Oh, do NOT watch the full intro unless you've already been spoiled by watching the full anime or of course if you played Victory. I really don't think that was necessary.
The free DLCs are hefty, definitely don't download the JApanese voices unless you're gonna use 'em. Some characters have a fun little skit when you unlock them, all available from chapter 1!
Edit: Also, head's up but Histoire is crazy OP. For one thing this is her normal attack:
Going by the earlier games Cave is probably also very OP. Just keep that in mind if you don't want to breeze through too easy. Histoire, Noire, Vert, Plutia, Cave and Falcom (at least, Mk2 falcom) are probably the strongest/most useful in general, and at least at the start Histoire has absurd stats.
Start with Rebirth 1 if possible, otherwise Rebirth 3 is a solid choice. The problem with starting on Rebirth 2 is that it's not really representative of the rest of the series, the story isn't anywhere near as lighthearted and side characters take the starring roles while the main 4 characters are in the background. RB2 finds itself in an odd place since the series originally had a far more serious tone, but the original Neptunia got a complete overhaul for RB1 and feels like a brand new sequel, whereas RB2 is very clearly just Mk.2 with overhauled gameplay.
I really, REALLY wish they'd just fix the damn difficulty spikes in Rebirth 1. It should be the perfect intro but it's really awkward as a starting point.
If that's the case, just call up IFI and ask for them to send a replacement. I had a similar issue with R;b2. They'll send you the replacement game and then you send them the defective copy in same envelope.
Oh, do NOT watch the full intro unless you've already been spoiled by watching the full anime or of course if you played Victory. I really don't think that was necessary.
Nah, it just reveals a twist that was in the anime (in turn based off the original Victory) and it's a super lategame thing.
Also, having asked around a bunch, it seems that the defective cartridges have been mostly in Canada and EBGames' stocks, so try to avoid buying from those places for the moment.
Man, Canada cannot catch a break.
EDIT: And time for a completely random new feature! Did you know that at 25/15/5% health, a character will get a STR/INT/VIT/MEN boost of 5/10/15%?
...I struggle to think why'd they even add that. It's such tiny numbers.
dat free dlc!!!
i've been wondering since i saw the ps eu update, i thought they make mistake since for the others these things were never free but nice move.
i will get the game soon but i still need to get rebirth 2 and steins gate.
i still have to play victory on ps3 anyway ( gotta get all neptunia platinum).
Oh good stuff, though it still has way too many challenges. One of Victory 2's many improvements is they drastically reduced the number of challenges, and, I think, none are stupid anymore. I still need to actually translate those...
I'm using Cave, CC2, Histy and Tekken for now, will replace Tekken with Chika when I get her. Ignoring CPUs so far since I've played with them forever. Lore-wise the human characters make no sense of course but it's fine, it was kind of annoying Victory originally had no humans even if story-wise it's obvious why.
Is "mini falcom" OP like Mk2 falcom was? I haven't really used her. It seems the Oracles are all OP or at least have OP starting gear. Histoire is crazy OP and Kei was still very powerful. Their only problem is they have the same very limited skill set (~3 skills) and boring set skills as always.
What's the deal with the two Falcoms anyway? I never really followed Falcom that much. Also, props to IF/CH for getting the license to all the Makers ever for this one (gust and NISA aside), I can't imagine it's pleasant to work out that many licensing deals even on good terms.
EU copy arrived today, but waiting for all the DLC to appear on the store first (plus the fact I am busy playing Steins;Gate and Drakengard 3 at the moment, so I can wait). Still not finished Victory, or get very far into it for that matter, so at least this one will feel a little fresher than re;birth 2 did.
Nepgear, Uni, Plutia, Histoire with Cave, Compa, Peashy and Blanc as support. Not quite the ideal party, one day I'd love for
Rei Ryghts
to be available as a DLC character just for fun, but I guess just like with Plutia and Peashy Compile Heart seems to like to pretend that Victory never existed.
Nepgear, Uni, Plutia, Histoire with Cave, Compa, Peashy and Blanc as support. Not quite the ideal party, one day I'd love for
Rei Ryghts
to be available as a DLC character just for fun, but I guess just like with Plutia and Peashy Compile Heart seems to like to pretend that Victory never existed.
They're both kind of awkward characters. And apparently Japan super hates Plutia for some reason?? I don't hate either of them but Peashy is sort of weird and it annoys me that she's the PC Engine rep
Because of the whole stuck a kid, a stupid one at that, who has the awkward big boobie girl transformation--who is still really stupid
, I just don't like that as representation for PC engine when it could at least reference arcade ports and stuff more.
Actually that's another annoyance of Plutia/Peashy, almost none of their skills are even references IIRC. Does she even have any references beyond the bee? Are the cat gloves something I'm not familiar with? And Plutia's personality would be way too hard to integrate into the plot of future games so I don't mind her gone from main cast.
Regarding the spoiler, yeah, that'd be cool, I wouldn't mind her back even just as a non-canon DLC appearance without story relevance. But, same for Plut/Peashy I guess.
They're both kind of awkward characters. And apparently Japan super hates Plutia for some reason?? I don't hate either of them but Peashy is sort of weird and it annoys me that she's the PC Engine rep
Because of the whole stuck a kid, a stupid one at that, who has the awkward big boobie girl transformation--who is still really stupid
, I just don't like that as representation for PC engine when it could at least reference arcade ports and stuff more.
Actually that's another annoyance of Plutia/Peashy, almost none of their skills are even references IIRC. Does she even have any references beyond the bee? Are the cat gloves something I'm not familiar with? And Plutia's personality would be way too hard to integrate into the plot of future games so I don't mind her gone from main cast.
I'm not sure Japan even hates Plutia, she finished 4th in the recent character popularity poll, just barely behind IF and Neptune. For some reason CH just doesn't want to have her included in any games outside of Victory (and I guess RB1). I mean there's no reason she couldn't have been in spinoffs like U or PP and the Blanc game even has Uzume but not Plutia, plus the whole different dimension thing never stopped characters like Tekken from returning.
Plutia's skills are references as well, T.Blade Kick is the game Thunder Blade, Fighting Viper is what you'd expect, Megadapter is the JP name for the Master System Converter and I'm pretty sure Megamodelta is a reference to a MD accessory too. I get what you mean about Peashy though, none of her skills seem to be references.
I'm not sure Japan even hates Plutia, she finished 4th in the recent character popularity poll, just barely behind IF and Neptune. For some reason CH just doesn't want to have her included in any games outside of Victory (and I guess RB1). I mean there's no reason she couldn't have been in spinoffs like U or PP and the Blanc game even has Uzume but not Plutia, plus the whole different dimension thing never stopped characters like Tekken from returning.
Plutia's skills are references as well, T.Blade Kick is the game Thunder Blade, Fighting Viper is what you'd expect, Megadapter is the JP name for the Master System Converter and I'm pretty sure Megamodelta is a reference to a MD accessory too. I get what you mean about Peashy though, none of her skills seem to be references.
Not sure how accurate that really was...fan art and general chatter is how I tend to judge popularity and I mean...there's no way Blanc is above Neptune. There's no way anyone is above Neptune. Neptune, Noire and IF would be my guesses for top 3. Hard to trust internet polls. actually I did some snooping and this earlier list seems way more representative. I suspect some major poll-bombing.
I can see her not being in PP, was really a main characters only deal (even the sisters scenes feel pretty forced), but Neptunia U and Noire are the kind of games they should really get EVERYONE they can in. Variety is one of the best things about Senran Kagura, I've played a ton of Estival Versus and still barely used a few characters.
Huh, I wasn't familiar with thunder blade. I know a LOT about games and stuff still flies over my head...it makes me sad to see people play the game and barely understand any references at all beyond "hey, mario haha". Been seeing a lot of that since the PC release. I don't think a friend of mine would even realize this was a video game parody if not for the "gameindustri" and so on.
Speaking of game references, don't forget to enjoy the processor units in this game! There's a ton of well designed ones referencing a bunch of each console...pretty disappointed they didn't keep that (that I can tell) in Victory 2 or bring them back to the rebirth games. The standard HDD forms are too generic/not representative of consoles. I usually don't even bother messing with processor units but it's worth it in this game.
The difference between the Mk2 and the new poll is that the latter wasn't just a generic popularity poll, it also had a "This character will become the next main character of a game" clause. That's why people were disincentivised from voting for Neptune and Noire, since both already got their games. Since Vert isn't really up there, and Nepgear had taken a back seat after Mk2, that left the stage for Blanc to win, and IF is also the leading role in the SeHa game.
As for Plutia, the commonly held assumption is that her VA is just too expensive to rehire. Think Persona 4 and Troy Baker becoming "too cool for anime" as I like to call it.
EDIT: And Plutia and the Oracles are totally in VII! Look here:
Suddenly I thought of something.
In Virtual On: Oratario Tangram, the mechs have dreamcast consoles on their backs.
I think it would be a nice touch if there was something similar for the cast of Neptunia's HDD forms.
It wouldn't be so blatant, but noticeable enough.
-Blanc could have a thin line that glows blue (like the Wii).
-Peashy'd have a disc-drive that resembles the PC engine CD-rom.
etc.
Speaking of game references, don't forget to enjoy the processor units in this game! There's a ton of well designed ones referencing a bunch of each console...pretty disappointed they didn't keep that (that I can tell) in Victory 2 or bring them back to the rebirth games. The standard HDD forms are too generic/not representative of consoles. I usually don't even bother messing with processor units but it's worth it in this game.
They are actually in Re;Birth 2 at least (not RB1), I'm in the process of trying to get most of them before I finish my playthrough. They were all made ridiculously complicated to get though, stuff like having the nation oracle unlocked, nation shares above/below X%, lily rank between CPU and oracle at X and then view the chirper event available only in 1 chapter just to get 1 unit. It involves crazy amounts of share juggling, hidden item farming and lily rank boosting.
They are actually in Re;Birth 2 at least (not RB1), I'm in the process of trying to get most of them before I finish my playthrough. They were all made ridiculously complicated to get though, stuff like having the nation oracle unlocked, nation shares above/below X%, lily rank between CPU and oracle at X and then view the chirper event available only in 1 chapter just to get 1 unit. It involves crazy amounts of share juggling, hidden item farming and lily rank boosting.
Oh, I guess I didn't notice, I DID notice they have a habit of making certain accessories/outfits WAY too hidden or grindy to get, to the point where I actually wish I could just pay to get 'em instead. I like them as simple quest rewards and for REASONABLE amounts of money at the shop, but the whole "half a million for each outfit" or "hidden item with a random % chance in specific postgame unlockable dungeon" is too much. Especially since if you keep levels with NG+, you're getting outfits past the point where there's any challenge in playing.
But I got some of the processor parts in Victory 2 (not all, because it takes a lot of money and is basically NG+ bait) and they all seem to be recolors of the standard outfits, though the sisters have their "mk2" CPU cores from mk2 at least. The Victory regular outfits are back at least, if you upgrade the shops enough.
Suddenly I thought of something.
In Virtual On: Oratario Tangram, the mechs have dreamcast consoles on their backs.
I think it would be a nice touch if there was something similar for the cast of Neptunia's HDD forms.
It wouldn't be so blatant, but noticeable enough.
-Blanc could have a thin line that glows blue (like the Wii).
-Peashy'd have a disc-drive that resembles the PC engine CD-rom.
etc.
I'm not sure if you're trolling me here. Everyone's outfits in Victory does this, as do Uzume's HDD (and normal) outfit, and the Next forms in Victory. Only the "hyperdimension"/standard clothes lack direct console references. It's actually pretty weird they reverted to them in Victory 2 for this reason--ever since the very first game where those designs were made, the character designs have been far more direct parody.
And Peashy has a Hudson bee outfit (plot spoilers everyone's probably been spoiled on already)
and her HDD state has various shapes from the PC engine itself on it, such as the CD tray covering her boobs
The difference between the Mk2 and the new poll is that the latter wasn't just a generic popularity poll, it also had a "This character will become the next main character of a game" clause. That's why people were disincentivised from voting for Neptune and Noire, since both already got their games. Since Vert isn't really up there, and Nepgear had taken a back seat after Mk2, that left the stage for Blanc to win, and IF is also the leading role in the SeHa game.
I didn't knew that IF was the lead role for the SeHa game. That's great news.
Especially because I want a game with Plutia in the leading role. Made by Platinum Games, if possible. It would probably turn out as Bayonetta 1.5, but that is exactly what I want.
Am I wrong or does RB3 let you switch out knocked out party members mid battle?
...I only just got someone knocked out and I can't get it to happen again.
Am I wrong or does RB3 let you switch out knocked out party members mid battle?
...I only just got someone knocked out and I can't get it to happen again.
Playing RB1 at the moment, and while I enjoy it, I just had to do like 2 or 3 bosses back to back with no option to save in between. That kind of design needs to die in a fire
Fairly impressed with some of the changes as I play more--being able to switch out KO'd characters is a nice touch, before this game and Victory 2 I almost completely ignored by back row characters (Victory 2 does NOT have this feature, but switching lets the switch-in act immediately in Victory 2 which is much nicer than the old method). Plans having a nice "where do I even get this shit" feature is fantastic, the Nepedia was a great idea but was never quite good enough. Unfortunately the two best features are spread across two games--victory 2 doesn't have the "search" function like Reb 3 plans do, and Rebirth 3 doesn't have the improved Nepedia where just beating an enemy once tells you all the drops it potentially has. Also, I miss Omega Quintet's "hey! It's' a new enemy!" callout because I love to complete bestiaries.
Stella...seems almost okay now?! I still bought the cheat code DLC that lets you keep items if she gets KO'd, but even with that item Stella was garbage in rebirth 2. It's almost fun and basically free items now. I still think it should be more like Chocobo World though, where you just let it go and it never loses progress (if Chocobo is KO'd he just has to take a nap and wastes time), and you can check in at any time to get your new items instead of waiting for it to finish and then 0 progress is made until you check. At least she's voiced now.
Also, glad scouts are gone...plan system is way better for that. And it seems the quiz rank/how many enemies did you kill things at the end of chapters were removed? That was rather frustrating so if it's gone I'm glad. If it's not a chapter quest and it doesn't have a cosmetic drop I'd personally rather ignore it. Victory 2 has the right idea on quests--basically that there are way less.
I'm mixed on the new SP system, the characters' attacks really weren't designed for it and certain characters with high hit counts basically have infinite SP--Cave spends single-digit SP using Full Burst Option on one target and GAINS significant SP any time she hits more than one target. Since skills are still OP, there's basically no reason to use normal skills for her. Don't have EXE skills yet to see how well that works out.
I forgot just how much side dialog is in this game, it really drives home the lack of voice acting. Really really hoping that since they're done with the cheap remakes they're going to keep the voicing to par with the JP version. It seems crazy that the game sells better in the west yet we get less voicing.
Important to note, for anyone who doesn't know the drill, the DLC will make the game way easier especially to start with. Stick with story characters if you want more of a challenge (the game isn't even very hard just doing that)
Playing RB1 at the moment, and while I enjoy it, I just had to do like 2 or 3 bosses back to back with no option to save in between. That kind of design needs to die in a fire
There's very little of this in the rest of the series. Only Rebirth 1 has the stupid difficulty spikes, I think this game only has one fairly hard fight
Her HDD dominating EVERY goddamn conversation simply wouldn't work for another game...as you said it kinda already gets old in this one. They need HDD way too common for it to be a big dramatic thing like they try. It's much like Murakumo's "oh no my mask fell off I am shy now" thing in Senran Kagura...if it were really dramatic and happened just a few times in the story it'd work way better than it happening every single major fight.
Fairly impressed with some of the changes as I play more--being able to switch out KO'd characters is a nice touch, before this game and Victory 2 I almost completely ignored by back row characters (Victory 2 does NOT have this feature, but switching lets the switch-in act immediately in Victory 2 which is much nicer than the old method). Plans having a nice "where do I even get this shit" feature is fantastic, the Nepedia was a great idea but was never quite good enough. Unfortunately the two best features are spread across two games--victory 2 doesn't have the "search" function like Reb 3 plans do, and Rebirth 3 doesn't have the improved Nepedia where just beating an enemy once tells you all the drops it potentially has. Also, I miss Omega Quintet's "hey! It's' a new enemy!" callout because I love to complete bestiaries.
Stella...seems almost okay now?! I still bought the cheat code DLC that lets you keep items if she gets KO'd, but even with that item Stella was garbage in rebirth 2. It's almost fun and basically free items now. I still think it should be more like Chocobo World though, where you just let it go and it never loses progress (if Chocobo is KO'd he just has to take a nap and wastes time), and you can check in at any time to get your new items instead of waiting for it to finish and then 0 progress is made until you check. At least she's voiced now.
Also, glad scouts are gone...plan system is way better for that. And it seems the quiz rank/how many enemies did you kill things at the end of chapters were removed? That was rather frustrating so if it's gone I'm glad. If it's not a chapter quest and it doesn't have a cosmetic drop I'd personally rather ignore it. Victory 2 has the right idea on quests--basically that there are way less.
I'm mixed on the new SP system, the characters' attacks really weren't designed for it and certain characters with high hit counts basically have infinite SP--Cave spends single-digit SP using Full Burst Option on one target and GAINS significant SP any time she hits more than one target. Since skills are still OP, there's basically no reason to use normal skills for her. Don't have EXE skills yet to see how well that works out.
I forgot just how much side dialog is in this game, it really drives home the lack of voice acting. Really really hoping that since they're done with the cheap remakes they're going to keep the voicing to par with the JP version. It seems crazy that the game sells better in the west yet we get less voicing.
The Remake System is excellent this time around. There are many more things to spend MB on, and you don't have to worry about saving for multiple high-MB character unlocks. Simplifying dungeon changes was also a good move. The only thing to complain about is the fact that some plans are locked behind character challenges.
Maybe I was using the wrong characters (Neptune, MAGES., Tekken, young Falcom), but I actually had trouble gaining SP early on and relied on item spam to keep their SP levels up. Having HDD/Awaken+EXE use up almost everything seems costly at first, but I'm betting that the cost becomes meaningless by the endgame.
Either way, this is definitely the best Nep game available in English.
I skipped this at launch unlike all the other Neptunia games, because I'd grown a little tired of the formula somewhere in the middle of Re;birth 2 and wasn't sure I could stomach any more straight away.
I still want to play it of course, but I just needed some different experiences in the meantime.
Kinda regretting it though. I like supporting IFI, who have managed to release all of the series physically in Europe at the same time as the USA, which is pretty commendable given how many other companies struggle with it.
May pick it up on the way home from work and cancel my Lost Dimension pre-order.
Nah, sometimes a break is needed, and with so many games released so fast I can't fault anyone for burning out. Just think of what you'd rather play for a month and decide from there.
Taking breaks is fine, though if you want the LEs I'd just get 'em. Price of the physical copies never goes down too much. If you want digital they do go on sale though.
The Remake System is excellent this time around. There are many more things to spend MB on, and you don't have to worry about saving for multiple high-MB character unlocks. Simplifying dungeon changes was also a good move. The only thing to complain about is the fact that some plans are locked behind character challenges.
Maybe I was using the wrong characters (Neptune, MAGES., Tekken, young Falcom), but I actually had trouble gaining SP early on and relied on item spam to keep their SP levels up. Having HDD/Awaken+EXE use up almost everything seems costly at first, but I'm betting that the cost becomes meaningless by the endgame.
I'd love to have
Rei Ryghts
as DLC for some future Nep game. That's about it as far as Victory-exclusive characters go.
Yesssss. The too-expensive MB plans are why I was apprehensive about unlocking plans. The games would be much improved if every playthrough gave you enough MB or you could farm MB without NG+, since NG+ is terrible until Victory 2.
I'm kind of impressed they've managed to improve the Remakes pretty significantly each time, even if less impressive than the original HDN - > Mk2 -> Victory jumps. Still not sure about this SP system but I havent' played any more actually, I tried to get started in Tokyo abyss (and failed) and played Nekoburo instead.
The villains in general are great/better in Victory, but
Rei Ryghts
would probably be the only one for DLC for Reasons™ and I'd be glad to have them. I wouldn't say no to Peashy and Plutia as DLC (only).
I don't even hate Arfoire in Victory so much because she's one of several enemies. Still tired of her in every game though...and Pirachu not really sure how he keeps popping up.
i love them but so many release.
i have a hard time catching up the vitea release, i just buyed noire last month , rebirth 2 yesterday and action unleashed today.
i still have to play victory on my ps3 but i got the platinum of the first 2 on ps3.
If you've got too many by all means pace yourself. There's probably never going to be as many Neptunia releases in such a short time due to the combo of multiple side games from Tamsoft and the 3 remakes from Felistella while IF themselves were working on VII.
One thing I'm not sure I like is the removal of the town maps. I like how the world map notifies you of new Chirper messages, but poking around towns and CPU hotels was kinda fun. Also IIRC it let you listen to the town themes too. Hyperdevotion may be the last game with towns (Victory 2 has yet another revamped Chirper that's a menu).
Though I kinda like the efficiency. A lot of stuff in RPGs is a trade off between giving things personality/depth and just wasting my goddamn time, I'm actually quite glad Neptunia has so many features for not wasting my time. I want that VN dialog system in every game with dialog.
Yeah one complaint I have about IFI is they have a lot of the same VAs but worse deliveries on the same lines. I also noticed that with Blanc in reb 1 (she also mispronounced her German attacks more) and Cave in Reb 2. It's not consistently bad, but there are a few skill call outs that definitely bug me because I vividly remember them and they were better. I don't recall plutia as well but some of hers are a bit flatter I think now.
Huh, that's surprising. I'm guessing it might be a link to Victory 2? (VII spoilers)
Croire is in the game after all, though Victory original included something along the lines of her saying she was going to go fuck up another dimension or something IIRC
.
Glad impressions are good, I feel weird being so behind on the game. I might do a review of the whole rebirth set when I finish.
I'm not sure if you're trolling me here. Everyone's outfits in Victory does this, as do Uzume's HDD (and normal) outfit, and the Next forms in Victory. Only the "hyperdimension"/standard clothes lack direct console references. It's actually pretty weird they reverted to them in Victory 2 for this reason--ever since the very first game where those designs were made, the character designs have been far more direct parody.
And Peashy has a Hudson bee outfit (plot spoilers everyone's probably been spoiled on already)
and her HDD state has various shapes from the PC engine itself on it, such as the CD tray covering her boobs
Some of them are somewhat subtle, but even the Oracles except Histoire have console references stuck all around. It's fun to just look around a character model and find all the little references (In Victory 2 Konami has the friggin Konami code on her heel, amazing). Some like Chika are more apparent but even Mina has little star pins on her and Kei has playstation buttons.
Considering their apparent relationship with Playstation I'm surprised they haven't gotten a licensing deal/okay to use the PS buttons more directly actually.
Got the True Ending. The final boss was a matter of pumping Tekken full of SP/stat boosts and having her 10-Hit Combo repeatedly. Had a much easier time than in Victory. I'll probably play other games for a bit before messing with the new postgame stuff or DLC dungeons.
I have to agree about the voice direction being a slight downgrade. The new "I'll Nep your face!" just didn't sit right with me. Also, I knew that the game was light on English-voiced scenes, but it still caught me off guard when one of the late game scenes that was dubbed in Victory was silent here.
Got the True Ending. The final boss was a matter of pumping Tekken full of SP/stat boosts and having her 10-Hit Combo repeatedly. Had a much easier time than in Victory. I'll probably play other games for a bit before messing with the new postgame stuff or DLC dungeons.
I have to agree about the voice direction being a slight downgrade. The new "I'll Nep your face!" just didn't sit right with me. Also, I knew that the game was light on English-voiced scenes, but it still caught me off guard when one of the late game scenes that was dubbed in Victory was silent here.
I just feels like they don't bother getting the right punch/inflection on specific syllables or working the attitude into the quotes. They're stated a bit more plainly. And Cave lost her "cool aloof badass" thing, she's just kinda there. I really miss her old "Can you dodge?". Also, it's probably just in the Japanese, but I really dislike Histoire's "why me" and stuff, it super duper clashes with her awesome "YOU. WILL. BURN!" and "I'll erase you from the annals of history!" lines. She's kind of implicitly god and has amazing magic, let her be a little badass. Also put her in the mainline games as a playable character. Chika too.
Cool that they did add dubbing for some scenes. I really really hope VII is fully voiced and they just didn't fully voice because hey, remakes. Honestly the remakes did more cool stuff I wasn't expecting (the nepedia search function!) considering they're obviously trying to be cheap remakes. Hopefully the extra sales from Steam and the remakes let 'em make even more polished new games, and VII is already a higher level of polish as is.
