Platform: Playstation Vita
Release Date: August 26th, 2014
Genre: Japanese Role Playing
Developer: Idea Factory, Compile Heart, Felistella
Thinking back to the days when I first heard whispers of a new Playstation 3 RPG that would tackle the console wars with the magical girl genre, it would have been hard to imagine how far the concept would go. Yet, years after the debut of the original Hyperdimension Neptunia, the series has spawned sequels, its own anime and a very bad spinoff, to continuously feed its respectable following, making it a legitimate success. With each sequel improving on the last, the developers at Idea Factory decided to take the lessons they’ve learned to the Playstation Vita, creating a full remake of the original with Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth1. By taking the best ideas from the second and third games and inserting them into Neptune’s first adventure, it’s safe to say that this release is on track to be the definitive version of the game that started it all. But are these enhancements enough of a reason to take a trip back to Gamindustri?
Purple Heart soars into battle!
ReBirth puts players in the over-sized hoodie of Neptune, the goddess, (or CPU), of Planeptune. After being locked in an everlasting conflict known as the Console Wars, Neptune’s true form as Purple Heart is defeated, thanks to the combined efforts of Black Heart of Laststation, (or Playstation), Green Heart of Leanbox, (or Xbox), and White Heart of Lowee, (take a guess). After crash landing in the middle of her city with no memory of her true identity, she’s discovered by Compa, a ditzy nurse who somehow comes off as the more responsible of the two compared to Nep’s aloofness. In pursuit of her past, Neptune and her friends get wrapped up in a quest to save Gamindustri from a mysterious threat; one that puts all four realms at risk. But can the warring CPUs put aside their differences for the sake of saving the world?
The majority of the play time is spent in one of the game’s numerous dungeons, all of which are brimming with monsters and treasure, which is all presented in a bright, colorful world. Avoiding the tedium of random battles, all fights are triggered by making contact with enemies on the field, with the ability to strike enemies before battle to start with the upper hand. As expected, the enemies can do the same, so careless attacks can be punished in a big way.
Gaining an early advantage and utilizing your attacks is the key to victory.
But first thing’s first. What kind of savior can protect people without fighting? If you typically associate JRPGs with slow, tedious battles, then ReBirth could be the game that changes your mind. Once these fights trigger, the turn based system is the only aspect you would be able to associate with the typical role playing game of old. When each party member’s turn comes up, they’ll have full range of motion within a certain radius, allowing players to position them in a spot that’s both offensively and defensively advantageous.
Fewer foes are more menacing than the Super Otaku!
After a battle commences, each party member has three standard attack types, called Rush, Power and Break attacks, all of which have various advantages in a fight. Rush uses multi hit attacks that deal more damage than Break moves, and are primarily used to build up the EXE meter, (a bar that allows strong special attacks once filled). Power on the other hand, are typically single hit moves that deal more damage than the other two attack types. Yet, the most important function is easily the Break attack, which focuses on draining the opponent’s guard meter, triggering a huge damage boost once the enemy is weakened. As the party gets stronger, new special abilities become available, making it even more important to properly manage these three basic functions to deal maximum damage. And trust me, you’ll need to when going toe to toe with the game’s tough bosses.
Making this aspect even more important is its effect on your (and the enemy’s), ability to deal damage. The party’s attack range is illustrated by an icon that’s either in front or around them, with its reach depending on the character, ability and weapon they’re using. Mastering this feature is crucial to success when it comes to standard battles, since the right position can allow one attack to hit multiple opponents, especially when attempting to Guard Break huge groups at once. On the flip side, enemies have the same attack system, so keeping your party right next to each other is a one way ticket to an embarrassing Game Over. But when certain beneficial abilities work best when the team is within the vicinity of each other, sometimes, taking the risk can be beneficial. It’s moments like these where strategy adds a decent amount of depth to a relatively simple battle system, that adds layer upon layer as it progresses.
Outside of battles, Neptune and company can explore the terrain of each dungeon, seeking out valuable treasure with her radar, (used to uncover one hidden item per area), or through, plain, old fashion map scouring. While some can be used right out of the box, most treasures contain materials to synthesize other items. If this sounds familiar, that’s where the cliche ends, thanks to the game’s Remake System.
Treasure hunting has never been so adorable.
In addition to creating items, the Remake System allows materials to be used to alter the game itself, allowing players to create an environment that suits their needs. Is that latest boss too tough for you to take down? Go ahead and remake the difficulty. Have you seen everything there is in a dungeon and want to explore it again? Then why not add harder enemies and new treasure? Or how about a new dungeon altogether? Yep, you can even add bonus dungeons to explore once the standard ones get dull.
Options like these really make ReBirth stand out, so even when the standard difficulty tends to be erratic, players can choose to change the game rather than put up with hours of level grinding. Although, if you’re too proud to take the helping hand, then those spikes may be more of an issue, especially when the game likes to put you up against multiple dungeons, enemies and bosses without save points or chances to heal. Do you like having to play chunks of a game over and over again? I don’t.
But there’s more to the world of Hyperdimension Neptunia then just the dungeons. Exploring Gamindustri is handled through a large overworld map, allowing players to select different areas to examine. Planeptune and its neighboring lands each have a Basilicom, or hub area. Here, the party can purchase items, weapons and gear, accept quests, (which range from boss fights, to hunting or gathering missions), seek information from each town’s strange inhabitants, and burn discs, which are customizable gear that can hold almost any stat boost or resistance you can think of, assuming you own the right items to do so. All of this mind you, is presented with a script that is laugh out loud funny on so many occasions, feeling like a true love letter to gamers who catch the many references to the medium. Even Neptune herself, gives us hope that all lazy, unreliable gamers out there can one day rise up and save the world. But not until filling up on junk food and finishing that one last stage, of course.
You would think the physical manifestation of a game console would know the drill by now.
But with such an endearing cast and interesting world the characters inhabit, it’s too bad that this doesn’t translate into the actual exploration of Gamindustri. With dungeons being the only areas to actually move around in, selecting icons and watching the story play out with text adventure style word bubbles set to backdrops, I felt eager to actually be able to walk around and communicate with these crazy characters, especially with the superb voice acting in both English and Japanese. It doesn’t help that the dungeons themselves come off as looking relatively bland, especially compared to the bright characters and monsters that often ooze personality without ever having to say a word. And at points, no words might have been the better option, since certain scenes featuring gratuitous fan service might make you feel embarrassed to read through those sections.
Sadly, this is the extent of which we get to explore Gamindustri.
Still, these complaints are a drop in the bucket compared to the ridiculous amount of fun I had playing through ReBirth. The fast paced game play combined with the endearing characters, hilarious writing, colorful presentation and the insane amount of customization makes this remake stand out as not only an improvement on the original, but one of the best Japanese RPGs I’ve played in years. Lack of true exploration aside, anyone with a passing interest in role playing games, anime, or nerdy video game references absolutely should pick up Hyper Dimension Neptunia Re;Birth1, serving as a true bright spot in the Vita’s bleak 2014.
tl;dr
+ A simple, fast paced battle system that adds layers over time.
+ The ability to customize everything from enemy layout to difficulty.
+ Multiple items to find, tough enemies to defeat, dozens of dungeons to explore and hundreds of quests give the game a ton of mileage.
+ A quirky cast of characters who inhabit a story that never takes itself seriously, brought to life by excellent voice actors.
– The lack of true exploration leaves us wondering what a fully realized Gamindustri could have been, with bland environments compared to the party and enemies.
– While optional difficulty adjustments alleviate the problem, sudden difficulty spikes and marathon dungeons can hinder progress.
-Occasional “fan service” moments may turn off some.
– While more of a minor thing, can party members who leave the team give my equipment back? Thieves…
Final Score: 4.5/5