Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth3 V Generation Review (PS Vita)
Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth3 V Generation is a remake of the Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory, the third installment in the Neptunia series. We’ll be looking into the Steam release, but there is a Vita version as well.
As expected from the Hyperdimension Neptunia series, the plot is quite quirky. This time Neptune falls on her head and gets lost in an alternate reality where Noire is yet to become a Gaming Goddess and doesn’t recognize her. Neptunia is led by Plutia, a clumsy and laid-back girl who in her HDD mode turns into a sadistic, sassy character. Neptune tries to get back to her world and some of the new and old characters try to help her. So your party will be spending quality time on important things like cleaning Neptune’s ears and taking shared baths.
As with previous installments, Hyperdimension Neptunia takes stabs at the gaming industry and wholeheartedly makes fun of it. What is interesting is that each entry in the series focuses on notable events and issues at the given time. For example, Blanc (Wii U) is concerned with her share of the market, everyone is impressed by Noire’s (PS4) popularity while Neptune and Plutia (Sega) spend their days taking naps.
A huge part of the appeal to the game is its easy going nature. Some of the translation even adds on to the hilarity of situations. For example, bringing up that PS3 grill which was a western joke. That kind of humor fits in well and is expected of a good localization.
Comic relief is nicely done on Nepstation, a TV station in Neptunia, where Neptune and Plutia show their program that consists of everything you expect from a TV channel – news coverage and shopping commercials. You can even actually buy some items through the channel.
The game features a cool combat system that is not fully real time but allows for free character movement in its arena style battles. Coupling system allows for switching characters on the battlefield and some special moves between the coupled characters. While the combat system isn’t perfect it is fun, but most of the time the game would not pose much challenge. And for some inexplicable reason Histoire is so overpowered that each and every enemy dies with just one or two of her magical blows. Only enemies that will pose some threat will be the bosses and the occasional dangerous enemies in the dungeons. If you want additional challenge I would suggest not using Hisoire and some of the included DLC from the PS3 version that you get for free.
The reason you will be fighting enemies over and over will not be grinding, but collecting item drops that are required for side quests and upgrading characters and gear. Namely, if you want to invest in Plans that is part of the Remake system in the Re;Birth series you will need a lot of items. Remake system changes some of the levels or adds some elements to the gameplay. And sometimes you are required to do side quests in order for the game’s story to progress. What should be noted is that there is also a lot of backtracking involved.
A new feature in Re;Birth 3 is a combo system where you can customize your character moves during the battle. Also there are additional achievements, that depend on factors like how many times you jumped and what distance you covered with each character. You will get additional bonuses and Plans for each achievement met.
Previous versions of the game featured jumping in dungeons which wasn’t used much at all. Now this has been rectified with the addition of invisible Mario-like boxes that give you money and items. It adds a bit of flavor to typically laid out dungeons.
Returning from Re;Birth 2 is Stella’s Dungeon, a cute mini-game that helps you collect items. There is a hundred floor dungeon which waits to be explored. Send Stella and her companion on her way and after a while you can check on her and see which items you got. You can check up on Stella anywhere in the game except in battles. It is a good addition, but I feel it fits better on the portable version of the game.
The Steam version of the game is unoptimized and has some stability issues. How good the game will run depends on your hardware, but personally I experienced crashes two times during a particular boss battle.
If you are a fan of the series and are eagerly awaiting the Megadimension Neptunia VII and want some more Neptunia action, Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth3 will give you hours and hours of fun. But I would recommend playing the game on the Vita for its bite-sized gameplay and stability.
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