Last year Idea Factory brought us Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth1 and in the review we wrote for the game back then we were very enthusiastic about it, and rightfully so. The game fixed a lot of issues the original game had. Now it’s time for a remake of the second game in the series, namely Mk2. This game was already a huge step up from the original in game mechanics, but since the battle system of the third game in the series, Victory, introduced a way better battle system which is adapted for the Re;Birth series it is still a welcome remake.
Stepping up
In Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth2 Sisters Generation it is all about the younger sisters of the CPU Godessses we met in Re;Birth1. The CPU goddesses Vert, Blanc, Neptunia and Noire have been captured and are being held in the graveyard. Neptune’s little sister (Nepgear, based on the Sega GameGear) is the new hero in this game, but in all honesty, she is basically the same character as Neptune. The personality is the same and she is more or less going through the same path of growth. Nepgear has to step up her game and gather power from the different countries mascots in order to save her sister and to help fight the growing power of Arfoire.
Presentation
The graphics of Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth2 are exactly the same as Re;Birth1. Unfortunately, not one improvement seems to have been made. So it is good news that the graphics of Re;Birth1 were already amongst the best on PS Vita. The color palette which is used is very bright and full of vibrant colors, which I appreciated a lot. The sound is solid, although some of the voices can get a bit tedious. This might have something to do with the cast of characters, which consists of mostly very young ladies. In your party no men will appear by the way, so if you are looking for a game which empowers female lead characters, Re;Birth2 would be the game for you. Cave and 5pb are the highlights characterwise in this long RPG. The game is really character driven and there is a lot of dialogue, some of which is amazing and some of it is cringe worthy. The game has the problem of being a bit wordy at times, without saying all that much. All the ‘information’ drivel you will have to sit through to get some good unlocks is horrendous and is really something they should be cutting back on in Re;Birth3.
Gameplay
Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth2 Sisters Generation is a turn based RPG. The fighting mechanics are simple, yet deep. A lot of systems get added along the way, but if you have played Re;Birth1 there won’t be all that much new to discover. The battle system is still super solid and very enjoyable. A great addition in the beginning is the option to turn the difficulty up or down, which will help cut down on grinding. Re;Birth2 is not an easy game on its standard difficulty, even for hardened veterans in the genre. The game does reward smart strategies and will punish players which are going through the motions. There are three basic attacks, one to break the defence of the enemy, one to hit ‘em hard and one to run up the combo meter which you can use for an extra attack at the end of each attack chain. You can also choose to use this combo meter for one special attack, but than you do loose all the combo meter progress. You can customize a lot of the moves you want to use in battle, which helps make the battle system a lot deeper than the average RPG.
