Tuesday 28 February 2012

Hyperdimension Neptunia (超次元ゲイム ネプテューヌ Chōjigen Geimu Neputyūnu)

STORYLINE
Players control Neptune, one of four goddess who is involved in a series of events known to many as the Console Wars. The story begins when the four goddesses are fighting each other, but this results to nothing after a while, so Black Heart comes up with a quick solution, which is picking which one of the four to remove from the battle right now. At this point, they all start to figure this out, and it eventually ends up that Neptune is chosen by majority. Unfortunately, Neptune bragged earlier that she could single-handedly defeat the other three goddesses, which results in a 1 vs. 3 fight against Neptune. Ironically, Neptune is defeated, and blacks out, only to begin dreaming. Through this dream, Historie contacts Neptune, but Neptune is still unsure of what to do, even though Historie tried to explain the situation to her. The dream ends, and Neptune wakes up in Compa's house, where Compa introduces herself and explains that she crash landed in front of her house, so she took the knocked-out Neptune in. After introducing herself, Neptune and Compa notice Neptune's wounds, and Compa attempts to bandage them up, though a struggle was involved, because Compa used too much bandage. After Neptune is wrapped up with bondages, as she called them (due to the fact the bandages were on so tight), she reveals that she can't remember anything up to that point, which leads Compa to believe that Neptune is suffering from amnesia. Compa then explains that there are powerful monsters running loose, but this only encourages Neptune to go hunt them, so Compa goes and finds an easy dungeon for them to fight in. Historie (nicknamed Histy by Neptune) guides them through, and they eventually come up to the boss. However, out of nowhere, Neptune activates her HDD and transforms into Purple Heart, which freaks out Compa, and subsequently defeats the boss. They eventually agree that the transformation was just a coincidence, and exit the dungeon. Eager for more, Neptune goes into another dungeon, followed by Compa, to fight more monsters. While walking around, the two of them literally bump into IF. She explains that she is looking for treasure, so Neptune invites IF (nicknamed Iffy) to join them. She agrees to stick around for this one dungeon, but ends up staying. After clearing the dungeon, IF suggests that Neptune should go to the Basilicom so they can receive permission to travel to other landmasses to fight more monsters.

CHARACTERS

 Neptune (Purple Heart)

Voiced by: Rie Tanaka (Japanese), Melissa Fahn (English)
The main character of the game, she is the goddess representing Planeptune. She loses her memory after being defeated by White Heart, Green Heart, and Black Heart, and crash lands near Compa's house. She tends to be a character with high energy, and likes to give nicknames to people. She also likes to jump headfirst into danger. However, she seems to be completely different when she transforms into Purple Heart, taking on a much more serious character. Also, unlike the other goddesses, who only change their appearance during HDD, Neptune's voice and personality also seems to change as well. Her name seems to be a reference to the cancelled Sega Neptune. Her dungeon ability is Hammer Crush, which allows Neptune to destroy breakable obstacles. Her default weapon is a sword, and uses a gun for her Gun command. Compa calls her Nep-Nep.


 Compa

Voiced by: Kanako Sakai (Japanese), Cristina Vee (English)
She is a girl who attends nursing school, and is the first character to join Neptune's party. After Neptune crash lands in front of her house, she tends to her wounds with bandages, though it takes some effort. She seems to be pretty shy. Her dungeon ability is Monster Call, which can summon bosses at certain points. Her default weapon is a giant syringe, which acts as a sword and a gun. Her name is derived from Compile Heart, the company who developed the game. She also wears the Compile Heart logo.






 IF (Iffy)

Voiced by: Kana Ueda (Japanese), Kate Higgins (English)
She is a guild member, and joins Neptune's party after they bump into her during their second dungeon excursion. She seems to be a headstrong character, and likes to accomplish the important things first. Her dungeon ability is Treasure Search, which reveals hidden treasure chests within a given area. Her default weapons are a set of claws, and she also carries a gun for her Gun command. Her name is derived from the initials for Idea Factory, evident by the IF logos on her clothing. Idea Factory is the parent company of Compile Heart.






Arfoire

Voiced by: Chiaki Takahashi (Japanese), Laura Post (English)
The main antagonist of the game, she will not stop until she defeats the four goddesses and takes over Gameindustri once and for all. She wears very gothic style clothes; black, with a splash of purple. Her hat carries a thorned rose as well. She also has purple hair, which looks similar to Neptune's hair. She used to be acquainted with Historie, but when they split Gameindustri into four parts, Arfoire turned against her. Her name is based off the R4, a Nintendo DS game card which allows the owner to download games, music, and movies for free.






 
 Nisa (Nippon Ichi)

Voiced by: Kaori Mizuhashi (Japanese), Michelle Ruff (English)
Self proclaimed hero. Constantly described as flat-chested, which more often than not, makes her angry. She will become playable through the Nisa Battle Ticket, purchasable for $1.99 through the Playstation Network. Her name is derived from NIS America (NISA for short), the company who released the game. She has large blue hair and sports a red scarf, in a similar fashion to a Prinny. Her name is Nippon Ichi in Japan, which is the official name of NIS in Japan.








Gust

Voiced by: Natsuko Kuwatani (Japanese), Cassandra Morris (English)
She is a young girl who creates items, usually out of very strange ingredients, and sells them. She travels the world to become a master alchemist. The manual describes her as having a love for money, but knows how to handle it. Along with Nisa, she will join Neptune's party through the Gust Battle Ticket for $1.99. Her name is derived from Gust Corporation, who releases their games under the NIS America label. Her outfit resembles that of a character in the Atelier series produced by Gust.






 Noire (Black Heart)

Voiced by: Asami Imai (Japanese), Erin Fitzgerald (English)
She is a goddess who represents Lastation, which comes from the Playstation 3, and is a very individual character. She seems to like to perform on her own, and does things on her own time, but she is quite forgiving and fair. She also seems to have a strained relationship with Neptune, but still operates as an individual. During the story, Neptune finds out that she is giving up her position as goddess. She and Neptune are also rivals, as are Nepgear and UNI in the sequel








 Vert (Green Heart)

Voiced by: Rina Satou (Japanese), Tara Platt (English)
She is a goddess who represents Leanbox, which is a play on the Xbox 360. She is quite intelligent, but is not as strong as she thinks she is. She also doesn't know as much about Arfoire's monsters as the others. In addition, she seems to be slightly arrogant, and Neptune describes her as stubborn. She and Blanc appear to be rivals, partly due to breast size.









 Histoire (Histy)

Voiced by: Mika Kanai (Japanese), Stephanie Sheh (English)
Although her true form is a tome, she was able to transform into a fairy-like being when Neptune broke the seal on her. Early in the game, Histoire contacts Neptune through her head, and Neptune is the only one who can hear her. She also assists the player by providing the tutorial; Neptune reveals this at the end of the first dungeon. In the sequel, she becomes the Oracle of Planeptune and serves as CPU in Neptune's place.








 Blanc (White Heart)

Voiced by: Kana Asumi (Japanese), Wendee Lee (English)
She is a goddess who represents Lowee, which in itself, is a direct reference to the Wii. Her appearance doesn't exactly match her personality, as she tends to get very loud and angry very easily, and this short temper causes her to take her rage out on others, usually Neptune or the other goddesses. She also has a foul mouth, which can easily be demonstrated in almost any conversation involving her, even during the boss fight with her. Shares a rivalry with Vert, partly because of differing breast sizes, since she is also occasionally described as flat-chested.






 5pb.

Voiced by: nao
An additional character, her in-game events can be purchased at the Playstation Network. Her name is directly derived from 5pb., the music company nao belongs to. She wears the 5pb. Records logo on her necklace. Because nao speaks Japanese, her in-game events come in English subtitles only.










Red

Voiced by: Kanae Itō
An additional character, her in-game events can be purchased, as in 5pb's case. Her name is directly derived from Red Entertainment. She is a young lesbian girl who constantly travels the world in search of a wife, eventually running into IF and declaring her her first wife.










 Uni (Black Sister)

Voiced by: Eri Kitamura
The younger sister of Noire (Black Heart). As her name implies, she represents the Sony PSP. Looks up to her sister, Noire, and suffers from an inferiority complex because of it. Establishes a rivalry with Nepgear, as did Noire and Neptune.











 Nepgear (Purple Sister)

Voiced by: Yui Horie
The main protagonist of game, and the younger sister of Neptune. As all the new main characters are portable handheld references, in contrast to the home console references made by the original four main characters, she represents the Sega Game Gear. She's determined to save her sister Neptune at all costs. Compa calls her Ge-Ge, while IF calls her Gear.









Ram (White Sister)

Voiced by: Kaori Ishihara
The first little sister of Blanc (White Heart). Her name is derived from RAM (Random Access Memory). The more talkative one of the pair. Seems quite possessive of her sister.
Rom (White Sister)

Voiced by: Yui Ogura
The second little sister of Blanc (White Heart). Her name is derived from ROM (Read Only Memory). She tends to be more quiet than Ram. Also looks up to Nepgear as a big sister. Because Ram and Rom are twin sisters, it can be assumed that as a pair, they represent the Nintendo DS.


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