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Mk2 is certainly a whole lot different from the original, in large part due to its M rating, completely redone battle system, 3D models to replace animated 2D ones during story sequences, more content, more endings, and generally, a lot more stuff.
Mk2 can be summed up very quickly to compare to its predecessor, as both are founded on the same premise: A metaphor for the console war between Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo, along with the ever-increasing threat of piracy from Arfoire (get it? R4?). The game was designed to be totally off-the-wall. The original was very entertaining in that the writing was superb, and very funny, constantly jabbing at parts of the video game industry combined with a multitude of breaks with the fourth wall, with the characters essentially knowing they're part of an RPG. You played not really for the fights or even the main story as much as you wanted to see whatever they could come up with next to parody, as they touched on virtually everything in the game industry. The whole thing was about humor, and to some extent, fanservice and flash. It was T-rated fanservice, sure, but it was fun, and the battle system, while very simple, was well-crafted and left room for creativity.
Mk2 is kind of like the original to the power of three. This game takes the original premise and runs the whole field with it. The opening sequence alone shows you why this game has an M rating, with less-than-subtle erotic animation of the scantily-clad CPUs in erotic bondage poses, complete with Gainax boob-bouncing and some extreme sexual innuendo.
Oh, yeah, about that sexual innuendo. I'll say it right out: A *lot* of it has to do with lolis, and there is no ambiguity about that whatsoever. You'll even find quests in which your job is to find ingredients for a team to make potions that will create, and this is a quote from the game itself, "lolis with big knockers". While the original kept its T rating intact, Mk2 throws all pretense out, complete with borderline-illegal loli fanservice. They don't even try to cover up that it's loli by saying they're older than they really look, which is what developers often do. One of the main villains is obsessed with Lowee's (the Wii's area) two CPU Candidates, Ram and Rom, who are two very small, young girls, one being exceptionally shy and timid, the other a little less so.
And when I say this particular villain is obsessed with these two lolis, I mean he flat-out says he wants to molest, lick, play with sexually, and possibly rape them. There's even a reference to his being a "cunning linguist", and he states clearly that he doesn't accept anyone who is past puberty. Further, some of this he even does, clearly getting off on it while the two girls are sickened. He raves nonstop of his completely unrestrained pedophilia, which isn't the slightest bit censored (hello, M rating!).
Oh, and here's icing on the cake about Ram and Rom: One of the endings involves an event that I literally didn't think they would go through with. I thought there had to be some way to get around what they were insinuating what was going to happen to both of them. I thought that to show that kind of thing was simply illegal. Apparently not, since the entire scene plays out without holding back in the slightest. It *will* make you at least a little uneasy as it plays out, especially because this particular scene does not involve any humor whatsoever, but tragedy and horror--it's meant to stir your emotions in ways almost all media doesn't dare. This particular tragedy is something I thought could not be shown in video games, or practically any type of media. I was floored that they went through with the scene, and further floored *when things just keep getting worse when you think they can't possibly get any worse*.
One major drawback that immediately turned me off was that the amount of voice acting has diminished very significantly. While they thankfully brought back all the VAs from the previous game, who all did a spectacular job in their roles, it seems random as to what scenes get voiced or not. Many scenes, even critical story scenes, do not have voice-overs, which is downright puzzling, and it definitely detracts from the scenes. The original included nearly every story sequence having voice acting, but here, even story sequences often don't get any. It's pretty lame. Still, the quality's there.
In terms of humor, you can tell it's not quite as inspired as the first. It has its moments, for sure, and it gets a lot of those moments by pushing the boundaries. Sometimes it even goes for very dark humor. There's about five times as much sexual humor, but it's done in a way in which the characters on-screen are typically unhappy to be shown on your television screen that way, with several sequences where the fourth wall is broken--not only is it broken, but another character announces that things must be getting bad, because the fourth wall was just broken, as she announces. The original generally had better writing, in no small part because Neptune was designed to be humorous, but our CPU Candidate here, the main character Nepgear, has no sense of humor at all, and most jokes are at her expense. But it still doesn't work the way Neptune really drove the story for us in the original, and Nepgear isn't as entertaining as Neptune was.
This is, however, mostly a typical RPG, and you may need to grind as well as farm to complete quests. There are two types of quests outside of the story, and two only: Collect a certain number of items, or defeat a particular enemy or enemies. Drop rates do apply, so you may slay five of the enemy who have a chance of dropping the item you need, and yet still, sometimes none will drop at all. Most mechanics in the game are typical RPG-fare, although it's still done well. It's great that enemies are visible on the map, so you can dodge as many as you want, should you choose to, which is particularly helpful if all you're doing is going around gathering herbs or something, or looking for a very specific enemy. The combat system, while more entertaining than the first, isn't quite right in that the transformations are now totally worthless, their cost far outweighing the benefits involved. Costing a whopping 100 SP to transform at all with a serious drain on the gauge every turn you're transformed, you're almost always better off spending it on a special move in your normal form. The only time you can really use your transformations is if you've saved up SP in a single dungeon before a boss fight, but even then, at some point in the game you will acquire a skill that involves all four party members doing a team move that will almost always be a one-hit kill or very close to one, even for late-game bosses. If you combine this skill with the True Goddess Aegis item that removes the damage cap to above 9999, the damage is often around 30,000 per hit...for 15 hits every time you use this skill, which will be instantaneous death to any enemy you come across, bar none. It's a sure-fire way to win any fight if you prepare ahead of time with 100 SP to spare for all of your characters at the beginning of every fight.
I think I've touched on the most important parts: Fanservice in this game has gone to level 11, warranting very well its M rating, particularly with the clearly pedophilic recurring side-antagonist openly sexually harassing and sometimes abusing the two youngest CPU Candidates, Ram and Rom, who look to be maybe nine or ten years old each. The game pushes its concept even further than the first, although not always with success, as it's just not quite as funny.
One final note I'd like to make is that the developers has included a somewhat difficult-to-obtain and surprisingly lengthy bonus chapter immediately before the final boss. This chapter isn't exactly difficult to unlock since the conditions are fairly straightforward, and you can even wait until almost the very end of the game to meet the requirements, but it's definitely time-consuming, and if you're not going for it, there's no way you'll accidentally get it. However, know that if you choose to unlock this new chapter, get ready for a complete and total 180 in the mood. What was once a game based in humor is now based in raw, unrestrained tragedy, one that does not follow the rules of this kind of thing. The game will suddenly become horrifically dark, and words can't describe the sheer shock value of some of the things that happen during this replacement ending chapter. To describe it without spoilers is impossible, since the entire story suddenly takes a new turn, and any mention of any event, even hinting at it, would spoil it. Let's just say you're in for a hell of a depressing ending beyond all measure should you choose this route. We're talking witnessing children suffering violently (complete with English voice-overs that somehow make it worse, considering the manga theme), suicide, forced murder, mass murder, one particular character smiling and asking you to kill her (considering the importance of this character and how familiar you are with her and her story by now, this scene is just shocking), cries for help that only end in slow, drawn-out tragedy, and plenty more you simply will not expect in a million years in a game like this. The scene when a particular character takes you outside to make pleasant small talk while you're already in a traumatized state from the events unfolding, and then casually smiles and asks you to kill her so she doesn't have to do it herself, along with everything that follows, will blow your mind to hell and back.
So, there you go. It's worth it, for sure, if the premise interests you, no question. It tops the first in almost all aspects, and is an excellent successor.
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So far I've played roughly 30 hours of this game and I *think* I'm close to some kind of conclusion. Anyway, to give you the gist of it, this game is basically Hyperdimension Neptunia mk1 with literally every single aspect of the game improved.
-The somewhat static dialogue artwork has been replaced by animated 3d models.
-The music is much more varied and upbeat with strong ties to BG music in a typical upbeat anime series.
-The variety of items both useful and cosmetic you can purchase are staggering and they introduced a new item creation system.
-The number of characters you can play and control is greatly increased.
-The camera control in dungeons and graphics of dungeons and enemies in general are way improved.
-The battle system now involves roaming instead of cookie cutter turn based play. Character positioning on the battlefield matters a lot because you can fall victim to AOE or deal out your own AOE damage to groups of enemies.
-World map navigation which was a pain in the ass in the first game is now fast and easy. All locations are available from the world map and you no longer need to do tedious teleportations.
Other than these I have listed there are a ton more. If this is your first look at a Hyperdimension game, you will still enjoy it. You need not play the first game as the story between game 1 and game 2 are unrelated. At its core H. N. mk2 is a game centered around cute girls doing cute things and blowing up enemies along the way. If you enjoy gearing out and building up characters in an RPG and seeing them destroy enemies you will like this game. If you enjoy moe girls, that will also contribute to your enjoyment of this game.
I'd recommend this game to anyone who likes JRPG's and has been somewhat disappointed by the offerings this generation. I'd rank my enjoyment of this game above the Atelier games (Rorona/Totori) and slightly below Tales of Vesperia. It's best that you don't take this too seriously and just enjoy it. The gameplay is FUN and the characters are cute, just don't expect some Oscar-winning plot.
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What turned me off from the first Hyperdimension Neptunia was the DLC that gave you access to the other party members you meet in-game. Mk2 immediately rectifies this with a party of, to my understanding, almost 20 characters (with two additional characters that are truly optional DLC, as you aren't pressured to buy them in order to build up a proper team). Believe you me, I still bought the first game for collective purposes; niche games have a tendency to go out of print shortly after their release date. So far, this game hasn't gone out of print, so I have high hopes that this will get into the hands of the people who want it.
This isn't a game that is meant for the mainstream audience that is looking for the next Triple-A hit, or something that can supplement them between said hits. As a niche Japanese game that is a parody on the modern video game industry, Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2 takes the liberty of going all out in everything it does; whether it be characterization, voice acting, jokes/puns, and even special attacks (one attack has you wielding Keiji Inafune himself as a weapon of mass destruction. Hilarity ensues).
The gameplay is something similar to Sakura Wars V: So Long, My Love. You build a party of four characters (and four other characters behind them to be of use later), and each turn you move your character around in their allotted space before performing an action. Turn order is shown in the upper right corner of the screen, so you can plan your turns accordingly. Since you are not able to change the difficulty of the game, the concept of level grinding comes into play if you don't want your ass handed to you by a multi-encounter boss battle with no healing in between (which happens early enough in the game that I couldn't help but rage). Speaking of healing, the first game had you collect items around the dungeon in order for your characters to heal whenever they felt like it; with the new battle system, you can use one of your party members (say, Compa) to use their healing skills whenever it benefits you the most no percentage manipulation required. Also, the shares between the CPUs are actually explained, so even the newcomers to this crazy game can manipulate them to their hearts content through Guild Quests in order to obtain their CPU of choice.
Remember those characters you set up in the back of your party? Here's how they can be of use: with the Lily system, two characters form relationships with each other in a similar fashion to social links in the Persona series. With a high enough score, those two characters can be able to perform strong combination attacks that could potentially turn the tide of a battle (along with providing a few saucy scenes along the way). To my understanding, multiple relationships can be forged, and many saucy scenes are able to be witnessed.
On the topic of saucy scenes, I must ask once more to keep in mind the audience of this game. This is not for your run of the mill gamer who thinks the latest Call of Duty is a godsend to the gaming industry; this game is for the people who enjoy the outrageous concepts that Japanese developers are able to come up with. This is a game of extensive fanservice, and waifus from here to tuesday if you don't know what the word 'waifu' means (or you do and it doesn't appeal to you in the slightest), this game is obviously not for you.
We don't play this game for the story, heavens no; we play this game for the all-girl heroine cast providing fanservice and Japanese humor about the modern world of Video Games, just like the first game (no matter how terrible the combat system). If none of this appeals to you, then this game probably is not for you and you can go about your day. Don't take this game too seriously, as it's not meant to be taken serious in the slightest. Just grab your caffeinated beverage of choice, pick your waifu, and enjoy this wonderful ride in the parody world known as Gamindustri. I know I will.
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I recommend this game for those who love anime and girls but dont play it with children nearby ^^ also you could create a lot of costumes textures to change the armor of nepgear so it is very funny =P
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Hyperdimension Neptunia MK2 is the sequel to 2010's Hyperdimension Neptunia (oddly enough) and is an odd blend of RPG and sexy anime action with a little bit of old school console gaming tossed in. The storyline is a continuation of the first game which I admit to not having played although I didn't feel it hindered being able to jump right into this one. You have to come to the rescue of the land of Gamindustri (okay, say it with me Game Industry) and save the CPUs (Console patron Units) from the evil group known as ASIC (Arfoire Syndicate of International Crime). Ya...there's a lot of that kind of stuff in the game. But at its core it's a nice little smirkish take on the gaming industry as a whole so I give credit to the developers Compile Heart and Idea Factory, and the publisher NIS America for employing a good sense of humor about the whole affair.
IF and Compa arrive in Gamindustri to find Neptune . IF represents Idea Factory while Compa represents Compile Heart. With me so far? They manage to free Nepgear and together they must locate the mascots of the landmasses, who can provide the power to assit the captive CPUs. They, along with the other CPU candidates eventually join Nepgear's party, and together attempt to free the captive CPUs. Silliness of the plot aside, and it is seriously silly but also a lot of fun, HN MK2 is an interesting little hybrid RPG.
You move about the world through an old-style map that might take you back to the days of the original NES system, visiting various cities and exploring dungeons. Cities are where you can buy and sell weapons, armor, and items for any character in your party. As you progress through the game, even more items become available which can aid your characters in a variety of important ways such as increasing your defenses, attacks, HP, movement. I was surprised at the level of item options that were available.
Chirper (a play on Twitter) is your communications system. This basically allows you to listen in on conversation between NPCs. These can often be pretty mundane and tend to slow the game down but it's a necessary evil to discover random events that can help your party. Guilds are located in each town that offer quests for the party that involve actions like defeating a certain monster or foe or collecting items. Successfully completing the quest nets you a reward.
The combat system is also an ode to RPGs of days gone by. First of all combat is turn-based. Yep you head me right, turn-based RPG combat. Told you it was old school! When its your turn your party members can move about the area up to the max of the movement points or perform a range of varied attacks. These take the form of combo attacks that are performed with different button presses, attacks that can reduce the opponents guard meter, as well as finishing attacks. On top of that, characters also have an SP gauge, which increases whenever they deal or take damage as well as when they end their turn. SP is used to activate special skills, such as healing spells and damaging techniques. Combat is a lot of fun although quite easy. Honestly the challenge is minor league at best.
HN MK2 excels in its cartoon/Anime style graphics. The game definitely earns an M rating with its skimpy costumes and highly suggestive comments, but it's all more cutesy and mature when it comes right down to it. This isn't a game for everyone but certainly if you're an Anime fan or fan of RPGs from days long past, Hyperdimension Neptunia MK2 can offer a solid 20 30 hours of gameplay.
