The Console War

Hyperdimension Neptunia is easily the craziest (if not the craziest) game I have ever played, and this is coming from a guy who owns Cubivore. It’s Japanese in almost every sense of the term; this is a game made by an industry where pushing out the latest girl filled JRPG is the word of the day. I was surprised to see Neptunia released over here, let alone released with a solid translation/English script. Before we jump into the mechanics and such know this: the story is about a bunch of goddesses fighting each other over something or another in the world of Gamindustri (no, I did not make that up), and they’re all modeled after game consoles. That’s right; this is a game about the ever popular console war that nerds have fought over for years on messageboards, and on playgrounds the world over.

At its core, Neptunia is your basic dungeon crawler. You wander around theme based corridors and rooms, battling monsters, and finding treasure. This is all interspersed with digital novel style character interactions of the girls babbling to each other; sometimes about the story, other times about random nonsense. Think of it like those dating simulation games that most of us have heard about, or at least seen on the internet from time to time. Most of the dialog between the characters is pretty good (some of it is a little cringe worthy, especially from Compa), and the fact that at times they seem to be aware they are in a game (a game that is the personification of the console war) makes it all that much better. Also, the constant references to other games are well done; everything from street pugilists, to “Detris!” to “attack its weak point for massive damage!” just makes my day.

Combat is turned based, with an emphasis on chaining attacks into hard hitting combos. It reminds me a lot of Valkyrie Profile, with each button corresponding to different attacks, and the player having to chain those attacks together. Each and every button can be switched out in the menus, allowing for a lot of flexibility when it comes to the battle system. The way you use items in this game is a strange design choice: you never actively use them instead you set percentage rates to use rate of the items on a per character basis. This means that they will only use them at certain times, or when certain battle conditions are met. It’s a different approach, but not one I think works all that well; I have died a few times from my characters not healing themselves when they should have.

In the end, Hyperdimension Neptunia is not a bad game. Is it for everyone? Hell no; you’re average western gamer is going to wonder where the refilling life bar is, and why they’re not trying to stop the evil Russians/Terrorists/Aliens from taking over the world. This is a game for fans of the JRPG, fans of anime, or people who just want to see everything the gaming world has to offer. Or if you’re a closet Sailor Moon fan, this game is going to make your day (you know who you are!).