Ben-DutkaWe've got BioWare and Bethesda to help us out with the WRPGs, and Atlus can offer plenty of unique experiences (see Demon's Souls ), but as most JRPGs this generation seem to be few and far between (many are made, but they remain stuck in Japan), fans of the sub-genre have been feeling a little left out. Square-Enix can still give us Final Fantasy , but as far as the long-time followers are concerned, that franchise is…well, embattled might be the right word, at least until S-E reclaims lost glory for their flagship series.
So maybe it's up to smaller companies like Gust and NIS America to deliver what the JRPG fans crave, and one such title might be Hyperdimension Neptunia . Featuring a style of combat, storyline, and a design, theme, and setting that resonates with the niche group of fans, it could become quite popular amongst members of said group. And you know, it might be even more popular because of the lack of competition. Of course, it's almost a guarantee that Neptunia will fare better in Japan, but that doesn't mean the US doesn't have its fair share of JRPG lovers. And don't let that innuendo throw you; there appears to be quite the in-depth gameplay mechanic involved, and other elements of the adventure should be quite appealing, too. In short, maybe we need this.
By the way, if you're psyched about the game, you can always spring for the Limited Edition , which features an art book, playing cards, special packaging, and more. Lastly, the title officially arrives on February 15 but don't be surprised if you see a PSXE review long before then…
Related Game(s): Hyperdimension Neptunia
sounds pretty sweet. might the US be getting the rpg of days passed that SE has failed to deliver? i sure hope so.
on a side note, im still waiting on wkc2. whats up with that?
this message brought to you by my ps3.
I was digging around about that the other day.
Aparently some of the voice actors have been working on WKC2, and have even mentioned their work on the game, by name, in their Bios. There is a wave of DLS for the game in Japan that includes new story elements for your Avatar to play, as well as upgrades for the GeoRama and more quests. Some of the DLC has already been delivered there (perhaps all of it – not 100% sure). But the suggestion of all the information I could find is that once the DLC is finished releasing in Japan, an International version will be assembled – like last time. Since we do have confirmation that the voice work is ell underway (if not finished) I think we have to be looking for a release before summer. I hope for something earlier, but I'll wait if need be.
If only it was releasing in Summer, it would be here by the end of next month. 😛 Really bad southern hemisphere joke…
I hope that you're right Highlander. But perhaps I should simply have faith. After all, you usually are.
Peace.
Doesn't this game parody the video game industry itself?
Yes it does.
Actually, I think it might be more of an allegory. But I guess we'll have to wait and see to know for sure.
I sheee. Cheers.
I wonder how many of the supposed JRPG faithful are willing to give up Killzone 3 to play this… I'm guessing, not many.
Last edited by PorkChopGamer on 1/21/2011 10:11:41 PM
It depends on if it is a good JRPG or not, which of course we don't know yet. But yes I'd take a great JRPG experience over a great FPS experience any day of the week.
HA! If you're amoung a group called the JRPG faithful, you weren't looking at Killzone 3 as a game on the top tier of the buying list any way. no offense of course, I know that Killzone 3 will be an epic game with stellar imagery. But if you're a JRPG fan, a first person shooter isn't going to do what this game can.
I never finished Killzone 2, in all honesty.
I will always take the 8/10 jrpg over the 9.7/10 FPS. It's a matter of taste, really.
The insinuation that the JRPG fans are somehow just suffering and they'll leap at anything "better"……is a little insulting.
Who says we have to choose? I'm getting both. The only question is "In what order?". Although for me that question is already answered.
I'm guessing you have to chose if you don't have the money.
There is always the option of putting off one or both until later.
I love jrpgs but this game doesn't feel appealing to me.
Now I'm skeptical about this one, Famitsu gave this a 26/40………..Yea I know Famitsu ain't the most reliable source but when a JRPG get such low score from Famitsu, it's never a good thing.
Reviews (outside of psxe) don't matter.
They gave WKC a bad score yet it's one of the better jrpgs this gen. And one I still play.
Yea but still, 26/40 is too damn low.
Snaaake,
Famitsu's reviews have been weird this generation. Their reliability remains in question in my opinion. I still take the way more seriously than most places, but still…
Incidentally, if anyone is likely to give the game a terrible review, it's the wonderful guys at IGN who gave WKC a mosterous (as in awful) 5.1 out of 10.
Didn't Famitsu give Nintendogs a perfect score? That kinda kills their credibility for me.
I wouldn't rely on Famitsu for this one. That review is somewhat outdated now. For example, one of the things they complained about was long loading times. However the game has been patched since then to cut down on the loading times.
And the western release is going to come pre-patched. And with no mandatory installation to boot which is always a plus.
Last edited by Looking Glass on 1/22/2011 6:40:46 AM
I love the art, it also helps that I like anime. I think that will be the main difference between FF fans who will only get less anime-ish jrpgs.
I love anime and when put together into a game it's always beautiful to see.
Will be looking into psxe's review. But ultimately playing it myself will be the final word.
I'll try not to get my hopes too high for this since it might be a little too niche (a la Trinity Universe), but the review here should let me know.
It would be great to have a sleeper hit JRPG on our hands. Did anyone say turn based yet? That's important.
The big difference is that Trinity Universe was much like Cross Edge, it was a mash-up of characters and themes from other games thrown together in a world that must be saved. Very thin on coherent story, and really just an excuse for a battle system and synthesis system with pretty graphics. Which is fine. Cross Edge (I didn't get TU) is like a toy or game you pull off the shelf every now and again for the specific type of gameplay it brings.
From the sounds of things, Neptunia has a slightly preposterous story, but does have a story and isn't simply a mashup of characters and settings from other games.
I liked the battle system in Trinity Universe, but you hardly got to use it. There was like hours of two people just gabbing, way too niche for me. I like a well planned world to run around, a battle screen to kick ass on, and the traditional world or kingdom saving escalation with strong characters like Star Ocean, FF, and Suikoden have.
Ben,
If that's a hint that you already have a copy and the review is incoming when you're done, please tell me whether this is one of those that would be worth this gamer's pre-order dollars? I am already leaning towards that, and would love to see your review first, but if this one turns out to be popular, I don't want to lose out on the pre-order goodies.
Don't worry, I'll tell you.
And I should have the game within a few days.
This is the JRPG that uses pictures and stuff from your PS3 hdd, no?
Hmmmm….? If so, I must download that 8GB of Anim….er….scans of the classic artists such as De Vinchi…;)
Yes this is the game.
How does it do that and what for?
The game allows images saved on your PS3 hard drive to be used for two purposes as I understand it.
First, an image from your hard drive can be used as an emblem on the main characters back. They can also be used as summons. Although I get the impression that there just might be a lot of people taking pictures of their butts with Playstation Eye cameras and using the resulting photographs as powerful attack summons.
Last edited by Looking Glass on 1/22/2011 6:46:10 AM
That's awesome. I'd use cool stuff though, not my ass.
Well of course I was half-joking about the butt thing. Personally I'm not sure quite what I myself would use.
Last edited by Looking Glass on 1/22/2011 11:29:21 AM
Some people would probably do stuff like that actually, but then that would be more characteristic of a fratboy FPS fan's sense of humor over a JRPG fan's.
Not that there's anything wrong with that, just sayin.
So only pictures or stuff from my save data too?
@Looking Glass: Well, atleast you can call him an ass face. 😀
Last edited by Clamedeus on 1/22/2011 7:54:28 PM
@pandacastro
I'm sorry. But I don't quite follow you. What exactly do you mean?
@Clamedeus
Who exactly are you referring to?
Oh, and while we're on the subject of images from the hard drive, somebody just posted something interesting with regard to the subject on the gamefaqs website.
Here's the quote:
"Certain spells in the game has no image. You can add that image from your harddrive into the game to that spell.
The file size, attribute, width, height and other properties of the image may affect the hits and power of that spell."
I have no way of gauging the factual accuracy of this statement. But it's still very interesting and worth thinking about.
I'm looking forward to this review. It sounds like I'll have enough time to pre-order if it turns out okay. I noticed Amazon doesn't offer release day delivery on this title. I guess that's reserved for what they consider big sellers.
If you're going to preorder, use the link in the article it goes to NIS's pre-order for the limited edition version.
Yeah, I clicked on it and bookmarked it for future reference. Just waiting on a review score from Ben first.
It sounds glorious. But, if my guess is not far off the mark, the price of this game will drop quickly. So, I'll pick it up a little way down the track.
Speaking of Demon's Souls, I almost picked up a copy of 3D Dot Game Heroes today… but after getting about six biscuits to look for the disc behind the counter and out the back of the store, they couldn't find the disc and manual. I was not happy. At all. So, I got Brutal Legend instead.
Peace.
Lawless,
I hate when that happens.
But I squeeze lemonade out of their sour lemons.
If they can't come with the disc, then(as a known collector in all 5 of my local GS/EB stores), I make them donate that case to me, along with the cover art & manual, since they've got to trash it now anyway.
So now I have an extra case for it in case I happen to find a good disc with some of the stuff missing, or at least an extra case to swap out for a game I got from eBay with any messed up case/art/manual.
Plus if I wind up not needing it, I can always either sell, or swap that cover art and/or manual to someone who does need it(I've got lots of extra PS2 covers & manuals).
That would have been a good idea. The thing that really stumps me though, is that there were two other cases on the shelf, and they were new copies. There is really no plausible reason for it to disappear.
I'm looking forward to the review because I love RPG's more than anything. My favorites are all JRPG's, but they are ones like old school Final Fantasy, White Knight Chronicles, Star Ocean, stuff like that.
The little 10 year old girls with ginormous boobs and pink hair has never really done it for me, if you get what I'm saying. Those type of JRPG's have never been to my liking.
So I'm just wondering which will this be more like, also curious about that Atelier chemist JRPG that just came out not long ago, it looked like it could go either way, any suggestions.
You have a strange definition of "ginormous". I'd be willing to bet that you've never seen the anime "Eiken".
I agree I'm not big on jrpgs with dat much Moe of Lolicon art direction.