Sequels often go one of two ways. Either they play it safe or change the gameplay formula significantly. Compile Heart decided to take a unique route with the sequel to the beloved Hyperdimension Neptunia by making the bold choice of changing the protagonist to Neptunia’s more responsible and mature younger sister, Nepgear – a brave move that paid off as the younger sisters of the CPUs have since become adored staple characters in the Neptuniaverse. Cubed3 takes a look at the PlayStation 4 remake of Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth2: Sisters Generation, which has finally been released on consoles in the West after 11 years, previously exclusive to PlayStation Vita and PC.
Reviewing pure ports of decade-old games is quite a wonderful experience; it feels like opening up a time capsule to the past. The case of Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth2: Sisters Generation is no different, as there is both a sense of nostalgia and an opportunity to explore the lesser-aged design choices and tropes of the time.
It’s no secret that this reviewer is a massive Compile Heart fangirl who has followed the company closely over the years, watching as it has evolved its long-running Neptunia franchise. This background makes returning to the past especially meaningful, yet it also gives an opportunity to see what still works in the 2020s, and what doesn’t.
While this nostalgia is hard to escape, as well as the wonderful memories this franchise has delivered, it is also important to take off the rose-tinted glasses and view the game with more critical eyes. Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth2: Sisters Generation is a brave sequel because Compile Heart decided to replace the previous beloved main cast with a new, younger generation of heroines. This significant change shifts the game’s tone and dynamics, as the more serious Nepgear and the younger sisters, Blanc and Noire, are now followed in this adventure. Rom and Ram are based on the Nintendo DS, and Uni is clearly inspired by the PlayStation Vita, on which this remake was originally released.
It is always a risk to change the protagonist, especially when they are a big part of what made the game fun in the first place. This shift alters many of the dynamics and comedy, which is a big deal since the key to the enjoyment of the Neptunia franchise has always rested in Compile Heart’s satirical comedy. The previous cast was vital in making that humour flow with their fourth wall-breaking commentary and industry references.
The switching of the cast here tones down the comedy, and it is amplified by the fact that the story aims to be slightly more serious. It starts off with the four goddesses being defeated by a new enemy. During their years of absence, a criminal organisation rises and begins spreading the evil of game piracy across the land of Gamindustry, as well as the word of Arfoire, the Deity of Sin. After these events, it is now up to Nepgear and the returning characters Compa and IF to save the day, rescue the CPUs, and restore Gamindustry to its former glory.
While the story is a bit darker, there is still room for some comedic moments. One of the most iconic ones, and a throwback to Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth1, is (spoilers): when they hold a concert with 5pb and follow it up with a spicy boyband that gets a full reception from the Bi-Fi, making the previously-wooed audience upset. As this occurs in Leanbox, a land known for punishing criminals with yaoi torture chambers, this crude joke caused quite a laugh.
The cast and tone are the primary changes in Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth2: Sisters Generation, although the gameplay will feel familiar to anyone who has played Re;Birth1. The two new elements are that there are now four active and four backup party members, rather than three of each. This is to ensure that the new, larger cast all get their spotlight on the battlefield to some degree, and to add deeper combat elements, as well as a new minigame called Stella’s ☆ Dungeon, which is a sort of auto battler that takes place in the background as the game is played.
Both of these new elements impact the game in their own separate way. Having four party members feels smooth and allows the player to focus more on status-boosting characters without reducing their damage output too much. It also gives more characters a place in the spotlight, which is appreciated, as the cast is quite beloved. Even with eight characters, it sometimes feels like some people are left out who one might have loved to have in the group. This is a true first-world problem, which really only highlights just how wonderful the characters in Sisters Generation are.
Stella’s ☆ Dungeon, on the other hand, makes the grinding feel less tedious by offering some sweet breaks. In this automatic background minigame, the player sends Stella out on a quest, which yields good old loot. This means that even during longer grinds, wonderful dopamine is being pumped into the player’s system.
This raises one “problem”, though: the game is already quite addictive…almost to the point that it might become an issue for people with more addiction-prone brains. Adding this system just makes it worse – and really, Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth2 is a massive game, especially if aiming for 100% and not rushing the experience. This is in part due to the fact that it has a lot more story than Re;Birth1, but it would be a lie to say that some of it isn’t due to addictive grinding.
Don’t get it wrong: grindy RPGs are fun and addictive for a reason. However, this game leans a bit too much towards the addictive side of things. It’s the kind of game one can sit down and start playing at five in the evening, and suddenly it is past midnight. A good thing to some, but can be quite a problem to others. As a reviewer, these kinds of games are great to play, since it isn’t a problem if work flies by quickly. For those who have to get up early to take on adult responsibilities that don’t involve playing JRPGs all day, it can be a problem, though. To avoid a sense of loss of time, it is recommended to set a timer to signal when it is time to stop playing, as otherwise the gaming session can easily run longer than anticipated.
There are some other nice changes from Re;Birth1. One is that there are more areas that are also far more detailed. An issue Re;Birth1 had was that many areas were reused quite liberally, and all of them were massively large fields. While this issue isn’t completely gone in Sisters Generation, it is better, and many maps make a nostalgic return. It might sound lazy to reuse maps from previous games, but there is an argument to be made that the opposite is true. While some years have passed since the first adventure, the game does, in fact, take place in the same world as before, and the geography does not change fundamentally during that period of time. While it might feel boring from a gameplay perspective, it makes sense from a geographical perspective. The problem is that the same map appears multiple times in the same game, making the geography feel artificial – less of an issue here than in Re;Birth1.
Instead, to extend gameplay, the player spends a lot of time revisiting old areas – a choice that raises mixed feelings. On one hand, it feels natural to revisit areas as it makes the story feel more organic. In addition, the fact that a lot of the bonus dungeons have been replaced by a system that changes enemies in existing dungeons also feels refreshing. On the other hand, backtracking happens a bit too frequently, sometimes feeling arbitrary and like pure padding.
As an example (spoilers), Nepgear and her crew fail to make it in time for the ship to Leanbox, giving the evildoers of ASIC time to wreak havoc before the late arrival of our heroines. Good, yeah, it makes sense given Nepgear’s personality and her whimsical crew of unlikely heroines. What makes it feel less good, though, is that to progress, there is a need to complete three arbitrary quests to get ship parts, which – surprise, surprise – requires backtracking into previous dungeons to grind against what are, at this point, underleveled enemies.
It is such blatant, obvious padding that it really does not add much to the game. It isn’t even needed with Re;Birth2‘s 50-plus hours gameplay. Especially if players choose to make it longer by doing all the quests and exploring all the side content. This is not a game that needs this sort of padding to feel like a title worth paying full price for. Actually, scratch that, no game needs this level of padding to feel like a full-price game.
It feels like a relic of its time, when games justified themselves with long playtimes – a trend that, sadly, has resurfaced. It is interesting to see how this trend cycles in tune with the economy. When the economy is poor, developers scrape to make sure their games last as long as possible, while a strong economy means more games are given leeway to be shorter. This reviewer digresses, though. This isn’t an economics-based choice in the Neptunia franchise, but a hallmark of Compile Heart’s design philosophy, for better or worse – and sometimes, during Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth2, this philosophy shows the uglier side of itself.
What is really an upgrade, though, is the amount of story content and dialogue compared to its predecessor. There are also many more story sequences and small, hilarious Chirper events that follow characters who are obviously based on famous game characters and stereotypes. One of the most hilarious ones is the green-clothed gentleman named Player 2, brother of the more famous red-clad Maryo.
Another thing that has been added quite heavily in Sisters Generation and later titles that kept building on it is the very strong yuri-baiting/lesbian undertones in the characters. This was present in Re;Birth1 as well, but in this title, the lilies really started to bloom. There are plenty of romantic suggestions between the girls. One of the most obvious is RED and, well, every single woman she encounters, with her referring to almost everyone as her wifey candidates.
Early on, there is also quite a cute kissing scene between Nepgear and IF, which is rather beautiful, yet, sadly, joked away just seconds later. An understandable move both due to the culture back in the 2010s where women were allowed to be affectionate with one another, but not straight up gay as that would make it harder for the presumed male audience to self-insert themselves onto the ship, yet also a thing for the comedic parody genre where things have to return to a status quo without too much character growth at the end to tell a new story from scratch, and also to avoid shipping wars. It is still bittersweet to see these romantic moments and know they can’t go anywhere, though.
This probably sums up how it feels to play Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth2: Sisters Generation. It is, for better and worse, a product of its time. Some modern quality of life features, like autosaving, are lacking, which feels a little ironic, as the characters in the Chirper events quite often remind of the value of saving frequently. The story also feels a little aged, and some of the jokes are outdated. In the context they existed in, they worked and were hilarious, like the aforementioned concert joke. However, it is easy to tell this was a game from the 2010s. Just like opening a time capsule, there are some aspects that are fond nostalgic memories, some that one feels weirded out by, and for those who weren’t around at the time, some that might not be understood at all.
All in all, though, the nostalgia will win out for those who were there, and Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth2: Sisters Generation will leave long-time fans with a nostalgic smile on their faces. It is a good game to experience once to understand the evolution of not just the Neptunia franchise, but also the otaku culture of the time.
