Hyperdimension Neptunia
Hyperdimension Neptunia is a series of role-playing video games produced by Compile Heart and Idea Factory, which revolves around and parodies the real-life video gaming industry and other forms of Japanese culture. The series has also branched off into a manga, light novel and anime media franchise series.
The series debuted in Japan on August 19, 2010, with the video game of the same name for the PlayStation 3, and received sequels: Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2 '', Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory, and Megadimension Neptunia VII as the last of the main series. All the main games have been remade and since then multiple spin-off and crossover games have also been released for various platforms.
An anime television series adaptation, titled Hyperdimension Neptunia: The Animation, aired in Japan between July and September 2013. An OVA, titled Nepu no Natsuyasumi, was released in July 2019. A second OVA, titled Nep Nep Darake no Festival, was released in October 2022, and third OVA, titled Hidamari no Little Purple'', was released in April 2023.
Setting
Games within the series takes place in the world of Gamindustri, which is divided into four regions/nations, each ruled by one CPU: Planeptune, Lastation, Lowee, and Leanbox. Each region is completely different from the others in appearance and atmosphere, with each representing a specific video game console. Lastation represents the PlayStation, Lowee represents the Wii, and Leanbox represents the Xbox, while Planeptune represents the cancelled Sega Neptune. In the beginning of the story, the four goddesses are fighting each other for "shares" in a war known as the Console War. Shares are the manifestation of the belief citizens put into their goddess, and without shares, a goddess dies. Because some of the games feature time and/or dimension travel there are slight differences in the settings for each title.Development
Prior to Q3 2009, Compile Heart was conceptualising a new RPG project centred upon character designs by Tsunako, with the intention of collaborating with a partner company. This game was originally planned to feature three princess sisters and a protagonist. However, the partnership deal fell out, and as a result the project plans were redesigned and eventually became "Neptunia" close to the end of 2009 following the completion of Trinity Universes development. During the early stages of the project, the characters Noire and Blanc were originally coloured red and blue respectively, however their colour schemes were changed to black and white so that they could better fit in with the new game setting and plot.The release of the first sequel to the original game, Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2, saw the introduction of a reworked game engine and the replacement of various components such as the battle system and dungeons, which were completely rebuilt from scratch. Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory later built on this, with the parts from mk2 which were considered "weak" by the developers removed and improved, eventually setting Victory as the foundation for the design of future titles within the series. Following Compile Heart's collaboration with David Production to produce the Neptunia television animation series, the developers were able to change their approach to direction and script-writing based on their experience with the anime development staff, which resulted in the changes to the narrative found in the Re;Birth games on PlayStation Vita.
Release history
Hyperdimension Neptunia is the first game within the series, with the name originally derived from the scrapped Sega Neptune which combined the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis and Sega 32X into one unit, originally scheduled for release in 1994 or 1995 before the project was dropped after the release of the Sega Saturn.There are two sequels which have been released under the names Hyperdimension Neptunia Mk2 and Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory. Another game, titled Hyperdimension Neptunia PP, was released on June 20, 2013, for the PlayStation Vita in Japan and it was released in the west in June 2014 as Hyperdimension Neptunia: Producing Perfection, developed by Compile Heart, Idea Factory and Tamsoft.
During a streamed interview at Tokyo Game Show 2013, Idea Factory and Compile Heart announced that Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 2: Sisters Generation was under development. Re;Birth 2 was released on March 20, 2014. Hyperdevotion Noire: Goddess Black Heart with Noire as the main character, was released on May 29, 2014.
On March 16, 2014, two new next-generation games were announced, titled Hyperdimension Neptunia U: Action Unleashed and Megadimension Neptunia VII. Hyperdimension Neptunia U: Action Unleashed is an action game spin-off exclusively for the PlayStation Vita released on August 28, 2014, in Japan, developed by Tamsoft, whilst Megadimension Neptunia VII is a main series title for the PlayStation 4.
At Tokyo Game Show 2014, an enhanced remake of Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory for the PlayStation Vita, titled Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 3: V Century, was announced.
Games
Main series
''Hyperdimension Neptunia'' (2010)
Remade as Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 1 released in 2013, Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 1 Plus in 2018, and Neptunia re★Verse in 2020.''Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2'' (2011)
The second game in the series. It introduced gameplay mechanics, new characters, and interpretations of the previous ones, which became a mainstay in the series. The game's plot tackles more about the major consequences of video game piracy, albeit presented in a black-and-white manner. It was later remade as Hyperdimension Neptunia Re; Birth 2: Sisters Generation which was initially released in 2014 for PlayStation Vita and Steam.''Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory'' (2012)
The third game in the series, which mainly takes in an alternate dimension and is based around gaming culture around the early generations until the sixth-generation era of gaming. It received an enhanced version for the PlayStation Vita and Steam as Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 3: V Generation which was initially released in 2014.''Megadimension Neptunia VII'' (2015)
The first game in the series for PlayStation 4 released worldwide in 2016. The game's plot is slightly inspired by the shift from the seventh generation of consoles to the 8th generation, as well as the history of the Sega Dreamcast. The game received a remake, framed as a retelling of the True Ending route, in 2017 as Megadimension Neptunia VIIR which featured new cutscenes with VR support. Released on the same platforms as the original.Spin-offs
''Hyperdimension Neptunia: Producing Perfection'' (2013)
An idol-raising simulator game with rhythm and dating sim elements. It is the first game in the series to be on the PlayStation Vita and was the only game in the series to not receive a port to PCs.''Neptunia Collection'' (2013)
An online mobile card game for Android and iOS developed by Idea Factory and hosted by GREE starting from February 15, 2013. It is a collectible card game which involves social networking elements. The game's servers shut down on July 31, 2014.''Hyperdevotion Noire: Goddess Black Heart'' (2014)
tactical role-playing game which utilizes a battle grid.''Hyperdimension Neptunia U: Action Unleashed'' (2014)
Dynasty Warriors-type real-time action game.''MegaTagmension Blanc + Neptune VS Zombies'' (2015)
Multiplayer action game.''Superdimension Neptune vs Sega Hard Girls'' (2015)
Crossover RPG with the Sega Hard Girls franchise.''Cyberdimension Neptunia: 4 Goddesses Online'' (2017)
Action RPG based on a fictional MMORPG within the series universe.''Neptunia & Friends'' (2017)
Interaction/Card game released in Japan for Android and iOS. The localized version was released exclusively for iOS and featured less characters and updates compared to the Japanese version.''Nep-Nep★Connect: Chaos Champloo'' (2017)
Free-to-play card battle game, and the first Neptunia game to not be released outside Japan. The game's support was terminated on August 8, 2018. Though it wasn't released outside Japan, the English version of Neptunia Virtual Stars gives this game the name "Nep-Nep★Connect: Chaos Champloo" when referring to characters that debuted in this game in game's collectible card list.''Super Neptunia RPG'' (2018)
2D side-scrolling action game. First title in the series to be developed outside Japan, and the first Neptunia title that was released on a Nintendo platform.''Neptunia Shooter'' (2019)
2D anime bullet hell game. For the Neptunia series, this title is a number of firsts: first exclusively on PC, the first released worldwide on the same day, and the first to be developed by Idea Factory International, and the first game to be published by Idea Factory in Japan instead of Compile Heart. It was ported to PlayStation 5 alongside Neptunia re★Verse.''Neptunia Virtual Stars'' (2020)
A hack 'n' slash game with rhythm elements that tackles and parodies culture around social media, featuring various Vtubers. The first game in the series not to receive an English dub due to the amount of guest Vtubers present.''Neptunia x Senran Kagura: Ninja Wars'' (2021)
Crossover with the Senran Kagura series. The second game in the series not to receive an English dub.''Dimension Tripper Neptune: Top Nep'' (2022)
game exclusive to PC developed by Frontier Works.''Neptunia: Sisters vs. Sisters'' (2022)
Action RPG starring the candidates. For the first time, the character models have been remade from scratch. It was released in Japan on April 21, 2022, for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.A Western version has been released in January 2023, adding PC via Steam to platforms. It also released for Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S on May 21, 2024. This is the first game to have an English dub since the release of Super Neptunia RPG, and the first to release on Xbox platforms.