All hail Lady Vert! Honestly if you don’t then we may have an issue. Declaration for CPUs aside, the girls are back again and this time in more than 2D with the latest entry of the series being re-worked from the ground up as well as for the PSVR. Now while I wish I did have a PSVR, headset-less players are still in for a treat as nothing will be missed out on AND the systems make it worth playing through this three chaptered entry once again.
The original release of Hyperdimension Neptunia VII was an ambitious one. Split into what are essentially three very well self contained chapters each with their own continual plot lines, it was well worth the time put into it. With new elements and lots of quality of life additions to the series, it was not easily one of my favorites, but a very well received one making it accessible for both veteran fans of the series (cringes at the original) and new ones alike.
VIIR does this ALL AGAIN. Essentially giving a console release the Re:Birth treatment, VIIR revamps all the systems again making it feel more like Hyperdimension Neptunia MK2, but done well. Characters still have their hit points but gone are massive SP bars in which a battle can be done within seconds with super destructive abilities. Now? Now you have to accumulate enough SP in order to perform an ability and more than that, AP comes back into the equation meaning that just because a character has enough moves to fill up a weapon type, doesn’t mean that she can use them all.
Combat had been rather streamlined but with the revamp it puts things back into a very hands on approach no longer allowing you to simply spam through a move set to continue. Keeping part of the new design, weapons, and not characters, affect which type of abilities are available for use. Weapons will have either one or more Rush (lots of attack little damage), Power Attacks (heavy hitting but harder to land) and Break Attacks (designed to remove protection for maximum damage) available for use.
Finding what works for you or a character can take some time but newly added is once the combo is done in regards to the AP, you can do it again. Until the AP is out, a characters can perform any moves as long as she has the necessary points to do so. Once she's done, then you get to select where she stands in regards to her movement left, where she's facing and what kind of defense posture she'll take. It adds some time to the battle but the change up works.
Taking things a step even further is that characters no longer simply learn a new move upon leveling up. Instead money now plays a major factor in the equation as each new ability must be bought in order to be used. Used to have problems with too much money? Don’t worry about it! It’s no longer an issue.
But how does this all relate to a story that you may have already explored? That’s easy. With the new systems in place the adventure feels both familiar and new. Sure you’ve seen the cutscenes but the adventure up to those points makes things different enough that you’re not simply playing the same game over again. Adding an extra element to that, is the VR.
Now because I don’t have a headset, I fall into the category of players that must press and hold “X” in order to load up the events on screen. These events essentially put you, the player, in the nice comforts of your bedroom / living room bachelor pad. You can look anywhere you want in the room, zoom in, pan around, but you don’t move from wherever you are sitting.
Now there are two types of visits. The first and the ones that you are introduced so are the four goddesses that will visit you to hang out one by one. Each is pretty much as you would expect and they are aware that you are there and that you at least know who they are. As “you chat” you can nod your head to answer yes or not but unfortunately for Noire, when she said if I minded and I said “no” I should have said yes because she got mad at me. I was trying to say that I didn’t mind her doing something so thinking along those lines carefully is a bit important.
The second type of visits are the “other” Neptune that will come around between chapter segments to say hi whether or not you like it. What were great about these visits compared to the ones that you planned, is that it works very well with the overall story progression. She’ll be saying something, dimensional hop to do something else, and next thing you know she’s talking about it to one of the other characters. It works and it fits into the overall experience as it doesn’t feel tacked on as much as it feels part of everything.
If you haven’t yet had the chance to jump into the latest part of the main series, or have even played through HN VII, Hyperdimension Neptunia VIIR is worth it. With a revamped system, smoother gameplay and new VR elements, there are plenty of reasons to come back for another run of Neptune’s antics. Plus it has Lady Vert. There’s no downside!
Game Information
Sony PlayStation 4
Developer(s):
Compile Heart
Publisher(s):
Idea Factory International
Genre(s):
RPG
Mode(s):
Single Player
Other Platform(s):
NA
Source:
Provided by Publisher
Article by Pierre-Yves
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