The Seven Sages' Theme from Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 3
Alright, listen. Normally my taste in video games is like. Normal? like im mostly an indies/Nintendo sorta guy and that's pretty clear from the games I play and enjoy.
This is, like, the one outlier.
For those who are blissfully unaware (and believe me, I wish I was you), Hyperdimension Neptunia is a series of anime JRPGs* developed by Idea Factory International and Compile Heart, and essentially centers around anime girl representations of major game companies and corporations. There are four major continents for each of the major console companies (and Sega, for some reason. I mean they DID make consoles at ONE POINT, but the first game came out in 2010, long after the death of the Dreamcast, sooooo...). The story contents of the main games seem to loosely follow the general history and main events of the video game industry as a whole (which, btw, the name of the main setting, world, whatever that the games take place in is called Gamindustri. Talk about on-the-nose)? The plot points do tend to get extremely convoluted in the later games, though, since they try to incorporate separate worlds and dimensions more and more. The story itself is pretty campy, and pretty hard to take seriously most of the time, but it's still a bunch of fun character interactions at the end of the day.
I'm oversimplifying a bit, obviously there's more to these games than the vague synopsis I give, but still.
Now, it'd be pretty cool if that's all there was to it. In particular, the English voice acting is great (when it's there), the music slaps, and the games are generally all really fun to play.
And then the game's age rating comes in and I am instantly reminded of why I wish I didn't like these games.
Every installment in the series generally has an issue with... fanservice, to say the least. part of the gimmick with the main cast of characters (the representations of Nintendo, Sony, etc., or the "goddesses", as the game calls them) have the ability to transform into a "CPU" form, which has the gameplay purpose of powering up the character, sure, but also makes them older(?) and puts them into more revealing outfits. Also any victory animations at the end of a battle tend to go for... revealing angles, let's just say. And whatever, that's fine, anime's gonna anime, but it gets annoying real fast when you're just trying to play a fun game. it's gotten to a point where, for instance, a character that was initially supposed to be a quiet and cool/loud and angry switch was just turned into a loud and angry person with a complex about their boobs that comes up wayyyy too often. I like these games for the gameplay, the silliness of the story, and for having cool English VAs that I like. I do NOT like it for the gooning aspect. Sounds like excuses, sounds like johns, but like I mean that. The games that dial back this aspect are some of my favorites.
Here's the thing. I used to watch let's plays of this series of games... probably because of that aspect. I was like 11 or 12 and I had just gotten a grasp of the internet, sue me. it was also like, 2015-2016, times where (at least from my perspective) strictly anime/weebish culture at its most annoying was more prominent. I did not actually play the games-- I didn't have the means to. I never followed the story at all. I just wanted to see funny moments, I think. Fast forward to 2021 when I finally got a (decently powerful) computer of my own, and I wondered if, after several years, I would actually enjoy the Neptunia series if I properly played the games. So, that's what I did: I played every single one of the main series games, up to present day, and I actually got some friends along for the ride (because of a half-joking pact we made to go through every single one of the main games together. This contract still binds us after like 3 years). And, lo and behold, I legitimately had fun with these games! Some of it was ironic, of course, but there is still a good amount I genuinely like. Still, I didn't want to say that I was a fan of these games. There's too many suggestive themes there to look any good on my reputation, you see. So, unlike most things I sort of hyperfixated on, I made no mention of these games to folks out of fear of them thinking the wrong things about me.
But that's no real way to live, is it? I'm going to like what I want to like at the end of the day, for whatever reason that I want to like them. I can't be worried about being cringe all the time! I need to be free!
so whatever. I like these games. They're awesome. There's NO way that Nepgear and Uni aren't girlfriends it's like RIGHT THERE in the text. IF and Compa give off the vibes of being married for 30 years. IF is cool because she's voiced by Kate Higgins, and she's awesome too.
I could go on, but I'd still rather not expose you to any Neptune-related ramblings. There's a time and place for that, but not right now.
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