Megadimension Neptunia VII Review

The Neptunia series has always intrigued me. A strange mix of manga story-telling and JRPG mechanics with a huge dollop of self-awareness, I always wanted to give it a go and see if this lesser-known anime contemplation of the games industry was actually any good. So when Megadimension Neptunia VII was offered for review I just had to give it a go.

Now before I go any further, let’s just talk about names. Whilst the VII in the title initially led me to believe it was the seventh game in the series, it’s actually only the fourth. Only available on the PS4, it actually stands for Victory 2, as a sequel to Hyperdimension Neptunia, H.N Mk2 and H.N Victory. Yes, eastern naming conventions are somewhat confusing. They also re-released these first three as Re;Birth 1, 2 and 3, confusing matters even more. I don’t know why this one is Megadimension and not Hyperdimension like the others, but go figure.

Anyway, the series revolves around the world of Gamindustri and the characters which inhibit it, within the Hyper Dimension; yes, it’s all a metaphor. The world is split into four regions, each representing a different real-world games company; Planeptune (Sega,) Lastation (Sony,) Lowee (Nintendo,) and Leanbox (Microsoft,) with each ruled by a CPU. (Arguably) the main character, Neptune is the CPU of Planeptune, ruling with the help of her sister NepGear and Histoire. There are a variety of events which happen throughout the series, but most main characters and events in the series are direct metaphors for the real industry; always showing real thought about current events.

This particular entry picks up in a period of relative peace, as the CPU’s, (who represent games consoles themselves,) prepare for the election of CPUs and the next cycle; a metaphor for a whole new console generation.  The game is split into three different “stories,” but progression carries through and there is a huge, overarching plot which follows through the chapters. Regarding this plot, new characters representing a variety of different third party companies are introduced, flipping the whole foundation of Gamindustry upside-down. It’s a great plotline with loads of ups and downs, which never lets you get too comfortable in your expectations

In terms of actual gameplay, V2 apparently isn’t too different from previous games, but as a new player there is really lots of enjoy.

Battles are played out as a turn-based strategy RPG, with each character able to move around the battlefield and attack independently. I love the mechanics themselves, as you have to move each character around and line up their attacks well, which allows for interesting uses of space to hit multiple creatures. Making attacks themselves is also fun, as you are tasked with building patterns of abilities (of three different styles) which, if performed correctly guarantee a critical hit. This central loop is just really fun, and combined with the well-designed transformation and special attack animations it makes for really fun combat.

Outside of battle, you’ll find yourself in three separate situations. Talking to other characters, exploring dungeons and travelling around the overworld. None of these live up to the sheer fun of the battles, but most of the dialogue is at least interesting, with a strong cast of contrasting characters emerging throughout the game. There are a few crafting systems which generally work, there’s a basic base-upgrading system and quite a few side-quests to complete; though honestly, many of these are pretty repetitive and are nothing more than fetch-quests and monster grinding.

Graphically, whilst you can’t really compare it to the fidelity of most other PS4 titles, Megadimension takes a familiar aesthetic and runs with it. The 2D art is wonderfully well drawn, with popping colour and excellent detailing. The 3D art, whilst not as impressive takes clear influence from anime and never tries to over-stretch itself. What it tries to do, it does really well, even if I do wish there are more variety and detailing in terms of enemy and landscape design. Another gripe I have is the FMV’s in the game, which are presented without full HD. C’mon guys, it’s 2016, you can do better than that! If you want to use FMV at least put it in full HD. I did however get pretty strong and constant framerates throughout the game.

Sound design is excellent, with good voice acting and music. I will however note that the English translated dubbing is incomplete, with many sections without any voiced audio whatsoever for no obvious reason.

My single biggest gripe with Megadimension Neptunia VII is the sheer amount of fan-service. Yes, for this style of game a little is needed, but frankly I think that much of the more questionable dialogue and nudey-scenes are of detriment to the game as a whole. I mean, I’m all for the odd implied lesbian interaction and flash of boob, but so much of it just begins to make me feel a little uncomfortable and distracts the player from everything else the game has to offer. I won’t mark it down for this reason, as I thoroughly enjoyed Neptunia in every other respect, but it needed to be said.

Overall, as I previously said, I had a great deal of fun with Neptunia. Granted, it’s a far-from-perfect translation with plenty of issues, but it’s a great value package with some fun characters and a pretty decent storyline and concept.  Definitely recommended, if you like Japanese styling and RPGs.