Megadimension Neptunia VII is the fourth game in the Hyperdimension Neptunia series. New systems and approaches are combined with tried-and-true, traditional Neptunia staples to create a product that complements its already-extensive catalog of titles.

For the uninitiated, the plot of Megadimension Neptunia VII divides its story into three parts, Zerodimension Neptunia Z: Twilight of the Desperate CPU, Hyperdimension Neptunia G: The Golden Leaders Reconstructors of Gamindustri, and lastly, Heartdimension Neptunia H: Trilogy Finale: Into Legend. While I would have preferred a single story experience, the overall story is pretty epic in scope. People with an extensive knowledge of the video game industry and for those who are familiar with the series, will get the most enjoyment out of it. Outside of the main CPU cast, veteran players will also enjoy seeing some of their favorite characters such as Nepgear, Uni, Rom, Ram, Iffy and Compa. The entire cast of core characters, as well as various antagonists and a majority of the NPCs you meet, come packing with great voice acting.

Nonetheless, Neptunia VII will begin relentlessly putting its claws into you as soon as you start exploring its combat. For veterans of the franchise, Neptunia VII will have a familiarity that welcomes you into the experience with its zany, action-packed combat. Each character has a litany of special skills and combos that can be unleashed in battle. New to the series, players will no longer have to manage their combo points. Now each weapon comes with a limited number of slots that allow you to slot unlocked moves. You have three different types of attack to utilize: standard, rush, and power. The guard and break meter attacks are gone in place of a new “Parts Break” system. Specific enemies, usually boss characters, have certain pieces of equipment, a cape for example, that will protect them. These parts can be broken to uncover their weak point. This enables the player to do higher damage and rewards them with more experience, items, and credits. EXE Drives are now more like a consumable resource and will no longer carry over from the previous battle. Whenever a CPU transforms into their HDD form, one EXE bar and some Shares are spent instead of SP like in previous titles. Another feature new to the series is “NEXT mode,” which gives CPUs a second transformation on top of the HDD form that features new special skills and a new costume.

Since the game is nearly identical to its original PS4 release, both the story and mechanics are completely unchanged. One thing to note is that this is a port of the PS4 game and the graphical fidelity is much higher quality with dynamic lighting, particle effects, and character models. One more thing to note, players may want to pick up a game pad since the PC controls can be a bit difficult to figure out on a keyboard. Overall the game ran at a silky smooth 60 FPS during combat and normal gameplay; however, during cutscenes when the characters entered the scene or the camera panned around, the frame rate would drop slightly, but this did not ruin the gameplay experience. The 3D movies also ran flawless as well.

There are a lot of reasons to keep playing, too. Megadimension Neptunia VII took me 33 hours to complete, but I could have very easily tacked on 20-30 more hours if I went back to complete all the guild quests, competed in the in-game coliseum, earned all of the in-game titles and Steam achievements, or spent time unlocking all the post-game dungeons. Considering there are also multiple endings, it also means that my time with the game – and the possibilities of what I could accomplish in 60+ hours – could very well be multiplied by two. The Neptunia series has a long history, and it’s clear that Compile Heart has put a great amount of work into creating it’s best Neptunia game yet. While it may not be perfect, this is still a welcome addition to the PC platform that many JRPG or Neptunia fans will want to check out.

Pros:

- Fun Combat
- Charming Characters
- Anime CG Art

Cons:
- Confusing Keyboard Controls

Review copy courtesy of Idea Factory