Lost in 2D Translation

The Neptunia series is well established and has a legacy now featuring many different games which are mostly RPG but Compile Heart have also tried various other Genres. Super Neptunia RPG has opted for a side-scrolling 2D Platforming JRPG with a Super Mario RPG style battle system.

The story is pretty simple but also crazy as you would expect of a Neptunia game, it takes place in Gamindustri where an organisation called Bombyx Mori is forcing 2D games to be made as offerings to their leader. Neptune awakens in the strange 2D world and sets off on her journey.

The game is set in a 2D world moving left and right and ascending different levels by jumping on platforms. You can also go to other areas when an arrow appears by pressing up and down where there is an open road.

The platform really isn’t needed especially as it feels off but I understand why it’s there, Neptune does her signature “Boing” and “Like a Kangaroo” phrases as she does. Also, Neptune looks so lifeless as she jumps, there is no animation to know if she is jumping or landing, this isn’t something new as this has been the case in most if not all Neptunia games I have played previously. I found a lot of reachable looking places not reachable even with the mid-air dash so I guess there is either another way to them or a lot of backtracking to be done later on. If you fall into a pit you will reappear to where you fell and take some damage.

Being a game from the Neptunia series the game delivers on fan fiction and anyone who knows the characters and the sort of dialogue that they bounce off each other will surely enjoy this, that being said there is plenty of video game references and jokes from other games and many innuendos that anyone familiar to the series will also understand.

The battle system is one of a big change compared to previous games in the series, commands are issued by pressing the corresponding buttons on the screen which then each character will attack with abilities they have acquired through equipping and learning them. This is by far my favourite system from what I have seen in any of the Neptunia games, being identical to Final Fantasy IX each character can equip certain equipment which allows them to learn abilities and once they have finished learning can equip new abilities while retaining older abilities. Sadly the battles are rather lacklustre, you gain AP as the battles go on and each character’s abilities use a certain amount of AP, early on you only play as Neptune so until the rest of the crew are in play then its the same basic skills and even when you have a full party, the only depth is done by switching formations but overall the battles are simple and not overly exciting.

Fortunately, I say this is also one of the easiest of the games to learn in terms of what to do where to go and how battles work as some of the other games have a steeper learning curve.

There is plenty going on outside of battles such as exploration, buying new equipment and side quests which you can find in towns mostly and I say plenty lightly. The quests range from hunting monsters or finding someone or donating lots of money so expect a lot of grinding too if you are into that.

In all Super Neptunia RPG is not a terrible game by any means, it actually looks really nice and the presentation is done really well, it could have done with some extra polish to make it really great. Aside from Super Neptunia Four Goddesses Online this stands out as one of my favourites even it falls in some areas, the game is great in terms of graphics and the story is fun and as an experience at least for any fan of the Hyperdimension series, this will see die-hard fans pleased.

A PlayStation 4 Review Code was provided by Idea Factory International