As anyone who's read our reviews can tell you, we have something of a soft spot for the odd here at Everybody Plays. Gives us colour and character over grey space marines any day - and they don't come much odder than Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 2 - and not just in terms of punctuation. Yes, they're a little bit fan-servicey, with boobs and innuendo a plenty; yes, the dungeon crawling portion can get a bit tedious; and yes, there are random difficulty spikes and some grinding involved - but the whole is always greater than the sum of its own parts.
Everyone loves tea.
For those not familiar with the Hyperdimension Neptunia premise, the game takes place in the fictitious world of Gamesindustri, a part fantasy, part parody take on the real-life games industry. Divided into a number of nations, each segment of Gamesindustri is ruled over by a 'Console Patron Unit' (or, CPU), an anime female representation of a particular games console/company, whether it's the bright-and-bubbly Neptune lording over the Sega-fied land of Planeptune, or the high-tech, steampunk world of Lastation, ruled by the Playstation CPU, Noire. Throughout the games, these CPU goddesses are fighting back against the piracy running rampant across Gamesindustri, as the nefarious Arfoire (named after the DS pirate card, the R4) attempts to take over the world.
Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 2, a PS Vita remake of the second game in the series, takes place some three years after the events of the first game, with the world going to pot after the mysterious disappearance of Gamesindustri's goddesses. Continuing their search for the missing CPUs, erstwhile companions Compa and IF head to the Gamesindustri Graveyard, a dark and sinister place where the obsolete and forgotten drift and decay - to find the missing CPUs bound and in a coma-like state. Unfortunately, the pair are only successful at rousing Nepgear, the younger sister of Planeptune's goddess Neptune, and have to make a quick exit when a boss they can't possibly beat appears, regrettably leaving the goddesses to their slumber.
Hey, some people like that sort of thing...
With no goddesses to rule over them, the nation of Gamesindustri's faith in the CPUs has dwindled to almost nothing, allowing the tyrant Arfoire to sink her proverbial claws into the hearts of the nation, corrupting, pirating and taking over the world with the help of her ASIC worshippers. In order to save both the goddesses and Gamesindustri, it's up to Compa, IF, Nepgear and the other CPUs' younger sisters to win back believers, restore power to the goddesses and put a stop to Arfoire's dirty tricks. Winning back these 'shares' isn't as simple as it sounds though - and it'll require a fair bit of legwork from the girls, completing quests, beating bosses and generally helping out the folks of Gamesindustri.
In terms of how this translates into the game, you'll spend most of your time wandering around various brightly coloured dungeons, beating up cutesy enemies, foraging for useful materials and taking on various bosses - all of which feeds into the game's quest system, redistributing some of Arfoire's shares with each one you complete. And while many quests are optional and not directly linked to the game's story, you'll want to do as many as you can - not just for the extra cash and items they provide, but for the added experience and levels your party will earn as they complete it. Because in the world of Hyperdimension, your battle skills are almost as important as your chest size. Almost.
You see, Gamesindustri's dungeons aren't just an excuse for a nice day out - they're usually teeming with enemies. Whether it's a pixelated spider, a piranha plant in all but name, or a giant dragon, pretty much all of Gamesindustri's wild life is cruising for a bruising, running into you to trigger battles (or if you're crafty, you can gain the advantage in battle by hitting them with your sword before they manage to jump you).
Battles are pretty basic turn-based affairs, with your party and enemies taking it in turns to whack each other, use special moves or items. When it's your go, each character can move freely around the battle field to get into the best position to attack - with each having their own preferred range for beating up bad guys - before letting loose a combo of various moves. By stringing together combinations of the X, Square and Triangle buttons, you can unleash different types of attack, focusing on speed, power or trying to wear down an enemies guard - or a mix of all three. Nepgear and her CPU Candidate sisters have an extra trick up their sleeves too - they can transform into their special HDD (Hard Drive Divinity) state, giving them a huge boost in stats and a load of special moves that come in especially handy during boss fights.
Is that a gun in your hand, or are you just pleased to see us?
But sadly, at times, even the HDD can't save you from Hyperdimension's ludicrous difficulty spikes. By and large, most enemies are a doddle to beat, provided you give them a little thought - don't huddle everyone round the same enemies, so an enemy can't just attack your entire team in one move; keep frail Compa as out of danger as much as possible so she can dish out healing when needed, etc, etc. Every so often though, you'll be faced with a particularly tough enemy - usually a boss of some sort - that can knock out your entire party in one or two hits, even when in your boosted HDD forms. In such events, your only choice is to head back into the earlier dungeons, re-do quests and grind levels for a few hours, then head back and try again. It's even more annoying when the game decides to give you what are effectively two boss fights back to back, with no opportunity to heal or save in between - and taking a half dead party to a boss fight is never a good idea, and almost always results in a game over, followed by some more grinding.
Things aren't all bad though. The story itself is ridiculous and silly, and the girls' antics make up much of Hyperdimension's charm, whether it's the obligatory chest-size comparisons, fourth wall breaking jokes, or just generally winding each other up. The game is pretty much wall to wall game references too, whether it's the weak Dogoo enemies at the start of the game, which are basically Dragon Quest slimes with puppy dog ears, Neptune humming the Final Fantasy victory theme whenever she gains a level or a hilarious argument over which of Gamesindustri's consoles are the best, referencing everything from Pokemon to Shenmue to the Xbox 350's infamous Red Ring of Death problems along the way. In fact, the game even satirises it's own use of 'fan service' - because, much like every other Compile Heart/Idea Factory game ever, Hyperdimension Neptunia is pretty heavy on the moe anime girls, with lashings of innuendo, underwear and boob shots and, of course, a steamy spa scene. But, providing you have a bit of an open mind and a sense of humour, Hyperdimension Neptunia can actually be a fairly entertaining romp.
We wonder who this could be a referring to...
Also fun is the addition (or continuation, if you played the Re;Birth 1 remake) of the new Remake system, which lets you acquire various blueprints that, once made, can alter how the game plays. Whether it's tinkering with the strengths of enemies, altering the items you can find in dungeons or unlocking new items in shops, they let you customise how things play a little - for example, if you're struggling, you could sink your resources into weakening enemies and upping your party's resistance to various monsters. Some plans even open up new modes, such as the Stella's Dungeon mini game, in which you send a little girl and her pet cat off into dungeons to gather useful items for you.
In all, we're kind of on the fence about Hyperdimension Neptunia. Most of the time its a nice blend of fun, turn-based battles, not-too-serious plot and humour - but then along comes a way too overpowered boss, steamrollering over everything and turning what was a fairly entertaining role-playing game into a grindy, frustrating slog. Redoing quests and battles to gain levels and raise shares can get a bit tedious, but with a bit of tinkering with the Remake system it can be made a bit more bearable. If you can stomach the occasional setback, you'll find a well-written, light-hearted and entertaining little role-playing game, chock-a-block with game references.
Format Reviewed: PS Vita
