Some people will remember my review of Hyperdimension Neptunia from a year and a half ago.

This one right here.

Some people will also remember I actually promised to review the sequel, Mk2. Unfortunately, I had to delay that plan for quite a while. But I'm finally ready to deliver on that promise.

Hyperdimension Neptunia Mk2 is the sequel to the original game in the series. Just like the first, it follows the tales of a purple haired girl in Gamindustri. However, unlike the first game, it follows her younger sister.

Many things have changed from the first game (thankfully) and hopefully the better score reflects that.

Graphics - 6

However, first, we must start with the bad, before we get to the good. Hyperdimension Neptunia Mk2 has a flaw that I couldn't help but ignore. The 3D representation of Gamindustri is awful. I could excuse it in the first game, because of it being a low budget title. Mk2 had a higher budget, and while they did add some new backgrounds and a few new character designs, they are rather unpolished, and the series still looks like it is trapped in the PS2 era. They are better than the first game's naturally, however, the rest of the gaming world has advanced tremendously inbetween sequels. This series... has not. Graphically, I can't imagine the Neptunia series being anything but poor.

But moving on from the generalizations, I was impressed by the new character models that were added, and how the running animation seemed to be redone. It's a small victory, but one I appreciated. Nepgear's character model, understandably, is the most well done, and this shouldn't be at all surprising, considering she is the lead character in this game.

The risque, and "mature" still shots you can access in the photo album are high in quality, however, I can't imagine too many people will actually go back to look unless they are truly perverted. Also of note, the anime cutscenes I liked in the first game have more or less been done better than expected in the second.

It all makes me come back to the gameplay graphics and wonder why they couldn't put a bit more effort into that.

Sound - 7

I'll give credit where credit is due, the soundtrack for Mk2 is indeed better than I had initially expected, from both a JRPG, and a game in the Neptunia series. It's nothing the casual fan will really note, and in fact, many will say that the game retains a bland and repetitive battle theme, and consistently mediocre auditory soundtrack in the field. They would be mostly correct, however, when comparing this to other JRPGs, and this series, it doesn't stick out for mediocrity, but rather for inventiveness. They turned what was one of the biggest flaws of the previous game into a non issue.

The soundtrack may not be great, but it wasn't jaw droppingly horrible, and if nothing else, I value improvement. So maybe the score sounds generous at the moment.

However, what really gives this game solid points here is the voice acting. It retains the Japanese VA option, if you are into that, but even in English, the dialogue has undergone a massive improvement. I felt like the characters showed their voices more, even for somewhat irrelevant scenes. While the voices themselves were nothing special (Uni's was annoying at first, and I did cringe at Nepgear's at first too), they did have an endearing aspect to them, which made any annoyances disappear. By the end of the game, the character's voices didn't seem out of place or wrong.

Ultimately, compared to the first installment, I was very impressed by the forward progress, even if it only gave them a chance to be an "average" game.

Addictiveness - 8

This was the hardest thing about the game to rate, at least personally. Because, mostly, I looked back at my old review of the original game in the series, and questioned why I gave it such a high score for being so mediocre. Honestly, if I were to rate the first game now, I'd give it a 5, but that's neither here nor there. I never change past work.

When I compare the two games, they are world's apart in this category. Whereas Neptunia got repetitive really quickly, Mk2 mostly kept me interested from start to finish, there were a few times I lost interest (near the end, mostly because the game can drag on, like games from IF/Compile Heart/NIS tend to) and had to take a break.

The reason the game is so fun in comparison, is mostly the result of a completely redone battle system. In the first, you just chose an attack and you did it. Now attacks have range, and you have to move within range to do certain attacks. Different weapons have different base ranges, different enemies and bosses have different attack ranges. It adds a whole new level of complexity to a game that really needed it.

Also, random battles are removed. One of my gripes about the first game is that every 3 steps a battle would take place. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem, but Neptune moved barely anywhere with each step, so it took much longer to clear a dungeon than it should have. Mk2 gets rid of this problem by having the enemies walk in the field. You can choose to ignore them, or attack them and get a pre-emptive striking bonus. Of course, enemies can do the same if they sneak up on you. This results in a faster pace of game at times, and allows you to slow it down on command.

Also added is the Lily Rank System. The Lily Rank System is best described as the "Friendship Level" between Nepgear and other characters. This allows you to make certain items, access certain events, and even alter the final ending of the game (because there are a lot of endings). It also has an effect on abilities in battle, though this is less pronounced, and by the time you can access those abilities, you'll have far stronger attacks.

There are other ways the gameplay has been improved, but it wouldn't do well to ramble. The point is that everything Neptunia does on a gameplay standpoint, Mk2 does much much better.

Depth - 7

This is another aspect where I curse my past score of the original, as it isn't a fair indicator of how much better Mk2 does what it does. The original had one flaw, and that was the lack of replay value. Nowadays, I'd give it a 3, for lacking anything of value besides the ability to level up to an arbirtrary number, that is long past the point of killing everything in one shot.

Mk2 adds a fair deal to do, in powerleveling dungeons, which are fun the first time, and never again after. Also included are "somewhat" secret characters, alongside the downloadable ones, 8 different endings, and various small side skits that don't affect the story at all, and are only attainable through the Lily Rank system.

It's not much, no, and it doesn't offer a ton of replay value, as once you've attained the platinum trophy (like I have), you've accomplished pretty much everything.

However, it's a step forward, and that's all the series needs.

Story - 7

Once again, I find myself wondering what I was thinking before. Hyperdimension Neptunia's story is quirky and interesting, but not that great. I gave the original a 9. Nowadays, it would deserve a 6. However, I have no misconceptions about Mk2.

The story mostly follows Nepgear, who is Neptune's (the first game's protagonist) little sister. The same sister who wasn't mentioned at all in the first game. The game opens with Neptune and the CPUs from the first game in a hopeless battle against one of the villains of the game, CFW Magic. They are easily overwhelmed, and captured. Three years pass, and the two humans from the first game, IF and Compa come to the rescue of the CPUs. Or try to. They only manage to save Nepgear, and have to leave the others behind.

The situation appears most hopeless. Your goal is to build another sharicite (which was used to free you) and save your sister, and the other CPUs. You do this in typical JRPG fashion, by beating crap up, and fulfilling random missions. As you go, you will meet such lively characters as Black Sister (Uni), the two White Sisters (Rom and Ram), and the oracles of each country, who are essentially running things now that the CPUs are gone.

Throughout all this, you meet an eccentric cast of villains, from ASIC (Arfoire Syndicate of International Crime). These include the villain from the start of the game, CFW Magic, and a rat named Pirachu. From start to finish, the sheer bulk of characters makes the story more interesting than the previous games' by a large margin.

Difficulty - 2

The game is harder than the first, but not by much, and the only time you will die is if you attack a stupidly powerful creature when you aren't ready (they are incredibly obvious too, so you aren't likely to just wander into them).

Regardless, the average RPG isn't hard, and neither is this.

-----

GRADING FOR HYPERDIMENSION NEPTUNIA MK2
Graphics - 10% (10% of 6 is .6)
Sound - 10% (10% of 7 is .7)
Addictiveness - 35% (35% of 8 is 2.8)
Depth - 20% (20% of 7 is 1.4)
Story - 25% (25% of 7 is 1.75)
Difficulty - 0% (0% of 2 is 0)
Total - 7.25

I'm not going to give out bonus points however, because quite frankly, RPGs rarely deserve it. This is a low budget title (though not as low budget as the first), and while they have it harder, a game like this shouldn't have any bugs. It's expected at this point from RPGs with turn based battle systems.

Before I do my final remarks however, I want to take the original, and see how it would grade out, with my updated scores.

GRADING FOR HYPERDIMENSION NEPTUNIA (redo)
Graphics - 10% (10% of 6 is .6)
Sound - 10% (10% of 6 is .6)
Addictiveness - 35% (35% of 5 is 1.75)
Depth - 20% (20% of 3 is .6)
Story - 25% (25% of 6 is 1.5)
Difficulty - 0% (0% of 1 is 0)
Total - 5.05

Overall - 7.25

As expected, Mk2 is a far superior game to the original, once I scale my original review back (because I didn't understand what I was apparently doing back then).

Overall, Mk2, when judged on its own merits is a fairly average game, and there's nothing bad with being average. For a game that is also a PS3 exclusive (until it is remade for the Vita ) this is a solid score to acquire.

Needless to say, I would recommend this to anyone who fancies themselves a fan of anime, video game culture, and doesn't mind the somewhat mature themes the game can occasionally bring up. I would recommend a price point of 25 dollars or so.

Also, yes, I will eventually review Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory. I have played and beaten it, but I wish to platinum it before writing about it.

Great review Leggy. It was informative, but definitely not dry or boring. I enjoyed reading it. Very well done. And since it is a PS3 game, I can feature it for you. You definitely deserve it. Keep up the great work.

Nice job leggy, I think it really came out great man, it was nice and lengthy but it was still interesting at the same time. Some people tend to drag on with their reviews and then it becomes boring. However yours was awesome all the way through. You have some really great detail and you also broke it down and categorized it quite nicely as well. No wonder you got the reviewer position! Keep up the great work man and keep making these excellent reviews!