Hyperdimension Neptunia + MK2 + V(victory)

[Gokulo]

Probably talking about KH2 on normal or something... I could see that a little but still a stretch.

[Tobi]

LE For MK2 for anyone curious

http://store.nisamerica.com/Neptunia...ed-Premium-Box

NIS America is preparing a limited edition Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2 bundle, which will be sold directly in their online store. This package includes a copy of the game, soundtrack CD, a hardcover art book, and a pack of playing cards in an oversized box for $64.99. A standalone game costs $49.99.

Lol, dem lolis... Day 1 buy regardless, though! Can't wait to go ahead and order this.


Edit: Holy shit, this one is rated M.....

Edit 2: Forgot that trailer is same as old one from november, lol.

[Insanecyclone]

Nice.

[Insanecyclone]

Using this as the mk2 thread for the time being.

http://www.siliconera.com/2011/12/28...mk2-questions/

NIS America Answers Your Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2 Questions

We asked Siliconera readers to send us their questions about Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2 and NISA (the company, not the character) came back with answers. Script editor Nick Doerr and Marketing Manager Nao Zook are here to field your questions about Gamindustri.



For people that didn’t pick up the first game, will they miss out on any of the story since this is a sequel and what is your favorite feature in mk2?



Nick Doerr, Script Editor: People new to the Neptunia universe won’t miss anything if they choose to jump in with mk2. The story takes place in an alternate history for Gamindustri, so events from the first game don’t really have an impact here. There are a few jokes about it, and of course all the terms introduced in the first game don’t get as detailed an introduction (Basilicoms make a return but are not explained in detail, for instance), but mk2 has a pretty robust encyclopedia—called the Nepedia—for new players to read and immerse themselves in the world.



My favorite feature of this game? Honestly, I’m a huge fan of their reworked battle system. It reminds me of some of my favorite games. It feels like a mix between Sakura Wars and Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter to me. It’s like a delicious stew of semi-real-time JRPG goodness.

So about the lily system…



Don’t be misled; the Lily System is really just another name for creating Front and Back rows of fighters, and their level of friendship with Nepgear. A higher bond of friendship equates to a higher Lily Rank, which can open new development opportunities with Item Synthesis, or activate new events via the Chirper, or even have characters learn sweet Combo moves. It’s also an important ingredient when deciding on which ending path you will travel…



Neptunia was rife with video game references and humor. Can you give us a taste of some of the jokes in Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2?



A lot of the jokes in Neptunia were references via the text. In Neptunia mk2, however, a lot of the little references are tossed directly into the game or enemy design. For example, one enemy is called the “Horsebird” and looks like a horse with two legs and wings. Replace that with a yellow bird that has the same function as a horse in another JRPG franchise, and…



Basically, Neptunia mk2 eschews text references for visual gags in terms of industry meta-humor, and has the text focus on jokes relating to the characters and their situations. The result is great, since the first game was lauded for its character interactions. Now the dialogue focuses more on developing the characters and creating depth to everyone’s friendships through more relevant, pointed humor instead of a random, obscure (awesome) game reference. That said, expect a few more golden bits of wisdom from Compa’s grandpa, as well as IF keeping everyone aware of how insane they are. Especially Neptune.

Were there any major changes made while you were localizing the game?



No, nothing really changed. We can’t bring a few DLC items over because of some collaborative red tape in Japan, but we kept everything that made the game what it is. Initially, Idea Factory asked us if we wanted to keep the introduction by Meijin Takahashi (AKA Mr. Higgins from the Adventure Island games), to which we replied “of course we want to keep that!” Our mission at NIS America is to bring over the culture of Japan and that was just such a brilliantly goofy cameo—there’s no way we could get rid of it! It’s the same story with the Keiji Inafune weaponry. The game just wouldn’t have been the same without those!



How complex and costly can the translation process be for a game like Neptunia?



There’s nothing to make it any more complex/costly than other games we localize and publish. I think the main point of concern with this particular game is securing voice actresses for all of the female roles, which we can get to in a moment.



I guess I can outline the basic process we use for all our projects. We play the Japanese version as much as we can (I think I did two playthroughs of mk2 before starting on it), then we discuss the direction we want to take; e.g. character personalities, themes, degree of literalism/liberalism in the localization, etc. After that, we just get to work on the text, and once it’s time for voice-over budgeting, we choose as many of the scenes we want to voice as our budget will allow. I’m going to segue into the next question with that.



How do you normally choose localization staff and voice actors for each project and did the voice actors and actresses from Neptunia return to voice characters in Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2?



After we choose the scenes we can voice, we create a recording script and character list for the voice-over studio. They send us reels of actors and actresses to pick from, based on our character descriptions and Japanese voice reference files.



That said, we got all of the actresses from the first Neptunia to reprise their roles for mk2, and we even got a whole new cast for the new characters. None of the main roles are double-cast, meaning you don’t have Compa voicing Nepgear. In fact, the girls who voiced Nepgear and Uni are almost completely new to the voice-acting scene. Nepgear’s VA has never had a starring role in a game before, and I believe Uni’s VA is just getting her feet wet in the industry. That said, all the actresses involved did an excellent job and we are very happy with the results. There may have even been tears when we wrapped Nepgear’s final session…



As for localization staff, it’s mostly a schedule thing, but preference can always be placed on translators/editors who have prior knowledge of a game series. Like, one editor is favored for his style used in the Disgaea games, and I seem to generally be placed on Idea Factory titles (though I admit, my love for the Neptunia franchise may have something to do with that).

Will all of the all of the event scenes (including DLC scenarios) have full English voice acting, as well Japanese voiceovers?



The Japanese voices will be fully intact, but due to budget restraints and the massive cast of the game, we chose the most interesting and story-relevant scenes to voice in English. A lot of this is due to the battle line count—when we have a budget for, say, 6,000 lines and battle lines turn out to be around 3,000 for all of the characters, we have to pick and choose. We were able to get a near-full US audio track in the first game because there weren’t many characters. There were about nine main roles in Neptunia (since we only did battle lines for Red and 5pb., I am not counting them), but Neptunia mk2 has over twenty! It’s a huge cast and a huge game, so we’ve opted to voice as much as possible to give each character a roughly equivalent representation.



Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2 will be the second NISA game to get a "M" rating. Since Neptunia was rated T, what changed in this game?



Basically, the themes of this game tipped it from a T to an M. There is one sequence of events involving a villain who likes to lick girls, and there is an entire ending route with themes that are extremely emotional and traumatic. During the rating process, there was a lot of back and forth between us and the review team at the ESRB. In the end, they settled on a Mature rating because some events were considered too edgy or traumatic for a Teen rating. Those who have played the Japanese version and have achieved a certain ending know exactly what I am referring to (no spoilers, please!).



Has anything been censored or changed for Western territories in Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2?



Nope. As mentioned above, some red tape prevented three DLC items, but everything else is intact. We did localize a few terms to jive with the mythos introduced in Neptunia 1. For example, the villains, called [Name] The Hard in Japanese, were changed to CFW [Name] for the US. This is because the term “Hard” was used in the first game to describe the main characters, the Console Patron Units. We wanted to give these villains a similar acronym that meant the opposite (evil instead of divine, but retaining a technological sound), and we decided on CFW, meaning Criminal of the Free World. CFW also has its own meaning in the homebrew and piracy circles, so it felt appropriate to give to Arfoire’s henchmen.

Can you tell us about the print order? Hyperdimension Neptunia was pretty hard to find just a week or two after it came out. Are you planning to print more copies of Neptunia mk2?



Nao Zook, Marketing Manager: We’d like our fans to be able to find our titles easily at any videogame store, but realistically, we can’t print millions of copies…or we would go out of business in a heartbeat. Our print number is always based on the preorder numbers from multiple game stores. So, we encourage our fans to preorder as soon as possible to secure your copy!



Neptunia mk2 already has a lot of DLC available in Japan. Will NIS America release these extras overseas and can you comment on item pricing?



NZ: As Nick already mentioned, we will release all of the DLC, with just a few exceptions, to the North American and European market. Pricing wise, we always try to follow the pricing on Japanese DLC. We want to keep things fair and affordable for our fans so they can keep enjoying the game for a long time.

>enemies are called CFW

Laughed my ass off at that for some reason.

[Dranio]

A lot of the jokes in Neptunia were references via the text. In Neptunia mk2, however, a lot of the little references are tossed directly into the game or enemy design. For example, one enemy is called the “Horsebird” and looks like a horse with two legs and wings. Replace that with a yellow bird that has the same function as a horse in another JRPG franchise, and…

I have to say, that did make me laugh, can't wait.

[Insanecyclone]

http://www.siliconera.com/2012/01/09...mk2-questions/


Idea Factory Answers Your Hyperdimension Neptunia Mk2 Questions

Siliconera asked readers to submit questions for a fan-powered Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2 interview. The first part about localization and game editing was answered by script writer Nick Doerr from NIS America. Questions about game development were kindly answered by Mizuno Naoko, director of the Neptunia series at Idea Factory.



The first game’s story revolved around piracy. Why did you pick this theme for the original Neptunia and what is the theme of Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2?



Mizuno Naoko, Director: I was surprised when I read articles about children playing pirated copies of games, and how even parents encourage their children to play them, when both know it is illegal. This truly is a crisis facing the game industry. As a game company, Idea Factory chose the eradication of piracy as the theme for a fantasy game. It is our antithesis to piracy. The theme for mk2 is, “We must all fight against piracy together!”



Did you get a chance to play Segagaga, another game that parodies the video game series with cameos like Alex Kidd, and did it influence the Neptunia series at all?



I have never had the opportunity to play Segagaga. Even though I learned about Segagaga during the first Neptunia’s development while performing research on various topics, quotes, and jokes about the game industry, Segagaga itself did not influence the creation of the Neptunia series.

What inspired the overhaul of the battle system and world map in Neptunia mk2? Did you respond to feedback from fans in Japan or North America regarding the battle system or game pacing?



The voices of fans who played the first Hyperdimension Neptunia were certainly important factors for the overhaul. Idea Factory’s Business Development Manager, Damien Urvois, also had passionate requests about the game. First and foremost were the improvements to the battle system and its speed. Demands for more upbeat and vast dungeons that players would want to keep exploring for a long time were also taken seriously, and these decisions are reflected in mk2.



Neptunia mk2 introduces a new group of CPU (Console Patron Unit) characters. Why did you want to create new lead characters and how often will we see the former CPUs?



The moe (萌え) subculture is really big in Japan right now. There have been various archetypes based on the concept of “younger sisters,” you know? I created the new heroines based on my ruminations about “the types of younger sisters everyone might wish they could have.”



The younger sister characters, like Nepgear, are still inexperienced, immature, and not fully grown compared to their older sisters. One of the reasons behind creating such heroines was that I wanted to depict the younger sisters’ adorable efforts to grow strong and mature enough to save their older sisters and Gamindustri.



Around the midpoint of the game, their older sisters (the heroines from the previous title) will appear and may even join the party. Neptune is set as one of the playable allies and joins the team at a certain point. Just like the previous title, Vert, Noire, and Blanc are hidden characters you have to unlock. In order to get them on your team, please try to raise the shares of each CPU’s nation after Neptune joins the party.

Where did ideas like the lily system come from?



In Japan, much like the moe subculture, female idol groups are very popular now. I’m sure anyone would like to see cheerful and cute girls chatting and having fun together. Hyperdimension Neptunia’s interactions among the girls and the subtleties of their friendships enjoyed great popularity.



During mk2’s development, I decided to take another step in that direction while I was trying to think up more fun game mechanics. That was the first time I imagined this system. I thought that the introduction of this new system would provide more exciting subjects for users to discuss with one another, and in turn expand the depth of the game and increase its popularity.



On forums, fans have been posting about their fantasies involving their favorite characters’ intimate interactions and extended dialogues of their activities. You probably already know why there are no male main characters in this series. I say this because I know; I’m a woman myself. It’s so much fun to have private girl talks and have some girl time without boys around.



Can you tell us about developing the land mass share element and how you integrated it into Neptunia mk2?



There are two types of shares: “Nationwide” and “Worldwide.” Nationwide Shares are shares within a specific nation. Worldwide Shares are the grand totals throughout Gamindustri. You can transfer some shares from one nation to another by completing quests. For instance, a quest may decrease Lowee’s shares by 10 and increase Planeptune’s shares by 10. The story in mk2 is not completely linear—it has multiple ending routes and diverging points. Each nation’s shares greatly affect how the story branches. One of the conditions to get Vert, Noire, and Blanc on your team, for example, is to raise their Nationwide Shares above a certain point. Also, the power of each CPU is determined by their shares. More shares mean a bigger stat boost!

[CPUs and the Nationwide Shares affecting their stats]

- Neptune and Nepgear: Planeptune

- Noire and Uni: Lastation

- Vert: Leanbox

- Blanc, Rom, and Ram: Lowee



While you introduced two new company characters, Cave and Falcom, why isn’t Red-chan in Neptunia mk2?



The primary reason was that I wanted to present more new characters to fans, although Red was well-received as a cute character. I believe the new characters, Falcom and Cave, provided this title with a great boost in popularity compared to the previous one. I was very confident that the new characters would prove to be popular from the beginning. I also believe I was able to successfully depict the characteristics of each company in them.

What portions of the game did Comcept work on, and can you tell us more about Mr. Inafune’s cameo?



When we offered this project to Mr. Inafune, explaining that he would be part of a summon move as well as a sword, I was worried whether or not he would accept. But he gave a pleasant “yes” to Idea Factory’s difficult request. What’s more, he made our original ideas ten times as interesting. Because he is a very famous icon in the “real” Gamindustri, the experience of working with him acted as an incredible stimulant that made me think, “We must not make a dodgy product.”



This is sort of off-topic, but the staff member sitting behind me was in charge of crafting the “Inafune Brand” sword. I felt like Mr. Inafune was constantly staring at me…



Damien hinted that the "year of Neptunia" is coming. What future plans does Idea Factory have for the Neptunia series? Spinoffs with older consoles? Adding more companies?



I’m always thinking up interesting ideas for games. Not just any old type of “interesting,” either. I always endeavor to make use of this formula: “Interesting + Idea Factory = something new and stimulating.”



Using this equation, we would like to keep producing things that only Idea Factory is capable of. The entire staff welcomes users’ desires and requests with open arms, and is willing to give them life in our products with passion and affection. That’s how we strive to constantly improve our product quality. We always appreciate your steadfast support!

[Tobi]

Hope share grinding isn't as annoying and complicated as it was in 1st one

[Ayn]

Played the first one for about 20 minutes and couldn't stand it. I really wanted to like it, and I thought the premise for the story was hilarious. But the gameplay just felt clunky and lame. I just couldn't sit through it, which baffles me.. since I could torture myself enough to play through Unlimited SaGa and other crappy games.

I heard the second one was a huge improvement, though. Is this true? Also, am I being too harsh on the first one?

[Rokku]

No, the combat was, in fact, awful in the first one. If they hadn't patched in the skip function for animations and had just been left the way it was when the game released in Japan it would've been completely unbearable. I've heard the combat system is much, much improved in the second one though; But I've not played it myself, so that's just second-hand info.

[Ayn]

... The skip animation function was the only reason I lasted 20 minutes. Sigh, I want to like some of IF's games. I really, really do, but it just feels like they always have some godawful flaw that overshadows the 5 or 6 other cool things they do. That said, I need to play through Spectral Souls soon.. mostly because I want to go to Blazing Souls next. I've liked what bits of them I did play, but I think the requirements for the best ending were kind of confusing and turned me off.

[Rokku]

IF/Compile Heart's games would be better if they'd just put a little more effort into play testing, but honestly I feel like a lot of their stuff gets rushed out the door before it has the chance to have any fine tuning done. And you're right, they always have a couple good ideas, but I have trouble thinking of many of their games that aren't crippled by some flaw or oversight. Just feels like they need to slow down a bit with pushing out some of these titles.

[Ayn]

The closest I can think of to one that wasn't completely fucked up (at least in terms of gameplay, but mind you, I haven't played that much of it..) is again, Spectral Souls. The crippling issue there is of course the UMD loading times..but if you have an ISO, or the Android port of it, that issue is completely resolved. You can minimize it somewhat with the PSP settings, but still, I can see why a lot of people would avoid it for that.

Totally agree with the play testing thing. Which again is weird to me, since it seems like for the most part, a lot of JRPGs are free of some of the gamebreaking flaws that Western RPGs have (I could be wrong and don't mistake me: I like both).

Speaking of which, played Cross Edge? I have that lingering around here, too.

[Deadgye]

Someone's never played KH, or really sucks at it. I'd love to see Terra's story done like that.

If only Terra's story was in KH1, 1.5, or 2. I question you playing the game if you think you can't just spam x for plenty of fights in the game. In fact, I'm fairly positive that's how I handled plenty of battles. Especially defenders, if you spammed x you'd hit their shield and immediately attack again, repeat until they screwed up. It's so easy to go through so many battles by spamming x; while farming for crafting that's exactly what I did.

On topic, I never bothered with the first game.. but that mk2 bundle looks so good. Dem lolis indeed. If I've got money to spend I might buy it.. but chances are I won't have enough to justify spending it on that. D:

[Elcura]

If only Terra's story was in KH1, 1.5, or 2. I question you playing the game if you think you can't just spam x for plenty of fights in the game. In fact, I'm fairly positive that's how I handled plenty of battles. Especially defenders, if you spammed x you'd hit their shield and immediately attack again, repeat until they screwed up. It's so easy to go through so many battles by spamming x; while farming for crafting that's exactly what I did.

If KH is truly a button masher, beat the game with only the X button in battle. No other button allowed. No jumping, no dodging, no blocking, no gliding, no reaction commands, no magic, no forms, no locking on or switching targets, actually, you wouldn't be able to do finishing moves without Square, right? So I guess none of those either. Though, I guess if you use magic and forms from the menu you still only have to press X, so those could technically be allowed, but I wonder if using the DPad ruins the whole button masher thing?

If you do that, I will admit that KH is a button masher. I'm gonna love seeing some of the bosses done like this, normal enemies might be an issue unless you grind though.

[hey]

Since when does button masher refer to only mashing a single button, and never touching any other?

[Elcura]

It's a term to imply that a game requires little thought or input through the act of mostly pressing a single button to achieve victory. I know what it refers to. It's extreme, but it was fun to think about a run like that.

Being able to quickly and effortlessly dispatch of cannon fodder (which I remind you are enemies that are supposed to die easily) does not a button masher make. Especially while farming.

[hey]

mostly pressing a single button

Yeah. Mostly, not exclusively.

I haven't played the games, so i won't comment on them, but it doesn't have to be practical, or even possible to beat the game with just a single button to be a button masher.

[Elcura]

Yeah. Mostly, not exclusively.

I haven't played the games, so i won't comment on them, but it doesn't have to be practical, or even possible to beat the game with just a single button to be a button masher.

I said mostly, didn't I?

EDIT: If the argument was whether KH was a button masher or not it would be different. And at it's easiest, KH can be a button masher but against anything worth fighting (or worth remembering), it wasn't. Also, any critical/level 1/kingdom key run will not be a button masher.

This all stemmed from:

KH you could just spam x all day long if you wanted to.

Which is clearly wrong even as a gross exaggeration. Actually, this argument is mostly about just pressing a single button.

[Deadgye]

If KH is truly a button masher, beat the game with only the X button in battle. No other button allowed. No jumping, no dodging, no blocking, no gliding, no reaction commands, no magic, no forms, no locking on or switching targets, actually, you wouldn't be able to do finishing moves without Square, right? So I guess none of those either. Though, I guess if you use magic and forms from the menu you still only have to press X, so those could technically be allowed, but I wonder if using the DPad ruins the whole button masher thing?

If you do that, I will admit that KH is a button masher. I'm gonna love seeing some of the bosses done like this, normal enemies might be an issue unless you grind though.

First off, you're using incorrect terms. Button mashing != pressing only one button. I used to play MvC2 by button mashing when I was younger, and I sure as hell didn't only press one button.

Second, your demand is stupid and unrelated to anything I said. You're asking for a single-button run-through which is not what I said. Why not add no control stick while you're at it too. Why would I be disallowed from jumping, why would I be disallowed from locking on? I did not say press x, only x, and nothing but x. I simply said spam x.

This all stemmed from:
...
Which is clearly wrong even as a gross exaggeration. Actually, this argument is mostly about just pressing a single button.

Except it's not, you're just pretending I said something I didn't. Did I say it was easy to beat the entire game by pressing only x? Did I say boss battles would be easy? No. Did you people honestly never play KH while tired or with one hand? All normal enemies in the game can killed by just running around and attacking. I've gone through hundreds upon hundreds of battles doing nothing but that. Most notably while farming for crafting ingredients.

I've played through to ~100% at least 3 times minimum, and I sure as hell know I didn't imagine being able to farm crafting ingredients by spamming attack.

[Elcura]

Reminds me of so many other rpgs. Final Fantasy line and KH you could just spam x all day long if you wanted to. I wonder what the difference is. If only all games could have a battle system as cool as LotD.

That you put Final Fantasy (a series where you can actually just press X) and KH together leads me to believe you were talking about a single button, especially in a game topic where the majority of battles were just as simple. It's not hard to put that together.

I question you playing the game if you think you can't just spam x for plenty of fights in the game. In fact, I'm fairly positive that's how I handled plenty of battles.

Now why would I think you just like pressing X? Can't be because you said it.

Also the only thing that you can truly relate to KH and button mashing is doing something entirely mindless like farming or grinding. First time through an area, or fighting enemies above your level requires more thought than farming or grinding ever will. Not having Once More, Second Chance and Leaf Bracer will also make the game less mindless for just about everything.

Games at their worst can be button bashers, I'm not sure how you eliminate something like that (especially if a person can't/doesn't/won't play properly). But it's only a real problem when the game at it's best is a button masher, and KH certainly isn't one.