in a Sega Hard Girls arc, so here's my first Neptune game. I finally stopped calling it "Neptunia" about 80% of the way through the game, only to find out now that this is one of the very few in the series that is not "Neptunia"
(more after the cut)
Neptune vs SHG doesn't pretend to be a hard game but somehow manages to make itself easier as you progress, with Disgaea-style QoL cheats unlocked (always get the jump on enemies, higher drop rate, etc) as you go.
eventually the game snapped cleanly in half when I realized:
- super attacks seem to roughly divide 700% damage across multiple hits (?)
- there is a fixed damage cap per hit
- there is a character that has a 35-hit super
- there is another character who can grant a "300% damage to next attack" buff
and then I beat the final boss without taking damage. the final boss is available at any time past like 4 hours into the game (with an interesting time-loop mechanical framing which is ultimately kind of hollow once you realize there are no consequences) so I think I missed about half the main plot but I came for what I intended:
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I got to see some Sega Hard Girls, only to think, in a Neptunia game of all places, "these girls aren't being dumb enough". this is the high bar set by the anime, the second paragon of (Approximately)Three High Tech (Approximately)Girls Being Chaotically Stupid
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I met Plutia, who is the favorite of at least a handful of people I've seen around the net. I now agree. Neptune is a bike in this game, which I assume she usually isn't, but it was a pretty solid gag. I learned that Nepgear is not Neptune. There's also a red one (not a Neptune). I assume IF (pronounced I.F.?) is recurring?
overall I got in and out in 8 hours due to using the Grind Game Faster DLC. ultimately for me the game did not present enough interesting mechanical problems to solve along the natural powercurve, so I just decided to not believe in all that.
I'd like to also add that I never had less fun than when a relatively weak enemy got the jump on me because my overworld attack was slightly off to the left and then I had to sit through 5 useless attack animations
the writing itself was fluffy but not quite substantially Stupid or Meaningful enough to stick, though I am conscious that this might be a side effect of me going zoom. overall I think I should pick up an Atelier game again.
I did like the little bit of Plutia's self-consciousness of how she is viewed for having her Other Self, and the little SD character name/visual gags on the world map are fun. I see you, Watermelon Penguin.
final score: the first 15 seconds of the battle track causes me pain with the weirdo synths, which is not great, because it's the first 15 seconds of the battle track
(POSTSCRIPT: oh yeah the overworld framerate is quite chuggy which makes the few clunky 3D platformer sections you have to do for some reason even more annoying. it should be illegal for Segami to have a running jump voice clip that is like 3 seconds long [much longer than the jump])
(POSTSCRIPT 2: I think the most accurate thing I can say is that Akiba's Trip 2 is the trashy anime 7/10 that I feel I got more out of my 8 hours in. by the grace of god I hope I don't try GalGun again)
