Hyperdimension Neptunia

[dsheinem]

Both of these games have been absolutely hammered in reviews (the Metacritic scores are horrible) and even places like RPGFan have been harsh (they give the new one 60%). I read the recent review on noise's site, I've followed these threads and asked some questions here and there, but I cannot in the least understand the appeal of the games. The horrible reviews are a giant red flag, and there hasn't been anything written in defense of the game other than basically "you'll know if you are the target demographic or not". Very off-putting.

[noiseredux]

to me the appeal is the allegory. I just think the whole Consoles and Publishers as characters in a JRPG and the sort of over-the-top satire of JRPG's in general is unique and fun. It kind of makes them stand out as sort of something silly that I can play in contrast to a more serious RPG. But I mean, if you hate JRPG tropes then you'll probably hate these games as they use them to sort of poke fun at themselves.

[ZenErik]

The poor reviews for the original are not surprising. It was very similar to Trinity Universe and Cross Edge with the gameplay. And not in a good way. The characters and story are enjoyable. mk2 has gotten higher marks from most reviewers. And it definitely deserves it. But there is something that really holds it down with Western reviewers...

Something important to note about these two games that really makes it niche is that it's all cute stereotypical moe blob anime girls. That is extremely off putting for a lot of people. Especially those that are not fans of anime.

The series is bound to never get great reviews in the west with this cast of characters. Never. Ever.

Edit: By the way, if I haven't already mentioned it, I would really love prequels featuring consoles from previous generations.

[Opa Opa]

"you'll know if you are the target demographic or not". Very off-putting.

The bolded part: That pretty much sums it up.

I actually liked the story, characters, the humorous dialog but the combat system was atrocious.

I might check out mk2 when it gets cheaper... the battle system is supposed to be improved.

[noiseredux]

I actually liked the story, characters, the humorous dialog but the combat system was atrocious.

I might check out mk2 when it gets cheaper... the battle system is supposed to be improved.

the battle system in 2 is greatly improved. First off, no more "lucky auto healing." And now you move your characters during battle (kind of like an ARPG) but you still use turn-based moves. Moving them gets you to target on one or more enemy depending on attack, or one or more of your party members if you're healing, etc. It makes the battles far more exciting and brings in more strategy than in the first game.

[ZenErik]

And the skip button still works. Something every RPG needs.

[MrPopo]

Yeah, I've found the combat system to be quite easy to pick up but still has some depth to it. Positioning is important due to how skills can multi hit, and you have interesting choices with regards to hoarding/spending your AP. Cross Edge finally got halfway decent once I got to a higher level and spent more time learning about and unlocking the combos, but even then most of the boss fights came down to storing AP and launching a ton of combos and getting back AP from landing things so you can kill the boss in one or two turns. You know, similar to high level Disgaea play.

I think your enjoyment of mk2 is going to directly correspond to how much you like or hate the standard moe blob archetypes.

[dsheinem]

I think your enjoyment of mk2 is going to directly correspond to how much you like or hate the standard moe blob archetypes.

So maybe the better question is: what is a "moe blob" and why would anyone like such a thing?

[SirPsycho]

So maybe the better question is: what is a "moe blob" and why would anyone like such a thing?

You asked for it.

[ZenErik]

uguu