Megadimension Neptunia VII is easily the best Neptunia game yet. With noticeably higher production values, this game shines at what its good at. The music, the gameplay, and the visuals all excel. The frame rate is impeccable, staying at a steady 60 FPS . There is some fanservice as like the previous titles, but it’s very mild, and after the first few hours it should not be seen as anything more than an afterthought or for comedic relief. This makes even more sense once you consider the entire leading cast is made up of strong females and the entire society within the game is pretty much matriarchal.
To start with, Neptunia is part of a very niche genre and series about the console industry and the war between the various companions that dominate it. There are an infinite number of dimensions, each with its own unique history, but they all revolve around different versions of the console war between Sega, Nintendo, PlayStation and Xbox. In the game they’re given the names Planeptune, Lowee, Lastation and Leanbox respectively, being named after their most successful, current flagship console systems.
Your typical spats between patron goddesses.
MDN VII is the sequel to Hyperdimension Neptunia (HDN) Victory, which itself is the sequel to HDN Mk2. A word of warning, going into this game first will cause some of the greatness of it to be lost on you. As it is a sequel to two previous games, references will be missed. Also, having a solid understanding of Japanese culture and anime in general, especially their expressions, will go a long way to enjoy this game more.
As we move on, VII can be easily describes as the pinnacle of the Neptunia series so far. As time goes on, these games have only gotten better and better, and this one clearly stands as a standard when it comes to the improvements made between games. The graphics are great (played it completely maxed out, though the game wasn’t too demanding), areas that are dark look grungy and areas that should pop with color do and rightly so. The game is pretty massive, with three different intertwining stories in one package and a huge cast of characters to choose from. In addition to the returning party members, each new character is also based on a different real world game console or game series, each of which is introduced throughout the multiple story lines. Further highlighting the changes made to how the story progresses the game does not the typical RPG flow of following the events and move on to next chapter. For example, in the G arc, we can choose between the four goddesses and develop their story, which is the only way to use certain characters, (like Noire’s campaign being the only one in the G arc with her sister, Uni, for example).
K-Sha, the Konami inspired newcomer, uses Contra and Metal Gear Solid inspired attacks instead of Pachinko balls.
The gameplay is where the game really shines. Now that you are able to destroy and break of parts of enemies, the turn based combat requires you to think strategically and to plan your attacks. Some of the characters can transform during battle to give you an added boost of power and new moves you can use to to dispatch foes. In more detail, the cards at the upper right corner of the screen basically stated the order in which the enemies/heroes will attack in, while combat itself has some added elements to it. First off, during your turn, each character had a range in which they can move. This allowed you to position yourself around an enemy, attacking their flanks or their rear. Doing so increased the accuracy and damage dealt by your attacks, which is essential in some battles, especially early on when the difficult was significant. As for your attacks, you have your three basic combos. Rush Attacks, multi hit moves that are good at building the EXE gauge, (which I’ll get to later), Power Attacks, which grant increased power at the cost of the number of hits, and Standard Attacks, a mix of Rush and Power. You can have up to 5 attacks in a row, but this is determined by your weapon. There is a great deal of strategy around this piece. Each character has a different set of combos, and each combo may or may not come with a combo trait which, if satisfied, guarantees it’ll hit and be a critical strike. Figuring out which weapon to use for which character and which skills to set in which order in the combo adds a massive amount of complexity and depth to basic attacks, (not to mention this could mean the difference between life and death).
The improved gameplay is the star of the show.
In addition to combo attacks there are also skills. These can be buffs, heals, resurrections, debuffs, or straight damage abilities. Some have AoE, some are linear, and some are single target. Some are elemental and some physical, which might be better to use depending on the situation. There is a wide range of abilities that you will find yourself using even late into the game because they fill many different roles, and no role ever really becomes useless. Then there are special ultimate attacks, called EXE Attacks. There is an EXE Gauge that fills with each hit you take and each hit you do. The more hits, the faster it fills. Rush attacks fill this the quickest since they have the most hits. A lot more can be said about the combat, scouting and (the weakest) crafting, but for the sake of length, I won’t. The combat system in the series has come a very long way since the early days, so newcomers to the series or those who only played the first few will know that the combat system has been greatly improved. This is the title to play if you want to get into the Neptunia series if you’ve never done so before.
Another place where the game shines excellently at is the music. There are a great number of catchy tunes and all the sound and effects fit nicely with the theme of the game. The songs are designed specifically to match a particular mood or environment. It does well at matching whatever context in which they’re in.
White Heart showing off her new NEXT form.
The story isn’t going to win any Nebula awards for greatest plot twist. Once again, the game starts out with Neptune getting sucked into yet another dimension, (basically what happened in Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory), and this time, along comes her little sister, Nepgear. They land in what appears to be an apocalyptic version of their world and they need to figure out where they are and how to get back home. Neptune being the lovable Neptune, they set out on their quest bringing with them everything we have come to know and love. With a rather simple premise, and a tad bit of originality, the story is never difficult to understand. That being said, the story seems to is merely there to create a story for the characters to play in, and boy they do play.
First we have Neptune, a quirky, loveable little bundle of energy and joy that can make or break the tension in even the gloomiest of scenes. Arguably, her single greatest calling card is treating the fourth wall like a revolving door .Her younger sister, Nepgear, is one of the stable, rational minded individuals in the story that tries to keep things on track. Unfortunately this often fails and she ends up getting sucked into whatever problems her sister causes for her. However, beneath her seemingly docile, level headed exterior is a full-on gear head that goes bonkers at the sight of machines and robots. Series newcomer, Uzume, joins the girls in this dilapidated environment, and is based off of the Sega Dreamcast. Uzume has a megaphone, as a reference to the Dreamcast not being known as the quietest of systems. Changes in her personality appear as well, in reference to the transition of the games that were released on the Dreamcast from cute and bubbly to sharp and cool, (though that can be subjective). Her transformed state even shares a certain resemblance with that familiar green circle on her chest, referencing the middle of a Dreamcast’s controller. It doesn’t seem like much, but the way those three characters play off each other, and play off the dozens of others that you will encounter, and can add to your party, shows where the true heart of this series lies. Every character has depth to them, even if you don’t see it right away. The story of this game is amazing, not because of the quality, but because it is what every game should be.It doesn’t take itself seriously, and it’s fun.
Uzume letting her cute side leak out of her cool exterior.
This RPG is a great start for the summer if you missed the PS4 release. With it’s abundant helping of content, it will keep you occupied for some time to come and if you’re willing to put in the time, you’ll find yourself having a lot of fun.
Final Score: 4/5