Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2 Game Review
PRODUCTION INFO
Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2 is a JRPG that was released for the PS3 in 2011 for Japan, and 2012 for North America and Europe. A Playstation Vita remake named Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 2: Sisters Generation was released in March 2014 for Japan. Compile Heart (Record of Agarest War) and Idea Factory (Blazing Souls) developed the game with help from Nippon Ichi Software (Disgaea), 5pb. (Chaos;Head and Steins;Gate), Gust Corporation (Atelier), and Comcept. It currently is available for $29.99 in the North American Playstation Store.
STORY
The game continues off from its predecessor, Hyperdimension Neptunia. In the land of Gameindustry, there are four nations controlled by "CPU's". CPU's are the goddesses of these lands; Planeptune, Lastation, Lowee, and Leanbox. Tragically, the CPU's have been outwitted by the evil ASIC who now intends to control these nations with the dark power of piracy. Rendering the goddesses helpless in a trap of energy-sucking cables, their remains a glimpse of hope, as Nepgear, the CPU candidate of Planeptune, charges into battle alongside Uni, Ram, and Rom to free her older sister Neptune and the rest of the CPU's, in the hopes of restoring peace to Gamindustry.
WHAT TO EXPECT
As far as gameplay goes, if you are familiar with JRPG's then this will be a very typical game for you. It has a few features that help it stand out a little, but overall it does not have a unique gameplay system.
As for the story, expect moe comedy mixed with drama and action. You are playing as a cute personified version of the Sega Game Gear after all! But regardless of what Japanese people prefer to make their protagonists based on, the game has its share of sad moments and of course, plenty of action. You should probably be aware that this is an ecchi game as well, though.
The fights are well-balanced with no major grinding. In fact, the only grinding I had to go through at all was near the beginning. Once it was taken care of then, it never came up again, thankfully!
GAMEPLAY
The gameplay is mostly typical of standard turn-based JRPG style, but it incorporates visual novel-like features. Much of the game is story and this is where it is laid out like a VN. There are sometimes choices you must make. The dialogue is somewhat voiced, and you have the unique ability to choose which voices you want to hear (including language).
When you finish reading dialogue, you are given a map. In the main region, you can choose to go shopping, accept guild quests, synthesise items, or read "chirps" people have posted on "Chirper" from the city. This is basically the game's version of Twitter. Of course, you can also leave the city. Outside the city, you are given a regional map. From here you can go to locations that inhabit monsters, and finally start fighting! If you leave the regional map, you are given an overworld map from which you can pick a region. It's pretty simple. In a monster area,
the game becomes 3D and you can explore the area as Nepgear, or whoever else you make the leader of your party.
In a battle sequence, you can move freely but only to an extent. Once you are situated, you have seven options: attack, skill, HDD, end turn, item, switch, and escape. For every regular attack, you actually have a few attacks, and you can make combos. Skills use up SP and have an area of effect, plus you can only use one per turn, but they can be powerful. HDD is your transformation into Purple Sister, or whichever CPU/candidate's HDD form you're playing as. It makes you much stronger. Ending your turn will skip to the next character's turn (this is actually used a lot despite it sounding useless). Items are important for
healing and reviving characters, of course. Switch allows you to switch characters with your partner. You can set partners for each of your party members when you are outside of battle. You can only escape when you are on the edge of the battlefield.
Back to that switch option-- that partner system is part of the game's Lily System, which is the closeness of the relationships your characters have with one another. If you partner up two characters often, they will gain Lily Points and become stronger together than when paired with other characters.
CHARACTERS
Nepgear is the CPU candidate for Planeptune. She is Neptune's little sister, Neptune being the current CPU of Planeptune. You play mk2 from Nepgear's perspective as she gathers the other CPU candidates to save the CPU's. Despite being the little sister of a goddess and leader, Nepgear is generally seen as the more responsible sibling. She tends to worry about the things her careless sister ignores, and puts much effort into supporting Neptune's role. She is very mature with a motherly personality, but she enjoys video games as much as anyone in Gamindustry. Her transformed identity is Purple Sister and her character represents Sega Game Gear.
Neptune is Nepgear's older sister and the CPU of Planeptune. She is lazy, spending most of her free time playing video games and eating snacks. Despite her immature attitude, she transforms into a responsible CPU when she becomes Purple Heart. Even her body matures, making her taller and bustier. The drastic change is noted on numerous occasions throughout the franchise. In mk2, you don't get to add Neptune to your party until near the end of the story because she is held captive by Arfoire from the beginning of the game. Neptune represents a personified version of the unreleased Sega Neptune.
Uni is the CPU candidate of Lastation and Noire's little sister. She has a very tsun and stubborn personality, much like her elder sister. You meet Uni quickly in the game, but it takes Nepgear a bit of effort to convince her to join the party. Uni transforms into Black Sister while Noire is Black Heart. Their nation represents the Playstation series of consoles, Noire being the PS3 and Uni being the PSP.
Rom and Ram are young twin sisters from the Lowee region. They are a duo of CPU candidates, whose elder sister is Blanc. Blanc is very protective of her sisters, which results in their reluctance to join a party of strangers such as Nepgear's. Once again, Nepgear must earn their trust in order to fight by their side. Rom is a very shy, delicate girl who relies complete on Ram and Blanc. Ram is the opposite; she is not afraid to talk down to anyone, and like Blanc, she is very protective of Rom. Blanc turns into White Heart and her sisters turn into White Sisters. Lowee represents Nintendo, Blanc being the Wii and her sisters symbolising the Nintendo DS.
When you begin the game as Nepgear, even though you haven't met any other CPU candidates, you have two companions: IF and Compa. Compa is a nurse-in-training (and she's great to have in your party for healing!) And IF is well, a fighter. She's not as good as a CPU or a CPU candidate, but she is some help when you are starting off. They are both friends of Neptune and Nepgear.
The main villain of the game, Arfoire, is named after the R4. For those who don't know, R4 is a card you can put in your Nintendo DS to play whatever roms you download from the Internet. She symbolises game piracy, which indicates that the creators probably view piracy as a bad thing. In Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2, the two most recurring villains on ASIC's side are Linda (known as Underling in this game) and Pirachu. Linda seems to have an inferiority complex, and takes great offense to the characters calling her Underling. As for Pirachu, he has a strange crush on Compa.
Through the game, you'll meet some odd characters such as Gust, Nisa, and 5pbs. These are all companies that worked on the game (Nisa being Nippon Ichi Software America). They don't have any serious influence on the game, so I figure it's safe to call them shameless advertising.
There are many more characters in this game, such as Histoire and Chika whom you can see in some of these screenshots. But I cannot list each and every character. Just know that this game is overflowing with characters!
EXTRA FEATURES
Besides all the normal JRPG stuff I've talked about, there is another feature that sets Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2 apart from other JRPG's. The more a region's people believe in their CPU goddess, the more powerful she becomes. This applies to the CPU candidate as well. This system is called "shares", and it basically symbolises how many consumers buy the nation's game systems, and directly refers to the power each company gains as it receives income, thus the word, "shares". This is getting pretty deep!
In order to gain shares, you must please your subjects by undergoing guild quests. You can help out your people and make them like you more. They will believe in you and power you up with shares. Shares can also determine which ending of the game you get.
There are also many references to other franchises in Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2! Travel to Lowee and you'll see a red-dressed plumber named "Maryo" chirping in the city. Fight "Tokimeki Sister" enemies and Pacman ghosts in battle. Since 5pb. also made Steins;Gate, there are Steins;Gate references as well. You will most likely see more references than you can recognise.
OPINIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS
I loved the concept for the story in Hyperdimension Neptunia! The idea of playing as a game system and getting power from shares you receive from your citizens is original and a smart move, considering that its target audience is already heavily into that stuff. I mean, game systems within a game? What more, you play as the game system? As a moe loli?? What's not to like? Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2 is my favourite turn-based JRPG not just for its general idea (or because I love moe comedy), but also for the fact that it has a good length of gameplay-- Not too much, not too little, and very little grinding. Most time spent playing will be progress, and that always feels good. For fans of Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2, I recommend the Xenosaga series due to the transformations and similar battle style.
RATING
★9/10★
