QCF: Megadimension Neptunia VII

t was really all just a matter of time. After a long run between the PlayStation 3, Vita and Steam with a huge array of games, versions, re-releases and spinoffs well into the double-digits, Idea Factory's Hyperdimension Neptunia series has finally made its way to the PlayStation 4 for a new generation with Megadimension Neptunia VII (pronounced V-2). I've been around the block with a huge number of these games, so I was ready for a game that was more or less par for the course.

But is it; in a word, no—quite the opposite in fact.

Megadimension Neptunia has evolved the series into something pretty special actually. New cast members, new gameplay mechanics, a more manageable difficulty and a fun plot contribute to what I have to say is the best Neptunia game there is to date. How could this be? Let's take a deeper look.

Megadimenson Neptunia takes its first major departure straight out of the gates with a prologue arc called Zero Dimension Neptunia Z: Twilight of the Desperate CPU. In a lot of ways, this arc is its own self-contained game with all of the basic features and new mechanics you'll find through the rest of the quest proper, all structured in a beginner's quest complete with a final boss encounter. It's not exactly a small section either: it will clock the average player in at about 9 hours.

In Zero Dimension, you'll meet up with a brand new CPU known as Uzume, modeled after a certain retro console that is sure to make its fans grin at the very least. She's the last human in a desolate wasteland, threatened by giant machinations commanded by a certain familiar face. After mistakenly crossing over by way of a busted console, Neptune and Nep-gear vow to help any way they can, despite losing the vast majority of their power.

Even to start, there are huge changes to the game environment. Rather than specific points selected by a cursor, Neptune must travel along waypoints from one location to the next. As this happens, players run the risk of being attacked by enemies randomly on any of the points between “A” and “B”, adding a bit more tension to the world map. In addition, only at home base or major friendly areas, will all HP and SP is recoveredto full. At these junctures, items and weapons can be purchased, new items synthesized from plans obtained throughout dungeons and friendly denizens can be chatted with to obtain information or just to read funny quips.

Speaking of dungeons, combat has also been vastly overhauled with extra emphasis on setting up combos with attacks mapped to the cross, square and triangle buttons. With careful placement, a guaranteed hit with boosted power can be performed. With a little trial and error, a huge string of boosted attacks can lay waste to foes in super short order. There's also a neat feature in combat as well; if the attack animations are taking up too much of your time, holding the L2 trigger will speed combat along silently and efficiently.

As has been the case for many years now, careful character placement in relation to their weapon's attack area can make for easier battles if multiple enemies can be caught in the attack area. As new weapons are obtained and new abilities are learned through leveling up, these changes can affect what moves go with what and how, adding an engaging spin to each character's setup. Lily rank also makes a comeback, allowing characters to pair up for stat bonuses. Of course, there are also typical special moves that consume SP and special attacks that use the EX gauge in both normal, and HDD form, can do a ton of damage in a pinch or versus bosses, which often have multiple life bars.

Nevertheless, regular bosses are nothing compared to the Giants. These special battles can only be completed with SP attacks, and no regular attacks will land. These battles take place in a special field that will also recover a small portion of SP to each character each round, but careful management should be a priority regardless, as it's still totally possible to drain a character of SP rather easily.

There will also be times that, as new areas open up, players will need to use their funds to build roads to the way points connecting the hub city to the new dungeons. This is typically not a problem, but will definitely have players managing their cash a little more wisely. Players can also invest money into different areas of infrastructure using the new Investment mechanic. By paying into a specific area like commerce or public relations for example, new items, costumes, and plans can be had to develop powerful tools and weapons.

You can also conscript characters to explore dungeons, much like Stella's Quest in the re:Birth titles. Starting with Famitsu and Dengekiko and expanding with characters found through PR development and other means, these explorers can find money, items and even hints on how to unlock hidden treasures in dungeons which is a huge help in the long run. This happens over an interval of about 10 minutes and can finish up as you're in the middle of a dungeon, so it's pretty fire and forget for a decent boost on funds and materials. Everything else is par for the course for a Neptunia game; other features such as Disc development returns as well.

Finally, presentation is more or less, what you'd expect out of a Neptunia game. Sharp, clean character design moves and flows subtly within the Visual Novel segments of the game with top-notch design, bright colors and all kinds of often hilarious expressions. Likewise, the 3D models in Megadimension Neptunia VII are full and smooth with sharp, thin outlines giving them an anime look and feel with 1080p, high-gloss next gen lighting and physics. This is definitely the best-looking game in the series and it all moves at a crisp 60 frames-per-second a good 90% of the time. Of course, there's also a ton of fanservice by way of ample jiggle, scandalously short skirts, plenty of panty shots and some really risqué still portraits – all of which are both unlockable and viewable in the game's gallery mode as they are seen.

Neptunia VII's audio is also some truly great stuff. Once again, the Japanese loses to the English delivery, though Noire comes off as prissy and a bit too forced. Nep-gear and Uzume (non-HDD form) are decent standouts. The writing also compliments the mostly great delivery making for a decent package overall. Some of the enemy names are also pretty hysterical; “Great Big Sempai” gets me every time.

You know the drill by now. Neptunia will appeal to a very specific subset of JRPG players, and it doesn't exactly try to be something it's not. But the great new features and implementation of everything we've seen here in addition to the huge legacy of solid gameplay from the Neptunia pantheon makes Megadimension Neptunia VII the one anyone should get into. Now if they can only get past some the ridiculous fan service, and ignore it for a change.