The console wars are something we have heard for so many years now, but no one can bring a console war like Idea Factory. Now we have among us another game set in an alternate story from the rest of the games in the series like MegaTagmension Blanc + Noire. Most of the cast is present but they don’t know each other, and they have different roles to fulfill as the game progresses, in this game Idea Factory is the main character and always an adventurer.
The Game starts off with a cutscene of Idea Factory ridding her bike avoiding obstacles (and being really cool if I may add) and you see the Goddesses engaging in battle, after that you notice that Gameindustri has transformed into a post-apocalyptic wasteland, while it isn’t explained how exactly that happened, it is clearly a war has destroyed the once beautiful scenery. While I.F. is searching for an ancient library said to contain every piece of the world’s history, she sees what first appears to be a shooting star but is in fact a person falling from the sky. When they found the library, they are greeted by the library’s guardian Histoire, while investigating the library I.F. gets wrapped up in a case where all of the world’s history has been stolen so she must travel through time in order to repair it, and her bike after some mods are used to travel trough time (super cool, kind of a chrono trigger situation).
The game’s mission-based structure is different than what fans are used to. Histoire is once again throwing tasks your way. However, next to each mission is a countdown. As you clear other missions, the timer will start to countdown. If the timer reaches zero, the mission will disappear completely. Each mission holds a level of importance in context to its effect on history on thus the type of ending one will receive. Combat closely resembles previous entries in the series. You move the party member around a set area, then proceed to attack, use a skill, or consume an item. There are also gems scattered around the field that you have to jump up to collect, such as health recovery items, which can be very useful when cornered in a boss fight. By landing hits on an enemy as a party, a Fever Gauge will fill up. Once it’s full, a Rainbow Gem will appear that activates Fever Time (in place of the EX Gauge). This causes the entire party’s stats to increase by 10% and stop enemies from getting a turn. EXE Drives (special attacks) can also be used. Once a turn is over, the amount of Active Gauge used will deplete from the Fever Gauge until it’s depleted, ending Fever Time. I.F. even has her own HDD Form with her “Flame Awakening” state which causes her stats to increase dramatically. All of these mechanics help make battles more dynamic, and for me made the combat to be more enjoyable.
The series good humor and jokes continue are still staple in the series, and one thing that I like is that they don’t take themselves to seriously (see the above image). While fans of the series will find some recycled assets and sounds, the combat and the different challenges in each stage make the replay value higher than your average game. Bottom line SuperDimension Neptune Vs Sega Hard Girls is a fun game, with tons of references to scratch that nostalgic itch and the gameplay is more than satisfactory to help it stand up as its own entry.
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