The remake of Hyperdimension Neptunia‘s third entry takes what made it into a long-running franchise and gives it a coat of paint, making it smoother and more portable friendly. As the port arrives on PlayStation 4, console players finally get to enjoy this remake of the game that established so much of the Neptunia lore for dozens of titles that followed. The question is, does it hold up the energy from the previous entries? Read on as Cubed3 travels across dimensions to find out if Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth3: V Generation has aged as well as the best games of the era it depicts.
It feels funny to write this review of a rerelease of a remake of a game that depicts a parody of an era that, at the point of its release, was as old as this game is now. It creates quite an interesting sense of nostalgia to read the wonderfully crafted and fun jokes about the game industry of old. Funnily enough, too, focusing on the old makes the humour of Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth3 in general age better than many of the other titles.
The Neptunia franchise is built on internal humour in the video game community, and, generally speaking, it is sometimes quite topical and time-sensitive—a product of its era. Some references age well, remaining in the collective memory of the gaming community, while others are impossible to find if one wasn’t there. For long-time gamers like yours truly, this is rarely an issue, but for a general audience, it means most Neptunia games present more question marks than laughs.
Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth3: V Generation does not suffer from this issue as much as other games. The references and humour here serve as a moe-ified history book of video game history. References to things such as Blanc’s extreme isolationist mindset and harsh policies backed by out-of-touch suits, or the birth of a new CPU from a faraway continent with bulky, quite massive hardware, are things most people can laugh about to this day. However, there are still those deep cuts in there for those really into retro culture.
One of these deep cuts is the likely reason, besides the yuri moments it provides, for co-protagonist Plutia’s CPU form, Iris Heart, having quite an interesting personality. Namely, the Japanese Saturn library back in the 90s, which had some titles that, to this day, would never be licensed for video game consoles.
On that topic, another very important difference between Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth3 and older entries is the co-protagonist Plutia. At this point in the franchise, it was very common to change up the protagonists, with the first game featuring the very meta-aware Neptune as the sole protagonist, and the second featuring the more down-to-earth, typically competent heroine Nepgear. The removal of Neptune as the protagonist was controversial, so this time they kept her as a protagonist, with Plutia as the co-protagonist.
She is quite an interesting figure in the title and in the Neptunia-verse in general. While in her normal form, Plutia is a sleepy doll-making, doting girl with some playfully sadistic tendencies, in her CPU form, she is a full-blown sadistic domina who does not understand what “red” means. While to the right audience she is a very entertaining addition, it would be a lie to say she is without her controversies. Some people really can’t stand her, and for quite justifiable reasons.
The most glaring example is one scene where she performs a sadomasochistic act so extreme that the game provided a “technical error” scene to protect innocent gamers from seeing it against one of the main antagonists. The problem? Well, she did so while saving a child, and the child didn’t get a fourth-wall-breaking “technical error” screen to shield her eyes.
Besides that moment, Re;Birth3 has a lot of crude 2010s BDSM moments. While it is fun for a certain subset of the audience, this insane reviewer included, the 2010s BDSM depiction in media was not exactly the best. For a franchise that, while heavy on fanservice with a bondage theme, was never that big on straight-up sadomasochism, it gives a bit of tonal dissonance from previous entries, which is doomed to, in itself, cause controversy within an established franchise.
For its time, though, given that the only big media depiction of BDSM that was out at the time was the dreadful book series Fifty Shades, it was actually a slight step forward. While Iris Heart is not perfectly depicted, at the end of the day, it is quite obvious that she actually has her friend’s best interest in mind. There are even great scenes where her skills as a domina help people heal mentally, which feels mind-blowing to see in media from the 2010s.
Overall, though, these tonal differences and the additional co-protagonist do add some fresh air to the franchise, without removing what many come for: Neptunia. The same fourth-wall-breaking humour players have grown to love the franchise for is kept intact and stronger than ever here.
While the story did take a brave turn for its time, even if only as an excuse to add more titillating yuri fanservice, the rest of the game is the same as always.
The gameplay loop is still the same as in the other Re;Birth titles. However, the main story is far longer this time around. There are a lot of main quest dungeons, and quite a few side dungeons. In general, this is a good thing. However, while Re;Birth2 had fewer dungeons but very few straight-up repeating ones, Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth3 dials the boring repeats from the first Re;Birth game up to eleven.
So many of the dungeons have identical layouts, down to the placement of treasure and gathering points, that it feels like revisiting a previous dungeon. It makes the game feel padded. To be fair, this can be attributed to the main quest itself being quite long and wordy. If there weren’t this many dungeons, an argument could be made that Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth3 is a visual novel rather than a JRPG. While that would not be damning today, back when the original was released, it would have been horrible from a marketing perspective – and while there feels like a need to remove some dungeons, pretty much all of the main dialogue is comedic and characterising gold that would be difficult to cut without removing too much value.
To keep up with the theme of repetition, the combat also runs on an almost identical system with the same moves and even gear as the earlier Re;Birth games. While keeping what works is generally a good thing, the lack of new gear is concerning. The two big changes are quite interesting, though. The biggest change that is truly appreciated is the removal of the EXE gauge. Instead, EXE moves are tied to the SP bar. It makes SP a universal resource used for more than just healing and buffing, encouraging players to keep track of it across all characters. Sadly, it is not enough to make progressing and levelling up feel interesting for those who have played earlier games in the Re;Birth series.
It feels sloppy, as it would not be too difficult to change a couple of movesets or replace gear with similar gear with different names and models. The lack of change harms the otherwise fun yet simple combat system. Still, the combat remains remarkably enjoyable. It’s not just the funny, meme-worthy story and yuri fanservice that have kept the Neptunia franchise going for so long.
Overall, repetition aside, Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth3: V Generation mostly feels like an upgrade compared to earlier titles in the franchise. However, there is one massive problem with it. The crashes so prevalent in Re;Birth1, which were absent in the sequel, are regrettably back. This time, sometimes one does not get a warning, like the non-moving models, that the game is about to crash. Therefore, players are less likely to save before it, making it even more annoying than in the first game.
It is, together with the repetitive dungeon designs, two huge marks against what would otherwise easily have been among the best the Neptunia franchise has to offer. Sadly, the good humour and entertaining references do not quite save this port enough to make it a strong recommendation for series fans. On the surface, Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth3 is a wonderful title. It is easy to fall in love with it, especially if one appreciates the BDSM fanservice Iris Heart provides. Still, towards the end of the game, the repetitive dungeon design and game crashes can grow weary.
Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth3: V Generation is therefore a game best served in small portions. This goes against the norm in the JRPG genre, which often benefits from playing them through without any other games in between, as it can require relearning systems or getting out of touch with the story. However, the easy combat and whimsical story make it easy to pick up and play after a break. Sadly, frequent game crashes and its repetitive nature make it easy to put down in the first place.
