This game is a hot mess. With bugged physics, bugged AI and horrendous, glitched graphics, even for 2008, this game has everything that crumbles the game apart. Despite that, I find this game somewhat enjoyable to revisit, and I am not talking about the awful PS2/Wii version.
2015
I genuinely think this game is a little bit overhated. While yes, I have had my moments with the game where I really hated it and I too cringe at the story, writing and acting of this game, going back to it - the game wasn't that bad.
Yes the physics model is horrendous with some cars, making fan favorites like the M3 E46 completely undriveable, but as a whole - I enjoy not just the aesthetic, but the customization and the car selection of this game.
In my opinion, 2015 is not as bad as people make it out to be. Not a game I willingly revisit unlike other games in this same series, but not one I hold begrudgingly bad feelings towards.
This game did genuinely make me rage at times though, hence the comparatively low score to the semblance of praise that I'm giving it.
Yes the physics model is horrendous with some cars, making fan favorites like the M3 E46 completely undriveable, but as a whole - I enjoy not just the aesthetic, but the customization and the car selection of this game.
In my opinion, 2015 is not as bad as people make it out to be. Not a game I willingly revisit unlike other games in this same series, but not one I hold begrudgingly bad feelings towards.
This game did genuinely make me rage at times though, hence the comparatively low score to the semblance of praise that I'm giving it.
2017
This game...man, it's a game I've been wanting so badly to revisit ever since I beat it in 2019 for the first time. It's such a masterful game in pretty much every sense of the word.
- A beautiful story with many twists and unexpected turns, making you question who you are fighting for truly as the game goes on.
- A wonderful gameplay loop that never overstays its welcome and continuously introduces new ideas and gimmicks to keep everything interesting.
- A shockingly beautiful soundtrack that can, does and will make you cry, I don't care who you are.
If you've ever been on the fence with this game, I promise you it's worth it. Play NieR: Automata. You genuinely, honestly won't regret a second of it.
- A beautiful story with many twists and unexpected turns, making you question who you are fighting for truly as the game goes on.
- A wonderful gameplay loop that never overstays its welcome and continuously introduces new ideas and gimmicks to keep everything interesting.
- A shockingly beautiful soundtrack that can, does and will make you cry, I don't care who you are.
If you've ever been on the fence with this game, I promise you it's worth it. Play NieR: Automata. You genuinely, honestly won't regret a second of it.
This is, in my opinion, one of the last good spin-offs the Neptunia series has seen before everything really went downhill. It's the last Neptunia spin-off until the release of Sisters vs. Sisters that takes place in (or heavily implies it) the canonical world of the Neptunia series.
The gameplay in this game is a very huge improvement to what was seen in MegaTagmension. Stages are a lot more open than they were in the previous game, as well as the combat itself being far, far more fluid and fast-paced. I think with this they finally nailed on the head the type of hack & slash spin-off Neptunia games should be.
I've dabbled with the game a few times since completing it all the way back in 2018 and have found myself enjoying the game, but it's not something I'd actively revisit.
Get it if you're a Neptunia fan looking for a true callback to the "good old days", if you will.
Oh and don't bother with the online play. Not worth it.
The gameplay in this game is a very huge improvement to what was seen in MegaTagmension. Stages are a lot more open than they were in the previous game, as well as the combat itself being far, far more fluid and fast-paced. I think with this they finally nailed on the head the type of hack & slash spin-off Neptunia games should be.
I've dabbled with the game a few times since completing it all the way back in 2018 and have found myself enjoying the game, but it's not something I'd actively revisit.
Get it if you're a Neptunia fan looking for a true callback to the "good old days", if you will.
Oh and don't bother with the online play. Not worth it.
(repost of my review on Steam. you can read the original review here: https://steamcommunity.com/id/huuishuu/recommended/460120)
Neptunia VII is what I consider to be the peak of the series. The peak before it all went horribly downhill. Neptunia VII, in a lot of ways, feels like a huge step forward for the series. Both in terms of story and the general game design. It mostly learned from the mistakes Victory made and iterated on what worked well.
I try to keep my reviews as spoiler-free as possible, so I'll do my best not to soil everything when it comes to describing the game's story. It's split up into 3 distinctive arcs, and what I think is both the highlight and lowlight of the game is definitely the second arc, dubbed the Hyper Dimension arc. I love the core concept of having 4 distinct stories that you choose to participate in whatever order you wish, tying them all together with a final 5th story (kinda like the Sonic Adventure games if you want something to compare to), that part of the game also has some of the cringiest writing in the series, at least personally. But ignoring the Hyper Dimension arc's shortcomings, the entire story as a whole feels way less bloated and far more engaging, such as when you are in the Zero Dimension arc and you are drip-fed mysterious information about newcomer Uzume Tennouboshi which ends up pulling your interest further in. And it builds upon that foundation very well. That's not to say the game doesn't have that signature Neptunia comedy™, on the contrary - there's plenty of it, and unlike future spinoff installments - it's still at a moderately tolerable level (aka it's not stupidly obnoxious like in VIIR). A decent upside to this game's story is that it's not alienating to newcomers at all, despite it being a sequel to Victory. The writers made it accessible to people who have never even played a Neptunia game, something its remake - VIIR - falls flat on its face on.
In terms of gameplay - it's a wonderful evolution of what worked in the previous entries (mk2 & Victory). Weapons in this game are actually more than just mere stat boosts as some of them even let you set up whole combos for extra damage. Believe it or not - that makes experimenting with different weapons interesting! As an example, a weapon could be statistically better than what you have right now, but in terms of combos - it could be set up for rushing your enemy or breaking their guard instead of outright offensive capabilities, so it could prove to be less effective. That's the kind of thing that I want because it encourages healthy experimentation and I love it!
Of course, not everything is perfect. At plenty of points in the game - the game feels very poorly balanced. Sometimes enemies are just made too strong for what you are supposed to do. Sure, it's a JRPG, meaning grinding is inherently part of the game's nature, but there are times where it's just straight up overkill. Case and point - the start of Blanc's story in the Hyper Dimension arc. I swear that part of the game was just never play-tested. You are far too low leveled to face the first boss and you're given no option to grind your level up. You really have to rely on dumb luck on that battle, and there's more where that came from.
I also personally think that the new overworld, while cute, is a step backwards from the way previous games (including Re;Birth games) did by making walking through the map far more slow and tedious, especially with random encounters on the overworld which are stupidly unnecessary and only further how slow it is to navigate from place to place in this game.
I could go on and on about this game, but you get the point. Overall, I do recommend VII as a purchase. If you've never played a Neptunia game - VII is a good starting point! It doesn't require knowledge of the previous games to jump in, and you can easily just go backwards to Re;Birth2 or something if you wanna experience the "canonical Neptunia story" from the very beginning.
I also think this version of the game is superior to VIIR in __every single way.__ The port is better and far more stable, the gameplay is better, you get multiple save slots, you have multiple endings (bad, Ascension [Normal] & Revival [True]) rather than being outright locked into 1 ending from the get-go and in a lot of areas - it just looks better despite the lower polygon count or texture resolution. If you had to choose between VII and VIIR - I'd choose VII.
Neptunia VII is what I consider to be the peak of the series. The peak before it all went horribly downhill. Neptunia VII, in a lot of ways, feels like a huge step forward for the series. Both in terms of story and the general game design. It mostly learned from the mistakes Victory made and iterated on what worked well.
I try to keep my reviews as spoiler-free as possible, so I'll do my best not to soil everything when it comes to describing the game's story. It's split up into 3 distinctive arcs, and what I think is both the highlight and lowlight of the game is definitely the second arc, dubbed the Hyper Dimension arc. I love the core concept of having 4 distinct stories that you choose to participate in whatever order you wish, tying them all together with a final 5th story (kinda like the Sonic Adventure games if you want something to compare to), that part of the game also has some of the cringiest writing in the series, at least personally. But ignoring the Hyper Dimension arc's shortcomings, the entire story as a whole feels way less bloated and far more engaging, such as when you are in the Zero Dimension arc and you are drip-fed mysterious information about newcomer Uzume Tennouboshi which ends up pulling your interest further in. And it builds upon that foundation very well. That's not to say the game doesn't have that signature Neptunia comedy™, on the contrary - there's plenty of it, and unlike future spinoff installments - it's still at a moderately tolerable level (aka it's not stupidly obnoxious like in VIIR). A decent upside to this game's story is that it's not alienating to newcomers at all, despite it being a sequel to Victory. The writers made it accessible to people who have never even played a Neptunia game, something its remake - VIIR - falls flat on its face on.
In terms of gameplay - it's a wonderful evolution of what worked in the previous entries (mk2 & Victory). Weapons in this game are actually more than just mere stat boosts as some of them even let you set up whole combos for extra damage. Believe it or not - that makes experimenting with different weapons interesting! As an example, a weapon could be statistically better than what you have right now, but in terms of combos - it could be set up for rushing your enemy or breaking their guard instead of outright offensive capabilities, so it could prove to be less effective. That's the kind of thing that I want because it encourages healthy experimentation and I love it!
Of course, not everything is perfect. At plenty of points in the game - the game feels very poorly balanced. Sometimes enemies are just made too strong for what you are supposed to do. Sure, it's a JRPG, meaning grinding is inherently part of the game's nature, but there are times where it's just straight up overkill. Case and point - the start of Blanc's story in the Hyper Dimension arc. I swear that part of the game was just never play-tested. You are far too low leveled to face the first boss and you're given no option to grind your level up. You really have to rely on dumb luck on that battle, and there's more where that came from.
I also personally think that the new overworld, while cute, is a step backwards from the way previous games (including Re;Birth games) did by making walking through the map far more slow and tedious, especially with random encounters on the overworld which are stupidly unnecessary and only further how slow it is to navigate from place to place in this game.
I could go on and on about this game, but you get the point. Overall, I do recommend VII as a purchase. If you've never played a Neptunia game - VII is a good starting point! It doesn't require knowledge of the previous games to jump in, and you can easily just go backwards to Re;Birth2 or something if you wanna experience the "canonical Neptunia story" from the very beginning.
I also think this version of the game is superior to VIIR in __every single way.__ The port is better and far more stable, the gameplay is better, you get multiple save slots, you have multiple endings (bad, Ascension [Normal] & Revival [True]) rather than being outright locked into 1 ending from the get-go and in a lot of areas - it just looks better despite the lower polygon count or texture resolution. If you had to choose between VII and VIIR - I'd choose VII.