While the Hyperdimension Neptunia series might not be a major AAA video game franchise, its demand from the niche gaming market both in Japan and internationally has clearly been enough for Compile Heart to justify continual development through a number of main, spin-off and remake titles. Not too shabby for a game which was first introduced to audiences in 2010 as a much simpler PlayStation 3 RPG. Although references are much more focused upon the Japanese market, this line of video games have successfully taken full advantage of the “console wars”, with its characters/world and events making reference to various video game consoles (Including the Nintendo Wii, Sony PlayStation, Microsoft Xbox and Sega Neptune), developers, individual video games and more.

However, since the launch of Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory in 2011/2012, releases have been focused on enhanced Re;Birth ports and (in my opinion) fairly average-at-best spin-offs. In fact, since opening their doors in the closing months of 2013, Idea Factory International have released eight Neptunia titles to the international market (3x PS Vita Re;Birth titles, 3x PC Re;Birth titles, 2x spin-off games). But this month, audiences in western markets have finally been able to dive into a new main game – Megadimension Neptunia VII. But was the wait worth it? Read on to find out!

Storyline – A Multiverse Journey

The Hyperdimension Neptunia series is not unfamiliar with the presence of alternate dimensions, with different titles spread across different (and not always linked) universes. Taking place primarily in what has been known as the “Hyper Dimension”, Megadimension Neptunia VII serves as a follow-up game to both Mk2 and Victory – with these games referenced to on several occasions. Taking control of characters both new and old albeit a couple of notable omissions (such as Plutia), players are tasked with playing through three chapters which involve saving three different dimensions from potential chaos.

When starting out, the world of Gamindustri has entered a season known as the CPU Shift Period. This is a time when civilians are more readily able to change their allegiances (Sort of like the change in a new console generation in real life), which results in a period where social unrest and rumours about the CPU Goddesses begin to thrive. But while this is a critical time for Neptune and Nepgear given they risk losing their positions, they instead find themselves pulled into a mysterious gaming console, leaving them trapped in the post-apocalyptic Zero Dimension. In this world resides the sole remaining humanoid and CPU, Uzume Tennouboshi, who seeks to put an end to what is known as the Dark CPU which was responsible for its destruction.

But this isn’t the only issue which arises for Gamindustri, the four CPU Goddesses and their sisters. The appearance of the Zero Dimension serves as kindling for the series of events which follow. This includes the return of Arfoire, the emergence of a group calling themselves the “Golden Third” and the appearance of a familiar-looking dimensional hopper. While there is a lot of new and standalone content which might make the storyline approachable to newcomers, having some knowledge of past plots and characters would be greatly advantageous to enjoy the entire Megadimension Neptunia VII experience. With many games under its belt, many of the series’ in-jokes are best enjoyed having enjoyed past games, and characters aren’t re-introduced to the player with too much detail.

I found Megadimension Neptunia VII to have more focus towards the actual storyline than presenting skits compared against past instalments. Keeping this in mind, there is still a plentiful supply of tropes and video game references which are ready and waiting to be uncovered. Despite this, don’t expect to be completely rid of the arbitrary quests to collect items or defeat monsters. Don’t expect to see everything on your first playthrough either without selective saving and good luck / a guide, with multiple endings and some occasionally vague requirements to unlock them.

In terms of the actual storyline, I quite enjoyed what Megadimension Neptunia VII had to offer. As mentioned before there was a greater focus on the storyline, which from my perspective seemed to be assisted by separating the plot into three purposeful and interconnected chapters, compared to the looser chapter structure from past games. Although there wasn’t anything particularly moving or distinctive in the mix, it was an entertaining experience which provided many solid ideas and a good amount of world/character development.

I especially liked that many of the characters got a chance to shine, rather than the main perspective being either Neptune or Nepgear. Players have an opportunity to choose routes focused on each individual CPU goddess, showing that Noire, Blanc and Vert (Especially Vert in my opinion) have the potential to stand out as the main protagonist. The new characters were also an interesting assortment, although I don’t feel that they managed to take full advantage of who the “Golden Third” members are reference to (B-Sha – Bandai Namco, C-Sha – Capcom, K-Sha – Konami, S-Sha – Square Enix) or developed them much as a character.

Visuals, Music, Voice Acting – New Era =’s Improved Aesthetics?

While some might have expecting the next Hyperdimension Neptunia video game to be a multiplatform PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 release, Compile Heart have decided to put all their attention on a single current generation version of Megadimension Neptunia VII. I admire them for this decision, and while it might not be the most visually impressive PlayStation 4 game on the market, there are some noticeable improvements present in this game. While they have not bid farewell to the anime aesthetic (thankfully) and still mostly use character portraits during dialogue scenes, character models in and out of battle are a lot more refined and pleasing to the eye. Although there are some familiar dungeon designs, Megadimension Neptunia VII also features some brand new themes and noticeably larger areas in general.

Featuring a range of familiar and brand new songs, Megadimension Neptunia VII’s soundtrack is of a good size albeit a tad repetitive on some occasions. One of the small but nice additions is the presence of not one but four different opening sequences. The first and main one is the traditional game opening sequence (above), which focuses on highlighting all characters and providing a vague overview of the game world and plot. The final three correspond to each individual chapter, with each featuring its own animation and theme song. While an unnecessary addition, it wasn’t an unwelcome one.

On-disc, Megadimension Neptunia VII only comes with the new English dub commissioned by Idea Factory International for the western release. Those after the original Japanese dub don’t need to fret unless on limited bandwidth, with the audio available as a free download via the PlayStation Store. While there have been a few dub cast changes since the release of Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory, most of the original voice cast are present in this game, and do a great performance with their characters once again. Given that many cast members have worked with their respective character for more than half a decade now, I would have expected nothing less. All that said… more lines voiced in the English dub would have been welcome, as there are (in my opinion) too many undubbed scenes.

Gameplay – Familiar but with Improvements

At its core, the battle system in Megadimension Neptunia VII hasn’t changed much from its predecessors. Players still take a party of four active characters into battle (with each character potentially paired with another off-screen), as they take turns to move around the battlefield and attack the enemies through a series of combos and skills. It is a system which has served Compile Heart well for years, and I have no real complaints about it, especially since they implemented several improvements and new features.

The system has been altered slightly so that players no need to worry about guard breaking, with each of the three attack types (Rush, Power and Standard – New) having a more defined role in battle than before. While in past games I found myself using Power and “Break” almost exclusively, the increased role of the EXE gauge in transforming and using powerful skills (both solo and in groups of up to four characters) means racking up combos using Rush becomes a lot more important than before. Power attacks on the other hand tend to perform less hits but cause more damage while the new standard attacks sits somewhere in the middle of the other two. Given that the EXE gauge does not transfer from one battle to another, players are encouraged to use these skills rather than horde them until a boss battle.

But while it might be a great idea to simply mash combo buttons as the situation demands it, a new change to the weapon system means that individual weapons have different combo combinations available to them. This means that a weapon could boost your character’s attack stat by +150, however might allow them to only use 4x Rush attacks but only 1x Power and 1x Standard attacks per turn. While slightly frustrating at times, it was an idea which made me think about both battle strategy and stats when fitting my characters out with new equipment.

One of the more heavily promoted features in Megadimension Neptunia VII is a new tier of HDD Transformation known as Next forms, which are made available to Neptune, Noire, Blanc and Vert as the game progresses. They are welcome additions and come with a powerful skills which could potentially turn the tide of battle. However, they come at a stage in the game when I didn’t find them particularly useful or even used too often afterwards, especially if you have two, three or four of the other characters in your party unable to access them. If they maintained the NEXT forms in subsequent games however, I could see them being more useful.

To reach what I would consider the “Good End”, it took me approximately 20 hours with a small amount of grinding. Outside of a few boss battles and a handful of occasions in the second chapter where a solid 15-30 minutes of grinding per character arc doesn’t go astray, I wouldn’t say there were many stumbling blocks which stood before me.

For players who wish to unlock some extra credits and items, there are a number of returning systems including the Guild quest system (Although shares didn’t seem as prominent compared to past games), a coliseum (Unlocked in the latter half of the game) and the development system. Compile Heart have also scrapped the “Stella’s Dungeon” system which was introduced in the Re;Birth ports, paving their way for the return of the Scouts system. Players now send scouts into a dungeon of their choosing, and after a timer is up, come back to report whether they have found new items/credits, discovered a new dungeon or more. There are also Hidden Dungeons present in dungeons, with scouts able to uncover the means to unlock them.

Don’t wish to spend your time reading a guide to unlock the True End, but don’t want to spend hours re-levelling up your characters? The New Game Plus system included with Megadimension Neptunia VII lets you maintain your levels, equipment and more. Not only that, you can also turn off/on things such as encounter rates or even use any character in battle irrespective of if they appear in the story at the point or not. Provided you skip through combat animations and cutscenes, you can complete a second playthrough much quicker than before. This is a huge addition for those like myself have to ration their time but want to experience everything a game has to offer in terms of story.

Outside of a small number of other changes such as players needing to pay credits to form routes between dungeons, Megadimension Neptunia VII is a very familiar game, although does benefit for the most part from the aforementioned new additions and improvements.

Final Word on Hyperdimension Neptunia VII

Megadimension Neptunia VII has shown that the Hyperdimension Neptunia franchise still has the potential to entertain in this newest generation of video game consoles at least, and ultimately delivering an experience much more memorable experience than the spin-off games released in recent years. While it is still mostly the same at its core and offers nothing particularly groundbreaking, this release featured an interesting enough storyline, improved visuals, and enough to catch my attention during this new 20 hour romp through Gamindusri.