PSVitaAddict

Hey everyone! I’ve spent a huge amount of time on the latest entry in the Neptunia series over the last two weeks, it’s been nothing but pure fun! If you’re a fan of the Neptunia series, go out and get the game now! It’s by far the best Neptunia experience you can get. Thanks to Idea Factory International for providing me with a review code for Megadimension Neptunia!

Okay, so let’s jump into the review. The story in Megadimension Neptunia is presented in much the same fashion as the previous games in the Hyperdimension series, meaning the story is told through character interactions which closely resemble visual novels, so you’ll often see two or more character models on screen talking and explaining the story as it unfolds.

I’ve played and beat every Hyperdimension game that was offered on the PlayStation Vita and while those games were very good, with Re;Birth 3 being the best, Megadimension Neptunia just takes it to an entirely different level! I feel that the storytelling has massively improved with every entry in the series and Megadimension presents players with a deep and compelling story with unique and interesting characters and villains.

The story starts off with the main protagonist ‘Neptune’ finding a mysterious white console lying on the floor, she picks it up and decides that it’s probably best for her to take it home with her since no one is near the area, plus as we all know, Neptune loves game consoles. After recovering the console, she returns to Planeptune and the game starts introducing a few of the characters, namely Nepgear, Histoire and Noire. Neptune goes on to make fun of Noire by saying she’s lonely, which is always funny because of Noire’s reaction to these jokes. Nepgear and Neptune soon hear a voice coming from the white console that Neptune brought back with her and they both get sucked into it and thrown into a different dimension ‘Zero Dimension’.

After being thrust into Zero Dimension, you’ll be able to jump into your first dungeon, the game uses this opportunity as a tutorial for new players. Not too long after completing the tutorial, you’ll met the brand-new CPU Uzume Tennouboshi! The Zero Dimension story arc mainly focuses on Uzume, which is a great way to introduce players to this great new character. I really don’t want to spoil the story for anyone, but let me just say that the story is outstanding! I was hooked by the story early on and it just keeps getting better as you progress through the lengthy story.

Uzume isn’t the only new character in Megadimension Neptunia, she has a companion that travels with her in Zero Dimension, his name is ‘Umio’ but he isn’t a human, Umio is a fish! I know that sounds weird, but Umio is an excellent addition to the game along with Uzume, I would also like to add that Umio sounds extremely classy, his voice actor is just phenomenal and certain interactions between him and everyone else are just hilarious! Megadimension Neptunia also introduces brand-new villains! I’m not going to speak in detail about them since it would spoil the story, but Megadimension introduces ‘Gold Third’ a group of four different girls, each of possessing immense power, so much so that they bested Neptune, Noire, Vert and Blanc in a battle, afterwards taking control of each nation. You can expect to see a lot of Gold Third after that event takes place, but I will say that they aren’t entirely bad, you’ll find out as you continue playing the story.

Okay, now let’s talk about the combat in Megadimension Neptunia, in short, it’s awesome! Combat has been improved and new features have been added to the game, effectively making it better and giving it more depth than ever before. A new element to the combat system was also added, it’s called ‘Parts Break’ basically you can break down certain components that relate to the defense of the monster you’re fighting, for example some enemies will have armor in certain areas, you can break down those fortified areas by constantly attacking that one area, once it’s destroyed the game will let you know by displaying ‘Parts Break’ afterwards you can unleash damage easier and dispatch your enemies to an early grave.

Giant Battles has also been added to the game for the first time, these battles are exactly what the name implies, Giant Battles! At certain points in the game you’ll have to take on huge enemies, bigger than anything that’s been introduced in previous games. These battles are great fun! To be successful in these battles you have to position your party correctly, you can jump onto different land masses to gain an advantage, additionally depending on where your party members are located, you’ll get an extra bonus in the form of character links, when this occurs you will see a glowing line going from one character to another, this provides you with a few extra combo abilities, using this effectively will make the game a whole lot easier and rewarding.

As with previous games you also have access to scouts, you can send these out to different dungeon locations on the game map, they sometimes come back with credits, items or new dungeon locations and hidden treasures in certain dungeons. By the end of the game I had an army of scouts at my command, which was very useful in gaining a ton of credits, which I could then use to buy better equipment for my party members.

Fairly late into the game you’ll unlock access to your ‘Next’ transformation, this is a brand-new CPU form for Neptune, Vert, Blanc and Noire. The transformations themselves are impressive to watch and the new skills that comes with them are well done and deal tons of extra damage! Sadly these are unlocked near the end of the game, so you won’t get much use out of them, unless you grind dungeons just to use them.

I put 37 hours into Megadimension Neptunia, for the most part I had a great time playing and exploring everything the game had to offer, but at times I did feel the game became a bit dull, this is mainly due to the amount of dialogue that takes place without any voice overs, I don’t mind reading, it’s just that these scenes would be more interesting with the characters speaking, but I do understand that extra voice acting work could be expensive, hopefully in future titles every interaction between characters gets voiced.

Aside from that small annoyance, I have no other complaints against Megadimension Neptunia, the game is simply excellent! I also have to mention the graphics, they look beautiful compared to every Neptunia game released before it, largely thanks to the PlayStation 4. Okay so is Megadimension Neptunia VII worth picking up? Yes! It’s by far the best entry in the series and I’m excited to see where it goes in future releases! My final score for Megadimension Neptunia VII is a 9.7/10