JW1a legutóbbi értékelései

Much as I like the Neptunia series and would like to support Iffy and Compa, I have to rate this one 'not recommended'.

The game starts off really strongly, with a very intriguing story, a cute cast and a fun battle system; unfortunately, however, the pros end there. The story that started so well ends up going right off the rails into fanfic-style territory towards the end, and the storytelling itself cannot keep up, leaving the player presented with blank screens and weird sound effects to try to convey what's going on. In addition, while I'm pleased to get a story-focused game, there are long, long cutscenes here that made me want to shout "can I please play the game!?" on more than one occasion. Dungeons filled with obnoxious enemies that will not leave you alone add to the annoyance, and much of the violence and gore (nearly all narrated rather than shown, btw) seems gratuitous and added to make the game seem 'dark'.

Worth a buy if on sale, but not at full price.

Pros:

Decent story: although I'm not much of a Nepgear fan, I prefer the story here to that of Rebirth 3.

Fun characters: the usual Neptunia cast, with a bit of character development. Even Ram, who's usually just a cipher, gets a bit of attention here.

Cons:

Grindy as hell: this game is the epitome of a mindless time-waster.

Plans system: gather materials to get better equipment.. except that by the time you've found and grinded for the materials there's usually better stuff in the shop.

Stella's Dungeon: mini-game that takes literally hours to run with, from my experience, about a 75% chance of failure. Presumably designed to push you into purchasing the dlc that makes it easier.

Expect to have to use a guide if you want to get any specific ending, there's absolutely no hints or clues in the game to help you determine the conditions required.

Overall: recommended if you like the characters and don't mind lots of grinding; stay away otherwise.

Just a fun game. Don't expect sophisticated gameplay: this is hack-and-slash, with a guard/parry mechanism to provide a little reward for those who want to do a bit more than just mash the buttons. The same goes for the story: don't expect anything deep and meaningful. As usual with this kind of game, it's the characters themselves that carry it.

The AI is OK, although you can only set a strategy for your whole party, not individual members. There's also no mechanism to allow you to use items on any character other than the lead. Now, the AI will use items; and they will try to use healing skills, but not very reliably. If you like to challenge yourself by underlevelling then this can get a bit irritating and you can find yourself having to try to solo bosses because the rest of your party has died.

Regarding multiplayer: I've played quite a bit and the rubberbanding in dungeons is absolutely horrendous; I've actually missed being able to participate in some boss fights because I've simply been unable to get my character to walk onto the teleporter! HOWEVER: in my experience the boss fights themselves aren't too bad. I think only on one or two occasions have I abandoned a boss fight because of character-control issues.

Pros:

Fun characters, as ever.
Easy game to play.
Lots of character customisation.
Seems to run very well in single-player (although my machine is well above the recommended spec., so YMMV)

Cons:

Unfriendly menu system.
Can't set a strategy for individual characters, only the party.
Can't manually use items on any character other than the lead.
No library of enemies, so if you want to know which monster drops which items you'd better have a good memory.
Character customisation only shows on the lead.
Multiplayer is just about playable, at best. I've played quite a bit and enjoyed it, but the rubberbanding is a grim experience that takes some getting used to.