So I picked up ReBirth 1 for Vita on a whim recently and it has been pretty damn fun to play so far. Anyone have aNY tricks to level up quicker and survive the difficulty spikes that occur over each boss?
Well for me personally, on my first play through, I found the Replicant in Toh-Kiden cave to be a good way to level up. I'd just kill the normal enemies to max the EX gauge and then unload on the Replicant battle, then repeat. When that gets easier there is another Replicant-like enemy in another Dungeon that I think gives even more experience.
On my second play through, I did the Polytan battle in Planeptune, which may be a DLC thing. Just equip Thunderclap Rings on all your front party members and you'll be invincible, and the experience is utterly ridiculous. Afterwards that battle is repeatable in the Coliseum.
Well for me personally, on my first play through, I found the Replicant in Toh-Kiden cave to be a good way to level up. I'd just kill the normal enemies to max the EX gauge and then unload on the Replicant battle, then repeat. When that gets easier there is another Replicant-like enemy in another Dungeon that I think gives even more experience.
On my second play through, I did the Polytan battle in Planeptune, which may be a DLC thing. Just equip Thunderclap Rings on all your front party members and you'll be invincible, and the experience is utterly ridiculous. Afterwards that battle is repeatable in the Coliseum.
I am having problem with using Xbox One controller with Hyperdimension Neptunia Rebirth 1. It seems that it think the controller is connected but I cannot use it, and all other inputs are disabled which makes the game unplayable so I have to alt-f4 the game and disconnect the controller and connect xbox 360 controller to play it.
I know that MS did an update some days ago which screwed the xbox one controller for some games, and I uninstalled the update, but it didn't help.
The Steam games are all on sale. 60% off 3, 70% off 2, 60% off 1.
Maybe for once I'll play through rebirth 3 on PC instead of Vita since I mostly slept on it. The rebirths are MOSTLY good but damn they have some annoying issues and 3 just totally ignored balance when they fucked with the combat system and tossed in characters. Would have been better adding in V2's real NG+ and leaving characters as postgame content or something IMO, or at least a toggle switch to play the game...right.
So I picked up ReBirth 1 for Vita on a whim recently and it has been pretty damn fun to play so far. Anyone have aNY tricks to level up quicker and survive the difficulty spikes that occur over each boss?
There really aren't too many difficulty spikes. They're annoying but somewhat exaggerated. If you've beaten Black Heart and aren't having trouble I would stop worrying and save a lot unless you find another issue.
IIRC I only had trouble with Black Heart and one other two-in-a-row boss fight, and I think some factory dungeon that starts with a bossfight when you start the area.
Has anyone made a mini-guide JUST for the difficulty spikes?
There really aren't too many difficulty spikes. They're annoying but somewhat exaggerated. If you've beaten Black Heart and aren't having trouble I would stop worrying and save a lot unless you find another issue.
IIRC I only had trouble with Black Heart and one other two-in-a-row boss fight, and I think some factory dungeon that starts with a bossfight when you start the area.
Has anyone made a mini-guide JUST for the difficulty spikes?
Stuff like this has put me off on getting an Xbone controller. Hmm, is there any way to make that controller just emulate an Xbox 360 controller with something like X360ce? The PS4 controller works fine as an emulated 360 controller.
...Would have been better adding in V2's real NG+ and leaving characters as postgame content or something IMO, or at least a toggle switch to play the game...right.
Booo.. I'm surprised that it hasn't jumped your queue of art books. Anyways, from the reddit scans, I'm not liking whoever edited the two page spreads and it seems that images are cropped more than they could have been. Still, I was testing out Purse.io and it seems now I have a copy shipping my way with like a 5% discount and free shipping, so that's nice. Would have been nicer though to be able to go to the signing event or the Tsunako Museum though.
Yeah that boss stopped me on my first go. That's when I think I started grinding quests and that Replicant enemy. After leveling up, I focused on disabling the item sealing enemy I think, so I could use some heal items and that made the battle easy-peasy. Thankfully, seal type battles are practically non-existent in the main game. On the second go around, it's a laughably easy.
Stuff like this has put me off on getting an Xbone controller. Hmm, is there any way to make that controller just emulate an Xbox 360 controller with something like X360ce? The PS4 controller works fine as an emulated 360 controller.
At least they finally got that right.
Booo.. I'm surprised that it hasn't jumped your queue of art books. Anyways, from the reddit scans, I'm not liking whoever edited the two page spreads and it seems that images are cropped more than they could have been. Still, I was testing out Purse.io and it seems now I have a copy shipping my way with like a 5% discount and free shipping, so that's nice. Would have been nicer though to be able to go to the signing event or the Tsunako Museum though.
OT, but the Xbone controller causing problems is super annoying. I got an Elite controller last week and I've already found two games that don't even launch with it plugged in...
Regarding NG+, I really wish they'd patch Rebirths to have that feature (especially 1 and 2) and nerf some bosses. They're "just" quick remakes but they're causing somewhat bad impressions of the series for TONS of people. I've explained the same damn things about V2 a billion times due to rebirth (yes it reuses less, no it's not grindy, no EXE isn't a free win anymore, yes the combat is actually strategic, etc)
It's high in my list but I haven't really gotten to my art books at all.
Compile Heart (fortunately, in this case...) can't afford a real MMO so it's hopefully a .hack style game for Vert. I just hope it's not a reskin of Blanc game which is a reskin of Action unleashed.
IMO they should just do a REAL crossover with Senran Kagura as a DLC for Estival or something.
Everyone always hates those, I'm not sure if I actually got stuck on it (I might have fought it twice...I think that's fine). I don't think there's much of a problem after chapter 4 though (some people have trouble with
copy blanc
but I thought it was easy).
I do wonder how much of the difficulty problems in Reb1 are really just people really bad at using the combat system though, no offense. I've found several people who use Compa instead of items to heal (don't use Compa, like, period), not knowing that delay is a thing, not knowing to defend before letting a boss get two turns in a row, etc. Of course if you treat the battle system like a brute force only thing you'll have to over-level.
Also, some bosses are susceptible to status effects, not sure if any of the relevant ones are though. Kind of the problem with boss status weaknesses, it's too uncommon to bother trying even when it does happen to work sometimes.
Personally, I'm hoping for something like .Hack in some sense. As I said in the other thread about the game, Tsunako said she wanted to do a Four Goddesses Online game with a "Fantasy Nation-Stealing" element last year. So that'd be interesting if it turns out to be that. Also, perhaps this is the secret Vert game, in which you play as Vert's MMO Avatar. So not Vert, but Vert.
Oh yeah, along with that Cyberdimension Neptunia Online announcement they announced an official doujinshi. I wonder what that'll be about.
Anyways, got Conserves yesterday. Dang, shipping from Amazon.co.jp is faster than Amazon.com for me. I knew it was a big book, but wow it is thick. Perused a little of it and it's nice with the exception of those two-page spreads. I'm digging her commentary the most so far. Also realizing now that I missed some scenes in V, V2, etc.
Neptunia U is out next Monday on Steam, that should be fun.
Personally, I'm hoping for something like .Hack in some sense. As I said in the other thread about the game, Tsunako said she wanted to do a Four Goddesses Online game with a "Fantasy Nation-Stealing" element last year. So that'd be interesting if it turns out to be that. Also, perhaps this is the secret Vert game, in which you play as Vert's MMO Avatar. So not Vert, but Vert.
Oh yeah, along with that Cyberdimension Neptunia Online announcement they announced an official doujinshi. I wonder what that'll be about.
Anyways, got Conserves yesterday. Dang, shipping from Amazon.co.jp is faster than Amazon.com for me. I knew it was a big book, but wow it is thick. Perused a little of it and it's nice with the exception of those two-page spreads. I'm digging her commentary the most so far. Also realizing now that I missed some scenes in V, V2, etc.
Neptunia U is out next Monday on Steam, that should be fun.
There's like zero chance they ever make a Neptunia game with no playable Neptunia mainline characters. If it's a fake MMO playing as Vert, her character model's just going to be Vert, maybe with a new outfit like those lame-ass schoolgirl outfits Blanc's game got.
And yeah, Amazon.co.jp is impressively fast.
Are the textures better on Nep U PC/the PC games in general? I only played Nep 1 for like 5 minutes before the patches. I usually beat or platinum them before the PC releases so no immediate incentive to reply. I gotta play Trillion anyway.
There's like zero chance they ever make a Neptunia game with no playable Neptunia mainline characters. If it's a fake MMO playing as Vert, her character model's just going to be Vert, maybe with a new outfit like those lame-ass schoolgirl outfits Blanc's game got.
[...]
Are the textures better on Nep U PC/the PC games in general? I only played Nep 1 for like 5 minutes before the patches. I usually beat or platinum them before the PC releases so no immediate incentive to reply. I gotta play Trillion anyway.
I think it's almost expected at this point. Going back to the Artbook and the idea that Tsunako may have hinted at it already, I think it may be Vert like this. Also all the other CPUs in that image are in fantasy RPG class type attire as well.
As for Nep U, people on the Steam discussion board and 2chan are already talking about blurry textures. One would guess, that they probably took the Vita assets rather than from perhaps a higher res source file. In general, I'd say the textures are the same, but they get better over the series. However the recycled stuff gets more and more obvious as the newer levels and assets are that much better.
As for Nep U PC so far, it's a rock solid 60fps for me at 1080p with no technical issues whatsoever. Load times are fast to the point were it's difficult to read the loading tips and it makes the loading voiceovers seem more ridiculous. The movement gives me flashbacks to the jankiness of Dark Souls 2 though. Seriously, why is my analog stick glued to cardinal directions? On chapter 2 so far, but it really seems like a quick and fun diversion from the mainline games. It's definitely worth the discount price at the moment.
Does anyone know how Neptunia U compares to the Blanc game? I skipped U on Vita so I was wondering whether to get it on PC, but if it's similar to the Blanc game I'll probably just wait for that instead.
You know what they should really do instead of this pretend-it's-not-senran-kagura stuff with Nep U/Blanc game is have an official, possibly standalone expansion for Estival Versus with the CPUs vs SK characters.
I don't entirely dislike Nep U or Blanc vs Zombies, but Estival Versus with Neptunia characters still seems like it'd be a lot more fun to me. Maybe keep Blanc Game's bosses though.
Does anyone know how Neptunia U compares to the Blanc game? I skipped U on Vita so I was wondering whether to get it on PC, but if it's similar to the Blanc game I'll probably just wait for that instead.
Blanc game is weird, it's more or less two games, one a worse Nep U with insanely short levels that seems to exist only to allow story cutscenes. The other half is a multiplayer focused Monster Hunter style thing almost entirely focusing on taking down big bosses. It also lacks the clothing break mechanics, and the "real game"/online lacks transformations and pair-ups.
It's moderately different form Nep U, I would say just get Nep U for the $18 if you're interested. I would say ignoring the multiplayer/boss fights it's a better game than Blanc vs Zombies.
I was looking for new Neptunia merch on AmiAmi and I noticed they have the new offical fan work book and something else for way cheaper than Amazon.jp BUT it's sold out:
Is there anywhere else that sells these things to US? It's 3x as expensive on amazon. Also, I could swear I searched for Neptunia stuff on amiami like, a week or two ago but these are already sold out. Do some things just never actually open for preorder so they show as sold out?
What I disliked about Nep U is how boring and repetitive it was. The missions were all way too similar and was nothing like Senran Kagura which is actually filled with story scenes, (somewhat) explorable levels and bosses. Hope the multiplayer portion of Blanc is better because I was planning on getting it for me and my bf.
I was looking for new Neptunia merch on AmiAmi and I noticed they have the new offical fan work book and something else for way cheaper than Amazon.jp BUT it's sold out:
Yup that's the Official Doujinshi that was announced with Cyberdimension. So it only probably just showed up a week and a half ago. Looking at Amazon.co.jp, the triple price spike is probably because it's being sold through a third party that has already jacked up the pre-order price to match vol. 1's going rate (Didn't know there was a vol. 1). It makes me wonder if that means Amazon.co.jp's original allocation already sold out as well.
I'd guess the English store isn't updated as fast as their Japanese store front, so perhaps that's why it gets marked as sold out so quickly.
Yeah I noticed amazon japan has INSANELY low stock and third party sellers are almost everything, which has meant "amazon japan ships games overseas" has been...extremely disappointing so far.
What I disliked about Nep U is how boring and repetitive it was. The missions were all way too similar and was nothing like Senran Kagura which is actually filled with story scenes, (somewhat) explorable levels and bosses. Hope the multiplayer portion of Blanc is better because I was planning on getting it for me and my bf.
Well, Blanc Game IS filled with story scenes unlike Neptunia U. I just couldn't understand them to appreciate them so I can't comment on that aspect. Still, it had that Neptunia PP feel where I kinda wish it were JUST a VN because the gameplay was just silly, watch a 3 minute cutscene, 10 seconds of loading, beat the enemies in 50 seconds, load, cutscene...the levels are WAY too short.
The bosses last a decent amount of time, but only one "monster hunter boss" even shows up in the main story.
Multiplayer seemed fun but I was playing with Japanese players often way over my level. It's soloable too BTW, I beat the rest of the game with Noire's insanely OP standing triangle.
Holy $hit you guys were right on. Replicant in Toh-Kiden Cave gives 47k exp. This should definitely help quite a bit, TY. I just hate that I have to do this in games, just to fight a bass, but I guess it's like all those old-school jrpgs out there, so I should be used to it, lol.
Yeah, Neptunia U had solid humor/writing IMO (other than Blanc outside of battle who is basically out of character), but it had far too little.
There's even CG scenes and stuff for using the right characters on some missions. I didn't know this at all because in my playthrough I didn't meet any of the conditions. Not sure if they're obvious if you speak Japanese or not.
It's probably better than Nep U in general I guess. My experience with it was just harshed because it's not very import friendly (but I just wanted the JP limited edition bonuses tbh)
Yeah, I hadn't considered that but I've heard people say the loads are so fast the "now loading" voice clips sound stupid (er). I'm spoiled by V2 at this point so I forgot the Vita games have pretty rough loading times.
Wish they'd start making the side games at least PS4/Vita. I don't mind not getting full benefits of the PC version my first play, but 1080p/60/fast loads would make it a lot less frustrating. And there's no way I can wait.
Do you mean the Blanc Game or actually Neptunia U?
That being said, at the end game to that now. Everything has been a relaxing, if not a repetitive jaunt. I've had to take breaks especially after those 1500, 2000 kill quests. Not because they were hard, but just again repetitive. I've finally hit a spot of difficulty with the level 99 quests, anyone have any good loadout recommendations? Anyways, I really wish this game could've been made to be cannon to the Superdimension universe. It would have been nice to go back to that instead of this weird hybrid we have of the Superdimension world with characters from Hyperdimension. It's not like there was much plot to finesse to do it, either.
In other news, looks like the Official Doujinshi vol. 2 price has dropped on Amazon.co.jp to something more reasonable.
No lie, so much scene recycling in the Game News bits as well.
Do you mean the Blanc Game or actually Neptunia U?
That being said, at the end game to that now. Everything has been a relaxing, if not a repetitive jaunt. I've had to take breaks especially after those 1500, 2000 kill quests. Not because they were hard, but just again repetitive. I've finally hit a spot of difficulty with the level 99 quests, anyone have any good loadout recommendations? Anyways, I really wish this game could've been made to be cannon to the Superdimension universe. It would have been nice to go back to that instead of this weird hybrid we have of the Superdimension world with characters from Hyperdimension. It's not like there was much plot to finesse to do it, either.
In other news, looks like the Official Doujinshi vol. 2 price has dropped on Amazon.co.jp to something more reasonable.
I mean Neptunia U, I can't understand Blanc Game so I have no opinion of it's writing yet.
The level 99 quests are basically "don't get hit". Actually being level 99 you'll still be KO'd almost instantly. Just spec for max damage and immediately swap out to recover after taking any amount of damage.
Not really sure what you're talking about RE "superdimension". Hyperdimension is the only consistently relevant universe, game 1 is retconned entirely, Victory's events take place in Ultradimension and only Older Neptune and Croire carry over. Not as complicated as it sounds really. I've never heard of anything called "superdimension", "Megadimension" in the title of V2 simply refers to the three dimensions in V2 (V2 lategame spoilers)
two of which are fucking imaginary anyway
I don't see how Nep U being cannon would help anything either, it's just a world so (in-game) boring they go on quests for fun and Dengekkiko and Famitsu exist (they exist in the other games anyway, just not playable). It's a spinoff with no relevant plot advancement so there's really nothing to be gained or lost by it's canon status, other than Neptune's illiteracy and Blanc's...terrible blanny blanny bii horseshit. It also goes a bit too far with Nepgear's robot-fetishization. V2 is the proper level of Nerdgear; nerdy, loves tech, but she's not creepy about it.
Game News was pretty damn pointless honestly. The "no fanservice outfit" should have just been a toggle in Options like it is in Senran Kagura EV and the others could just be dropped with a one liner or something. There's a couple of funny lines but that's about it.
And yeah I ordered the official fan book thing last week in a big ol' order. Is there any sane place to get the blanc schoolgirl figure? Amiami sold out (it seems everything sells out of amiami before I see it)
Not really sure what you're talking about RE "superdimension". Hyperdimension is the only consistently relevant universe, game 1 is retconned entirely, Victory's events take place in Ultradimension and only Older Neptune and Croire carry over. Not as complicated as it sounds really. I've never heard of anything called "superdimension", "Megadimension" in the title of V2 simply refers to the three dimensions in V2 (V2 lategame spoilers)
two of which are fucking imaginary anyway
[...]
And yeah I ordered the official fan book thing last week in a big ol' order. Is there any sane place to get the blanc schoolgirl figure? Amiami sold out (it seems everything sells out of amiami before I see it)
Yup, Superdimension refers to the Game 1 universe. Personally I'd like to think rather than being retconned, it still exists in an alternative dimension like Ultradimension (or maybe even like the Anime). Since, especially after V2, the Neptunia games seem to take place in a Multiverse as it were.
Also, while Zero and Heart dimension were born from a dream (share energy?), I think they became pretty physical especially if our protagonists are traversing them to and fro. It's not like Inception-grade imaginary after all.
Though really who is to say what the cosmology behind Neptunia would be.
Would a 'sane' place include proxy-shippers like Tenso or Fromjapan?
Finally finished up the true ending for Neptunia VII, now I don't have to worry about spoilers any more. Although a few of the changes they've made are questionable (random encounters on the map) and they've still not fixed the problem of magic being way better than physical attacks, the increase in production quality from the Re;Birth games is incredible. I also absolutely loved Uzume, so fingers crossed that she'll stick around for future titles (unlike Plutia/Peashy).
But yeah, I think that's now my new favourite in the series (taking the spot from RB1).
You need to finish V2 before this because it's the best game in the series and this is an okay spinoff, IMO. But no, it's not a continuous plot and Uzume's...more complex plot points aren't relevant in it.
Though I'm interested to see how good Sega Hard Girls' writing is, that's the biggest thing I couldn't get from playing it in Japanese of course.
Yup, Superdimension refers to the Game 1 universe. Personally I'd like to think rather than being retconned, it still exists in an alternative dimension like Ultradimension (or maybe even like the Anime). Since, especially after V2, the Neptunia games seem to take place in a Multiverse as it were.
Also, while Zero and Heart dimension were born from a dream (share energy?), I think they became pretty physical especially if our protagonists are traversing them to and fro. It's not like Inception-grade imaginary after all.
Though really who is to say what the cosmology behind Neptunia would be.
Would a 'sane' place include proxy-shippers like Tenso or Fromjapan?
Weird...also they just re-used superdimension for Sega Hard Girls I guess. IMO they should stop fucking with the "dimension" part of the title and just do "Neptunia: subtitle" in the west. I don't like Neptune's name having that kind of prominence and the dimension stuff has always just been confusing. Everyone knows it as "neptunia" now.
And regarding your later spoiler point
Remember they were transported using the Dreamcast Uzume was sealed in...I always read that as them being put into her dreams, but apparently they made them physical.
Still though, I suspect that will conveniently no longer matter as soon as Game 5 starts much like Ultradimension poofs in V2.
And yeah, it's totally possible Game 1's continuity still exists *somewhere* but I doubt it'll ever be relevant again. Ultradimension was created for a plot point and is deliberately different, there's extremely little use for a dimension almost identical except no candidates.
Finally finished up the true ending for Neptunia VII, now I don't have to worry about spoilers any more. Although a few of the changes they've made are questionable (random encounters on the map) and they've still not fixed the problem of magic being way better than physical attacks, the increase in production quality from the Re;Birth games is incredible. I also absolutely loved Uzume, so fingers crossed that she'll stick around for future titles (unlike Plutia/Peashy).
But yeah, I think that's now my new favourite in the series (taking the spot from RB1).
I don't entirely mind the magic situation, it's kinda balanced at least with Plutia removed. Rom/Ram are glass cannons. Vert is...slightly...well...she has a bit less HP than the other main CPUs, I guess she's still pretty damn OP. But her best skills are unlocked so late you'll beat the game before you beat them. Which is more questionable than the magic situation IMO, its' weird how you beat the game somewhere along lvl 40-50 but you're learning skills into level 60s, at which point you could beat almost any fight using normal attacks.
There's a lot of great stuff going on like that one 4 boss fight, I hope to see a lot more like it in Game 5. IMO the random encounters were an attempt to make the world feel "bigger". At least you can turn them off in NG+. Best new game plus EVER basically, I just wish it had a higher difficulty mode or something.
Also, I doubt it'll happen, but if they really want to make the world feel bigger, I'd love a PS1 style world map. I don't even care if it fucking LOOKS like PS1 graphics. I'll take FF8's world map over corridors so I'll take that over this silly system too.
Also, I'm kinda surprised by the love for Uzume. She's handled really well, but her...hidden personality thing and Orange Heart in general are...urg. Maybe she can be a Maker next game and avoid Orange Heart...
Yeah, as I guessed, that Cyberdimension game is basically like Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment. Fingers crossed it does at least have online multiplayer like Blanc.
That fight... ugh. I got there I think about level 38 or something after stomping everything else without effort (Rom was just too OP) and then promptly got wiped in 2 turns from them spamming EXE. After like an hour of being wiped in 1-2 turns I only managed to beat it by getting a lucky turn 1 where they didn't use EXE so that I could get all my buffs off and then spamming heal with Umio and tanking with Uzume and Uni while Rom dealt the damage. And then all the bosses after were super easy too. Weird difficulty spike.
Also, I'm kinda surprised by the love for Uzume. She's handled really well, but her...hidden personality thing and Orange Heart in general are...urg. Maybe she can be a Maker next game and avoid Orange Heart...
It probably helps being a big Dreamcast lover, there are so many great little touches with her design and story. Even her personality was spot on, the Dreamcast was full of fun, quirky, colourful and cheery games but Sega was constantly trying to market the system as being cooler than the Playstation.
Say, I've been interested in the games for a while ago, but I know jack about them. Is there a continuous story? Which games have the main story and which ones do not? Are the spin-offs located in the main story branch or can they be played without any previous knowledge of the franchise?
Say, I've been interested in the games for a while ago, but I know jack about them. Is there a continuous story? Which games have the main story and which ones do not? Are the spin-offs located in the main story branch or can they be played without any previous knowledge of the franchise?
Nep 1 - Wrote itself out of canon, ignore it (it's awful anyway). Re;Birth 1 - They basically took the rough structure of the plot from Nep 1 and completely rewrote it. It's kinda vague where this ones sits. From the true ending we can probably guess all future games are an alternate dimension, but nothing is stopping them continuing from this dimension again. Mk2/Re;Birth 2 - The first "main" game technically, it's referenced a fair bit but not in any major depth. Most notable for introducing the sister characters (CPU candidates) Victory/Re;Birth 3 - Set after 2 in the same dimension, it's fairly self contained but some endgame plot points are a catalyst for the events of Victory II. Victory II - Also fairly self contained, however some very important plot points rely on you having seen the true ending of V/RB3. U/Blanc/PP/Noire - Non-canon and set in vague "other dimensions" with self contained storylines. The basic knowledge you'd want is just who the characters are and their relations to one another, otherwise they can be played whenever. Sega Hard Girls - Spin off, but one which you'd probably want to have finished Victory and Victory II first before playing since Plutia and Uzume both show up.
As for which you'd want to play? I would heavily recommend Re;Birth 1 regardless of its status, every game after that starts with everyone knowing each other so it's worth seeing one way they could have all met. It's also one of the shortest and funniest in the series.
After that, as much as I like Mk2/RB2 it's also the one which has aged the worst. Mk2 was radically different from Nep 1, but it's pretty rough around the edges now as it still uses 3D models for dialogue segments, the tone is fairly serious, the protagonists are weaker and it has some odd battle mechanics that were changed for every title afterwards. RB1 is worth seeing as the 4th game in the series since they completely remade that using Victory as the template, with RB2 they basically just brought across the combat and 2D animations from Victory and did a questionable job of replacing Gust and NISA with Broccoli and Red. Normally I advise people to skip this to avoid burning themselves out on the series before reaching the really good titles, but I still think it is a good title and worth playing (just maybe at a later date, or if you're playing them with a decent break between).
Victory/RB3 is pretty much mandatory, they basically refined the template for the games with this title. It's silly, lighthearted and has a fun battle system. Victory II is absolutely mandatory, it's the best in the series to date and is very clearly the result of Compile Heart finally getting more than a shoestring budget to work with.
It sounds crazy, but I'm honestly thinking it might be a better plan to play Rebirth 1, then either Rebirth 2 or Mk2, and Victory instead of Rebirth 3 as a first playthrough of the series. Rebirth 3's balance-fuckery (due to dropping a TON of OP characters on you early on in a game where you're supposed to only have 2 characters) and weird combat system, I honestly think I enjoyed Victory more.
It's a conundrum though. I enjoyed Victory because of the step up in combat system over Mk2, and starting with Rebirth 1...well Reb 1 stole Victory's combat system without the framerate issues. It's a bit frustrating, I'm not sure there's a "best" way to play the series really, since both original and remake series make some noteworthy fuckups.
Honestly, V2 is probably the first game I'd say has no major fuckups.
Even though I'm mad salty about Croire/Nepnote and the true ending makes a lot less sense than the normal ending
. Rebirth 2 is a close second, but the oracle unlock is HORRIBLE and the Holy Sword ending really should be easier to get as an "escape hatch" from the fucking conquest ending (which is still way too easy to get on accident)
With the rebirths I don't think the budget was there, and IF had some stupid ideas regarding replayability. Forcing 3 playthroughs to get uni/nepgear/rom/ram (who you have nothing to do with) is moronic and the game would greatly benefit from Victory 2's NG+. I've been complaining about the NG+ in these games since Mk2, I'm so glad V2 finally fixed it.
We already had PP. I'd rather CH stay far away from raising sims TBH, pure VN would be preferable IMO. Trillion's got a lot of really interesting stuff going on but in the end the raising is just soooooo boring.
tbh I don't think the blanc figure is all that good, but I'm super glad we're starting to get mroe or less parity with the (basic) limited editions from Japan. Wish they'd star localizing the merch too, I have all the mangas and light novels but I sure as hell can't read them.
I've heard people suggest this might be the next mainline game because it's apparently CH not IF managing it? I don't know though. If it's really Game 5 and Vert has more focus then that's a good step up at least even if I still want them to make a (good) side game for Vert that isn't a Nep U reskin.
Say, I've been interested in the games for a while ago, but I know jack about them. Is there a continuous story? Which games have the main story and which ones do not? Are the spin-offs located in the main story branch or can they be played without any previous knowledge of the franchise?
I've been writing an article/guide on this. Azure Phoenix has you covered well enough though. IMO, V2 is a totally solid place to start and you'll only miss some minor plot threads. But if you don't mind a grindier game and want all the characterization/lore, start with reb 1
That fight... ugh. I got there I think about level 38 or something after stomping everything else without effort (Rom was just too OP) and then promptly got wiped in 2 turns from them spamming EXE. After like an hour of being wiped in 1-2 turns I only managed to beat it by getting a lucky turn 1 where they didn't use EXE so that I could get all my buffs off and then spamming heal with Umio and tanking with Uzume and Uni while Rom dealt the damage. And then all the bosses after were super easy too. Weird difficulty spike.
It probably helps being a big Dreamcast lover, there are so many great little touches with her design and story. Even her personality was spot on, the Dreamcast was full of fun, quirky, colourful and cheery games but Sega was constantly trying to market the system as being cooler than the Playstation.
That fight is a weird difficulty spike for sure, but it's super fun IMO. Forces you to think very strategically because you're fighting 4 people who straight up have better stats than you. You have to use everything you have to the best of your ability and fight tactically. You basically have to down someone before you can come close to healing over the damage they deal. It forces a nice strategic decision, do I take down the one with low Mental defense first (but Rom/Ram are so fragile!) or just the one with only slightly weak defense stats?
I had fun writing the strategy for that one in my guide. IF helps a lot too, since you can break up their turn order. My only complaint is yeah, it's kind of out of no where, and I wish the other fights where harder. The
Dark CPU
fights for instance were pretty simple stuff, even if they make for a good show. I only died once in those, because I forgot to heal in the first one where the margin of error is low.
Yeah, the edgy/cool aspect of Uzume is great, but Orange heart grates on me and while I get the reasoning for it (daydreaming), Uzume's..."real" personality is...creepy.
questionable job of replacing Gust and NISA with Broccoli and Red
IMO both of those characters were lame story-wise to begin with, NISA is just a lot more likable than RED. You find/replace "justice" in most of NISA's lines with "wifey" and that's basically RED.
Sucks they had to do it of course, licensing BS apparently? NISA's design was great.
I still need to get to that one...eventually. The platinum requirements horrified me and I was busy anyway so I kinda dropped it. Missable trophies and long games do not mix, especially when it's deliberately "guide only" like the Noire questions.
The new characters did look neat though. Neptunia needs more adult characters, HDNoire has more of those than the rest of the series combined lol
I still need to get to that one...eventually. The platinum requirements horrified me and I was busy anyway so I kinda dropped it. Missable trophies and long games do not mix, especially when it's deliberately "guide only" like the Noire questions.
Well. If it's any consolation, the story shouldn't take too long in New Game+. Each chapter consists of 3-4 story battles. So it's just a matter of rushing through those while using a guide for Sim-Noire answers.
It should only take one play-through to do everything as well.
God Eater and Million Arthur are finally out as DLC characters for Megadimension Neptunia V2. Are we sheduled to get Nitroplus too? I mean the west got their fighting game so I can't imagine they'd shy away. I was planning to do a level 1 NG+ with only low-stat weapons as soon as all the DLC characters were out
Well. If it's any consolation, the story shouldn't take too long in New Game+. Each chapter consists of 3-4 story battles. So it's just a matter of rushing through those while using a guide for Sim-Noire answers.
It should only take one play-through to do everything as well.
I was only 3 or 4 story battles deep anyway so I just restarted my save.
Also, the lilly grinding sounds like it's MULTIPLE HOURS of just standing next to each other during attacks. I doubt I'll get the plat anyway, but that suff just bugs me. I'm also 1 baseball away from the Sega Hard Girl game's plat. With no way to know where it is.
God Eater and Million Arthur are finally out as DLC characters for Megadimension Neptunia V2. Are we sheduled to get Nitroplus too? I mean the west got their fighting game so I can't imagine they'd shy away. I was planning to do a level 1 NG+ with only low-stat weapons as soon as all the DLC characters were out
There is something I thought of about Cyberdimension Neptunia Online. It sounds like the game will parody games like .hack and Idea Factory is one of the companies that signed up for PlayStation VR. It'd be interesting if this were to be the Neptunia game that dabbles with VR. It's obvious that there will be a Neptunia game at some point which makes use of VR since it's a franchise which has been dabbling in all sorts of things.
It's solid yet repetitive gameplay-wise. Can't comment on story/writing. The new movement features are great and moving through dungeons, even slightly modified older dungeons, feels pretty good. New combat system is half brilliant (the turn gauge!) half ehhhh (no combo skills, all normal attacks are the same, limited Special Skill Slots from Mk2 are back).
The structure is basically 100% "missions", which wouldn't be so bad but the difficuly rating for missions is meaningless so it's pretty easy to stumble into one of the few surprisingly hard missions without knowing, and even more of a problem IMO is the non-linearity means a lot of the missions are probably going to be a cake-walk.
It's a lot like the rebirth series really, there's some really good ideas in here but it feels like the budget/polish was lacking. It's still probably the best side game. It's just a bit unfocused and easy to cheese. Stupidly enough one of my favorite things was running through every map collecting all the "medals" for completion.
The chrono trigger vibes are pretty good. My favorite is (major but early game spoiler)
Dreamcast era is basically AD 1999 from Chrono Trigger, visually and conceptually, and Sega exiting the hardware race is thus the Day of Lavos, complete with a literal Time Devourer
Also the Hard Girls look WAY better in Tsunako's art style. As long as the writing's up to par, which I don't really doubt, it'll probably be my favorite of the side games as soon as it's got it's english release.
There is something I thought of about Cyberdimension Neptunia Online. It sounds like the game will parody games like .hack and Idea Factory is one of the companies that signed up for PlayStation VR. It'd be interesting if this were to be the Neptunia game that dabbles with VR. It's obvious that there will be a Neptunia game at some point which makes use of VR since it's a franchise which has been dabbling in all sorts of things.
Going by the JP DLC schedule, yes, we're only missing her, the Sonico and swimwear outfits for her and possibly a couple of Colosseum battles (Gamindustri Memories and Four Golden Warriors). Curiously though Nitroplus wasn't the last DLC in Japan, that was God Eater, so I'm not too sure why she's missing.
Is the god eater DLC bugged? I got million arthur no problem (her personality is repulsive), can't find God Eater. I wanted to grab all 3 DLC characters before doing NG+, then I'd play it mostly using them at level 1. I'm in the True Ending postgame. Says to go to Lastation in the Hyperdimension chapter...I guess it means ONLY during the hyperdimension chapter?
BTW, I forget, if you reset to level 1 do you keep your skills as long as you maintain characters?
Going by the JP DLC schedule, yes, we're only missing her, the Sonico and swimwear outfits for her and possibly a couple of Colosseum battles (Gamindustri Memories and Four Golden Warriors). Curiously though Nitroplus wasn't the last DLC in Japan, that was God Eater, so I'm not too sure why she's missing.
Oh, there's a sonico outfit? Nitroplus couldn't really..."fill" a proper Sonico outfit tho. IMO they should have just brought over Sonico directly...she's basically a Maker before Neptunia was a thing after all.
Hopefully we're actually getting nitroplus at all though, weird she's missing. We got Nitroplus's fighting game and even the Sonico VN I think so not much excuse to not bring her over. They've had more obscure Makers included in the west before too. RED and Broccoli for instance.
Is the god eater DLC bugged? I got million arthur no problem (her personality is repulsive), can't find God Eater. I wanted to grab all 3 DLC characters before doing NG+, then I'd play it mostly using them at level 1. I'm in the True Ending postgame. Says to go to Lastation in the Hyperdimension chapter...I guess it means ONLY during the hyperdimension chapter?
