Megadimension Neptunia VIIR First Impressions: Again, But This Time With A Headset!

Megadimension Neptunia VIIR is a remake of sorts (yes, a remake for a game only a couple years old) of Megadimension Neptunia VII, the first PS4 Neptunia game (also on PC). A PS4 exclusive, VIIR comes with retweaked combat and gameplay on a fancy new engine, but the real highlight is the all new VR scenes where you can hang out with the goddesses of Gameindustri in your room.

No. Really. That's all the VR there is. Inbetween chapters of the main game (which is very much treated like a game the VR avatar is playing) Neptune and friends will stop by, chitchatting for a few minutes while you look around your initially sparse room and nod when they ask you questions. A PSVR isn't even absolutely necessary; you can do these VR events through your TV with a controller, but it's a bit more awkward.

Otherwise, if you've played any Neptunia game, it's more of the same for the most part. If you have not, it's a mix of often fan service-y visual novel segments and okay dungeon crawling, with turn based battle. I actually enjoy some of the combat aspects (movement, action points, formation attacks) and being able to "edit" a dungeon for different enemies and item drops, but let's face it: the real appeal of the game is the fan service. And they give you loads of it, from steamy VN scenes to transformation sequences to cute outfits you can dress your team up in to the ways the characters' chests might jiggle as they "breathe" during VN parts.

VIIR still has a lot of the funny, self referential, fourth-wall breaking dialog fans have come to love, and even more so with the VR events. And other hallmarks of the series return, such as the aforementioned customizing dungeons and party skills, loads of references to gaming media, and more!

So far I can safely say if you've already played Megadimension Neptunia VII there's really no reason to pick this remake up. Also, if you've never played a Neptunia game, this is not the one to start with. The game is pretty good about trying to explain events from past games, but there's still a lot that new players might not get without a good wiki reading session. However, if you're a Neptunia fan and haven't played VII yet, VIIR might just be a worthwhile pickup, even if the VR events are barely a selling point.

-Janette G

Megadimension Neptunia VIIR is available now for the PlayStation 4