had an advantage.

How about actually attacking?  Each attack takes a certain amount of AP, and the attack chains are chosen by the player and can be customized slightly in the menu.  You also build up SP which, allows special attacks, healing, and transforming into the CPU form.  This is gained from actually attacking, while AP is given each turn.  It's a lot of numbers to keep track of, but as I say, the more numbers you give an RPG player, the happier they'll be (probably).  Combat is fun and I like making my own combos even though I usually stick to the special "EX" ones for the extra damage.

If my explanation wasn't good enough, here's some pictures to help out.

Now for the real test...can you heal outside of battle, or even control it in battle?  YES!  Thankfully, you can use items to heal in and out of battle.  While it takes certain amounts of AP to use an item, it's miles beyond the system from the previous game, which is why my wife and I didn't finish it.  Compa (and others in a limited capacity) can heal people, making battles less tense.  Honestly, the change to healing alone is enough for me to recommend this game to anyone disappointed in the first.

The main game can run about 35+ hours for a first run.  Dungeons aren't very big and can be run through rather quickly.  This is good for playing quickly, but not as engrossing as lots of other RPGs.  There are multiple endings, but thankfully "New Game +" saves the day here.  Keeping all your stats allows you to run through the game multiple times fairly quickly if you want to get all the endings.  So even if you consider the first run a little short, there's replay value with the multiple endings.  Admittedly, I don't always have time to play through an RPG multiple times, but New Game + makes that less of an issue when I'm ready to jump back in.

The plot of this game, while not serious, is very funny to me.  Last time, it was a parody of the console wars and their fight against piracy (the enemies are called Arfoire).  This time, it's up to the handhelds to band together and again combat piracy.  One thing I love doing in each new dungeon is see what new enemies there are and what they were "inspired" by.  For example, there's a suspicious green pipe, a doctor's polygon head, and groups of four blocks whose names are all anagrams of "Tetris".  I really like parodies, and the ones in this game make me smile.

What about DLC?  There is a bunch on the Playstation Store, and some of it is free.  Obviously, grab the free ones, since they tend to be new dungeons and battles and such.  Most of the paid ones are costumes for the characters, which you can grab if you want to, but are ultimately skippable.  Before you buy, I'd check for pictures of them so you know what it is you are buying, since there is no picture, just a description.  The last two pieces of DLC (and maybe the best) are the added characters.  I'm hoping to get them soon, since they aren't too expensive ($3 each) and you get new characters to use in battle.  Personally I want Cave since I really like their side-scrolling shooters.  I'd also want to add on her death smile costume, because I like that game.

You thought I was kidding.

The Trophies this time aren't that bad.  The most tedious would be getting all the different CG Images (most are automatic) and all the endings.  There's not really any that you would have to plan out your entire playthrough, and New Game + makes getting all the endings and any missables relatively painless.

One last, and (to me) massively cool thing.  You can download a template to make your own skin for Nepgear in her CPU form!  Way better than making your own summon from the first game, this is a great addition that I wish more games could use.  If you don't want to take the time to make your own, there are many to download that others have made.  Be warned that some are NSFW (or NSF children, either).  Thankfully, the really good ones are also tasteful.

Even though I was doing a bit of grinding after each plot point before the next, I was having fun doing it.  The battle system is more fun than the first, and that really improves the experience.  One warning though: they don't really cover what happened in the first game, so you will have to research it or piece it together if you haven't played the first Hyperdimension Neptunia.  Nonetheless, I like this one over the first by a good margin.  If you like JRPGs, check it out to (re)live the imaginary wars the handheld consoles went through to battle piracy.  If you can't track down a disk copy, you can now buy it from PSN directly.  If you plan to take your time and get a few endings, it's worth the asking price.  After playing this, I'm looking forward to Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory even more.