Review for Super Neptunia RPG. Game for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4, the video game was released on 28/06/2019 The version for Nintendo Switch came out on 30/06/2019 The version for PlayStation 4 came out on 30/06/2019
When a brand comes to have over 10 titles, including canonical chapters, spin offs and remakes, creators and fans begin to feel the need for something new. This is more pronounced if, as with Neptunia, the titles came out within less than ten years. So Compile Heart found herself with a daunting task in the creation of Super Neptunia RPG: how to create something new in a series that has already explored a lot? The solution adopted by Compile Heart lies in a strange formula, a sequel that stands as both a sequel and a reboot, but which in its peculiar form manages to create a satisfying and fresh product, thus bringing exactly the kind of game that the series needed.
Super Neptunia RPG differs from previous titles from the premise: it is in fact an entirely two-dimensional game. The adventures of the CPU Goddesses have always proposed three-dimensional combat systems, in which the position of enemies and allies was the focal point of the fighting. In this new chapter, however, this mechanic is totally absent, and the combat has been completely revisited. The battles will now take place with a combat system inspired by the ATB system, but with substantial changes. We will in fact have the classic ATB bar that loads, but this will be divided into different segments and each move we can make will require a certain number of segments. Super Neptunia RPG in this way tries to combine the classic system made famous by Final Fantasy, with the combat system based on skill points characteristic of the Valkyrie Profile.
The fights, however, will not have the classic submenus that will allow us to choose the move to make. In fact, each character will move by pressing a single button, and the move they make will be determined by their position in the team. By pressing L1 and R1, in the PlayStation 4 version, it will be possible to "rotate" the characters, and the behavior of each of them will vary according to who will be present in the front line, which will determine the structure of the team (defensive, offensive, magical, balanced or curative). At first glance this combat system may seem limited, and certainly it is less deep than other JRPGs, including some previous chapters of the series including Megadimension Neptunia VIIR. However, there is the possibility to learn many skills, and decide before the battle which of these will be used by each of the CPUs in each of the assets.
This preventative strategy mechanic limits the possibilities in battle, as it is not possible to change these abilities during a fight, but it introduces a fascinating system of "Build" and synchronicities between the characters. We do not hide how we greatly appreciated this Idea Factory experiment, so much so that at the end of the adventure (and beyond) we found ourselves in the situation of wanting more. The clashes are always very tense, since it takes very little for the opponents to kill our CPUs, but they are all easily dealt with when you play with the right calm. Although initially the combat system was not convincing us, we were satisfied with the title, although we highlight two particular defects that limit the quality.
The first flaw also coincides with the reason why, initially, we were not convinced of the new direction of the series. The combat system works very well when you have at least 3 characters in the team; however for narrative reasons the game insists on leaving the player with only one character, clearly cutting off all its potential. Fortunately, after recruiting all the CPUs this problem disappears, but in the first hours of the game we found Super Neptunia RPG's obsession with wanting to leave us without characters too stifling. In fact, as much as we appreciated the title, we do not positively evaluate its replayability, precisely because of those sections in which the gameplay is unnecessarily limited.
The title's second major limitation under the gameplay side is the content. As mentioned in other reviews such as Splatoon 2 Octo Expansion and Devil May Cry V, the concept of "little but good" is something we feel we can promote, as it allows the creation of short-lived, but exceptionally built titles.. However, this concept is difficult to apply to a JRPG, which is also known for its great content. An exceptional example of “little but good” in JRPGs, can be Toby Fox's Undertale, which in a few hours (divided into several runs) offers satisfying and quality content like few other titles in the entire genre. Super Neptunia RPG, however, is only half successful. If at a narrative level the game maintains excellent pacing thanks to its relative short duration (we are talking about 12/13 hours), at the level of gameplay it offers too little. This latest Neptune adventure therefore stands as an extreme opposite of Megadimension Neptunia VIIR, which suffered from serious pacing problems, but remedied with contents, especially endgame, of enormous depth.
From the narrative point of view, Super Neptunia RPG does not want to establish itself either as a reboot or as a sequel, but remains in the middle, with a few small nods to the first Hyperdimension Neptunia, but without having almost any characters from the old titles, apart from the 4 CPU protagonists and a couple of special guests. This allows the title to indulge in its famous parodies, building its own plot around the debate "better games in 2D or 3D", with therefore many quotes from the SNES and N64 era, inserted as usual in a brilliant and coherent way with world of Neptunia. There are also the classic pearls: the brilliant parody jokes, which can only be understood by those who have lived certain titles, but which have given us laughs as is rare in this medium, especially thanks to the trophy "Nasu wo [K ] all ".
PAs far as characters and events are concerned, Super Neptunia RPG proposes the "usual" protagonists that fans are fond of. However, using the cliché (also highlighted by Neptune itself) of amnesia, it treats the s between the 4 CPUs in a special way, as if they met for the first time in this adventure. This leads both to being able to take advantage of the nostalgia effect for those who follow the series from its origins, and to being able to introduce the protagonists to the new audience in a more organic way. Unfortunately, the title lacks truly memorable moments within his adventure (outside of some already mentioned excellent comic sections), thus resulting well done, but not very impactful. This is also underlined by the technical sector of the title, which presents pleasant graphics and soundtracks that accompany the gameplay well, but none of these elements remained impressed upon us after concluding and deepening the title.. The same maps and explorable dungeons are good, but forgettable and very simple in structure. Another problem limiting the title lies in the performance of the game on PlayStation 4. In fact, every time you perform an action that requires a loading for the first time, the game seems to freeze for several seconds, before loading the next interaction. This happens almost only the first time you perform a certain action since you turned on the title (for example the first time you enter a fight)
Super Neptunia RPG is a particular title to be evaluated. The combat system is a lot of fun, but limited by some questionable choices; technically it is well done, but it is not very memorable; the contents are good, but few in quantity. It is therefore a beautiful title, which could have been published better. A game that we recommend to anyone who wants to get closer to the brand and that we consider essential for fans of the series, but which brings with it some small regrets.
► Super Neptunia RPG is an Action-type game developed by Artisan Studios and published by Compile Heart for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4, the video game was released on 28/06/2019 The version for Nintendo Switch came out on 30/06/2019 The version for PlayStation 4 came out on 30/06/2019
