Developer: Compile Heart, Idea Factory
Publisher: Idea Factory International
Platform: PS4
Tested on: PS4
Megadimension Neptunia VII – Review
Last year a lot of Hyperdimension Neptunia titles came flying to the West. We then got to try our hands at Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth3: V Generation, Hyperdimension Neptunia U: Action Unleashed and of course the Hyperdimension Neptunia Hypercollection. Now the series has finally transitioned to the PlayStation 4.
Story
Megadimension Neptunia VII (read as ‘V’-2) doesn’t bring just one story, but a grand total of three to the Playstation 4. In the first one, titled ‘Zero Dimension Neptunia Z: Twilight of the Desperate CPU’, you learn the ‘CPU Shift Period’ is drawing closer for the world of Gamindustri. During this time the inhabitants of the realm grow tired of their heroes and are quick to put their faith into a new generation of goddesses. Neptune, the CPU or ‘Console Patron Unit’ of the land of Planeptune, fails to see the gravity of the situation and simply decides to do what she always does: lazing about. Suddenly she hears an unknown voice which leads her to a mysterious old gaming console. When she and her younger sister Nepgear try to figure out more about it, the duo is sucked into a dimensional vortex into a devastated apocalyptic realm. Here the sisters meet the feisty Uzume Tennouboshi, the last remaining CPU of this so-called ‘Zero Dimension’. Together they team up to fight the Dark CPU that is destroying the lands and open up a way home.
The second story, ‘Hyper Dimension Neptunia G: The Golden Leaders, Reconstructors of Gamindustri’, focusses on the CPU Shift Period itself. As more and more people lose their faith in their CPUs, the girls try all they can to rebuild them. When an unknown group known as the Gold Third manages to defeat the goddesses, the whole of reality is shaken up. Suddenly these new faces have taken control of the realm and it is up to the CPUs to piece together what exactly has happened.
‘Heart Dimension Neptunia H: Trilogy Finale: Into Legend’ is, as the name suggests, the final story of VII. When the Zero Dimension seemingly starts to bleed into the Hyper Dimension, the truth behind the heroines’ troubles finally get revealed as the true antagonist rears her head.
The story in Megadimension Neptunia VII intersperses the more serious plot scenes with meandering upbeat randomness. Be ready for anything, including a lengthy and very bubbly discussion about pudding while an enormous monster is somewhere out there trying to murder your colourful hairy heads. These intermezzos, while sometimes adding a welcome change to the pace, can seem to drop out of thin air and generally leave you wondering what the heck you are watching when the subject is still going strong about 10 minutes later. Luckily the witty humour, fourth-wall breaking and clever console references make up for a lot.
Graphics
As can be expected from a Compile Heart game, there is a stark contrast between the graphical quality of the art used and that of the actual 3D models and dungeons. Stills and portraits are absolutely divine. Their subtle animations make the various characters really come alive. Of course it wouldn’t be a Neptunia game without a fair bit of fanservice, so prepare for a handful of detail loaded (and frequently rather saucy) pictures highlighting the heroines’ best sides. On the other hand, you of course have the 3D environments in this game. Though there clearly is some improvement visible compared to previous titles, it still feels rather substandard. For example, textures feel incredibly last gen and dungeons, amongst other things, get reused across stories which can make it feel like a lazy cop-out. Furthermore, characters walk and run in a very awkward way, which makes you wonder if the creators have ever actually seen a woman run before, let alone jump. What we do like is the attack animations. The rapid swirls and smooth slashes truly make you wonder why other movement seems so stiff.
Sound
Voice-acting, in both English and Japanese (which you can get from a free DLC) is absolutely top-notch. It adds so much that it actually broke our heart a little when we got to learn certain dialogue parts weren’t voiced at all. The music in this game is also pretty great. Sure, some dungeon-tracks sometimes feel a little weird, but most of it is interesting and on point.
Gameplay
Megadimension Neptunia VII is a straightforward JRPG with plenty of dungeon crawling. In between cutscenes, you get the chance to explore unlocked locations and fight local monsters. Every dungeon of course houses a small collection of treasure, a save point and tons of creatures. Though moving from event to event might feel incredibly old school, fights inside dungeons are luckily not triggered by random encounters. Every possible battle is always signified by an enemy-model waddling about the place, which means you can try to get the advantage by attacking the creature pre-battle or even avoid having to fight it altogether. Be careful when sneaking past though, because getting noticed might end up in a battle with the advantage in the enemy camp instead.
The battle system is surprisingly comfortable to pick up as a newcomer. Fights are turn-based with a hint of strategic positioning added to it. There are a total of three different types of basic attacks your girls are able to use, these being ‘Standard’, rapid ‘Rush’ attacks and hard hitting ‘Power’ ones. These types can be strung together in order to create powerful combos. Which types can be performed when depends entirely on the level of your heroine and her weapon of choice, though every landed hit helps to fill up an EXE drive gauge.
Positioning is massively important in this game, especially when it comes to joint attacks. Depending on the size of your team, which can hold up to four heroines max, sandwiching or surrounding an enemy may trigger the possibility to trade in your EXE drive gauge to unleash a massive attack. The interesting part however is that you are only able to perform these with characters that are in the same state. In other words, goddesses in their HDD mode won’t be able to sandwich monsters to death together.
Megadimension Neptunia VII features quite the impressive cast, so it isn’t surprising that the game allows for bonding between your frontline fighters and bench-sitting crowd. Non-fighters are able to ‘donate’ extra offensive or defensive buffs to the heroines they are linked to. The more they fight together, the tighter the bond gets and thus the better the shared properties will be.
In general the battle system is incredibly nice. Though easy to learn, it still offers enough choice and challenges to make fights enjoyable. This is of course important once you hit that point in the game where you just can’t ignore the call for a good old-fashioned grind anymore.
Though we stated there weren’t any random encounters within the dungeons, they aren’t completely banned from the title. The world map, which connects the various locations, still has enemies jump you when you least expect it. Though a very classic element, these forced stops do tend to break the pace a little, especially when you are travelling quite a distance. The good part about the map however, is the fact it allows you to save wherever you are. Go forth and use this superpower because once you start having lengthy overworld conversations, a good save can – well – save you from a lot of dialogue skipping.
Since the battle system is nice, we had hoped we could’ve said the same thing about the dungeon-experience as a whole. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Hidden walls and a badly implemented jumping feature make them feel outdated. The reuse of dungeons across the stories doesn’t really help much either. It’s a pity, because we’re certain Idea Factory and Compile Heart could’ve done some incredible work had they not fallen in the very same traps they always have.
Conclusion
Megadimension Neptunia VII brings a grand total of three JPRG stories to the PlayStation 4. While the general art is breathtakingly good and voice-acting couldn’t have been better, the general dungeon-experience is once again lacking. Luckily the fun battle system and clever (and highly self-aware) writing makes up a lot. We doubt Megadimension Neptunia VII will fly high with the general public, but fans of the series will definitely enjoy.
Megadimension Neptunia VII – Review,
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