There’s something I’ve always admired about Hyperdimension Neptunia and the vibrant universe in which the series takes place. Looking past the games’ scantily clad all-female cast is a parody unlike any other: the world of Gamindustri. It is here that four competing (yet friendly) nations clamour for shares in a world dominated by technology.
It doesn’t take long to realise that these factions are actually proxies of real-life video game manufacturers, especially with names like Lastation, Leanbox, Lewoee, and Planeptune. Each one is represented by a CPU, the four of them teaming up from time to time to protect Gamindustri while also having a bit of fun and messing around.
It is these parts of the game – often signposted by a heavy use of dialogue – where the series’ parodic humour shines through. Although it can be subtle, some jokes (such as a full-on Oculus Rift parody) are easy to pick out, even if you have a very basic understanding on the video game industry.
You might not think it at first, thanks to Compile’s weird number and naming conventions, but Generation V is actually a PlayStation Vita port of Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory which originally debuted in 2013 on PlayStation 3. Aside from being portable, this version ushers in a few tweaks here and there along with some bonus story content that add to the original package.
For the most part, however, it’s still offers the same core game experience. When not tapping your way through walls of text and spoken dialogue, you’ll be surfing menus for available quests and new gear with which to outfit your CPUs. Although there are certain complexities and systems to get your head around, it’s all fairly straightforward and presented well.
Where players will want to spend most of their time is in the field. As in the original, Generation V will continue to serve up a chain of explorable hubs that are home to the interactive nodes that are often used to progress the story. Each one is also populated by roving mobs of enemies that, when attacked or walked into, trigger a battle sequence.
Again, for anyone who is vaguely familiar with JRPGs, it doesn’t take long to suss out the mechanics. In a nutshell, combat is turn-based with a twist. Instead of remaining static on opposite sides of an invisible line, characters and NPCs can move freely within a small 3D space. This adds a nice dynamic when it comes to targeting enemies and also allows Generation V to demonstrate its impressive visuals. Another welcome touch is the ability to tap the left shoulder button to skip the battle animations, streamlining the flow of combat considerably.
Like any game in the Hyperdimension series, Generation V benefits from consistent 2D artwork that also translates well to the 3D character models. On top of that, many of the exchanges between characters are fully voiced, which is welcome when you consider just how much dialogue there is to hand.
What’s Good:
- Streamlined combat.
- Fun setting and characters.
- English audio.
- Great artwork that translates well into 3D.
What’s Bad:
- Too much dialogue in parts.
- Repetitive quest system.
Overall, Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 3: Generation V makes for a sound handheld role playing game. Although some will find it hard to connect with the characters and universe, it’s hard to fault Generation V’s fluid combat and presentation features.
Score: 7/10
Version Tested: PS Vita
MrYd
I was going to pick this up for the PS3 the other day in that sale they had. But then the PSN went wobbly and I forgot.
There might be too many of these games now. 3 of them with a 4th coming soon. Then the 3 Vita versions, which aren’t just straight ports. And 3 spin-offs. With possibly a couple more to come.
They’ve created quite a fun universe, with the odd bit of very dubious content, but they might just be milking it a bit much.
PoorPaddy89
I’m very excited to pick this up. Only go into the Re;Birth games this year – Plat’d the first one and am nearly finished on the second. Great games, being my first real experience with JRPGs (I don’t think Final Fantasy XIII counts).
As the article says, there is a huge amount of dialogue and text – it’s entertaining for the first playthrough but can get kinda annoying on subsequent plays. I really enjoy the combat and its addictive to obtain the vast array of weapons, equipment, and game changing “plans”. I’ve put about 75 hours into each of the first two games.
From what I understand the Hyperdimension Neptunia Anime is loosely based on Re;Birth3 (wel, the PS3 original). It’d very entertaining and would recommend that too.
MrYd
You’ve picked a good place to start your journey into strange JRPGs then. They’re fairly simple games without throwing huge numbers of complex game mechanics at you, and they’re not too hard. And don’t take that long to do everything.
Next, you just need to keep an eye out for anything you can find cheap from the same companies (or NIS) and have a quick look at reviews to see if you like the look of it.
Eventually, you’ll decide that one of the Disgaea games is a good plan and lose hundreds of hours to the utter ridiculousness of it all.
PoorPaddy89
Yeah I agree. I would’t mind trying out a hardcore JRPG but think I need to go slow. The Re;Birth games seem pretty bi to start with but they’re actually quite easy to get used to.
Disgaea looks pretty cool as well as the Persona games. I might get into them eventually. First I want to get through the Hyperdimension games on Vita (apart from Producing Perfection which looks… weird…)
MrYd
The Disgaea games are deceptive. Maybe 20 hours to finish. Then potentially hundreds of hours of extra stuff.
They’ve got plenty of complexity, but you really don’t need to worry about that. Kind of overwhelming at first if you let it bother you. Or you can just play the game, and learn as you go. And if you die during certain fights, you might accidentally run into an ending and be thrown into a New Game+ thing. And then breeze through the first chapters again (getting even stronger as you go).
And then eventually it all clicks into place, numbers in the billions are flying about, you’re creating new characters and having them level up hundreds of levels at a time, and you realise how addictive they are.
Highly recommended, and the Vita versions come with all the DLC too. Probably quite suitable for the Vita, since they’re ideal a quick few battles. No danger of being somewhere you can’t save for hours.
Sitorimon
Excellent series but I haven’t gone with the rebirth’s because I’m still working my way through the originals. The IDOL game is limited but characterful and I haven’t tried the other Noire game yet. On my wishlist. Nep Nep is great fun though.