completed Vert and Noire's stories, ankle deep into Blanc's
, enjoying it still. Liking all the new mechanics, and the challenge is just about right for the most part. It can still be a bit rough when you only have one character though.
I really like the aspect of focusing more on specific characters, but yeah it is a bit frustrating when it results in you down to one or two characters again. I hope the next game keeps the general concept but without necessarily splitting up the party (or at least letting you have a full party of 3-4). But the game really opens up in the last half/third or so.
It's something I wouldn't mind in small doses but basically every Neptunia game has had long stretches with 2-3 characters and none of the non-Neptune CPUs/candidates. It actually feels like it has a point this time and isn't forced, but it's still a bit frustrating.
I think it would have been a bit less annoying personally if the intro chapter were A) all new characters, not Neptune + Gear, or B) had all the CPUs. Neptune herself has gone from being one of my favorite parts of the series to probably my single least.
B-b-but, she's the protagonist of protagonists with her protag rule set lol. Yeah, she can be too meta for her own good, but it's fun when that itself is pointed out.
Just got the
Ascension
ending, which I guess is the normal ending? I went with the Heart route.
Battle systems were generally great throughout, but I was definitely not spamming transformations as much because of the share decrease, but after reading your guide, I guess I shouldn't have to really worry that much about it after completing certain requirements. Still I did end with 100% shares for everyone lol. OCD much.
Found myself looking for discs to develop with the "learning" ability in the end game, and probably accidentally grinded a bit too high, thus making the Last Boss kind of easy. Main party was at lvl 56.
Oy vei, with some of the grammar errors with the script and some times when the voices didn't match the text, but no biggie really. Still there was one scene were NepGear says something like "..all part of the keikaku" and I'm wondering why the goodness was that not translated? I mean it was romanized, but why not just write the English translation "plan" then. Is it some meta thing about how shitty fan translations of manga and anime can be sometimes?
My real true only complaint, is that Plutia has been reduced to a card with nary a DLC to speak of. I'm guessing what was released for the Japanese release already is about all we're getting, right?
B-b-but, she's the protagonist of protagonists with her protag rule set lol. Yeah, she can be too meta for her own good, but it's fun when that itself is pointed out.
Just got the
Ascension
ending, which I guess is the normal ending? I went with the Heart route.
Battle systems were generally great throughout, but I was definitely not spamming transformations as much because of the share decrease, but after reading your guide, I guess I shouldn't have to really worry that much about it after completing certain requirements. Still I did end with 100% shares for everyone lol. OCD much.
Found myself looking for discs to develop with the "learning" ability in the end game, and probably accidentally grinded a bit too high, thus making the Last Boss kind of easy. Main party was at lvl 56.
Oy vei, with some of the grammar errors with the script and some times when the voices didn't match the text, but no biggie really. Still there was one scene were NepGear says something like "..all part of the keikaku" and I'm wondering why the goodness was that not translated? I mean it was romanized, but why not just write the English translation "plan" then. Is it some meta thing about how shitty fan translations of manga and anime can be sometimes?
As someone annoyed with Neptune being shoehorned into everything, the "protagonist of protagonists" thing actually bothered me even more. Especially since she'd usually spout it while having done nothing in particular in the last few hours. They also wrote the per-CPU stories in a really nice non-tropey way, then the moment Neptune's in the picture she's like "haha vert has boobs noire is tsundere" etc.
Yes, the ending you got is the Normal one. You can use my guide to get the true ending. The whole NG+ run should take like...4 hours if you skip dialog, battles and battle animations. Love the streamlining in the game, when you want it.
"Learning" is unnecessary except for grinding past 99 IMO. After you're out of G dimension the game is too easy not too hard, and leveling up too fast only makes the challenge go away faster. One of my biggest complaints is how that happens, and also that by the time you learn the lategame skills like Kinestra Slash there's nothing of value to use them on outside the coliseum.
I was actually a bit disappointed they didn't make more localization callout jokes. The way both Neptunes "reverse" the name for (story/character spoiler)
uzume/Kurume
makes absolutely no goddamn sense in English yet they play it totally straight and people are just like "THAT'S OUR NEPTUNE". It's...really awkward, they also keep the "Neptune is hard to pronounce" joke that makes no sense in English (the Japanese voice actresses, after like 8 games, still can't pronounce it consistently).
Other than that, a couple typos are bound to happen in a 40-50 hour RPG. Didn't notice any myself, though I've seen a couple pointed out.
Started up again, been a hard time putting down Fallout 4. Anyway, I again like the challenge at least early on relative to earlier games in the series. Enemies make sure to move behind characters and seem to especially enjoy knocking Uzume out. I was at a part with only her and Nepgear and she was having a rough time. Beyond that, I've gotten
Older Neptune
and liking her so far.
As before though, gonna take my time with this one (my first at-release mainline Neptunia) and avoiding spoilers.
I was actually a bit disappointed they didn't make more localization callout jokes. The way both Neptunes "reverse" the name for (story/character spoiler)
uzume/Kurume
makes absolutely no goddamn sense in English yet they play it totally straight and people are just like "THAT'S OUR NEPTUNE". It's...really awkward, they also keep the "Neptune is hard to pronounce" joke that makes no sense in English (the Japanese voice actresses, after like 8 games, still can't pronounce it consistently).
Other than that, a couple typos are bound to happen in a 40-50 hour RPG. Didn't notice any myself, though I've seen a couple pointed out.
I think they don't really want to mess with name puns. You know how the Oracles in Mk2 all still had distinctly Japanese names? Those were all big fat puns that also make no goddamn sense in English. Like, all three characters' names are basically puns on the slurs people use to describe online fanboys (think Sonypony and things like that you see on imageboards).
It's basically the same here really. They can't really mess with Uzume's name like with Plutia since that was just a romanization of a name, but if you had to localize Uzume you'd end with something like "Spirally Uranus" or something (and the name Uranus is already occupied by someone else sadly). As for the other character, I'm not sure what they could do.
Also hey, Neptune is hard to pronounce has been around since the first game in English. Granted it's more justified with Compa but still.
I think they don't really want to mess with name puns. You know how the Oracles in Mk2 all still had distinctly Japanese names? Those were all big fat puns that also make no goddamn sense in English. Like, all three characters' names are basically puns on the slurs people use to describe online fanboys (think Sonypony and things like that you see on imageboards).
It's basically the same here really. They can't really mess with Uzume's name like with Plutia since that was just a romanization of a name, but if you had to localize Uzume you'd end with something like "Spirally Uranus" or something (and the name Uranus is already occupied by someone else sadly). As for the other character, I'm not sure what they could do.
Also hey, Neptune is hard to pronounce has been around since the first game in English. Granted it's more justified with Compa but still.
I've heard HDN1 super cringily includes the Neptune name thing, but I don't think they've ever made reference to it in any of the games I've played (every single one except the first). I will grant that Uzume's name sounds god-awful in english, but I think that other thing at least deserved a "hey, that sounds like an awkward localization!" or something callout.
But if what I read in the Nep Community thread is true about them being unable to add text boxes I guess it could be hard. ...that's so hard to believe though, how do you make a game in 2015(or whever dev started, probably a couple years before that) and not put the slightest thought into how your localization team will handle it? Especially with how well the series seems to do in the west.
Speaking of Uzume, I really hope they chill out on the Sega focus for next game. I'll admit they handled Uzume really damn well, but I don't need three games in a row focusing on new, mysterious Planeptune CPU from the past with amazing powers! We get way too much planeptune as it is even without Plutia/Uzume. By the time Neptunia 5 hits it'll have been around 20 years since Sega had a console...
At least in the Rebirth 1 universe, I like to think the name issue was that regular people couldn't just say their CPU's real name so they just would refer to them as Lady so-and-so and that the only time when they could use their personal name was when their shares were in the tank like when Avenir was dissing Noire. I'm probably wrong though, but it makes it slightly less cringe-worthy in my mind.
That reminds me though, I was glad that they brought back
Financier for Blanc's part. It was kind of a reprisal of her Neptunia 1 role somewhat. They definitely treated her as a throwaway in Victory
. I was hoping she would have been the Oracle in MK2, when I first understood it was a different universe.
If they're using the Phyre Engine like in previous games, you would think that localization features would be built in or at least easily extensible. Seriously how hard would it be to add text boxes to an existing/documented engine. [Whelp, read that piece by NickyD, what's wrong with giving out your source code to your business partner?] Any word on what engine VII, runs on actually?
...but I don't need three games in a row focusing on new, mysterious Planeptune CPU from the past with amazing powers! We get way too much planeptune as it is even without Plutia/Uzume. By the time Neptunia 5 hits it'll have been around 20 years since Sega had a console...
Ha, well if not consoles then Sega Arcade Hardware lol. Sega Nu the amazing power of a Windows based PC.
Perhaps the Third Parties as characters are a way forward for the next Neptunia mainline. After all, all the consoles now a days are AMD based PCs somewhat. The distinguishing factor is more and more the software..... And you know who's a Third Party now...SEGA. However we kind of need a Vert game that isn't whack
Are any of the challenge rewards worthwhile?
I can't remember if it was the same in Victory but in Rebirth3 some good plans were locked behind challenges, so I'm wondering whether to grind out any of the challenges or if all the rewards are just stat increases.
Are any of the challenge rewards worthwhile?
I can't remember if it was the same in Victory but in Rebirth3 some good plans were locked behind challenges, so I'm wondering whether to grind out any of the challenges or if all the rewards are just stat increases.
I've heard HDN1 super cringily includes the Neptune name thing, but I don't think they've ever made reference to it in any of the games I've played (every single one except the first). I will grant that Uzume's name sounds god-awful in english, but I think that other thing at least deserved a "hey, that sounds like an awkward localization!" or something callout.
But if what I read in the Nep Community thread is true about them being unable to add text boxes I guess it could be hard. ...that's so hard to believe though, how do you make a game in 2015(or whever dev started, probably a couple years before that) and not put the slightest thought into how your localization team will handle it? Especially with how well the series seems to do in the west.
Honestly I'm ok with it if only because Neptumor made me laugh.
As for the text boxes, that's just how localization goes! Be glad they have a program that syncs up lip flaps to the English dub. Trying to match those totally messed up FFX's dub for example(but that was 15 years ago and technology solved that).
And there's way more awful limitations! I suggest readings these two blogs, one by Atlus on Odin Sphere, another by XSEED on Trails of Cold Steel. Both of them mention they have to fit in the lines of voice acting into specific timeframes because they couldn't have a sentence longer than the Japanese original! It's nightmarish really.
At least in the Rebirth 1 universe, I like to think the name issue was that regular people couldn't just say their CPU's real name so they just would refer to them as Lady so-and-so and that the only time when they could use their personal name was when their shares were in the tank like when Avenir was dissing Noire. I'm probably wrong though, but it makes it slightly less cringe-worthy in my mind.
That reminds me though, I was glad that they brought back
Financier for Blanc's part. It was kind of a reprisal of her Neptunia 1 role somewhat. They definitely treated her as a throwaway in Victory
. I was hoping she would have been the Oracle in MK2, when I first understood it was a different universe.
If they're using the Phyre Engine like in previous games, you would think that localization features would be built in or at least easily extensible. Seriously how hard would it be to add text boxes to an existing/documented engine. [Whelp, read that piece by NickyD, what's wrong with giving out your source code to your business partner?] Any word on what engine VII, runs on actually?
Ha, well if not consoles then Sega Arcade Hardware lol. Sega Nu the amazing power of a Windows based PC.
Perhaps the Third Parties as characters are a way forward for the next Neptunia mainline. After all, all the consoles now a days are AMD based PCs somewhat. The distinguishing factor is more and more the software..... And you know who's a Third Party now...SEGA. However we kind of need a Vert game that isn't whack
I'm glad they ditched the awkward "secret CPUs" stuff, it was super awkward in rebirth 1.
I'm honestly disappointed they dragged out the personality-free Financier but didn't even show the faces of the Mk2 oracles. At least they acknowledged their existence though.
There's still tons of reference they can make with the CPUs, hardware was always a shallow pool for references anyway. Sony has thousands of references for games and maybe a few dozen hardware jokes you could make. Hardware is mostly only good for the external CPU designs (as much as I dislike what victory does with the characters, I liked the more console-based CPU outfits. But the Next forms are even better. Except how small Noire's makes her boobs look)
I do think they should keep the Gold Third around though, they finally learned how to include Maker characters that aren't 100% less useful than CPUs. They're still majorly limited by low skill count though. (I'm super annoyed Older Neptune gets like 5 skills and Gold Third gets 2)
The Vert storyline is apparently some big 2chan reference, there was probably no making sense of it in English no matter what. Apparently Affimax is a reference to 2chan's (and now 4chan's) owner too?
Agreed though, we super need a proper Vert game (not a medicore Neptunia U re-rehash) and Vert figure after them referencing BOTH in this game. It's pretty damn rude of them to even mention it in this game then make YET ANOTHER purple heart figure. And even Blanc's disappointing figure-wise, the schoolgirl outfit thing is boring, at least give us the normal outfit, and the hammer.
Are any of the challenge rewards worthwhile?
I can't remember if it was the same in Victory but in Rebirth3 some good plans were locked behind challenges, so I'm wondering whether to grind out any of the challenges or if all the rewards are just stat increases.
Rebirth 3 is the only game to lock game content behind challenges (which was a huge mistake and everyone complains about EXEs now). Basically forget Rebirth and all it's systems exist when playing Megadimension. Different team, vastly less budget, a lot of awkward stuff crammed in to "spice it up" for remakes' sake.
The only challenges worth paying attention to are the combo trait one and damage dealt ones, as they're pretty easy to get even without trying hard. IIRC they both give +300 SP which is a ton even at a high level...but once you get to level 99, SP isn't really a problem anyway.
For reference, I've used Vert for almost the entire game where possible, in two playthroughs, and those are the only two challenges Iv'e completed for her. She's not even halfway through "beat lots of enemies/battles" challenges despite being in the majority of them for a 100% completion run.
Challenges are frankly awful and I wish they'd seriously tone them down. They're also an annoyance for level 1 replays as you can't reset challenge progress.
At least it was Compa. She's kind of an idiot anyway. I guess they handled it kinda okay with Uzume because she never actually mispronounces it, she just has some kind of brain problem and doesn't say it at all. The nicknames in general are poor IMO though. Crostie?! That's not even shorter than Croire.
Programmatically it really can't be had to go "okay, THREE lines of dialog for Neptune here" and let people change that...if they cared about making the system that way. Which apparently they don't.
I was impressed the lip flaps did sync up though. They probably made a program to do it for the JP voices anyway but still, that's the sort of thing that's almost always wrong.
Text box limitations like that have been around since SNES, unless you're Square or another big company no one really bothers to fix those sorta things. Atlus, Bandai, XSEED, everyone has to deal with it due to programming.
So in one part Uzume mentions carting around consoles on a wagon and apologizing for being unable to meet demand. I think I found what that was referencing from a bunch of old commercials: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPktjDHO0Y0
It might also be where the inspiration for the megaphone weapon came, other than the Dreamcast microphone and it being a generally really loud console.
Text box limitations like that have been around since SNES, unless you're Square or another big company no one really bothers to fix those sorta things. Atlus, Bandai, XSEED, everyone has to deal with it due to programming.
So in one part Uzume mentions carting around consoles on a wagon and apologizing for being unable to meet demand. I think I found what that was referencing from a bunch of old commercials: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPktjDHO0Y0
It might also be where the inspiration for the megaphone weapon came, other than the Dreamcast microphone and it being a generally really loud console.
Still, localization is a huge deal now instead of a lame afterthought, and malleable text boxes is like, the most basic thing you can provide to support your loc team...
Oh wow, that's a crazy find. I just figured the megaphone was due to Seaman. Wouldn't be surprised if you're right, they dig real deep for references. And it's worth it IMO. My favorite joke in Undertale is the "Gutsman's Ass" jingle that 99% of people miss entirely
So in one part Uzume mentions carting around consoles on a wagon and apologizing for being unable to meet demand. I think I found what that was referencing from a bunch of old commercials: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPktjDHO0Y0
It might also be where the inspiration for the megaphone weapon came, other than the Dreamcast microphone and it being a generally really loud console.
After seeing that I'm wondering then if Mr. Badd from Victory/RB3 was based off of Yukawa or do I just see all Japanese business men with glasses as the same.
I was thinking the Megaphone as a weapon was a Space Channel 5 reference, but a quick google search isn't turning up much in that direction.
was whacky. Still aside from the nickname, I do hope
Croire and Tari's CPU power are done and gone.
Also, is it me or does Croire not mean something to do with 'Chronicle', but rather 'belief'?
Good find. Is the other bloke with him then
Grass roots guy/Umio?
After seeing that I'm wondering then if Mr. Badd from Victory/RB3 was based off of Yukawa or do I just see all Japanese business men with glasses as the same.
I was thinking the Megaphone as a weapon was a Space Channel 5 reference, but a quick google search isn't turning up much in that direction.
I forgot the Uni nickname, it's just dumb. Crostie is still awful though. And I can't agree with the spoiler either, Croire has a ton of potential and I feel it's kinda wasted here. They can leave aside
Rei's power, and IMO, the Nepnote and Older neptune need to go
but as a Tome who can alter reality, has recorded the ends of many dimensions and loves to cause trouble, in a video game ABOUT video games, she has a TON of potential. Think Undertale Genocide route ending stuff with the timelines. Croire could be AMAZING. She's easily the most under-utilized villain in the series...in fact, the only under-utilized villain in the series since most of the others are one-bit and/or completely run into the ground.
For the love of god if Pirachu's in another game...
There's actually a number of "Japanese Business Men" reference enemies...I only recognize a few. Most of them don't make it into V2 though. Like there's a purple Iwata slime in some of the rebirths...and the Final Fantasy Bomb looking thing that looks like Reggie (I think it's actually someone else though)
I don't think Space Channel 5 has any mega phones but I could be wrong. It does generally fit the LOUD! 90S! EDGE! Marketing of Sega (at least in the US, less familiar with JP) though.
New DLC released... It's...just weapons and a processor set thing. And some more coliseum matches. Dripfeed was a stupid idea, all the DLC is done in Japan and most requires almost no localization. At least give us one character a week if you're going to do this.
Question for the beginning of the second part, Hyperdimension Neptunia G (not sure if already asked here as some words I were searching for were in spoiler tags)
Roughly at the beginning it gave the option to do one of the scenarios out of 4, so Neptune, Noire etc, is this choice once per playthrough or once one is done can I pick another? I could keep playing and find out of course, but I'm playing it in very short bursts at the moment
Question for the beginning of the second part, Hyperdimension Neptunia G (not sure if already asked here as some words I were searching for were in spoiler tags)
Roughly at the beginning it gave the option to do one of the scenarios out of 4, so Neptune, Noire etc, is this choice once per playthrough or once one is done can I pick another? I could keep playing and find out of course, but I'm playing it in very short bursts at the moment
Just got to the part where you have all four CPUs in the party for the first time. My first random battle with Nep/Noire/Vert/Blanc on the front row gave me some "fuck yeah the band is back together!" feels.
when talking about the big hole in the sky, my sister who is a huge Dragon Age fan says "are they going to form an Inquisition? They should totally form an Inquisition!"
EDIT:
Thinking more, I'm honestly kind of disappointed they didn't drop a reference there.
If the DLC characters dont' release this week I'm going to be annoyed. We're already in "hardcore fans beat the game before DLC characters were even out" territory, won't be too long before a lot of more casual players are done too. And story-based RPGs aren't really the "go back and play for sidequest DLC" sort of games.
I will go back and get them since I'm a huge fan, but it would have been way preferable to get them day one since they're already done in Japan.
Just got to the part where you have all four CPUs in the party for the first time. My first random battle with Nep/Noire/Vert/Blanc on the front row gave me some "fuck yeah the band is back together!" feels.
I usually hate them keeping the CPUs hidden away half the game (games 1-3 have the exact same "go through all the nations!" arc) but they really nailed it in this game though. Made the reunion feel meaningful AND took the advantage to give good focus on all the characters (though I feel like they skimped on Vert's story a bit.)
when talking about the big hole in the sky, my sister who is a huge Dragon Age fan says "are they going to form an Inquisition? They should totally form an Inquisition!"
EDIT:
Thinking more, I'm honestly kind of disappointed they didn't drop a reference there.
The Gamindustri Chocolate items contain more western gaming reference than I think the entire series has had up to this point, it's not really their thing.
I was really disappointed at the lack of a certain Sonic Adventure 2 reference though, if you finished act 3 you probably know what I mean.
Beat the game and NG+'d my way back to the third arc. Now I guess I need to start getting some funds for investing and such. Still need more Evonium for making things, and I'm not sure what scouts I should be leveling up, so I've been hoarding the items a bit.
I got the true end earlier, really enjoyed the game.
K-Sha and Noire was rather nice and Noire's route was easily my favourite in the G arc. (also Meow Meow ^_^ )
I am guessing any new main series games in this dimension will include
Uzume and maybe adult Neptune which is fine with me. Hell I liked all the characters anyway so <3. Though I did miss Plutia/Peashy but oh well.
Just got to finish off trophies, got quite a few on the good ending route. Only ones I'm dreading now are the hidden treasure and the CARD master ones. And the Scavenger ones to an extent since it's pretty luck based as well.
The rest of the trophies are easy enough and will be finished quickly I think.
Since it relates to the ending I guess it's a spoiler, but here's my thoughts on returning characters:
I really hope they don't keep Older Neptune TBH. She's neptune with even less personality and I'm increasingly tired of Neptune herself. Personally I'm hoping for some sort of story thing where Croire ditches Older Neptune to cause trouble and Older Neptune...uh finds a nice happy dimension with lots of other Neptunes to run and play with.
As for Uzume, I'd be alright with her staying, though I'm sorta iffy on that since the series already has had way too much focus on planeptune for extremely little reason. This is the first game in the series that feels like it justified it's planeptune focus and made a good story of it, but I'm still reaaaal iffy on ANOTHER game focusing hardcore on Planeptune. Yet another reason to axe big neptune IMO.
I hope the next game has an even stronger focus on Leanbox, Lastation and Lowee. Without being the god damn "go to all the nations to fight the CPUs" storyline, we've had that way too many times. Planeptune seriously needs a rest.
Beat the game and NG+'d my way back to the third arc. Now I guess I need to start getting some funds for investing and such. Still need more Evonium for making things, and I'm not sure what scouts I should be leveling up, so I've been hoarding the items a bit.
You shouldn't have NG+'d before doing the (near) infinite money trick. It's not a big deal, but here's what you need to do: MEgadimension Credit Grinding Evonium won't be a problem after that trick either, just invest a lot.
For better or worse level and credit "grinding" are extremely streamlined and at a certain point of the game you can go from basically nothing to max with the right story progress + knowledge. Only Hidden Items and CPU chips are a notable grind really.
I'm kind of interested in playing this game since now it's on PS4, so I have a question.
Is this a direct sequel to the previous Neptunia game? (Victory, right?)
Do I need to play that first? Don't really want to go back to PS3...
I might hold off on buying this until the DLC characters are out, unless they're coming soon. How far do you have to progress in the story before you can use them?
I don't follow this series much but I played one of the games, don't remember which. And the best part of the game was the voiced dialog, and the most disappointing part of the game was how most of the scenes weren't voiced.
I've never been in love with the neptunia gameplay; so dialog/english voice acting is what would make me consider buying it.
I might hold off on buying this until the DLC characters are out, unless they're coming soon. How far do you have to progress in the story before you can use them?
I don't know when they're available, but personally I'm glad I didn't go this route because, damn, they're taking their sweet time and I wanted to see the story without spoilers. I really hoped they wouldn't do the NISA thing and stretch out the DLC slowly.
BTW, there's a LOT of characters in this game. Unless you're fairly tired with the main crew, you'll probably be alright. Though if the DLC characters can be used in Act 2, it'd be nice because they'd expand your party beyond 2-3.
I don't follow this series much but I played one of the games, don't remember which. And the best part of the game was the voiced dialog, and the most disappointing part of the game was how most of the scenes weren't voiced.
I've never been in love with the neptunia gameplay; so dialog/english voice acting is what would make me consider buying it.
I'd say it's about 50% for main story events? It's more than any of the other games in the series that weren't fully voiced (only the first PS3 game and spin offs, so far). There's also full Japanese voice tracks for free, though I prefer the English because battle/map dialog isn't subtitled, so you miss it entirely.
Neptunia doesn't really have standard "neptunia gameplay" really except for the rebirths, which mostly ape the same game/engine for gameplay. This is a huge leap over the prior games (like all the console ones were), If you've only played the rebirths don't judge V2 by them. The rebirths are okay but give a poor impression of the series due to being cheap samey remakes.
I'm kind of interested in playing this game since now it's on PS4, so I have a question.
Is this a direct sequel to the previous Neptunia game? (Victory, right?)
Do I need to play that first? Don't really want to go back to PS3...
Yes it's a direct sequel to Victory, but there's fairly minor connections between the two, other than some spoilers of who the big bad was in Victory.
Rebirth 3 is a remake of Victory with the exact same story, if it's an option.
IMO, whether you've taken a break from the series or never played it before, just buy Victory 2 and consider playing the other games later for humor/story value. V2 is so far ahead gameplay-wise it'd be a shame to play one of the earlier games and not enjoy it.
..Oogh. Got the Normal Ending again all because I accidentally skipped the Dogoo Quest..bleh. Still, I got to check out the Hyperdimension route, and that was cheesy and fun. Heart route first is the way to go, but Hyperdimension route is a nice contrast.
On the second playthrough, it was interesting to see all the hints and foreshadowing that I missed on the first go around. Also
I thought it was lame that Neptune came back at the end of the Zero Story for the final battle, but Uzume wishes it to happen quite a while before, so there you go. It makes sense story wise.
On the third playthrough now, I'm skipping dialogue like crazy. I did pause for the five greed jutsu though... *glance lol.
Question:
Does Vert have no flashback in her nap sequence like the other CPUs'? Or did I done mess up again?
Nah, she doesn't. And if you think on her real world equivalent at that time, it'll make sense why!
Also I'm seeing depressingly little conversations about the game! I hope this doesn't mean it did badly.
Come on people! Tell me what you liked about the gameplay, the comedy, the story, the music, etc...
Thanks HGH, I used your post from the Community thread cross-ref'ed with Tapsy's Guide to get the True Ending yesterday. Still I was wondering if the blankness of that event was a flag to tell players that they missed the True Ending requirements. Then again everything felt like a flag until I got it yesterday. Actually, I had to replay the boss fight as I accidentally started skipping over the sequence thinking I had messed up somehow. Man, I didn't expect how meaty that ending would be.
I'm hoping the game did all right as well. I'd love if we got more of them in English with hopefully full voice overs. Anyways, supposedly they did sell out on the Limited Editions, but looking at the amount of Playstation Store Ratings given, it's pretty low, even compared to another niche game like Disgaea 5. Were the Japanese sales in line with previous Neptunia games?
Nah, she doesn't. And if you think on her real world equivalent at that time, it'll make sense why!
Also I'm seeing depressingly little conversations about the game! I hope this doesn't mean it did badly.
Come on people! Tell me what you liked about the gameplay, the comedy, the story, the music, etc...
I hope it sold well, best Neptunia game by far. But a bunch of people are PC only (so glad this thread isn't full of port whining) and it released in a busy month. Neptunia games seem pretty quiet in general though despite decent-for-their-scale sales.
..Oogh. Got the Normal Ending again all because I accidentally skipped the Dogoo Quest..bleh. Still, I got to check out the Hyperdimension route, and that was cheesy and fun. Heart route first is the way to go, but Hyperdimension route is a nice contrast.
On the second playthrough, it was interesting to see all the hints and foreshadowing that I missed on the first go around. Also
I thought it was lame that Neptune came back at the end of the Zero Story for the final battle, but Uzume wishes it to happen quite a while before, so there you go. It makes sense story wise.
On the third playthrough now, I'm skipping dialogue like crazy. I did pause for the five greed jutsu though... *glance lol.
Question:
Does Vert have no flashback in her nap sequence like the other CPUs'? Or did I done mess up again?
The quest requirements in Neptune's story are awful, I dont' know what they were thinking. Tons of people miss it, I call it out explicitly in my guide and people using it still seem to miss it.
And yeah, the story was definitely written with a second playthrough in mind. Lots of nice foreshadowing. Also, you should now appreciate how CRAZY much better the dialog skip option is over the "speed up" option from prior titles.
I thought it was funny someone in my pre-release livestream said Z Dimension chapter was "filler". Lol, not exactly.
I also was VERY tempted to skip the "normal" end boss sequence when I got my true ending. It's the same in both normal and true for like, 5 minutes, so annoying. The bad ending is also 90% the same dialog in it's cutscene, not sure why it was even included TBH, it's basically a game over with NG+.
Umio is up this week (along with some themes) so maybe they are going to start doing them one a week from now.
Speaking of which, does anyone know if the DLC characters have story scenes? I'm assuming Umio doesn't since he's already in the game but what about the others?
Eh... They're not really comparable. Digimon's higher budget and more complex compared to this. It has a way better presentation, this game by contrast is mostly VN scenes and you probably won't find as much combat/monster variety.
The good news is that for once an NG+ with the new DLC characters will be fun, instead of a level 99 slog where you still have to play half the game to even get the characters. Sheesh.
Christ Blanc's swimsuit is awful. She looks like she's 8. I mean. More than she usually does. The others are all good though. Much better than the night gowns where only Vert, Uni and Noire's looked any good IMO (and the others are almost all the same design anyway)
The three company/game Maker characters do, they had voiced scenes in Japanese and one ridiculous CG each.
Umio and Nepgya don't though.
Eh... They're not really comparable. Digimon's higher budget and more complex compared to this. It has a way better presentation, this game by contrast is mostly VN scenes and you probably won't find as much combat/monster variety.
Ugh.. Getting the can't connect to PS Store error on the PS4 and for whatever reason even the website can't complete checkout. Anyone else getting similar errors? Not in a rush though, as I'm taking a break from the series at this point.
Stepping back from the game makes me realize how great the music is. I like all the vocal tracks, but as the youtube description says, this is the best. The feels. The lyrics are the story.
The OST is absolutely fantastic, I feel a lot of fans don't properly sit and listen to the music (and just bitch about the planeptune theme being overused instead). All the battle music is great and almost always 100% new per game, which is the most important music in the game IMO.
The audio mixing by default is kinda bad though. IMO The battle music should be pumped up a few notches above where it is so VOLTAGE and stuff really kick.
Also Drive Away is kind of weird. The intro is totally unnecessary (and never played in the game) and just kinda mars the rest, they should have axed it. I love the rest, even more than the old EXE attack theme (which is, bizarrely, "Nepgear's Theme" and never used specifically in the context of Nepgear)
So is there a fast/ideal way to level to 999 once all the DLC is out does anyone know? I didn't think anyone would bother but sure enough I'm seeing people asking about grinding past 99. It takes a couple minutes tops to get to 99 which is all trophy completion requires, but I have no idea what the methods beyond that are. Coliseum fights seem like garbage XP even the DLC ones, and the Metal Dogoo is only worth like a level or two after level 95.
I was sorta debating on whether or not to have a "grinding" section in my guide for all these unreasonable things like max challenges and level 999 but I don't do that stuff myself and dont' really like to encourage it. I guess I can't stop anyone from doing so though.
The OST is absolutely fantastic, I feel a lot of fans don't properly sit and listen to the music (and just bitch about the planeptune theme being overused instead).
I'm finding that at least musically the reuse is welcome. The Planeptune theme, tutorial, etc is kind of like a thematic thread that connects the series. At this point, I guess I'd say Neptune herself fits that roll as well. Even if she says she's 'the protagonist of protagonists', the irony is she really hasn't been since the first game proper. 2nd: Gear, 3rd: Plutia, 4th/This: Uzume.
The audio mixing by default is kinda bad though. IMO The battle music should be pumped up a few notches above where it is so VOLTAGE and stuff really kick.
lol. I actually do the extreme opposite in game. I max voice, and kickdown sound effects and music to barely audible. This is probably the only series that I've cared about the voice work enough to mess with the mixing.
Also Drive Away is kind of weird. The intro is totally unnecessary (and never played in the game) and just kinda mars the rest, they should have axed it.
Definitely weird as I didn't recognize the song at first, but it's grown on me. It gives me a Castlevania vibe and I actually adore that transition to the in-game part.
I was sorta debating on whether or not to have a "grinding" section in my guide for all these unreasonable things like max challenges and level 999 but I don't do that stuff myself and dont' really like to encourage it. I guess I can't stop anyone from doing so though.
I'm finding that at least musically the reuse is welcome. The Planeptune theme, tutorial, etc is kind of like a thematic thread that connects the series. At this point, I guess I'd say Neptune herself fits that roll as well. Even if she says she's 'the protagonist of protagonists', the irony is she really hasn't been since the first game proper. 2nd: Gear, 3rd: Plutia, 4th/This: Uzume.
lol. I actually do the extreme opposite in game. I max voice, and kickdown sound effects and music to barely audible. This is probably the only series that I've cared about the voice work enough to mess with the mixing.
Definitely weird as I didn't recognize the song at first, but it's grown on me. It gives me a Castlevania vibe and I actually adore that transition to the in-game part.
For completeness-sake it'd be nice to have though. That's one thing that was great/horrible with the Remake system: Game-breaking rapid leveling.
People SCREAM at the music reuse though, it's insane. Some review was even saying "most" of the music is reused which is blatantly false. IMO the next game should just totally drop all music and possibly levels from before V2 just so people chill out about it. It's one of those things where *I* don't think it's a problem but I still think they need to change it for the good of the series because some people care way too much about stupid shit.
The tutorial theme is 100% new this time too, and actually great for once.
Yeah Neptune is barely a protag except for the incessant whining she does about it and the games shoving you in her shoes early. I'm actually super glad they localized it as "Neptunia" not "Neptune" just to get that extra distance from her, even if it's still a variant of her name. Next game should definitely follow the "no obvious protagonist" thing.
Eeek, the music is WAY too good to mix down for me, and there's a customizable voice highlight anyway...I don't really see any reason to do lower the music volume. You can even make it so the music goes away entirely while they're talking.
I haven't been playing this much recently, but I'm finally done with the rest so I can start with the best.
Even though I'm not finished with it yet I really like how they split the G arc up, after getting Neptune out of the way it's been nice playing as other characters for a change. And I like how the gold third essentially get a part of the story dedicated just to them, unlike in previous games where the maker characters just get an introduction then a few one off scenes sprinkled throughout the rest of the game.
I kind of wish they had no voice acting for the scenes involving the mysterious character though, or at least voice everyone else but her, then maybe it wouldn't be so obvious that
I love the G arc not only for being a send-up to Live A Live but as mentioned, because it gives everyone moments in the spotlight. Unfortunately some people get really angry at having "their progress reset" as it were and dislike it.
As for that last part, I think the VA did an excellent job changing up her voice that you don't immediately pick up on it but yeah it becomes more prevalent the more she speaks. Honestly she has good range. I was surprised to find out last week that she's the official Barbie now.
G Arc is the best idea they've had story-wise in ages. I wouldn't mind them keeping the full cast but treating the goddesses as protagonist one by one next time if it'll ease whining. Really, only Noire's story is actually difficult due to "progress resetting". Vert's is easy because of Nepgear's level, Neptune's keeps your progress from G dimension, Blanc's has 3 characters and is generally pretty easy.
IMO Game 5 should be a deep dive into each of Lowee, Lastation and Leanbox, and leave Planeptune characters as support only. They did great stuff with the Dreamcast in V2 but Planeptune seriously needs a rest and the others all deserve some focus.
It's weird that Mk2 kinda treats Leanbox the best, since they had to add two (highly relevant) Makers and we have a lot more to do in Leanbox because of them.
Problem with Leanbox is you just don't really have those kinda developers/makers in Japan anymore. Cave's basically gone and 5pb doesn't really make games for them anymore. Even multiplatform games with XboxOne versions don't actually get those released over there. The only exclusive I can remember recently is Raiden 5.
Meaning for Neptunia 5 Vert should go found her new nation, Leanbox Prime, overseas, where we will interact with such interesting Makers as Master Chef and KillerI.
