[PS3/PSV/PC] Hyperdimension Neptunia series

[blaze0041]

Hope you all have a Merry Christmas! This picture was posted on Idea Factory's Twitter feed to celebrate:

[blaze0041]

Heads up, pre-orders are now open for the Neptunia VII Limited Edition on Iffy's European Online Store. Pre-orders on Iffy's North American Online Store should open in a few hours (as of writing).
The EU version is GBP 63.99 (GBP 53.33 for non-EU countries) and the NA version is USD 84.99.

The NA/EU site for Neptunia VII has also been updated to include the CPUs' NEXT forms, new screenshots and info on formation skills.

[SidVicious]

PSN preorder when?

[FDW]

Originally Posted by SidVicious

PSN preorder when?

I was able to go Gamestop and get a preorder for a physical copy yesterday. Only one more month before Nep VII hits.

[blaze0041]

Originally Posted by SidVicious

PSN preorder when?

I think it's important to note that an official release date hasn't been announced by IFI yet, though it's safe to assume/infer that it will be releasing within the next two months.

It's also important to note that not a lot of titles get the pre-order treatment on PSN, and it's something that is usually reserved for the big triple-A titles.
I'm guessing the NA/EU edition of VII will hover around the 8.5GB to 10GB mark once downloaded/installed.

[FDW]

Originally Posted by blaze0041

I think it's important to note that an official release date hasn't been announced by IFI yet, though it's safe to assume/infer that it will be releasing within the next two months.

It's also important to note that not a lot of titles get the pre-order treatment on PSN, and it's something that is usually reserved for the big triple-A titles.
I'm guessing the NA/EU edition of VII will hover around the 8.5GB to 10GB mark once downloaded/installed.

At GameStop, I saw there was estimated release date of February 2nd. While it isn't official, it's something more precise than what we've had so far.

[blaze0041]

In recent merchandise news:

Brocolli's smartphone stand series gains a new addition: Nepgear! This one is releasing in July 2016:



Hifumi Shobo are selling a bunch of limited run Compile Heart merch as well (until 24 Jan).
Highlights include Next Purple and Next Black oppai mousepads, full colour T-shirts of the CPUs' NEXT forms and NEXT form tapestries.

NSFW

Warning: Not safe to view at work or school!

Sorry; dynamic content not loaded. Reload?

[SidVicious]

Megadimension Neptunia VII will launch for PlayStation 4 in North America on February 2 and in Europe on February 12, Idea Factory International announced.

http://gematsu.com/2016/01/megadimen...-february-west

[FDW]

Originally Posted by SidVicious

Megadimension Neptunia VII will launch for PlayStation 4 in North America on February 2 and in Europe on February 12, Idea Factory International announced.

http://gematsu.com/2016/01/megadimen...-february-west

FINALLY! I can't wait!

[blaze0041]

Not long to go now...

The most interesting thing I noticed with the announcement is that the Japanese voiceovers will be free DLC, like with Re;Birth3 (PlayStation Vita).

For Re;Birth3 on the Vita, it made sense since the game was very close to the max capacity of a PSV Game Card. It does makes me curious why this decision was made for VII, considering the Japanese voiceovers were included on-disc/within the PSN Store version for Omega Quintet.

In other news: initially teased on the back cover of last year's Dengeki Neptune 5th Anniversary special magazine issue, Tsunako will be releasing a new 320-page artbook:



The A4-sized artbook will contain artwork from Compile Heart's Neptune, Date A Live and Fairy Fencer F games, will cost around 3900 yen (plus tax), and will release 25 Feb.

[blaze0041]

In the lead up to Megadimension Neptunia VII's impeding NA/EU release, there's been a bunch of online articles published over the last few weeks, of particular note...

Tech-Gaming - Q&A With Neptunia’s Naoko Mizuno
Siliconera - Understanding Uzume Tennouboushi In Megadimension Neptunia VII
Digitally Downloaded - Review: Megadimension Neptunia VII (Sony PlayStation 4)

On a slightly unrelated note, I finally got the Sega Saturn Nendoroid a little while ago:

[FDW]

Originally Posted by blaze0041

In the lead up to Megadimension Neptunia VII's impeding NA/EU release, there's been a bunch of online articles published over the last few weeks, of particular note...

Tech-Gaming - Q&A With Neptunia’s Naoko Mizuno
Siliconera - Understanding Uzume Tennouboushi In Megadimension Neptunia VII
Digitally Downloaded - Review: Megadimension Neptunia VII (Sony PlayStation 4)

On a slightly unrelated note, I finally got the Sega Saturn Nendoroid a little while ago:

Thanks for the articles! Always to hear new stuff about this franchise. And speaking of a new mainline game, I bet it isn't going to be that long before we hear about a new title.

[Nerroth]

I wonder how well those might go with these...

[SidVicious]

It's up on the PSN:

https://store.playstation.com/#!/en-...ME000000000000

[blaze0041]

Originally Posted by Nerroth

I wonder how well those might go with these...

On that note, I wonder how well they'd go with this Nendoroid set? (See Hi-sCool! Seha Girls episode 2 for reference.)

On another note, this arrived in the mail today:


(Right picture - comparing the NA/EU and JP limited editions)

The box for the NA/EU limited edition is actually embossed slightly.
The NA/EU hardcover artbook has similar contents to the JP pre-order bonus visual book.
The NA/EU version of the soundtrack is essentially the same as the JP version (with the exception of JP disc 1, which was a drama CD).

The game case includes reversible cover art:



Trivia: you may notice the logo for Silicon Studio on the rear of the game case, alongside logos for their middleware products Motion Portrait and YEBIS 2 (which is probably the main reason lighting and overall camera/lens effects in VII is improved over previous titles). Silicon Studio also has partnerships with various notable companies, IF being one of them, NIS, Sega, Marvelous, Bandai Namco, From Software, and Koei Tecmo among others.

Haven't had a chance to really start the game as of yet due to lack of time. I'll see if I can post some first impressions of the English dub later on...

[Ryonea]

Black Heart-sama just arrived!

Originally Posted by blaze0041

Tsunako will be releasing a new 320-page artbook:

The A4-sized artbook will contain artwork from Compile Heart's Neptune, Date A Live and Fairy Fencer F games, will cost around 3900 yen (plus tax), and will release 25 Feb.

Man, I really want that. But probably not around the release date since I just bought that figure

[jdennis007]

I have a question regarding Hyperdimension Neptunia U Action Unleashed, is the NA version censored or are the characters just making references to being partially undressed? I am new to the series and was wondering if it was or not?

[blaze0041]

Originally Posted by jdennis007

I have a question regarding Hyperdimension Neptunia U Action Unleashed, is the NA version censored or are the characters just making references to being partially undressed? I am new to the series and was wondering if it was or not?

Whilst I haven't played the Japanese version, I don't believe the NA/EU version of Neptunia U was censored at all (particularly since the clothing damage mechanic is the same between both versions).
The clothing damage mechanic was removed in Blanc's game, but the pre-torn outfits for the 10 characters that were in U were made available in a patch.

So, I've been slugging away at the NA/EU version of VII (so far, nearing the end of the Hyper Dimension G arc). Overall, I think a good job has been done with the English dub for the voices, although I am a bit miffed that a number of events weren't voiced (though not surprised).
Breaking down my first impressions real quick:

• Uzume: Kinda reminded me of Ash Ketchum initially, funnily enough. That being said, excellent choice for whoever they picked for this role.
• Umio: As expected, quite the gentlemanly voice. No qualms here.
• Big Neptune: I assume it's the same voice actor as the usual Neptune/Purple Heart, so not surprising this was done well.
• Arfoire: No complaints, really well done.
• Gold Third: Kinda indifferent at this stage... they'll probably grow on me later on. K-Sha is a highlight though.
• Steamax & Affimojas: I really like the dub voices for these two, it really matches their personalities quite well.
• Vert: My understanding is that the usual dub voice actor for Vert wasn't able to provide her voice this time around due to time conflicts. I have mixed feelings about the voice acting for Vert this time around, but it's passable...

[Akito Kinomoto]

So a few days ago I was looking for anime and video games that would scratch a particular itch of mine: the itch for an all-female cast so I could start revving up my yuri fantasies faster than Sonic the Hedgehog. And it turns out the bewbtacular jRPG Hyperdimension Neptunia series was exactly what the doctor ordered when I previously diagnosed it wrong with bland harem syndrome

So being the perv that I am, I jumped into Hyperdimension Neptunia MkII because it advertised a yuri shipping mechanic on top of being rated M so I suspected content spicier than habanero but instead got the best wasabi I never knew I wanted. I'm actually spending less time thinking about who's going to hump who and more time trying to figure out the best way to arrange my gangsters so they can mug the mooks via gigantic injection needles

See the combat system is something like a turn-based strategy game where you move your happy band of superpowered waifus into position to attack slimes with dog ears and Pac Man ghosts. But unlike those games, you have full 3D movement as opposed to being limited to squares because the development team realized that microsteps are more essential than arbitrarily moving an entire body length. But I do wish the action commands only tied to one "magic" meter instead of relegating normal sword whacks to one meter and steroid induced sword whacks using BOTH meters

Thankfully the baseball sponsored sword whacks are not a necessity being that they're tied down to the barely refilling meter while the other meter recharges every turn. The recharging meter can also be stockpiled by skipping a turn so that you can do a poop load of sword whacks more damaging than if you just sword whacked in two separate turns. So there is some merit to be had in not shooting your oversized gun early but rather discharging all the bullets at the perfect time to satisfying effect

Unfortunately it's a little irksome trying to appreciate the mess the characters leave behind because the game runs at or below 30fps and the artifacting puts more edges on the product than Christopher Nolan having his way with a new project. It's a shame though because the general artstyle lends itself to something that would age gracefully and the waifu designs are fairly sensible despite the cover art lacking more clothing than this game lacks framerate

Though I have to say the game isn't lacking in charm and not because waifus yuri it up with each other but because this is a video game about a hyper stylized 7th generation console war, drenched in more references than a college graduate's thesis. Unfortunately content like this becomes very dated and I don't envy future generations looking up what the giant green X on the world map is supposed to be but I WOULD be very jealous of them keeping all the Hyperdimension Neptunia yuri to themselves so why don't you share damn it?

[blaze0041]

Despite being time-poor as of late, I've somehow managed to successfully clear Neptunia VII (again) and reach the normal end (time taken, approx. 40 hours).



Although I'll probably need to replay a few events, I'm overall pretty happy with the job done with the English dubbing (despite my preference for the Japanese voice acting), particularly since the quality picks up closer to the tailend of the game. It's still a bit of shame that a proportion of story-related events weren't dubbed though.

I really should get around to updating the initial write-up I did back on page 89... That being said, New Game Plus is a huge boon for replayability, like gaining flag items that increase dungeon movement speed, and disabling of random battles on the world map, so getting to the True End is much quicker and easier the second time around.

Briefy in recent news:
- This week's round of VII DLC for the NA/EU versions has been released, most notably Umio as an extra party member, the Trillion: God of Destruction Costume Set and PS4 themes.
- Steam sale: The Neptunia games on PC are currently on sale for the next few days. Re;Birth1 is currently 5.99USD, Re;Birth2 is at 8.99USD and Re;Birth3 is at 11.99USD.

I think PS4 should be added to the thread title now, too.