Hyperdimension Neptunia

1. IF_Awesome

   Mar 7, 2011

   10

   Don't believe the review sites, this is a great game! Neptunia and Trinity Universe are two of the most unique games you could ever play.Don't believe the review sites, this is a great game! Neptunia and Trinity Universe are two of the most unique games you could ever play. The healing system all of the critics whine about is not based on luck at all, but on percentages. At either level 8 or 9 Neptune already has 100 points and thus can get an automatic heal every time. Most of these "professional" reviewers simply played the game for an hour and were upset that Neptunia is something different and proceeded to unjustly bash the game. And honestly look at the cover of the box. If you don't like or are offended by Moe, bishoujo, or anime girls in general then why in the world would you buy this game of be assigned to review it? Rant aside Neptunia has some of the best english voice acting in any game ever. The dialog is superbly written and is absolutely hilarious. The battle system is pretty good, and does take some getting used to. The music is great, and it is too bad that we did not get the sound track as Japanese gamers did. This game is worth buying just for the characters, voice acting, and story alone. Overall a great unique game that is perfect for anyone who likes JRPGs or anime.… Expand

   • 26 of 31 users found this helpful
2. 0cean

   Feb 17, 2012

   10

   Amazing JRPG despite all negative reviews many critics have given them, mainly because of the humour and lovable characters. Light-heartedAmazing JRPG despite all negative reviews many critics have given them, mainly because of the humour and lovable characters. Light-hearted with an interesting concept, this game is definitely a must buy.… Expand

   • 1 of 1 users found this helpful
4. solutions10

   Nov 24, 2011

   10

   Critics are completely missing the point of this game. This is a classic-style NIS game, which consistently breaks the fourth wall (forCritics are completely missing the point of this game. This is a classic-style NIS game, which consistently breaks the fourth wall (for instance, during her lengthy transformation sequence in battle, Neptune says, "No attacking while I'm transforming!" Or, for another example, a minor character dies at some point, and someone exclaims, "I figured he was going to die at some point in the story. He didn't even have a portrait." Or, also, "Don't bother arguing with him, Neptune. He's an NPC, you can't fight him."). The general idea of the game is simple, but excellent implemented with some key RPG problems being averted. For instance, you know how in most RPGs, after healing, you lose your turn, only to lose all your health again? Here, you auto-heal and auto-revive with elements if you take enough damage, making it so you don't have to worry about that, and can always focus on attacking. The combat mechanics are very good, and extremely flashy. Random battles really suck, but thankfully, they're sporadic in this game, and you can go a long while without running into one. But, really, let's just forget everything else: This is a game about extremely attractive manga girls fighting in a game that only they seem to know is a video game, where you do quests and advance the story and watch humorous event sequences. It's fun, funny, lengthy, loaded with potential DLC, and the character graphics and animations are exceptional. Transformations in particular are just gorgeous. As long as you know what you're getting into in this game, you already know whether you'll like it or not. Like manga girls in an RPG that makes fun of itself and its own genre, is full of ecchi, and is entertaining and hliarious? Well, here it is. Definitely recommended.… Expand

   • 3 of 4 users found this helpful
5. ryuzaki57

   Oct 8, 2011

   8

   The press unfortunately destroyed an innovative and unique JRPG. Character design will please anime fans without the shadow of a doubt. TheThe press unfortunately destroyed an innovative and unique JRPG. Character design will please anime fans without the shadow of a doubt. The others will pass but it's a niche game : no need to consider all the players when reviewing it. A sense humor never seen in the West, repetitive but addicting gameplay, good difficulty balance and surprisingly deep scenario makes it a must-have for any JRPG/anime lover.… Expand

   • 1 of 2 users found this helpful
6. ZincAlloy

   Jan 3, 2012

   8

   Just finished platinuming this game last night and I can honestly say I enjoyed every minute of it. I've only platinumed Uncharted 2,Just finished platinuming this game last night and I can honestly say I enjoyed every minute of it. I've only platinumed Uncharted 2, Assassins Creed 2, Sly Cooper 1 & 2, and this was my 5th. It's a unique JRPG, and yes the combat system is at first terrible but so is riding a bike until you learn how to do it. If you genuinely like JRPGs, you need to give yourself more than a couple of hours into this game and play it. It truly is a great game.… Expand

   • 2 of 2 users found this helpful
7. Razzee

   Aug 2, 2019

   7

   Story: I knew a good portion of the plot from playing Re;Birth1 a year ago, but there are some differences. Firstly, compared to Re;Birth1,Story: I knew a good portion of the plot from playing Re;Birth1 a year ago, but there are some differences. Firstly, compared to Re;Birth1, the characters seem very self-restrained; Neptune is no longer a mindless pudding addict meme-maker, and I think that's a (really) good thing. In fact, the word pudding is never mentioned. She makes no jokes about Noire's loneliness every frame either. This sums up to the aura of hostility between each goddesses; they are reluctant to help Neptune in doing anything. The only real buddies Neptune made throughout the game are IF and Compa. Talking about them, since they receive more screen time, or I was not paying much attention, Compa is potentially a very funny character with her grandfather's quotes and other absurdities (like a part of one of the legendary weapons being a heirloom from her grandfather, who conveniently found it on his yard). Every optional quest has a little backstory read by 5pb on her radio channel. The problem with the story in this game is how slow-paced it is; Neptune finds the first Key Fragment very early in the game, then there is a lot of filler (go to dungeon, watch cutscene, repeat) with uninteresting stuff, just to resume unfolding on the late stages of the game. Compa says that the most important are the beginning and the ending, but this is obviously not true. In any case, the concept was well established for the sequels (which the developers apparently didn't expect to make, given how this game ended). Still talking about story, what surprises me the most about Japanese games is the amount of effort they invest on side content, which may not be viewed by the player, easily skippable if one does not pay attention. The game does not explain how shares work nor how to recruit the goddesses, yet there are voiced cutscenes after you recruit each one of them.
   
   Combat system: Trinity Universe cemented the path, while Hyperdimension Neptunia took the opposite way. It shares a lot of similarities with the previous game, since a lot of content was recycled from TU (most enemies, some maps); both are traditional dungeon crawlers, wherein a battle is triggered every X steps taken, creating an isolated instance. TU is a mix of RPG with hack n' slash mechanics; 4-button long combos are inputted to deal more damage, linking attacks from everyone in the party to unleash even greater combos and damage. Basically, Cross: light physical attack (high hit count), Square: heavy physical attack (low hit count), Triangle: magical attack (multi-target) and Circle: custom skill (eject, healing etc). I liked that system a lot (is there any other similar game?). However, the developers decided to scrap the solid system combat from TU to make something anew in HDN. The combo system is still there, but the player must create them with every skill obtained. Needless to say, but I just spammed the same combo for every character during the whole game; I'm not a fighting games player to memorize all these damn combos. They thought that "customization" was a good thing no matter where it was applied, although Cross Edge flopped for its wide amount of complex customization. The real issue is how healing takes place; there is a menu called "Item Skills", where you distribute percentage points to increase the likelihood of being healed or receiving different buffs during battle. Dying to a boss because my HP was at 51% and not 50%, thus not triggering the healing effect was utterly frustrating. To worsen things, some Item Skills are given priority over others (if you're at 30% HP, it's the Item Skill whose condition is to heal under 50% that gets triggered, healing in a smaller quantity of HP).
   
   Environment/art: dungeons are still large corridors with repeated layouts, but at least there is a greater variation of them here. I think the graphics are pretty good, mainly the 3D models for the characters, that no longer look like they are made of wax. The frame-rate is slightly choppy in some dungeons (factories) while stable in others (snow). I read that lowering the resolution to 720p amenizes the issue, but it didn't bother me that much. Oh, yes, there is a 3D Macaroon in this game (shopkeeper in TU). Of course, the major selling point of the game: living, beautiful sprites drawn by the talented artist Tsunako. I love her style. Talking about the sprites, they seem thicker in this game, as well as the manga-style expressions. The font chosen by NISA for localization is very stylish. Background images in cutscenes appear to be more varied.
   
   OST: I have read amountful comments stating that the sound-track is mediocre, but I liked it. Not every song thrilled me, but I think that each one of them suited well the themes for every dungeon where they play. During cutscenes the song played is changed to match the situation portrayed, which shows the care they had in making cutscenes.
   
   I ran out of words but, I suggest checking this game if you're a fan of the franchise.… Expand

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful
8. Dynel

   Dec 26, 2014

   0

   This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. in one word: Appalling. Can't believe this garbage passes as "RPG" much less "JRPG" , first, the reason of why a low score:
   
   Story: Or what passes for one. Seriously, it is so bad, I wanted to "UNSEE" the story. It's beyond idiocy that this game was launched at all. It is about the "war of the Consoles". Except there is no real war, all the "CPU" seem to be good friends. They band together to destroy a threat to the gaming industry. Pirate games. Yep, the whole "plot" of the three games, this one line. Do not bother to try and get more, there is no such thing.
   
   Voices and Music: 8 bit like music in the first dungeon, coupled with bad voice acting, be either japanese or english, I wanted to rip my ears off. So, I muted the game.
   
   Art and graphics: Moderate. Not good. But bad, yes. Graphics are a mess. You will get lost in the dungeons. A lot.
   
   Game play and battle system: Appalling. If you want to connect more "hits" cut the animation for the attack. Always. Because you have a gauge that determines the amount of hits you can land, and seeing the animation consumes time. Really?! that's a miss if you ask me. Controls are clunky and stupid.
   
   Overall: AVOID. This is one of those games that were released for a niche people I call "perverts" because the game has overabundance of "fan service". If you want more ecchi go and play an ecchi game already, it will have better story plot than this piece of garbage.
   
   score: -10. I refuse to recognize this as a game. much less rpg.… Expand

   • 0 of 5 users found this helpful

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