The first entry in the Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth series had arrived on Steam earlier this year to the delight of many JRPG fans in the PC gaming community. Originally released on the PS Vita, the second entry in the Re;Birth series has arrived with new enhancements, superior graphics and more features on Steam. Much like its predecessor, the second instalment has achievements and other modifications that will give many seasoned Neptunia fans a reason to play it again. Idea Factory and Compile Heart are back with Hyperdimension Neptunia Re:Birth2: Sisters Generation on the Steam platform.

Hyperdimension Neputnia Re;Birth2 returns to the world of Gamindustri where a threat known as the Arfoire Syndicate of International Crime has threatened the morals and stability of all the inhabitants. After all the CPU Goddesses lose to Arfoire in a devastating battle, the CPU candidate Nepgear barely escapes as they are all enslaved. Vowing to save her sister and the other CPU Goddesses, Nepgear teams up with the other CPU candidates from Lastation and Lowee to fight back against the enemy. With help from Histoire, IF and Compa, they embark on an adventure to gather support, save their Goddess sisters and restore Gamindustri to its glorious days of peace and prosperity. 

Battles in the game are turn-based and strategic as you place your team members in attack positions to engage the enemy. As you traverse dungeons, you can now run and jump with the latter option not possible in the original mk2 game. Like the first Rebirth game, the combat system is taken from Hyperdimension Victory as you fight and build your EXE gauge to transform into HDD mode and unleash havoc on your foes. An interesting assortment of enemies keeps the game fun with slime creatures, blocks and even a reference to visual novels. Fans that are familiar with the combat from the first Rebirth title will be ready from the get-go as the combat system shares many similarities. Those with a sharp eye will notice the emotive expressions like “?” and “!” that was seen in another JRPG title called Mugen Souls.  The Remake system allows you to tweak the difficulty of enemies within a dungeon to adjust the strength and number of monsters accordingly.

Nepgear and the other CPU candidates, Uni, Rom and Ram provide quite the comedic dialogue as they are the younger sisters of the CPU Goddesses with the exception of Vert. It is a welcome change of pace to experience the story from the perspective of the younger sisters who idolize their older Goddess sisters and depended on them until recent events. The inclusion of Stella’s Dungeon, a real-time mini game and the return of Red from the first Neptunia game is a nice touch for fans of the original Vita game who wish to explore the extra features. Noteworthy appearances from characters like Falcom, Marvelous AGL, Cave, 5pb and the playable oracles will put a smile on many JRPG’s experiences throughout this game. 

Visually, the game is very vibrant, colorful and supports a full 1080p resolution. The game is smooth during custcenes and special effects with very little slowdown but there are moments when you may notice a drop in the frame rate. On the soundtrack side, the music is fitting and whimsical as you control Nepgear and her friends across the world of Gamindustri. Character themes and background songs are mostly generic and forgettable once you dive into the game’s story and various side quests.

It’s been a short wait from the arrival of the first Re;Birth title to the release of Re:Birth2 on Steam. There’s still quite a bit of item fetching and grinding but plenty of extras to lure Neptunia fans who missed out on the PS Vita title. Idea Factory and Compile Heart are building a track record of delivering quality JRPG titles and Re:Birth2 is no different. Here’s to awaiting the release of Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth3 on Steam in the very near future. 

PROS – Gorgeous Visuals, New Features, Playing as the CPU Candidates

CONS – Excessive Grinding, Pacing Issues

 

SCORE – 80%

This review is based on a digital copy of Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth2 on Steam provided by Idea Factory.