Neptunia Franchise

[REAPER4536]

I am a little bit confused about this franchise why does this franchise has so many different name. And how many games does it have ( In general and with trophy support)

There is Cyberdimension, Hyperdimension Superdimsenion and maybe more different names for the same franchise. And a Wiki article said that some are just remakes of the original ones so I got totally lost there but I'd like to know in what order I have to play them.

[Dragon-Archon]

5 minutes ago, REAPER4536 said:

I am a little bit confused about this franchise why does this franchise has so many different name. And how many games does it have ( In general and with trophy support)

There is Cyberdimension, Hyperdimension Superdimsenion and maybe more different names for the same franchise. And a Wiki article said that some are just remakes of the original ones so I got totally lost there but I'd like to know in what order I have to play them.

Original trilogy is Hyperdimension Neptunia -> HDN mk2 -> HDN Victory. These were remade for the vita as HDN Re;Birth1, Re;Birth2, and Re;Birth3. Megadimension Neptunia VII is a sequel to Victory. AFAIK these are the main games. Then there are spin-offs, these usually parody other games/anime and have different gameplay styles or even focus on other main characters from the series. These games are:

• Hyperdimension Neptunia U Action Unleashed (hack 'n slash)
• Hyperdimension Neptunia PP (rhythm game)
• Superdimension Neptune VS Sega Hard Girls
• Hyperdevotion Noire: Goddess Black Heart -> a game centered around Noire
• MegaTagmension Blanc + Neptune VS Zombies -> a game centered around Blanc
• Cyberdimension Neptunia: 4 Goddesses Online -> a game centered around Vert

I could be wrong about some things, so it's best to call in some hardcore fans, such as @xZoneHunter or @Walt the Dog.

[Xillia]

Hyperimension Neptunia, Hyperimension Neptunia mk2, Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory and Megardimention Neptunia VII are the main games, in that order.

 

The ones with Re;birth in the names are remakes of the first three.

 

The rest are spin offs.

Edited July 16, 2018 by Xillia

[AlchemistWer]

If you are interested in Neptunia games maybe this can help you:

 

Main games:

- Hyperdimension Neptunia    PS3    -   (remake: Hyperdimension neptunia Re;Birth 1, vita)

- Hyperdimension Neptunia MK2 PS3  -  (remake: Hyperdimension neptunia Re;Birth 2, vita)

- Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory  PS3 - (remake: Hyperdimension neptunia Re;Birth 3, vita)

- Megadimension Neptunia VII PS4   - (Also the last one is the Neptunia VR, the same game but with VR support)

 

Now the sidegames are the rest:

 

- Cyberdimension Neptunia

- Megatagmension

- Neptunia U

- Perfect production

- Neptunia vs sega grils

[Taliesin_2943]

Hyperdimension is main universe the rest are alternate universes

[AndresLionheart]

You may want to gives this video a watch if you are interested in this franchise:

 

 

It helped me find out that I don't want to play any of them except maybe for 4 Goddesses Online.

[Caju_94]

I bought Neptunia Rebirth 1 and Megadimension Neptunia VII (didn't know Megadimension was the fourth main game, but the sale was quite good).

 

Despite that, when should I start the sidegames? Can I play them after Rebirth 1, or later?

[Gretchen27]

The Project Platinum for Hyperdimension has the games listed out by original, remake, spin-off, & PS4 (plus you can click on them to reach the trophy set quickly). My first introduction to the series was Re;birth 1 & I'd highly recommend it if you have a vita. If you play any in the main series & they end up not being your thing, still give the spin-offs a try. As Dragon-Archon listed, their gameplay elements are different from the main games & may prove more to your liking. 

 

 

@Caju_94 Play the spin-offs whenever you like. As long as you've played one game in the main series I think knowing the characters is enough to enjoy them. 

[Satoshi Ookami]

4 hours ago, REAPER4536 said:

There is Cyberdimension, Hyperdimension Superdimsenion and maybe more different names for the same franchise.

Because Iffy likes to play with names (very often, it's a bad idea...)

Anything that isn't a Hyperdimension is a newer one and should not be played first.

[Katt]

Everything is in the front page of this wiki. Check every game page for detail, it's not much reading but if you want to know more about the games, do it.

http://neptunia.wikia.com/wiki/Hyperdimension_Neptunia_Wiki

 

If you want to know why the games have these weird "dimension" names, check this page:

http://neptunia.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Worlds

[Walt the Dog]

Before I post, let me clarify that this game series is really not that heavy on story, so while some games are continuations of others, there really isn't any real reason to go in order of story unless you want to really understand a lot of the in-jokes in the game. The actual plots of the games are easily comprehended regardless of how much or how little of the series you've played as the series does a decent enough job of introducing the main cast in each game so that newcomers won't be too lost.

 

Also, they all have trophy support.

 

As far as the main games, here they are in order of release:

 

Hyperdimension Neptunia (PS3): Story-wise, this game is completely separate from the rest of the franchise, so you do not have to play it to understand the story of the series at all, though some rudimentary knowledge of the game may help with understanding later in-jokes, though not to a great degree that it's necessary to play it. Gameplay-wise, the game is considered to be horrid, so it is recommended to skip the game.

 

Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2 (PS3): This game acts as a reboot for the franchise after the dead end that the first game's True End placed the story in. It also represents a shift in the gameplay towards a sort of prototype version of what the battle system would be like from now on, introducing the concept of the free-movement battle system that every main game in the series so far uses today, though with several flaws that would be ironed out in later installments. This game is interesting just as a look into how the series really began, though I highly recommend just playing Re;Birth2 instead as it shares the same story (I'll get to that later).

 

Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory (PS3): Story-wise, this game is a continuation of mk2, though for the most part, it takes place in an entire new dimension. The story is also considered the worst in the main series, mainly due to the sadistic nature of one of the new characters, Iris Heart, as well as the script being very mean-spirited to begin with, particularly towards Nepgear (as a result of backlash against her due to her being considered a bland protagonist in mk2 along with the controversy over her role in mk2's Bad ending). Gameplay-wise, this game continues on what mk2 has done and effectively sets the tone for how the battle system would work up until VII revamped the battle system entirely outside of the free-movement. It is also known for being one of the most grind-heavy games in the series due to its increased difficulty compared to previous games in the series. That said, it is still not without its flaws and if you want to play the game, it is recommended that you just play Re;Birth3 instead.

 

Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth1 (Vita/PC/PS4): This is a remake of the first game on PS3, though in addition to switching over to Victory's battle system, it also rewrites the plot. Like the first game, this game also has no connection to the main series, though it is worth playing just because it acts as a good introduction to the characters of the series and it's one of the better games in the series from a gameplay perspective. As a note, the PS4 release, Re;Birth1+, is currently exclusive to Japan with no current localization announcements for anywhere, not even Korea which usually gets these announcements before the JP release.

 

Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth2 (Vita/PC): This is a remake of mk2, though unlike Re;Birth1, which rewrote the story of its basis, Re;Birth2 just keeps the same story that mk2 had, only replacing a couple of minor characters that Compile Heart had lost the licensing to since mk2, adding a couple new CGs, and adding a new ending that acts as a happier spinoff to mk2's Bad Ending. Gameplay-wise, this game is more of the same coming from Re;Birth1, with the only notable differences being a switch back to a four-person party from Re;Birth1's party of three and the addition of a new minigame, Stella's Dungeon, which is basically a bad idle game that takes a long time and practically exists to sell a DLC that halves the time that said game takes and reduces the frustration overall. If you have played mk2, this is honestly not worth playing as you'd get a better gameplay experience from Re;Birth1, though given what it's built on, Re;Birth2 is still a better alternative to mk2 proper.

 

Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth3 (Vita/PC): As you can guess, this is a remake of Victory, and like Re;Birth2, this game just rehashes the story from Victory, only adding a little subplot about mobile games for the prologue and post-game. Gameplay-wise though, the game actually makes a couple of changes to the formula seeing as how the previous two Re;Birth games were already based on Victory's battle system. The main change is that aside from a different UI, all skills are now attached to a character's SP bar rather than having the SP bars and an additional shared EXE bar. While this makes it easier to unleash a slew of EXE attacks at once, they also diminish a full SP gauge (all 1000 SP) per use, so by the time you can get strategies to abuse them readily, you'll be towards the end of the game anyway.

 

Hyperdimension Neptunia VII (PS4/PC): After years of spinoffs and remakes (all on Vita, of course), this game marks the series' return to consoles and a continuation of mk2 and Victory. It also represents a major shift in the gameplay of the series, revamping the battle system in much the same way that V revamped mk2's. In particular, weapons now have limits on the attacks that can assigned to them, making your choice of weapon dependent more on the attack slots that it gives you rather than its raw power. In addition, skills and EXE Drives were greatly nerfed in this game to the point where a series of five power attacks can easily outdamage skills while being much easier to pull off. It is generally considered the highlight of the series, combining good gameplay with one of the best stories in the series. There is also a chance that this particular game may have an impact on the series going forward, so if nothing else, you should play this or its remake, VIIR, for that alone.

 

Hyperdimension Neptunia VIIR (PS4): This is a remake of VII, but with added VR scenes (the main game does not use VR, all VR scenes can alternatively be viewed without VR, and the plat as a whole does not require VR at all, so lacking VR will not cut you out of any content). The story is the same as in VII, albeit with the normal and bad ends being cut (this makes it the first and only main game to have only one ending) and the addition of a few VR scenes between moments in the story. Gameplay-wise, this game marks yet another massive change to the battle system, adding several features as well as rebalancing the combat so that skills are once again supreme. As a drawback, the game has auto-regen features for skills between set regeneration between turns as well as a full heal after every battle so that the combo skills become utterly useless and you are better off just skill spamming. It is also a fair bit easier than any other game in the series, with no missables, autosave after doing almost anything (even dying just boots you to the beginning of the dungeon), and the aforementioned full heal after every battle. That said, it is still a great game in its own right and gives fans another option to experience VII.

 

As far as the spinoffs, none of them are actually relevant to the main story and you can play them however you wish, though it is recomended that you play at least one game in the series beforehand just to get used to the characters as this is a major part of the appeal for the games.

 

Pre-VII Spinoffs (Playing mk2/R;B2 or V/R;B3 is recommended beforehand)

• Neptunia PP (Vita) (Mediocre Idol Sim game that is basically a glorified visual novel)
• Hyperdevotion Noire (Vita/PC) (SRPG spinoff that has a self-insert protagonist and centers around Noire; it is generally considered horrible and unless you like SRPGs, you are better off avoiding it like the plague, especially given the plat grind is effectively the worst in the series)
• Hyperdimension Neptunia U (Vita/PC) (Action spinoff with clothing destruction, courtesy of the makers of Senran Kagura; not too horrid, though it can get boring quickly and the plat grind is suffering)

Post-VII Spinoffs (playing VII/VIIR is recommended beforehand)

• Megatagmension Blanc + Neptune Vs. Zombies (Same idea as U, but sans clothing destruction and the stages are far more bite-sized; the campaign is horribly short as the main focus is the multiplayer, though that can easily be done solo with ad-hoc)
• Superdimension Neptune Vs SEGA Hard Girls (Vita/PC) (a crossover RPG with the Sega Hard Girls franchise; adds basic parkour elements to the Re;Birth series and has a new battle system as well as a class system)
• Cyberdimension Neptunia (PS4/PC) (an action-RPG from the same developer as U and Blanc Vs Zombies, though it has a much greater emphasis on blocking and dodging than its predecessors; it generally plays far better than the studio's previous two efforts)
• Brave Neptunia/Super Neptunia RPG (PS4/Switch) (Upcoming 2D sidescrolling RPG that takes inspiration from the likes of Valkyrie Profile; first game in the series developed outside of Japan, being made by Canadian developers Artisan Studios)

Edited July 17, 2018 by Walt the Dog

[DoctorGameGeek]

The franchise is way bigger than I thought!

 

So, for the $64 million question, would you recommend the Hyperdimension games for an RPG fan?  Why or why not?  

[DrZero_1983]

I can only say that I'm glad I've never skipped a game in this series, not even the first one that everyone despises, and that I have very precious memories of each one of them that I would never exchange for anything in the world, so I highly recommend to do the same! ?

[Jelloycat]

1 hour ago, DoctorGameGeek said:

The franchise is way bigger than I thought!

 

So, for the $64 million question, would you recommend the Hyperdimension games for an RPG fan?  Why or why not?  

 

They're definitely worth a try. The main games have improved their combat a lot since the very first game, and overall they're really fun games. They don't take themselves too seriously, so if you're looking for a more relaxed and silly story then they're great. The games have a lot of charming characters as well. (Noire )

The spin-offs can be fun as well because they try out some other gaming styles. (Ie- the main games are a turn-based RPG, but you have spin-offs for an idol simulator, hack-n-slash, etc.) 

[Xillia]

1 hour ago, DoctorGameGeek said:

The franchise is way bigger than I thought!

 

So, for the $64 million question, would you recommend the Hyperdimension games for an RPG fan?  Why or why not?  

I'd recommend Re;birth1, and then 2, 3 and VII if you liked the first one since they play the same. Everything else isn't that great unless you like the characters.

[REAPER4536]

13 hours ago, Walt the Dog said:

Before I post, let me clarify that this game series is really not that heavy on story, so while some games are continuations of others, there really isn't any real reason to go in order of story unless you want to really understand a lot of the in-jokes in the game. The actual plots of the games are easily comprehended regardless of how much or how little of the series you've played as the series does a decent enough job of introducing the main cast in each game so that newcomers won't be too lost.

 

Also, they all have trophy support.

 

As far as the main games, here they are in order of release:

 

Hyperdimension Neptunia (PS3): Story-wise, this game is completely separate from the rest of the franchise, so you do not have to play it to understand the story of the series at all, though some rudimentary knowledge of the game may help with understanding later in-jokes, though not to a great degree that is necessary to play it. Gameplay-wise, the game is considered to be horrid, so it is recommended to skip the game.

 

Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2 (PS3): This game acts as a reboot for the franchise after the dead end that the first game's True End placed the story in. It also represents a shift in the gameplay towards a sort of prototype version of what the battle system would be like from now on, introducing the concept of the free-movement battle system that every main game in the series so far uses today, though with several flaws that would be ironed out in later installments. This game is interesting just as a look into how the series really began, though I highly recommend just playing Re;Birth2 instead as it shares the same story (I'll get to that later).

 

Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory (PS3): Story-wise, this game is a continuation of mk2, though for the most part, it takes place in an entire new dimension. The story is also considered the worst in the main series, mainly due to the sadistic nature of one of the new characters, Iris Heart, as well as the script being very mean-spirited to begin with, particularly towards Nepgear (as a result of backlash against her due to her being considered a bland protagonist in mk2 along with the controversy over her role in mk2's Bad ending). Gameplay-wise, this game continues on what mk2 has done and effectively sets the tone for how the battle system would work up until VII revamped the battle system entirely outside of the free-movement. It is also known for being one of the most grind-heavy games in the series due to its increased difficulty compared to previous games in the series. That said, it is still not without its flaws and if you want to play the game, it is recommended that you just play Re;Birth3 instead.

 

Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth1 (Vita/PC/PS4): This is a remake of the first game on PS3, though in addition to switching over to Victory's battle system, it also rewrites the plot. Like the first game, this game also has no connection to the main series, though it is worth playing just because it acts as a good introduction to the characters of the series and it's one of the better games in the series from a gameplay perspective. As a note, the PS4 release, Re;Birth1+, is currently exclusive to Japan with no current localization announcements for anywhere, not even Korea which usually gets these announcements before the JP release.

 

Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth2 (Vita/PC): This is a remake of mk2, though unlike Re;Birth1, which rewrote the story of its basis, Re;Birth2 just keeps the same story that mk2 had, only replacing a couple of minor characters that Compile Heart had lost the licensing to since mk2, adding a couple new CGs, and adding a new ending that acts as a happier spinoff to mk2's Bad Ending. Gameplay-wise, this game is more of the same coming from Re;Birth1, with the only notable differences being a switch back to a four-person party from Re;Birth1's party of three and the addition of a new minigame, Stella's Dungeon, which is basically a bad idle game that takes a long time and practically exists to sell a DLC that halves the time that said game takes and reduces the frustration overall. If you have played mk2, this is honestly not worth playing as you'd get a better gameplay experience from Re;Birth1, though given what it's built on, Re;Birth2 is still a better alternative to mk2 proper.

 

Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth3 (Vita/PC): As you can guess, this is a remake of Victory, and like Re;Birth2, this game just rehashes the story from Victory, only adding a little subplot about mobile games for the prologue and post-game. Gameplay-wise though, the game actually makes a couple of changes to the formula seeing as how the previous two Re;Birth games were already based on Victory's battle system. The main change is that aside from a different UI, all skills are now attached to a character's SP bar rather than having the SP bars and an additional shared EXE bar. While this makes it easier to unleash a slew of EXE attacks at once, they also diminish a full SP gauge (all 1000 SP) per use, so by the time you can get strategies to abuse them readily, you'll be towards the end of the game anyway.

 

Hyperdimension Neptunia VII (PS4/PC): After years of spinoffs and remakes (all on Vita, of course), this game marks the series' return to consoles and a continuation of mk2 and Victory. It also represents a major shift in the gameplay of the series, revamping the battle system in much the same way that V revamped mk2's. In particular, weapons now have limits on the attacks that can assigned to them, making your choice of weapon dependent more on the attack slots that it gives you rather than its raw power. In addition, skills and EXE Drives were greatly nerfed in this game to the point where a series of five power attacks can easily outdamage skills while being much easier to pull off. It is generally considered the highlight of the series, combining good gameplay with one of the best stories in the series. There is also a chance that this particular game may have an impact on the series going forward, so if nothing else, you should play this or its remake, VIIR, for that alone.

 

Hyperdimension Neptunia VIIR (PS4): This is a remake of VII, but with added VR scenes (the main game does not use VR, all VR scenes can alternatively be viewed without VR, and the plat as a whole does not require VR at all, so lacking VR will not cut you out of any content). The story is the same as in VII, albeit with the normal and bad ends being cut (this makes it the first and only main game to have only one ending) and the addition of a few VR scenes between moments in the story. Gameplay-wise, this game marks yet another massive change to the battle system, adding several features as well as rebalancing the combat so that skills are once again supreme. As a drawback, the game has auto-regen features for skills between set regeneration between turns as well as a full heal after every battle so that the combo skills become utterly useless and you are better off just skill spamming. It is also a fair bit easier than any other game in the series, with no missables, autosave after doing almost anything (even dying just boots you to the beginning of the dungeon), and the aforementioned full heal after every battle. That said, it is still a great game in its own right and gives fans another option to experience VII.

 

As far as the spinoffs, none of them are actually relevant to the main story and you can play them however you wish, though it is recomended that you play at least one game in the series beforehand just to get used to the characters as this is a major part of the appeal for the games.

 

Pre-VII Spinoffs (Playing mk2/R;B2 or V/R;B3 is recommended beforehand)

• Neptunia PP (Vita) (Mediopcre Idol Sim game that is basically a glorified visual novel)
• Hyperdevotion Noire (Vita/PC) (SRPG spinoff that has a self-insert protagonist and centers around Noire; it is generally considered horrible and unless you like SRPGs, you are better off avoiding it like the plague, especially given the plat grind is effectively the worst in the series)
• Hyperdimension Neptunia U (Vita/PC) (Action spinoff with clothing destruction, courtesy of the makers of Senran Kagura; not too horrid, though it can get boring quickly and the plat grind is suffering)

Post-VII Spinoffs (playing VII/VIIR is recommended beforehand)

• Megatagmension Blanc + Neptune Vs. Zomnylybies (Same idea as U, but sans clothing destruction and the stages are far more bite-sized; the campaign is horribly short as the main focus is the multiplayer, though that can easily be done solo with ad-hoc)
• Superdimension Neptune Vs SEGA Hard Girls (Vita/PC) (a crossover RPG with the Sega Hard Girls franchise; adds basic parkour elements to the Re;Birth series and has a new battle system as well as a class system)
• Cyberdimension Neptunia (PS4/PC) (an action-RPG from the same developer as U and Blanc Vs Zombies, though it has a much greater emphasis on blocking and dodging than its predecessors; it generally plays far better than the studio's previous two efforts)
• Brave Neptunia/Super Neptunia RPG (PS4/Switch) (Upcoming 2D sidescrolling RPG that takes inspiration from the likes of Valkyrie Profile; first game in the series developed outside of Japan, being made by Canadian developers Artisan Studios)

 

Thanks for this huge answer, I will deffinlty get in to the story by playing here and there one game after another. I don't own a vita yet and it's still not on my to buy list since I have to deal with an huge backlog of games. I'm Trying to get rid of the Multiplayer trophies so that I'll get back my controll over these games. 

 

But thanks to you, I know where to start now - I will safe Megadimension Neptunia VII on this sale an play it when I went through the first three Hyperdimensions. I'm probably waiting for a sale on PS3.

[MosesRockefeller]

4 hours ago, REAPER4536 said:

Thanks for this huge answer, I will deffinlty get in to the story by playing here and there one game after another. I don't own a vita yet and it's still not on my to buy list since I have to deal with an huge backlog of games. I'm Trying to get rid of the Multiplayer trophies so that I'll get back my controll over these games. 

 

But thanks to you, I know where to start now - I will safe Megadimension Neptunia VII on this sale an play it when I went through the first three Hyperdimensions. I'm probably waiting for a sale on PS3.

Since you're worried about multiplayer trophies, the good news is that only a couple of the spin off games in this series have MP trophies at all, and they are all very achievable solo.

 

If you're sticking to PS3 and PS4, then I'll just say the first game isn't THAT bad, but it takes some patience to get into it. You probably should start with Mk2, where the gameplay is more polished. That said,if you start with HDN1, you'll see the evolution of the series in the right order, unlike me. I played all 3 Vita remakes before playing HDN1.

 

Also, it should be fairly easy to find cheap used copies of the PS3 games.

[Satoshi Ookami]

9 hours ago, REAPER4536 said:

I'm Trying to get rid of the Multiplayer trophies so that I'll get back my controll over these games. 

Weeb games will never have an excessive amount of MP trophies.

And most of them will be soloable