The Problem with Neptunia Games

[@jma1095]

I want a fighting game Neptunia and an open-world, GTA-style Neptunia. And as for the latter, it can be done. The universe of Neptunia is friggin’ huge, so, yes, it’s doable. Wonderful video, YSN. ;)

[@Nutty31313]

Both of those sound awesome, although I think a table-top adaptation would be cool too.

[@jma1095]

Table-top? As in something with a top-down view? A la many SRPGs?

[@Nutty31313]

@@jma1095 I was thinking more like a D&D or Runebound style game with a Neptunia theme, a game that is played on a table (hence: table-top). It was just an idea, I have experimented with it a little, but not for a while as I've been busy with university stuff and...well...Neptunia games.

[@julianrobertson1869]

how about instead of gta style it should be breath of the wild style, it would make way more sense.

[@PacificEmperor]

According to mk 2 OP, Leanbox is 71,300 sq mi. So the open-world map would be a conservative 71,300 * 4 = 285,200 sq mi. Plus there are three cities per nation and many other special areas as seen in the world map. It would be amazing if they pulled something off like that.

[@Halophage]

My main problem is reusing everything. Models. Character traits. Maps. Enemies. Music. *Voice lines. Dialogue. **_Storylines._* Come to think of it, do we even _have_ a continuity anymore?! _Did we ever have one?!_

[@widchaponjearaphunt5452]

MK2 > V > VII is continue Same model I can't argue with that, but IF is small company though Story > Come on it silly, but every game quite different

[@widchaponjearaphunt5452]

@Artuurs Z. so? what's your point?

[@boyishdude1234]

Why are you expecting a series with a small budget to have the same budget as huge Triple AAA franchises like Final Fantasy? Of course they're going to reuse things to save on costs. That's not necessarily a problem. These aren't huge budget games, so you shouldn't be expecting everything in new games to be totally new. Besides, I'd say consistency is probably a good thing that this franchise really needs. One of the biggest problems with Victory II was that it didn't actually innovate or evolve the gameplay of the main titles, it just took the core gameplay formula set by Victory, smashed it with a hammer and then tried to rebuild it in a completely different way. In other words, it changed a bunch of things for no reason, and ultimately did more harm than good to the gameplay. Words cannot express just how much I despise many of the unnecessary changes/additions made to the battle system in Victory II, that just made the battle system worse rather than better and more refined. You should never fix what isn't broken. The *transformations* (HDD, NEXT Form and Gold Form) are tied to the EXE Drive system now instead of the SP system? Looks like we'll have to nerf every single EXE Attack into the ground (aka make them all intentionally suck and be a waste of resources), because we were dumb and decided to tie transformations into the EXE system for *no good reason,* so we have to significantly increase the rate at which that meter can be filled AND make the EXE Gauge individualized to each battle in order to not lock the player out of their transformations, but also not make them be able to bring a full EXE meter into any battle so they.. can't use their transformations or EXE Attacks at the beginning of a fight..? I mean, to what end does the latter design choice, that being making it so the EXE Gauge is fully reset to 0 after every battle, actually serve other than to significantly reduce the depth of the game and take control away from the player? Oh, and don't even get me started on those damn Combo Traits. They significantly reduce depth by making the player's combos far less customizable compared to prior games (since you can only have one of each specific combo equipped, as opposed to being able to have multiple copies of the same combo equipped), and they are so absurdly broken and exploitable once you get far enough in the game that SP Attacks and EXE Attacks can't even begin to compete with their DPS, making the majority of SP Attacks and EXE Attacks totally pointless, because your spending resources on less than ideal damage when you could do far more damage for free. They never should have made Combo Traits guarantee critical hits. That was just a balancing disaster waiting to happen. For that matter, I just think Combo Traits are an inherently bad design choice (just like the other inherently bad design choice for the combo system, that being limiting the player's combos based on the weapon they have equipped) and they should've just stuck with Victory's combo system. I would say that the biggest problem with the franchise is the lack of quality control. As an example, and as odd as this is to say, I cannot fathom why the size and shape of Vert's breasts on her in-game model tend to vary from game to game. I think the only game in the series (of the one's I've played so far) that got both the size and shape of her boobs right was Victory II. The original HDN, mk2, Victory and the Re;Birth trilogy all get the size and shape of her boobs wrong, and in the original HDN Green Heart's boobs are not just the wrong shape, but they're too small to be 95G as well. At least I think Victory onwards more or less got Green Heart's boobs right.

[@maskedbadass6802]

For the people disagreeing with @Random the small company/budget isn't a valid excuse. Undertale was made by mostly one guy, but because he was a story and music writing genius it felt like a fresh emotional saga despite being short AND despite being made for multiple playthroughs. Every aspect felt well thought out no matter how simple or complex. Now with Deltarune coming out it has the same impactful feel, but with completely new music and assets that people have already fallen in love with despite it being far from complete.

[@theluminousone5883]

​@@maskedbadass6802Along with that, barely anyone inherently hates asset reuse. Persona reused assets, elden ring reused assets, Tears of the kingdom reused assets, and all those games are beloved. People only start really hating asset reuse when it becomes outrageous, as in every game reuses assets even if they're from different series (like Fairy Fencer F, Trinity universe, and neptunia if I remember correctly) or when the asset reuse is so extreme that rebirth; 1 LITERALLY HAS A LINE RIGHT BEFORE BLACK HEART directly mentioning asset reuse. EX: "the one enemy design that isn't a recolor." Hell, look at crappy unity and Rpg maker games on steam, everyone hates those for using the same assets and they should have even more of an excuse for asset reuse due to mostly just being indies and small devs. (Crappy ones but still)

[@drpopper2891]

I poured like 200 hours into VII, platinum'd it, bought most of the DLC's and all that, so once VIIR was announced I wanted to back flip off a cliff into a pit of lava

[@gearsy3358]

You dont have to, VII was superior in every way

[@widchaponjearaphunt5452]

​@@gearsy3358 IMO VIIR game play a bit faster and I like battle system more though But other than that VII better > you need to play to get true end not fix ending > DLC

[@KnightKiller1000]

Other than VR scenes and a new game mechanic and no DLC characters it's the same game. But if it was put in to the Re;Birth series instead, it would sell more.

[@housinengi9512]

@@KnightKiller1000 especially when you learn they can re sell all the old dlc after a while my whole re download of my ps3 account it takes forever to get to my ps1 games i bought when they first came out. i bought Hyperdimension Neptunia Mk2 once knowing that there must be dlc and all that free dlc to get and i egreated it as this was spost to be the diffinitive version yet i have to download and buy everything just to get a full game. when i finally botted up the game my god was it a mistake as it took me so long just to start playing just so much talking and doing what im forced to do for so long and finally getting to move around finally i dropped the game. i played final fantasy games but my god it took forever and just to know that playing this game didnt matter just made me drop it harder

[@AnimeSimp234]

I think the biggest problem with this series is the disconnect between the developers and the consumers like us. Idea Factory created this series and intended it to be a happy go lucky, silly little fan service parody game. Only thing is, people played it, enjoyed it for the characters, and played more and grew attached to characters. Now we're left with fans wanting a more serious story, and more meaningful character development, with less fanservice, which Idea Factory just isn't prepared to deliver. In a way, it's like being mad or getting bored of Lucky Star for being too comedic.

[@typehere6689]

I wonder if this is a problem that can be solved by throwing money at dedicated Neptunia fans that know both how to write stuff competently and understand the attachment and appeal the core Nep cast has to the Nep fandom...

[@TheRoleplayer40k]

I want more fanservice not less

[@Rak0705]

well they tried to make (slightly?) less happy go lucky in mk2, but i think most people didnt like it, but at least it make me more attached to nepgear a bit

[@Mike14264]

@@TheRoleplayer40k well, that's one side of the series' fandom from what I've seen. A really big side. Probably part of what keeps the series going, even.

[@aiodensghost8645]

​@@TheRoleplayer40kthat is you. Personally I find them to have too much for my liking. There has to be an even mix of serious story and fanservice to really hook me, and if you sacrifice story for fanservice you might as well just make interactive porn.

[@JbSprinkles]

The real issue is that people view the series as a whole and not as progressing games. If you take HDN1, MK2, V and V2, you'll see great improvement from each to the next. But because CH likes to m Remake games, people get burned out and complain about reuse. If you only use the 4 main games, the reuse isn't as much as you'd think but toss in the other 8 or so remakes And spinoffs and boom

[@gearsy3358]

Thats the people problem, not the developers fault the old games needed a remake, no way you re going to sell it as it was, specially with their shitty gameplay and framerate

[@AlexKensington]

Every remake has shown a ton of improvement. I still really enjoy the games.

[@Niick3015]

@@AlexKensington Except VIIR and VII. I joined the series and played the 3 rebirth games, follwoed my megadimension. VIIR is worse than the origanal. The new combat system is so close to brilliant. But due to the RNG, hard to understand crafting system it falls short on not having enough action points per turn to take advantage of it.

[@AtelierGod]

VIIR don’t seem like remake of VII to me but more of a tech demo second version in similar fashion to how Pokémon used to do it with Emerald and Platinum.

[@RubMySweatyThighs]

Yikes when people keey buying this shit

[@AmeshaSpentaArmaiti]

lord help me, i own every game available on steam. why do i love these games so much.

[@slyguy183]

The devs understand that most flaws in video games can be easily overlooked with a surplus of waifus

[@Nutty31313]

@@slyguy183 Or having Neptune make fun of it.

[@redmage8719]

That's nothing to be ashamed of! Mo' Nep-Nep, less problems! 😀

[@datguy5743]

There too addicting add funny jokes during the “console war” and cute waifus and then pow THATS HDN

[@benvalenz1888]

I think we all know...

[@Cutie_Nepgear]

My biggest problem with the series is that they love to use the same jokes over and over again.

[@Nutty31313]

I can see that, I found it particularly obvious in 4GO, with Vert's little sister routine happening every second cutscene. However I think it's fun to have the recurring jokes, and overall they aren't too bad with their rate of occurrence.

[@ThatoneFelicia]

"BECAUSE I'M THE PROTAGONIST, SILLY!"

[@zanrath91]

My biggest problem is the fact you can't even take the story even a LITTLE seriously without neptune butting in and messing up the tension of the scene. 2-3 times a story is fine. But she does it EVERY. OTHER. CUTSCENE. And it's especially atrocious in VII. Quite frankly VII was my least favorite in the series. Arbitrary split narrative where you lose all your items, no teleporting[sure do love random battles that you cant avoid on the world map with mooks that hardly give you anything eventually]

[@Nutty31313]

@@zanrath91 VII was my favourite, although I agree Neptune does it a bit more frequently than she maybe should. I thought the narrative and new map style were cool, and the random encounters were fun at first, but once you started to get high enough level with good enough gear they got too easy and you got barely anything for doing them. I think if they got progressively harder, not enough to really be a serious threat if your party is at full strength, but just enough that it won't be a one sided steamroll, then they would have been better.

[@anime4life209]

@@Nutty31313 well it wouldn't be a 1 sided steam roll...until you got you're counter move then any fight is a steam roll. literally even boss battles are a steam roll. just put you're entire team into counter mode and you win. i lost only 1 battle while doing that and it was barely and thats cause she used both physical and ranged moves and i simply chose wrong that time.

[@spartanq7781]

The problem is the waifus are not real. It hits right in the feels.

[@nikkysaputra501]

i feel you bro!

[@spartanq7781]

@@nikkysaputra501 I know right? I would gladly worship the goddesses.

[@datguy5743]

I hope Elon musk can help us out

[@TheUnwir3DRobot]

Basically this.

[@ARCEUS493ZELDA]

i would worship them as well

[@thehandsomedevil6399]

My biggest issues with the series, is that they never go more in depth with some of the key characters, or stay consistent with some things, such as Croire for example. She is said to come from a separate dimension, and is basically the mouthy tomboy evil twin of histoire, and that's it, nothing more. Next, Underling/Linda, who was basically the team rocket to Nepgear's Ash, and at the end she said she would rebuild ASIC. However, according to Warechu that flopped, and she has never been heard from since. And finally, Plutia, who is just overpowered beyond all hell. I mean come on, no weakness or more importantly, any consequences for her rather sadistic fear-inducing actions, especially since her power is reliant on the faith of her followers. I mean come on, Rei Rhyghts acted the same way, and it bit her in the ass, yet Plutia gets no coup d'etat thrown at her. Just so much wasted potential in the story.

[@DarkZerol]

Actually prior to the first Neptunia game being released, the developers asked SEGA, Nintendo, Sony, Capcom, Bandai Namco, etc. etc. in Japan if it was alright to make a game with heavy parody of their consoles and it's IPs and all aforementioned companies kinda just gave the green light without any monetary exchange. So if anything the Neptunia franchise is kinda the "licensed" parody of all gaming related companies and all it's properties. To note, Japan it's self have a virtually non-existant law when it comes to doing parody, there are loads of people and organizations over there who tend to get im trouble if you release a product or service with blatant spoof or references to someone else's work without any former consent.

[@friendlynoob6006]

Tired of remakes? Great! Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;birth1 *Plus* was announced... Wait a minute... God darn it!

[@LiEnby]

"So what if we did a remake of a remake?"

[@ItzMisterBlitzer]

@@LiEnby HyperBrain

[@ricardowilliams3765]

@@LiEnby its even worse than that now

[@bryanmoberg8408]

@@LiEnby like ReVerse?

[@LiEnby]

@@bryanmoberg8408 thats a remake of a remake of a remake

[@poringzan2202]

I played a couple of Neptunia games before. Most of them share similar problems: 1. Lack of world building: The world doesn't feel interesting at all. 2. Lame villain: They have little to no threat to the happy-go-lucky cast. 3. Boring gameplay: The gameplay loop lacks polish. You can pick any games from Idea Factory and they usually have similar feel to hyperdimension neptunia. Idea Factory's game lack innovation and is somewhat asset-flipping in nature. It's a shame though since the character design is actually pretty good.

[@nepnep8444]

@Artuurs Z. woahhh there calm down man no need to get angry over someone's opinion...

[@zelg.5551]

"You can pick any games from Idea Factory and they usually have similar feel to hyperdimension neptunia." How about trying the Spectral series and Generation series instead then? Really solid games both in story and gameplay, the only issue are obscene loading times when played from a physical disk/umd. Having it digitally installed on a hacked PSP/PS3 removes that problem though.

[@JayboCorp.2014]

You're completely right about that OP.

[@kirarixmm]

What about Kurome in VII? In the bad ending she wins but she was a threat in the G and heart arc

[@wedasantika6079]

@@zelg.5551 not to mention Agarest series

[@The_AGL_Group]

Only now seeing this video. My biggest issue with the series is wasted potential. I absolutely love the characters and world that's been built for the series, but we never get to see it in full action and my personal forgiveness of the flaws is too high for me to reasonably suggest the series to friends and have them see what I see. With all the remakes it'd be kind of suicide to suggest this, but I think the series could benefit from a proper reboot. The Re;Birth games had the opportunity to fix the storytelling problems in the series, such as reworking HDN and mk2 to make the original trilogy a single continuity, yet they passed on it and only really adjusted HDN's story to fit a more linear gameplay structure. If they're not going to adjust the games to fall in line with each other, the best we could hope for is an adaptation that could improve the story... Which brings us to a bit of a tangential problem: the anime sucks. Sure, it has some good ideas and it's neat to see certain sequences fully animated, and I can't knock the soundtrack, but the animation cut a lot of corners and being limited to a single cour meant they had to make drastic sacrifices in the story, and I don't agree with many of the choices they made as well as their reasonigs, such as making Trick be the only one of the Four Felons to appear and placing him in the second episode to ruin first impressions... As I said, I want an adaptation that capitalizes on the series strengths and gives it the dedication it deserves, whether it be another anime, a western animated series, a live-action series, or a movie series... I know some of those sound also like suicide, but I feel that it's precisely the lack of risk-taking that's caused the series to rest on its laurels of "good" and not into something people can agree is amazing. However, back to the games themselves: even if we don't get a full story reboot, I do want the game structure to be a bit different with a higher budget. - Firstly, fully-3D hub worlds. I want to know what it's like on the ground level of each of these nations, get to know the culture, the technology, the architecture... we get it teased through the 2D backdrops and the Planeptune dungeon map from Victory, but I want to truly be able to feel like I could live in Gamindustri. - Secondly, while I do enjoy the series' main gameplay (specifically its VII incarnation the best), I agree that a refresh could add new life into the series. We could go with a real-time combat system, and personally I think that the musou style that Tamsoft came up with for U and Zombies feels truer to the series' nature than 4GO's... - Thirdly, the reliance on "waifu culture" is only hindering the series. The sexualization makes it hard to attract a general audience, and the desire to please hollow fans who only like characters for their appearance and base traits means that the status quo must be maintained - characters can never truly grow or evolve. This is a massive source of lost potential, since characters like Neptune, Vert, and Plutia have some seeds that could be expanded upon in a story that gives them more respect... Personally, I'd also make some new outfits for certain characters to be less revealing, such as a replacement for the Green Processor, but that's more personal than anything else. - Fourthly, that reliance on a status quo also affect the continuity between games. With how the oracles were put on a bus in Victory and how only five Ultra Dimension characters are mentioned in VII with the three that don't have speaking roles not even being referred to by name, I honestly worry that the eventual fifth main series game will ignore Uzume and Gold Third, as well as the massive changes they made to Hyper Dimension... As such, I want the series to be put under proper care to let it expand upon more ideas and demonstrate continuity more proudly... - Fifthly, FULL ENGLISH DUB. Zeus almighty, the lack of a budget makes itself more consistently apparent here since it's outright missing content. Off the top of my head, only MegaTagmension had a mostly complete dub - all of the story sequences were dubbed, and they had the common sense to automatically switch languages for the undubbed Backstage scenes. This is also something that makes the remakes weirder - as is most apparent with Victory and Re;Birth 3, different scenes are dubbed between the two versions, even important ones! Fix this all with complete dubs. Put more food on the actors' tables. - Sixthly, as you brought up in the video, we need more new dungeons. I can justify the reused assets the most in the Re;Birth series and spinoffs since they're for handhelds, but it's just embarrassing by VII and VIIR. I'm a bit more tolerant with some assets returning for specific named locations, like Virtua Forest or Haneda City, but it's necessary for the series to grow to its full potential. Those are my thoughts. The series has been stagnant for far too long, and it's frustrating for hardcore fans like myself to see the potential this series could have be ignored...

[@sleepymerc]

Personally I enjoyed the anime. ... ... Maybe I just have shit taste. But yeah you’re right, the Green, Next gen Cradle, Omega Drive and the rest of Plutia’s processor units should be redesigned, Plutia can be a sadist without a dominatrix suit anyways

[@michaelballack3051]

I think the main problem is that the games stopped in time. There are no "real/actual" developments on any feature. And people obviously get bored of that.

[@nexxus111]

That's one of the things I like about the series is that it doesn't take itself that seriously where they need to have big changes, it's more about humour and fun.

[@michaelballack3051]

@@nexxus111 Yea I guess you see it on a different light than mine. Personally I like games that improve and add new stuff to their next titles. But if you love the games as they are who am I to deny your preference. Keep having fun with the games man :)

[@ShyGuy100000]

@@nexxus111 I agree, people claiming for a huge plotwist to turn the characters and franchise upside down probably don't even get Neptunia in the first place, it's supposed to be lighthearted and fun, not a Evangelion or Game of Thrones.

[@Nutty31313]

I think that as long as the gameplay is still relatively enjoyable (which it is in the 5 games I've played so far; Mk 2, Victory, VII, 4GO and UAU, just got a PC recently so I'm working through the spinoffs now) then great, I will keep following for the stories, characters and humour, which is where the series shines. I do think big changes to the plot and world setting could be interesting if done right, but could much more easily turn out not very enjoyable. I have no opposition to the series getting darker at points though, parts of Mk 2/Re;birth 2 and VII are pretty dark but I still enjoy them. Of course I don't want every game to have some variation of the conquest ending though.

[@gearsy3358]

Thats not their intention, this is not Kingdom Hearts or Trails of Cold Steel their focus isn in the plot

[@PenguinPandaZero]

I think the problem of recycled content is something that most Idea Factory/Compile Heart games suffer from. Most of them seem to share a pool of the same assets (you'll find the exact same enemies across completely different game franchises) using RPG gameplay that's almost identical save for a unique mechanic or two and the writing of most of them feels... samey, for lack of a better word. With that said, there are a few (unlocalized at the moment) games that seem to be breaking the mold a bit.

[@wedasantika6079]

Yeah Like "Fried Shrimp" in Meganep is originally based on red monster in Spectral Force. The one that also became little IF's accessory.

[@esteban8471]

My main problem is that the main characters barely develop if at all. At this point, we hardly get to see the rest of their personalities. In one of the Drama CDs (you know, the fan service stuff), we got to see a side of Neptune that we never get to see. She gets flustered and embarrassed, and loses focus on the game she was playing. It's adorable, and really makes you wonder if she ever gets like this in canon.

[@desuwa1994]

Personally I wanted more english lines, I fell in love with the series and bought all the games since Re;Birth1 even tho I am a fan for like 2 months. I really disliked how the english dub doesn't have all the talking cuts all talk

[@Hclegend]

Superdimension Neptunia Vs Sega Hard Girls surprised me with how close it was to having every cutscene being voice acted in the English dub. It was only minor cutscenes for things like a new unlock or talking with an NPC not relevant to the story that were not. This may be due to the smaller cast though (You get about 10 characters to use, and a few voiced NPCs, as opposed to the larger cast of mainline games.)

[@nexxus111]

That's funny, I thought in some games they talk too much. I like the series, but damn, get to the point all ready.

[@desuwa1994]

@@Hclegend my favorite part of Sega hard girl was the ending History by Marina

[@desuwa1994]

@@nexxus111 lol CPU: *Talks Rei: Am I relevant anymore... can I blow this place up and all of you before you finish talking

[@Nutty31313]

@@Hclegend U Action Unleashed (which I am currently working through) is the same, basically everything you can think of is voiced in English. In the main line games more English voiced scenes would be good, but most of the time the Japanese voices are better. That isn't to say the English voices are bad, just the Japanese ones are better, and it's a similar situation where everything except a couple of optional scenes are voiced in Japanese. What I do is I use English voices on my first playthrough so I can focus on the story more, then use Japanese voices on the next playthroughs.

[@Regolant1]

You forgot lack of worldbuilding

[@housinengi9512]

Sorry but that isnt in this game as this is just remake mania and spinoff waifu edition the world doesnt matter

[@LiEnby]

or the whole vert & leanbox story of the game being acturally being interesting ? like it is in HDN1.

[@loliwinxedits6095]

not really, the universe of neptune is huge, thats probably one of its best traits

[@Regolant1]

@@loliwinxedits6095 Wide as an ocean, deep as a puddle.

[@typehere6689]

Some claim it can be rectified...

[@janusan89]

I still firmly believe that they should pick up what they saw from Neptunia U/mega tag or 4GO, those 2 games were fun and diverse enough to keep me entertained and I HOPE to have another action-rpg oriented game like 4GO but with more stuff to do: that game felt a beta-test than a real game and I remember seeing everything in barely 30 hours: I wanted more damn it! Also I would love to see a more modern console war: the current 4 goddesses are mostly about the previous generation (except Neptune) but I would love to see a ps4 or a Xbox one or even switch twins or something. The game is already about pop culture reference so I still think an update on current gen would be pretty hilarious and fun to see (plus we'd get new characters)

[@JayboCorp.2014]

That's because U Tag and Cyber are developed by Tamsoft which is a subsidiary of Marvelous and Marvelous actually puts love and effort into making good games.

[@bobtom1495]

I like how you talk about the Nep games alot...it's like we're just one big happy weeb family on this channel...

[@Aschamz]

I see you too are a Man of culture

[@doombloomers9609]

The characters need to actually change and evolve over time at least to some extent (instead of just endlessly beating their character tropes to death; reusing the same jokes over and over) and they need to stop recycling assets quite so much.

[@koishiwii8370]

My biggest problem with the Neptunia series is that the candidates don't get much spotlight like their older sisters despite their better maturity and relationships.

[@MukuonChannel]

I feel like Compa (Compile Heart) is always playing safe when it comes to the Neptunia Franchise. I just hope they would treat Neptunia like they treated Fairy Fencer.

[@MrTigracho]

And how they did it?

[@koishiwii8370]

They really should make some Noire x Ram interaction though.

[@hassathunter2464]

3 remakes of the same game?

[@huuishuu]

My problem with the Neptunia series as a hardcore Nep fan for about 3 & a half years is more so balance with the gameplay, especially in the early titles. What I mean is that there's little done to balance boss battles with the dungeon common mobs that you fight, the bosses often requiring you to be 10 or 20 levels above what you currently are. It wouldn't be a big deal if the exp. gains weren't so minuscule or the exp. needed to level up wasn't on the same level as a damn MMO. This problem is definitely most noticeable in Victory, as that game is just outright brutal unless you endlessly grind. This is actually the reason a lot of my friends that tried Neptunia just dropped it on the spot. Most mainline Neptunia games are very very grind-heavy and people don't want to just constantly grind to progress through a story only to have to grind 20 minutes later to progress again. This, in my opinion, REALLY REALLY hurts the games' accessibility. Though I think you've made solid points in the video too, although one thing I'd like to mention is that there isn't that big of a difference between mk2 & Re;Birth2 and Victory & Re;Birth3 story-wise. Sure, some characters had to be removed and new ones had to come in to compensate for them, but generally they tell the same story, just with some slight differences in what characters appear. I wouldn't necessarily consider mk2 & Victory "non-canon" and I even consider them valid alternatives to playing the Re;Birth games if you have a a PS3 and your PC is made of mashed potatoes. But that's just my take. P.S. Keep up the great content. Your channel's a nice little niche and the only Nep-related channel that I follow.

[@PScoopYT]

Yes! That's how I feel playing Re:Birth 1 lol. I only played for 2 hours and I already need to grind for about an hour just to beat a boss. And I think the game wasn't fun enough to justify grinding. (alongside mechanics that are both too many and under-use in my opinion) I want to play more of it. But that would be me forcing myself to play, not want to play. (Like the Mario & Luigi games where the battle system is so fun I just beat all enemies on-screen, despite the fact that you really don't need to do that) So for now I'll just leave Re:Birth 1 at 3 hours playtime. Maybe in the future I decided to force myself to play again. EDIT: I just check the playtime and geez, it's almost 23 hours. I apparently forgot how long I play the game lol. But still, I did spend at least an hour just to grind. (after 22 hours instead of 2) So yeah, I didn't gives the game enough credit then. (Note that 22 hours is usually when I beat a Mario & Luigi game, just a bit of comparision)

[@redmage8719]

I love to grind and i LOVE Nep-Nep! Nep-Nep for life! WOOOO YEAH!!!😀😀😀

[@flariz4824]

Wut. I played all ReBirth games and, outside of high level Coliseum fights, I never felt the need to grind. Just fighting each enemy spawn per area + what you get from quests is usually enough (I dont consider that "Grinding"). I seriously dont get where all the people that claim they are grinding games are coming from.

[@huuishuu]

@@flariz4824 It's because Re;Birth games have what I call "bandaid fixes" by giving you free DLC items/weapons to help you progress through the game. Disable/remove them and you'd have the problem I mention. (such as the DLC weapons for Re;Birth2 or the extra characters Re;Birth3 showers you with)

[@flariz4824]

@@huuishuu I always disable them. I dont like using OP stuff like that. Still go through the main stories (NOT post game content- that does need grinding alright) of all 3 games with no grind, no problem... I guess theres 2 points where I can see the fights being hard enough for some people to grind a bit, these are: Re;Birth 1: Bird fight + Noire as CPU fight. I can see this being a legitimately a roadblock that may need grinding, especially since its so early on. You only had Neptune, IF and Compa. And the latter 2 could hardly do any damage... probably the hardest fight for how early it is in the game. Re;Birth 3: Normal End final boss (Sorry its been years, I dont remember all the details lol) IIRC you only had Neptune + Candidates with you, which made it a bit of a pain if the candidates were underleveled... Uh, thats about it. I also use that one plan that supposedly makes the games harder as soon as possible. I honestly dont consider the games to be grind heavy at all. Maybe this will change when I try VIII (Still have to play that one..)

[@broccolinyu911]

Yellow: Stop with the remakes. IF: *Makes a remake of a remake with Neptunia Gogo game 5* Yellow: *Internally screaming*

[@ilhanovic2272]

Ever heared of Neptunia Re;Birth 1 Plus? Thats a remake of a remake

[@wedasantika6079]

@@ilhanovic2272 you mean ReVerse??

[@MABfan11]

Neptunia franchise: only slightly less confusing than Fate

[@widchaponjearaphunt5452]

Fate just stick to F/0 (1st) Fate stay night (Saber route), Fate Unlimited (Rin route), Fate Heaven feel (Sakura route and probably true route), Fate hollow (Sakura route sequel) Other like Fate Extra , FGO is more like spin-off, but writer still want to combine all though

[@sumirejr1]

@@widchaponjearaphunt5452 spin-off is canon, I'm not joking. Every single thing in fate exist is CANON, no matter its manga, novel, or game. Heck if more worse if you count other nasuverse like yukihime. The author only explain it with 2 words "Parallel Universe". Now the problem is which in same universe which not? The author himself even say "Fate/zero is not the past of F/SN. Its another parallel universe" so good luck with that. xD

[@KazumiKiguma]

@@sumirejr1 Uh, no. That was an excuse given because of really minor details that were accidentally overlooked when writing the story to make really picky people shut up. If you're not picky as hell, then Fate/Zero is the prequel to F/SN, and if you are, there's very, very minor differences that don't matter as all the major events that happened still happened, it's still the same masters, there was still the giant lovecraftian monster, Saber still goes through an existential crisis thanks to Berserker and being forced to destroy the Grail, and very importantly, Kirei still fucking dies and is brought back to life with an artificial heart and Gilgamesh is able to stay afterwards all thanks to the Grail's black mud which consequently burned a section of the city and killed a ton of people including Shirou's family after which Kiritsugu saves him. Oh and the stuff with little kid Sakura, which makes it probably not the best thing to watch before all 3 routes thanks to spoilers and the fact she just seems like a normal classmate in the other two routes, but not like we can do that without waiting for the rest of the Heaven's Feel movie trilogy to come out. And it's really not confusing if you just think of everything with the same title as its own thing. Fate/Stay Night isn't mixed with Fate/Extra isn't mixed with Fate/Apocrypha and hell we'll even take your example of Fate/Zero since it works out. Yeah, *Tsuki*hime and Kara no Kyoukai are part of the same multiverse but they're not related at all outside of a handful of characters who show up in everything, usually just as cameos.

[@Sigismund697]

@@KazumiKiguma the problem is that zero only feels like a prequel to either Fate (for Saber's resolution, kinda) or Heaven's Feel (for Sakura's resolution mostly) otherwise it barely works

[@zelg.5551]

@@sumirejr1 Stop misleading people. Everyone knows that only Carnival Phantasm and berser-car are canon, everything else was a collective fever dream of ours. Hail berser-car.

[@matteste]

I just feel like the series has loads of untapped potential, both with the setting and with the characters, with morals and ethics, with world-building and growth. There is just so much that could be done. For example, how about a spinoff that follows the Conquest Ending timeline that focuses on the aftermath and on how Nepgear could possibly salvage the situation. It could be a great opportunity for character growth as well as adding some moral complexity to the games.

[@Pcuspy]

EY I love how this video actually goes over some problems within the franchise in a calm, concise manner, without attacking detractors of the games being discussed!

[@darknessml6145]

The greatest problem is that the humor is getting stale- the series is like a overly long cowweb and I still havent seem new vert hentai being uploaded in a while. Specially the last point. SPECIALLY THE LAST POI-

[@nekoanon8066]

That actually helped me figure out what to start with thanks!

[@exandstryker2024]

Neptunia VII is worded like that because it's a reference to the fact that it's the 7th main line game

[@aznflipguy647]

This is what I thought as well! 🤔

[@17DS.]

If you say so, then Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory, which in Japan holds the title of "Kami Jigen Game Neptune V" ("Ultradimension Neptune V"), would be considered as the 5th game, making even less sense

[@17DS.]

*[Actually serious clarification incoming, because I can't tell that you already knew this or not]* Also, there are only four mainline Neptunia games out there as of now: ・The original Neptunia and Neptunia Re;Birth 1 _can be_ counted together as the first main game because the Vita title is pretty much a remake of the PS3 one, despite being a whole new and rearranged take on the plot, with the only thing intact being the core premise and the characters. ・mk2 and Re;Birth 2 are counted together as the second main game because they are basically the same game at their core, only that Re;Birth 2, while being mainly a portable version of mk2, is considered as an upgrade of sorts over the original console game, although it reuses the gameplay and assets from Victory and Re;Birth 1. ・Victory and Re;Birth 3 are counted together as the third main game because both titles are mostly the same game again. ・And finally, VII and VIIR are counted as the fourth main game because VIIR is basically a upgrade over VII, and the kind of upgrade that adds brand new features, unlike the two last Re;Birth titles.

[@lsrproductions]

Damn, I've never thought something that I constantly searched for quite some time would exist one day. Be it on Google or KZbin.

[@to_angel]

Honestly, I find the constant reminder of Nep being the main character or begging to be the mc extremely aggravating.

[@JayboCorp.2014]

You'd love Superdimension Neptune VS Sega Hard Girls then. Everyone's so sassy in that game and IF and Segami straight up berate Neptune for those things.

[@zetsumeinaito]

I'm fine with spin offs. (I mean, I always considered everything after the first game spin off) Hell, I'd be down for a Neparty game ala Mario party. PS: I really miss Cave. Black Label was amazing.

[@The_One_Eyed_Rouge]

Cave is so cool. I really love her EXE moves. They're really useful

[@Kottery]

My issue is a large chunk of the mainline games feel the same. I started with Mk2 and I absolutely loved it. It played a large part in me getting into JRPGs in the first place. But then I played Victory and it was EH, fine, but the Rebirths I just couldn't bare to play any of them for very long because it just felt like the exact same game I had played back in 2012. Recently started VII and so far the mostly new (for me, they might not be new to the series don't know) enemies and totally different setting (at least where I'm at so far, which is early in the game) have kept me interested even when the gameplay bits are still more or less what I've played before, but with some doodads added to it. Like they don't need to totally reinvent the game with every new entry, but just make it stand out from the others. Atelier is a good example. All the games follow more or less the same structure of fairly light-hearted story, good characters, and lots of gathering and item creation, but all of the games are able to stand out on their own rather than feel like you're playing the same game. Also I'm sad about the removal of Gust and Nisa because Gust was adorable and Nisa had a great side cutscene referencing Madoka, but whole ordeal was likely out of their control so EH.

[@IAmHomuraAkemi]

Community: We want a new main line game Idea F and Compile H: Did you say you wanted a remake of a remake of the first game?

[@Mike14264]

Is it the gameplay? Edit: ok, just watched the video. ...you sure it still isn't the gameplay? Oh, wait, it _also_ is. Didn't know the series had other issues, honestly. Y'know, I wasn't even gonna blame the blatant fanservice, I've already accepted that 99% of japanese anime-styled games are gonna have that in scoops (and 100% of the games made by this company have it as their main selling points). It's just that the complaints I've heard from outside folks are mostly just regarding the gameplay. ...well, that, or the visual novel styled cutscenes (now there's a personal turn off if I've ever seen one...) But huh, it's interesting to see other fans of this series have issues with other aspects from it, like the world building and character development (wasn't aware it was _that_ shallow most of the time), or the constant remaking and recycling of assets, ideas, games, stories, jokes... ...oh God, is this on the same level of "it's been mid for so long we just got used to it" as Digimon games?

[@TheDragonfriday]

I love these videos about neptunia I love learning this series

[@irvinmethod9088]

"It feels like you're playing the same game over and over again." - the Assassin's Creed curse.

[@OrchidRose83]

Solid review. I'm relatively new to the series and all the remakes was really confusing to me and excessive. I only recently learned that Re;Birth 2 and 3 were remakes of MK2 and Victory. And that ReVerse is a remamaster of a remake... So I ended up getting those instead of the older counterparts. I hope they come out with a new mainline game with new character models, new characters and new attacks in the battle system

[@trollmastersage]

I'm new to the series. Beat the rebirth series and loved it. Just started VII and still loving it. I didn't have any problem figuring out the order of games. It's a good jrpg, good humor, great waifu's.

[@mysticvortex13]

i like some level of repetition. it builds habit, which stabilizes character. if something has to be unstable, i prefer the instability to be superficial.

[@kuroinamida4630]

The Reason why Nisa and GUST got kicked out of the Cast, was because both Companies were involved with mk2 but not with the Re;Birth, its all a Case of Copyright

[@obitonagato6420]

I appreciate the spolier alert. I'll go watch another of your videos.

[@TiBeR860]

In my personal experience, i became Nep fan arround May of this year. A few years ago, a friend recommended me the anime and games, i did listen to him but didnt try out then. Back in May, i was bored and decided to watch the anime, didnt impress me at first, but as i was watching, it become really interesting and i did want for more. Checked out about games, and few days later, the Nep pack became discount in Steam, i decided to buy them all to try the series, because i got the feeling that i would love it. Then i was searching where to start and then i got confused, many remakes and titles, so i ended up in your channel, where you had this vid about where to start in the Nep series. I took your advice and started with Nep rebirth 1. I loved the game, but when i got to Rebirth 2, i got confused about the story. It felt like it could be a sequel if there was just a little adjudment, like "Arfoire return as a terrible monster after being defeated by the CPUs" but it wasnt, so i got confused but decided to try it anyway. With the spin off, didnt really bother that much, when i red that they were alternate storys and do not affect main line, decide to keep them for later. In my personal opinion, the VIIR game should just be and update about textures, models, etc for the original VII, and the new gameplay shoulded come with a sequel, maybe a spin off, but that would be more confusing. I dont think there is any way to solve the Nep games problem, the only possible way, would be a remake that have the original 3 games in 1, with the new graphics, textures, sequences, etc, and fixing the story once for good, saying to new comers "Hey, if you wanna star the series, play this one", but that will be really annoying for fans who just want more content, they would have to realese a sequel at the same time in order to prevent this, but this is really unlikely. The only we can hope is that IF start mining their mine gold like they should, becuase Nep games are that, a Mine Gold that IF does not know how to mine properly. Thats just my though...

[@TiBeR860]

Another thing that really bothers me, like you said in the vid, is the removing characters. But what i hate the most is, the dissapearence of Kei, Mina and Chika. They were like Histoire for the other nations, and the have been gone. This really bothered me in Victory and Victory 2...

[@Nutty31313]

@@TiBeR860 I agree with pretty much everything you have said, but to be honest the only Oracle of the three that I really miss is Chika, I didn't care much for the others.

[@gearsy3358]

@@TiBeR860 Rebirth 2 is a remake of MK2, which is a reboot of the first HDN because the later ended in such a way the story coulnd be continued its not hard to undertstand

[@TiBeR860]

@@gearsy3358 I know that. . . what im saying is that they could have done the rebirth 1 a prequel of the MK2/Rebirth 2 instead of the plot of Superdimension...

[@gearsy3358]

@@TiBeR860 I know, but RB were marketed as remakes above all else, despite the first one being entirely different from the original game

[@AshXXMayftw]

So, controversial opinion here, I think they should reboot the series with a fresh cast, a fresh setting, a fresh plot, and fresh gameplay. They could even tie it in with the actual series. Maybe in the next game something huge happens that causes the Neptunia universe to reboot itself, transforming the cast into different characters all together while modifying the world to fit. Sounds like fan fiction, I know, but with the jumbled mess that is the lore and plotline of the series, while there isn't really much beyond their personalities to get others attached to the characters. Perhaps they should take a few notes from Senran Kagura which, while having the same style of gameplay, they tend to change up the setting from time to time while adding some bits and pieces of certain character's backstories. I just want something fresh and fun, not the same recycled game.

[@ShyGuy100000]

My only problem with Neptunia is that all the 3 Rebirth games having the same assets can turn off some people midway through the series (they were all released in the same year though, so I don't know how you had to wait that much for remakes like you said in the video), anyway I think they're going the right path with VII, more unique assets and music, from now on I think every new Nep game will have a more unique presentation.

[@wanderingchaff2931]

I terms of writing I wish that they would actually put some time into making Vert a more likeable character especially since she is supposed to be one of the lead characters but the writers just don’t seem too interested in actually putting in effort with her. I want to like her but it’s just not very fun watching the little sister gag time and time again, not to mention how she constantly belittles Blanc for her chest size it just feels very mean spirited and that’s not a very good thing in a game series I come to for a more lighthearted tone. Also I do agree that they need to cool it on all the remakes. Making the rebirth series I understand but with viir it feels like their not really focused on creating anything new for the series, at least nothing a step in the right direction vii originally was.

[@gearsy3358]

@@Redhatrose But thats whats makes Vert great

[@gearsy3358]

Hey, If Blanc can make a big deal of wanting big breast, I dont see how Vert making fun of it is a mean spirited thing

[@wanderingchaff2931]

Gear Sy idk I think it annoys me more because of how that’s one few things that Vert ever talks about. Like how she always talks about wanting a little sister, it’s not the fact that she wants one that irritates me but with how often that gag gets used it gets old pretty fast. Maybe mean spirited was the wrong way to phrase it but I just wish she would have more to offer then the same three jokes over and over.

[@gearsy3358]

@@wanderingchaff2931 I mean, all of the characters uses the same jokes over and over again Vert at least had a reason for the little sister thing, she is lonely, ACTUAL lonely, unlike Noire who has actual friends, she wants to dote on them and also be doted on

[@wanderingchaff2931]

Gear Sy I get why she wants a little sister and you are right that they use the same jokes with many other characters but with vert I just feel like something is missing. It maybe due to the fact she never really gets much spotlight for there to be a little bit more to be added to her character (Neptune, Noire, and Blanc have there own games for example but Vert is still the odd one out). In vii when everyone had there own routes I liked seeing everyone have to go on their own little separate adventures so we could get focus on them individually. I was never a big Blanc fan but I really enjoyed the dynamic she had with c-sha and that made me enjoy Blanc more. Meanwhile Vert didn’t even get too much focus on herself in her own route and that felt like a wasted opportunity to me.

[@Hclegend]

As a newcomer to the series (About May of this year), I thought the Re;birth games were a solid way to catch up with the series' story without having the combat system overhauled from game to game, making it easy to burn through, but on repeat playthroughs, does wear a little thin (Looking at you RB2.) The naming conventions could use some work, I can attest to actively googling what game to play first when I first started and thinking that VII was 7 (There were 6 mainline games beforehand, can you blame me?) Hopefully, the upcoming game for Switch will fix some issues, along with whatever the next mainline game will be.

[@arrownoir]

Glimglam I wouldn’t count on it. The upcoming game looks pretty terrible and is not a direction I hope is emulated.

[@Nutty31313]

@@arrownoir if you are talking about the animation quality, there is a video by rkaiem100 who explains why it probably won't be an issue when it is release, it basically comes down to it still being in testing and using placeholder sprites and animations. kzbin.info/www/bejne/iV66lqeCjrWed5o

[@ARCEUS493ZELDA]

have fun grinding to lvl 999 to take on some ofthe harder colosseum fights............. especially on console where trainer programs are hard to come by

[@Hclegend]

@@ARCEUS493ZELDA I did. For the entire Re;birth trilogy.

[@Nutty31313]

@@Hclegend Jesus, how long did that take? The most time I have for a Neptunia game is VII on the PS4 at about 130 hours and I got to 99 in that.

[@Scout-Fanfiction]

I agree with your sentiments YSN; i got into the series on a whim with Mk2, and really enjoyed that game. Then the rebirth series came out on Vita and i bought those, but was super disappointed that specific characters were missing from other franchises that i'm a fan of (especially Disgaea). As for the side games, i enjoyed Hyperdevotion Noire, but i thought VS Sega Hard Girls (in terms of gameplay and graphics) was bleh, it's that 2010's trend of putting bloom in EVERYTHING X_x. I own (most) of the games on PC now, minus the newer ones like Four Goddesses Online, Neptunia Vll etc. It seems (to me anyhow) like Nep games (minus the newest ones) are suffering similar problems as games like Fallout 3, New Vegas, Skyrim etc of using the same engine WAY past its prime X_x.

[@magnumopus8124]

The problem with neptunia games is that they don't come out quick enough. Joking aside, you are on point with some of the points you made. I would like to play all the other ones I wasn't able to play like the rebirth and the ones on vita. Also, I like how they tried to do something different with the 4 goddesses, but........ I'd rather not see another game like it.

[@arbetor12]

I think they'll rework the story and make the games story make sense No game is perfect and I'm not blind to flaws a game has I feel they'll fix the problems someday but I don't know how

[@christianlopez707]

On the VII looking like the Roman number 7, its possible thats its some sort of word play sense even if its the sequel to victory if u count the original games and remakes, VII would actually be the 7th main game in the series.

[@DragonXZero]

Honestly the main issue so far is the HEAVY status quo and lack of the games actually matering, at least in the mainline series, for all I know all the games are standalones, which means that any development they girls get feels worthless cause they can just get scrapped the next game. Also the constant use of the same joke, I feel like the games sometime don't know how to pace their humor and either overload scenes that shouldn't have it, or even underuse it at times.

[@disappointednep-nep2430]

I think Iris Heart’s character as a whole is a bit of a problem, the version of Iris in the anime was fine and made her likable. In the games, not so much

[@ARCEUS493ZELDA]

especially in RB3............... she was a little too....................... horny feeling at times imo plus the scene after rescuing kid IF kid Compa and peashy got to me emotionally seeing her leaning over a petrified kid IF

[@disappointednep-nep2430]

Creative Gaming she does have her sweet moments, but those are few and far between, such as when she beat up Blanc (I think?) and laughed when she started crying, or when she raped the candidates (yes, that’s a real thing)

[@jomo5800]

@@ARCEUS493ZELDA Did you REALLY play RB3? The reason behind the leaning thing was she was trying to impress loli Iffy by beating up the bad guys and looking cool. Instead, LolIffy (I'm sticking to this nickname) was so disturbed that her sanity points dropped. When LolIffy began crying, Iris was shocked because she was expecting admiration and praises from the little one, not scarring her for life. Loli Compa and Pish just got there afterwards, having no idea what the hell just happened and what got LolIffy so petrified as well as what made Ploot so depressed. tl;dr - Without context, the scene with Iris leaning made it look like as if she was about to lewd LolIffy. EDIT: Either you did play it but only found the scene disturbing or you really didn't and made assumptions instead.

[@ARCEUS493ZELDA]

@@jomo5800 yes i have played thru RB3, albeit not fully yet (still an ongoing run but im a good ways beyond that moment) and i did find it disturbing for rather understandable reasons ut tbh i probably should have expected such a moment like that or something similar from the neptunia series especially with all the hentai-esque cutscenes like the couple in RB2 with the dogoos............. not to say i dont like the series, quite the contrary tho i just feel some scenes tend to go a little too far, albeit not necessarily for me but others may find it so

[@jomo5800]

@@ARCEUS493ZELDA Fair enough~ Some scenes do tend to get pretty disturbing, though I'm not affected as much nowadays... Guess I'm desensitised at this point... (I still haven't reached platinum on any nep games...)

[@KnightKiller1000]

The problem is that CH/IF are not Triple A game companies. They're AA Niche ones and CH have other game titles that they're working on and also having problems with Soyny's Censorship issues. Mary Skelter being one of them that it's a 2D dungeon crawler and it'll be the same if they've reskin it with Nep characters instead. They're also poking at Mobile games with their 25th Anniversary game coming out with ALL there other games which is going to be one hell of a cameo combo, esp when Nep and some other character fused into one.

[@TBoneTony]

I do agree on the Company Names being used as characters, when there is a license issue I hated it when Nisa and Gust were not in Neptunia Victory and I missed their presence in the Anime series. I love the dress break function from Neptunia U and would love to see that come back and be incorporated into another spin off or even in the main games. Considering the SONY of America having control over the PlayStation brand, I would heavily advice Idea Factory and Compile Heart to start looking into making games on the Nintendo Switch considering Nintendo of Japan have been holding back the censorship leash on Nintendo of America. Also if both Nintendo and SONY are censoring games on their systems, then Idea Factory and Compile Heart need to release games on STEAM and other online gaming stores online, even look into the Epic Games system so they can release on that online store format.

[@baka030hydroid]

Pretty neat video, and the comment section seems to be taking part in a bunch of intellectual discussions. Nice on that. Even as a pretty big fan, a problem I can say I've noticed is the recycling. Not saying we shouldn't visit familiar places every now and then, but not every dungeon should be the same. (MDVII had that problem pretty bad in between it's sub-games) Also, here's a crazy idea. What if there was a Neptunia game that inserted you as the protagonist (Neptune could even make a joke about this) and you ended up going on a quest meeting the goddesses along the way, as well as other characters. I sure think it'd be pretty cool.

[@hoaryu]

More characters isn't necessarily a good thing. Looking at you, Senran Kagura. What I feel the series is desperately lacking is fresh material. New interactions are few and far between and we're constantly...CONSTANTLY subject to the same jokes like lonely Noire or characters obsessed with Vert's boobs or Vert going little sister crazy. Booted up Cyberdimension and those last two jokes rolled into one not even a half hour in I nearly rolled my eyes out of my head. CH/IF needs to mix it up basically or else, well, things will just suck more.

[@jtib5968]

I'd like to see this series as a more sandbox kind of game. The series has a notable cast of NPCs to use as background characters.

[@r543Blitzsonic]

Ah this video, was wondering if this would be clickbait and whatnot (doesn't help it's YT suggested), but given that I later saw it's from you and wanting to check your "Where to start" guide, that didn't seem likely. While the HDN Series did get "updated" so that all three of the first main line games use the same system, they still didn't manage to port over some things which I really consider questionable, see the lack of a Cutscene Theatre in Re;1 (and since Re;1 was pretty much a new game I really wonder how they screwed that one up), granted you can get it now, as a additional DLC for like 1-2$, ok I guess but still can make one question how they didn't include this in the first place. Totally agree with the Maker Characters, again, I do think they should've just done licensing better (a general game issue though, wish that they'd get licenses that are more among the lines of "we give you x% of the price per copy" instead of "we buy licensing rights for X years", later not renewing it and taking down games/removing audio and whatnot for example) But come on, even with VII, which was released in 2016, they're still facing the same issues now? One would think that they would've thought about this after doing Re;2 and 3, yet it seems to be ongoing, caring more about just getting such characters in to attract more people? Or simply not caring about what this means for the long term? Speaking of Remakes, Re;1 + seems to be around the corner, already having been released in Japan, but I couldn't really find further info about it, is this Re;1 with the DLC included, a HD Remake or what exactly? I wonder what the idea behind VIIR was, I did think the game was older for one, but for the other was wondering if they wanted to do something VR like so bad and as such did that instead of coming up with a new game. Also find it odd how they changed up some other things like the Action Points, testing new grounds? Or making sure that they can say it's different enough to not just be the same game with VR stuff slapped on top? Speaking of the Names, was wondering if the name issue wasn't a thing in the Japanese Version. The first one is called "Super Dimension" yet mk2 also shares the Super Dimension part despite being in the Hyper Dimension, third one does have the name Ultra Dimension though. Vs Sega Hard Girls has Superdimension in the title, said characters apparently being from that dimension though. Ugh, still a mess... I really wonder why they couldn't avoid some of the title issues in the first place, realize how "U" sounds like it's a Wii U game, name them "Hyperdimensional Neptunia X: Title" X being the Number of the main game. Do agree with your points, I haven't played through Re;1-3 yet so I'm not sure what to think about "evolving" stuff more, but I do think it's kind of needed over time, so I can get behind that. As for recycling stuff, there's really some easy ways to avoid that while still creatively using stuff. Just based on what I've seen on Re;1 so far, Dungeons itself and enemies are often reused, heck I'm sure some dungeon maps are just mirrored or using a different start point, not just the "theme". But think about those Canyon maps, couldn't ones that are closer to Lowee be snowy with maybe a snow effect and a slightly remixed overworld theme, having more of a snowy feeling to it? Make something close to Leanbox have more Plantlife, surely won't be too hard to do like 20 Plant Models and using them. Have Planeptune have bright futuristic Areas and Lastation have stuff be more darker "dystopian" to fit with the theme and make one feel like you're actually there. As for enemies, already giving them a different texture would do so much, but once again it wasn't done... It does look like Re;2 has more fancier areas so that's something to look forward to for me. (Which makes one wonder why they didn't bother putting more into Re;1) Another thing I'd really love if IFI itself did the GOG releases, Retroism did them and after we got Re;1 it was pretty much silence until Re;1 got region locked to no longer be available in Japan (due to missing rights) and Re;2 and 3 appearing a bit after that. No sign of the new DLCs being ported or any furture games though... Oh, almost forgot two things: Localization Honestly, I'd love if stuff simply wasn't localized anymore, minus jokes where it was needed, going for something similar. Not sure how much of a issue this is in later games although I wouldn't be surprised about script differences. DLC Can't this whole microdlc stuff be stopped? Granted it doesn't cost as much but it still feels kind of like you're being ripped off with that much extra to buy...

[@mielium5619]

Well i guess super nep rpg solves most of this game's problem. 1. This game, although takes place in another universe, has great world building. Actual progressing story, and okay ish plot. Also, quite difficult and threatening villains, (although sometimes when you overgrind, the boss became too easy). Also this game is more serious rather than a happy go lucky game) 2. New gameplay (although confusing, once you get the hang of it, its fun) 3. Obvious title, that this game is a spin off. 4. No reused dungeons and enemies. There are still a few problems though: 1. Still havent fixed the "same model issue" for townspeople. Although yes there are quite alot of models, theyre still using the same models quite alot. 2. THIS GAME LACKS EXPLANATION. LIKE WHAT THE HELL YOURE SUPPOSED TO DO WHEN YOU FIGHT, AND WHEN THE DIALOUGE SAYS: "Let me guide you to *insert place name*" NOPE. YOURE ON YOUR OWN. GOOD LUCK FINDING THAT PLACE.

[@magicalcat-girl5272]

My problem with the neptunia games is that the really annoying repetitive dungeons from the first game in order to get to somewhere else, and neptune just constantly saying that noire has no friends was also really irritating too and neptune or another character breaking the fourth wall in the games. I played the first game for the ps3 and finished it but sometimes I seriously couldn't stand the same expression on their faces when they were talking or making a joke either from the first game. But the other neptunia games are also okay too.

[@aznflipguy647]

I thought it was written “Megadimension VII” because it was BOTH a sequel to Victory but also the 7th mainline game (assuming Rebirths 1-3 are games 4-6, considering such continuity as Maker characters from Victory showing up in Rebirth 1)

[@AnimeSimp234]

I feel like VII was the best and one of the biggest reasons for that is, compared to the other games, it did have quite a bit of meaningful character development and the best (and most serious) story. Uzume was a great character.

[@EpicMarioPlayer]

I never played any of these games (because my PC is really weak for 3D games, and I don't have any modern console yet), but I really love watching all of these videos. You really got me interested in this series (and Disgaea), I really want to play them at some point in the future.

[@Syndur]

Yeah, I kind of agree with the whole VII-R thing. I'm not even sure I "need" to get it. Btw, don't forget that they kept english voice acting incomplete in EVERY mainline game on the PC. They should really get that sorted out. And, talking about PC, there's talk that the PC port of VII has a bug that basically makes levelling up beyond something like 200 extremely grindy. While not a major issue -- you loose a few Colosseum battles -- there's really no reason to tell your PC customers how little you care about them. As for keeping gameplay "samey" every time, and recycling dungeons and enemies -- while I can see it as an issue, I can also see it as a plus: the entire world feels familiar. And if you think about it, why would the world change in every game? So, "of course", there will be the same dungeons... it's not like we blew them up last time, right? But, of course, this familiarity comes with a price: I can kind of understand why VII doesn't have the portal to Ultradimension, and even though they brought in Nep and Croire, I kind of missed an event to explain why the portal isn't there anymore. With all their "keep the world as we know it", they could spend a little more time on the events that happened between the games :-)

[@Nutty31313]

I think in terms of the story up to that point, they had basically retconned parts of the Re;birth 3 story. They talked about how they fought Rei in the other dimension, but not in Hyperdimension. They also seem to talk about the portal as if it were never left open after they got back. I think they basically went with "the portal opened, Neptune and Nepgear got home, then the portal closed".

[@apophisstr6719]

Don't worry, now you can play with your waifu goddesses in Azurlane wwww

[@nolategame6367]

Apophis STR ???

[@r543Blitzsonic]

Azur Lane had a crossover event a few months ago (think November, the original JP/CN Event was way back in January 2018)

[@nolategame6367]

r543Blitzsonic huh, thanks .

[@smol_hornet613]

Not sure if this is still an issue in VII's story (haven't played it, along with Tagmension), but a common gripe that I personally have had a really hard time looking away from has been the writing - namely the pacing of dialogue and the choice of exposition. With Re;birth 3 in particular, it felt as though that writers felt the need to point out every single detail of how the scene plays out via exposition, which made some otherwise fun and interesting moments draw to a grinding halt as the characters go on and on about even the most remotely subtle aspects of the scene. Like when Yellow Heart ticked off Iris Heart, and the Neptune then started narrating how ticked off she was, DBZ-style. There's a lot of clutter in the dialogue boxes that I don't think serves any purpose but slowing things down and making jokes feel forced. This doesn't apply equally to the games, though. Superdimension for example, which by far had the most enjoyable writing of any Nep game I've played, hardly showed any trace of this, and I can't recall noting it much when playing Re;Birth 1 either.

[@calimantis]

I'm still super on the fence about getting 4GO, especially now since there's a -Walletcrusher Nep Summer Sale- Steam sale going on that includes it. I'd love to pick it up, but hearing about how the game is still riddled with bugs is really off-putting, so I'm not sure what I should really do.

[@Maedara]

i'm used to confusing timelines and stuff from fate and monogatari so that's not an issue for me ^^` the neptunia series is still my favorite of all time but i guess it's mainly because of the characters. They're so lovable that people tend to overlook all the flaws

[@suicidalanderson2500]

I remember buying Megadimension and I thought my ps4 glitched out when voices weren't coming out like they originally were, nope just not enough incentive to voice the entire game, also there's too much little boring things to do and not enough fun big things to do

[@Salve-ager]

As someone who only picked up this series about 6-8 months ago (having played all of the “mainline” games) I’m relatively new to all of the stuff going on with this series, from personal experience I’ll say that as a newcomer, I never felt much issue with the remakes and spinoffs, though that just might be a me thing. To throw my 2 cents into the ring I think a new title with a refined version of VIIRs combat system and a new story would be a great way to renew interest and pull people into the series, it’s always been pretty niche from what I’ve heard, so I’m assuming they’re pretty budgetary constrained titles (which explains the reused dungeons, models, etc, could be wrong on that though). Also there’s that switch title coming out next year which looks really interesting, plus it’s on a console they’ve never touched before, so this could help break the ice, but only time will tell I guess

[@LunarFresh]

It feels like a lot of Compile Heart/ Idea Factory’s games have similar issues.

[@TheSinlessAssassin]

The problem with this game is how dense the useless dialogue is. There's a good story in there somewhere, but they bury it with immature and perverted fan service shit. It's actually responsible for killing my interest in anime as a whole.

[@koishiwii8370]

Likely sums up why Touhou and Epic Battle Fantasy held me up better than this series. Especially when those two focused on the gameplay first.

[@Hayaaaato]

The problem is that im getting addiction to nepping

[@--_--_--_--_]

Nep's storyline is almost as confusing as kingdom hearts, they just need time travel.

[@vherdelviperblade753]

I actually got into the neptunia series because of Death end re:quest, pretty strange considering the vibe crom the game is a lot darker, but ever since I played VII I have been platting all neptunia games, I love them.

[@cirno8461]

The biggest problem with the Neptunia games is when we have to play as someone else instead of Rom and Ram. I'm a genius!

[@ScileSc]

...They are. In every game they appear in.

[@nihil8607]

With all the guides to the games out there, is the number of games really that confusing? I agree that future remakes should be fewer in number though.

[@uniqhnd23]

Characters getting removed makes me avoid this game like the plague.

[@TheGeladoo]

I've replied with this to a comment, but I wanted to make it its own comment: I used to love this franchise, even if I didn't like some moments (like most of Victory/Re;Birth 3), but stuff started to go down with 4GO and the loading screens and multiplayer problems that were never patched because IFI just doesn't touch their games after release for some stupid reason. Then VIIR happened and my hopes for this franchise just took a dive, remakes of the same game *with cut content* when its been only two years since its release is where I start to draw the line. I'm starting to get really tired of the way CH is treating this franchise and the poor quality of PC ports and complete lack of bug fix patches after day 1 (only exceptions were R;B2, which ended up breaking the game even more and had to be removed with promises of a more efficient patch later (never happened) and VIIR, which was almost dropping to the "Neutral" reviews on steam because of how bad the situation was). Take a longer time to release the ports, but holy shit if you aren't going to release bug fixes then try to remove them before the store release

[@Bioguy5]

"Don't make any more remakes" Aaaaaaaand they just announced Reverse. ANOTHER remake...

[@YSN]

Imagine my joy

[@anime1thewave312]

I like Neptunia games. But I'm against censorship in my opinion. ✌️👍

[@h.t.steiner5567]

Man, weeb games really got FUCKED by the Sony policy change. I realized Senran Kagura PBS, 4 Goddesses Online, and Sword art Online Fatal Bullet all came out in 2018 all three my favorite games from my favorite franchises; with best in class customization and gameplay. It feels like we've been getting peanuts since then, gameplays gotten worse, fanservice has been pretty much non-existent. This shit so bad I can't even get excited for new releases anymore. All I play is Doom II, Duke Nukem 3d, Touhou and Cave games. Thinking of unplugging my internet and just living in the mountains for the rest of my days. Well, at least 7 Pirates is getting a Switch release.

[@GatoEpico]

i liked it at 1st with rebirth 1 , because yes they actually just remake the 1st game but they actually changed the ending from the one you said in the video (the godesses get rid of their power and become humans ,meaning that they will age like a normal person) to the rebirths endings where they fight arfoire and you either decide to kill her or save her (and she is the one who changes from a godess to a human) +the CPU candidates being born. But then i got mad on rebirth 2 and onwards because they changed literally nothing on the story , i was expecting a different conquest ending , or a different true ending both in rebirth 2 and 3 but nothing. the idea of the different dimensions was a good one because they could get away with literally everything , like nep from mk2 meeting adult nep from neptunia 1. an anime where the 3 1st games mix togheter console wars , rebirth 2 and nepgear dreaming about the conquest ending , and the dimension mix in victory. they could make the remakes with slighly different plot or ending but they missed this opportunity by being lazy.

[@willc3799]

After a while of observing I finaly checked out the first ps3 game and imma be honest the gameplay wasnt that bad maybe thats cuz I was already ready for it but I thought it was decent

[@M3rtyville]

I like watching videos about Neptunia despite not having played any of the games.

[@AstolfoOfCharlemagne]

My only real problem is that they decided to toss writing potential out the window, from the gameplay standpoint, I honestly put up with how ridiculous it could get if you couldn't grind (biggest offender as we all know being the original Victory) if it meant seeing more of those interactions and what each game can offer you. I got into the series through a very weird way (not worth explaining nor it matters) on Mk. II and I greatly enjoyed the game, I honestly felt that it was going somewhere and that they DID want to add more depth aside from all the fun stuff and jokes, like, hell, I never expected them to pull the Conquest Ending when they did and I was amazed they were willing to have done it. Then moment the original Victory hit? I was unable to finish the game not because of the gameplay and stupid scaling the game had but I felt greatly disappointed how everything fell from the prior entry to that in terms of writing decisions, I know, it's valid to say one can get out if you're expecting seriousness from Neptunia, but the fact they were willing to take such choices and chances had me hooked in what I believed was quite some unique package and I truly felt for the characters at least a little. The series still is salvageable and has hopeful fans that all have their problems, but at the rate it's going and I do hate kinda thinking like this myself, it really needs to start doing something different on some noticeable field, otherwise the series is going to slowly start going to sleep sooner or later with many sudden happenings, Tsunako going freelance being one of them as well as Sony's concerning suddenly view on censorship.

[@TheFirstGun]

While I have my fair share of issues with each and every game in the series, I still absolutely adore most of them. I'm just hoping that they find the time and budget to actually improve upon what they have right now, while potentially leaving most of the spin-offs to other dev teams which I believe is being done with Super Neptunia RPG. All in all, I feel like the next main game will either be a big success or outright break the series.

[@GothicEU]

I'm new to the series, currently playing Rebirth 3. If I had to change one thing about the games, it would be the remake system. It's good in concept, but there are some things that make me bad about it. I'm not a true completionist, I don't do every little thing in most games, but I like to have things completed. So this mechanic really makes me mad, because it relies too much on getting the specific materials and grinding. You have to search were you can get the item on the internet, sometimes change items and monsters in a dungeon (there is less of that in Rebirth 3, thank god), hope you can beat a boss (if not you have to grind) and pray to RNG gods for the drop. It frustrates me a lot, since I want to have most of the things there unlocked. Here are some changes I would make. I would add the option to see were you can find materials, by simply selecting them in the remake menu (just go over the item you want to make, it would show you were you can find the materials). Make bosses drop items 100% of the time, it would save a lot of time. I would also get rid of the limited memory thing, it is absolutely pointless. Also you should be able to get all the remake plans, by simply playing the game and collecting every item. Having some of them be hidden in the hidden spots in dungeons, or unlocked by doing specific things is not needed at all. Rebirth 3 improved it a lot, new Stella's minigame was a great addition and as I mentioned before tweaking the item/monster dungeon change was also a step in the right direction.

[@ShyGuy100000]

"I would add the option to see were you can find materials, by simply selecting them in the remake menu (just go over the item you want to make, it would show you were you can find the materials)." You actually can do that in Rebirth 3, just Press X or Y (can't remember now) when the cursor is above a Plan or Quest. I'm not against your idea of 100% drop for boss monsters and getting rid of the memory limit, but I still like having hidden stuff to search around in dungeons.

[@GothicEU]

@@ShyGuy100000 Most of the hidden stuff in dungeons is fine. Some bonus materials, items or those thingies for discs are all cool, but having plans for dungeons, hidden inside other dungeons is a bad idea in my opinion (it happened for sure in rebirth 1, I'm not sure if it was in rebirth 2 too). Stuff like dungeons plans should be easy to find.

[@Blaxi131]

They should've called VIIR Re;birth 4

[@Hunt77]

I think the crazy names is part of the charm, but it's pretty mindbogeling that the only game I played has been retconned twice, maybe I should have started with MkII. On the other hand I enjoyed the first Neptunia a lot.

[@torquilleliphas8727]

Yep, absence of makers is real issue, because they are fun to play as and likeable characters overall (really enjoyed scenes with them in Re;Birth 3 and pivotal role they all had in Re;Birth 2). Because of that i like what IF and CH did with gold third, whose names are abbreviations, and don't require any licensing. Dont know if it is possible for IF and CH to change names (and maybe other minor stuff like some aspects of apperance) of makers so it could be possibe to use them without licensing. I think that godessess are safe from being retconned, but it would suck to see MAGES or 5pb disappear completly ( I can only hope that at least some of makers will return in new mainline title). And I agree with whole video, apart from one point: i don't really mind recycled dungeons and enemies, it gives series sense of continuity and being in the same world. Some variation would not hurt though, and I think that VII is best at this aspect , blending dungeons and enemies from older games with new ones like golden summits or whole zero dimension. All in all, very good video, thumbs up

[@bainbonic]

These problems don't personally bother me, I find that the fun I have with Nep makes it worth it. *However* I fully get why somebody else would be bothered by it. So good video.

[@phantomix5693]

A problem I have, while only minor, is the pointless additions to the combat system. For example, the fever gauge in Superdimension vs Sega hard girls, and the complex changes in VIIR. I don't necessarily mind the changes, but it feels like they're only adding for the sake of change.

[@BlueBD]

i tried getting into it myself instead of watching it but the amount of titles and names with super similar visuals each game I gotten extremely confused which was what.

[@sorakemis]

I agree overall. I played the first games and wanted to jump back into it around a year or so and the names just really made it confusing to what I SHOULD play and what I can skip. Overall I enjoy the games even with the reuse of dungeons and monsters which get annoying fast, although Vii did expand about it with the zero dimension and new areas. However, I do believe you left out Superdimension Neptune VS Sega Hard Girls. Although it IS a spinoff game it honestly does feel much closer to a main game overall. The changes the game did compared to the main games are there and interesting enough to make it into the main games in my opinion. I mean..Running! Jumping higher and wider, climbing. all those things are minor stuff, but can improve the games quite good. Even the battle system they use has a lot of good and new ideas that would help the problem of repetitve game feelings.

[@MemoryDestiny]

RB1 is my favourite, best world, the best of almost every character, and better story tbh. Vert was smashed hard with RB2, that horrid Sister-stealing joke ran so old so fast and they are still using it, while her relationship with IF was amazing in RB1, aside from being a Yuri thing, it gave Vert much more dept and class overall, i miss that Vert. Neptune, she was more balanced in RB1, she was lazy, but not too much, she cared, she loved everyone the same way as in the later RB and VII; but, to give more space to Nepgear, they made her extremely more lazy and time wasting. I don't hate Candidates, but i think that each of them took out a piece of the real CPUs, and that's not something i like... I like Nepgear, but to make her shine, they shouldn't have changed Neptune. Same for Noire, but it's less prominent. Blanc was reduced to a Babysitter too much. If they want to give this game a fresh air, they first need a game with less characters (no Candidates for starters), and rethink Neptune, the real protagonist and her fellow goddesses. Personally, when i think of Neptunia, i think of Neptune, Noire, Blanc, and Vert. So, those 4 must be fixed, after that, they could reintroduce the Candidates, without shadowing the main 4 just to give them Spotlight... But those are just my ideas, or what i think would be good for the series...

[@flariz4824]

"Neptune, she was more balanced in RB1, she was lazy, but not too much, she cared, she loved everyone the same way as in the later RB and VII; but, to give more space to Nepgear, they made her extremely more lazy and time wasting. I don't hate Candidates, but i think that each of them took out a piece of the real CPUs, and that's not something i like" You know, as much as I love Nepgear (Shes literally my favorite)... I think you may be onto something here.

[@scullyf2254]

VII was my first neptunia game because a friend of mine wanted me to play it, it is fun. I was of course curious about the first game and have a PS5 (You might get where this is going) so I bought Reverse, as someone new to the series it is fun but I expected something more from a "remake made for next gen consoles". atleast Sisters vs Sisters looks good.