Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth1

 PlayStation Vita
User Score
7.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 118 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 87 out of 118
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 118
  3. Negative: 20 out of 118
Buy Now
Buy on

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. Tarren
    Feb 10, 2015
    7
    Campy, grindy and full of fan service, Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 1 is a good time if you take the game as seriously as it takes itself.

    Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 1 (HDNR;B1) is the remake to the 2010 Playstation 3 game Hyperdimension Neptunia. The first thing you'll note upon starting a new game is that the game doesn't take itself too seriously: the plot revolves around    Campy, grindy and full of fan service, Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 1 is a good time if you take the game as seriously as it takes itself.

    Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 1 (HDNR;B1) is the remake to the 2010 Playstation 3 game Hyperdimension Neptunia. The first thing you'll note upon starting a new game is that the game doesn't take itself too seriously: the plot revolves around four goddesses representing different game companies attempting to best one another in a never-ending conflict known as the Console War. Each of the four nations of the world, Gamindustri, are named after game consoles and most of their citizens are personified video game developers and publishers. The game's absurdity continues in this fashion, and is chock full of Internet memes, video game references and fourth-wall breaking. Further adding to the game's campiness are regular doses of fan service. While nothing too extreme, there are quite a few panty shots and most, if not every, playable character has a swimsuit costume to unlock.

    Getting into the game play of HDNR;B1: combat is solid but can get repetitive, especially with the mandatory grinding the game forces on you. While every character has special moves that draw from their respective SP pool, the main attraction is the combo system implemented for your "standard" attacks: after an initial strike, you choose from rush, power or break attacks up to three times per turn and in any combination. Rush attacks hit multiple times and fill you EXE. gage (or super meter) faster than the others, power attacks do the most damage as possible while break attacks deal heavy damage to an enemies guard. Breaking an enemy's guard will increase the damage they take until their guard partially refills on their next turn. This system keeps the player interested in combat, alleviating a common problem in most JRPGs where the player simply hammers X until they've won. In addition, your character can perform a combo finisher once certain segments of the EXE. gage are filled (this does not deplete the gage) and use EXE. Drives that are the game's super moves, dealing massive damage to enemies in its radius at the cost of some of the EXE. gage.

    Almost as frequent as the combat is the game's dialogue segments. It's tempting to call this game part visual novel due to its lengthy and frequent conversations, however this also brings up another major part of the game: voice acting. Around half of the conversations are voiced, and in this game that means hours of voiced dialogue. Character voices are a bit hit and miss; some characters' voices work well, while others are kind of iffy (get it? 'cause one of the characters is named...heh...). The main character's voice in particular always sounds sarcastic which is odd given that she's supposed to be the clueless, ditzy heroine. Another oddity is Noire, whose voice sounds like it was recorded with a different quality than the rest of the cast.

    As previously mentioned, the game forces some mandatory grinding. This is because the game's bosses are gigantic difficulty spikes, often throwing two bosses at you back to back with no time to heal or save in between. Because of this, you'd have to grind out around five levels per dungeon in order to stand a chance during the boss fight(s). During my playthrough, I found a dungeon with fairly easy enemies that gave outrageous amounts of experience (appropriately called Whales) and ground on them while watching television. This made it so I could breeze through most of the game's chapters, but still took hours of my time to do. However HDNR;B1 is not without mercy and you can unlock a way to make the game easier (or harder if you're a masochist) and gain more experience from fights fairly early in the game, easing up on both the brutal boss fights and chore of grinding somewhat.

    Aside from the major issues regarding the game, its graphics are standard for the Vita (that is to say they're above average among the rest of the handheld market), load times were short and, while I did experience slow down twice in my playthrough, the game runs smoothly. Something the game lacks is replay value: there are multiple endings, however the point where those endings branch is late enough in the game that one can simply make multiple saves and progress towards each ending on each slot rather than replay the whole game.

    In short, Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 1 is fun as long as you're not looking for a deep or engrossing title. While its repetitive grinding, arduous boss fights and lack of replay value may bog it down, if you can enjoy the campy story, engaging battle system and (mostly) well done voice acting this game is well worth your time and money.    … Expand
  2. midipon
    Nov 19, 2014
    7
    This is a really fun and challenging game. The battle system is different from your usual JRPG, though it is a bit too simplistic.
    The characters are cute and entertaining and I applaud the writing for not harping on the main character's amnesia.
    However; the presentation is horrible. Dungeons and music are continually re-used, thus dampening what could have been really fun. The monster    This is a really fun and challenging game. The battle system is different from your usual JRPG, though it is a bit too simplistic.
    The characters are cute and entertaining and I applaud the writing for not harping on the main character's amnesia.
    However; the presentation is horrible. Dungeons and music are continually re-used, thus dampening what could have been really fun. The monster designs are quirky and interesting, but for some reason the dungeon environments are run-of-the-mill and just don't fit at all.    … Expand
  3. vahn
    May 3, 2017
    7
    As someone who played the original version of hyperdimension neptunia - yes, the ps3 version which is considered one of the worst rpgs on the ps3 - this is definitely a welcome remake of the original with basically everything being improved: combat is the same from second onward (minus the AP bar), controls are better, story is linear but more steady...and the game is harder too.As someone who played the original version of hyperdimension neptunia - yes, the ps3 version which is considered one of the worst rpgs on the ps3 - this is definitely a welcome remake of the original with basically everything being improved: combat is the same from second onward (minus the AP bar), controls are better, story is linear but more steady...and the game is harder too.

    However, despite loving this game a lot, I have some big gripes with it that really turns me off. The main gimmick of this remake is the...remake system, which is basically the crafting system that allows you to craft dungeons, weapons, items and etc. The system isn't too bad but what really ruins it, is a total lack of item list that could help you track it, resolving in using internet most of the time: do you need a magical stone? I'll have to look the enemy list. No enemy currently drops it? Then you need to explore each dungeon twice because of the harvest shift plan that basically changes the layout of the items. It would've been so easy, if they added an item list but alas it's all about rng and "net surfing" in order to find your items.

    Another small issue is how the game is unstable (my version is the VITA oen). Surely better than the ps3 version but I constantly have lagging issues even when there's not much happening, without mentioning when exe skill or super skills are used. Also the game is way harder: even when I'm levelled properly and I got the best armor or weapon available, some enemies can still do quite a lot of damage and unfortunately spells cost a lot of sp to use. Get ready to stock items!

    And last but not least, the game heavily recycles itself ad nauseam it's unbelievable: a lot of the dungeons are literally the same, maybe slightly bigger or with different enemies, and EVEN the enemies are often recycled! I think they went with quantity over quality because a lot of dungeons are literally the same, not even mirrored, and they don't look so great. Unfortunately because of a lack of item list, you'll be forced to check all of them anyway and unlock every dungeon for managing to obtain the items required for most of your content (including recruiting the candidates). This is quite a big issue and while the game is "cheap" than most jrpgs, I expected anything but this.

    In all honesty, though this game is just pretty good despite the flaws, as it fixes everything that the original did (translation: EVERYTHING) and makes it a more enjoyable game to play. Neptunia games aren't masterpieces but they're generally fun games, and this one isn't any less fun that that.

    However if you dislike fanservice, all-girl cast, anime tropes and all that stuff, you might just avoid it entirely.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

30
#30 Best PS Vita Game of 2014
16
#16 Most Discussed PS Vita Game of 2014
18
#18 Most Shared PS Vita Game of 2014

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
69

Mixed or average reviews - based on 16 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 16
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 16
  3. Negative: 0 out of 16
  1. Dealspwn
    Mar 22, 2015
    60
    A great remake of a terrible sequel that fails to take the series anywhere remotely interesting.
    Read full review
  2. The Digital Fix
    Jan 26, 2015
    60
    Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth1 is a much better game than Hyperdimension Neptunia, but it’s still let down by several failings and issues that probably throw up enough barriers for anyone outside of its niche to feel comfortable enough in staying away from it.
    Read full review
  3. The Vita Lounge
    Sep 30, 2014
    86
    The changes implemented are breath of fresh air, the story is very funny at times and is interesting enough to keep playing for dozens of hours.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »