RE-REVIEW: Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth1 (Steam)


Title	Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth1
Developer	Compile Heart, Idea Factory, Felistella
Publisher	Idea Factory Intl.
Release Date	January 28, 2015
Genre	RPG
Platform	PC (Steam)
Age Rating	ESRB – Teen
Official Website

Being a longtime fan of the Neptunia series, I was interested to see how Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth1 would translate over to the PC. Neptunia Re;Birth1 is also one of my favorite titles in the series. So, when Idea Factory International announced it would be bringing this title over to Steam, as you can imagine, I jumped at the chance to check it out. Let’s find out how well it ported over, shall we?

The story has not changed a bit. The console wars are still raging, and the three goddesses from Lowee, Lastation and Leanbox gang up on Neptune. They throw her out of the heavenly area known as Celestia. She falls to Gameindustri where she is discovered by Compa. Losing her memories, she soon hears a voice in her head of the Tome of Gamindustri, Histoire. She tells Neptune that she must collect the Key Fragments in order to release her and save Gamindustri from the evil Arfoire.

There have been no changes to the actual gameplay from the PlayStation Vita version. Combat is still turn based. You still go through dungeons collecting materials for plans and other useful items. If you want to know more details about how this one plays, check out Crystal Baltimore’s review.

The biggest difference found in the PC version is the graphics. The game will now run at full 1080p if you have the hardware to pull it off, and I have to say the girls look fantastic at 1080p. Not only do the character models look better, but so do the enemies. Even the environments themselves look quite a bit better. The frame rate is much improved, as well. I get really close to 60fps out of my system, and it makes the animations look silky smooth.

There have also been no changes in the audio department from the PlayStation Vita release, but this is the one area I do have a slight issue. The audio has a slight delay when a voice clip or sound effect is used for the first time. This will never happen again until you close the game, but it is a bit annoying. Though this could just be an issue with my system, as I have seen others with Alienware laptops complain of this issue.

The game also has full Joystick support. So, you can use your favorite Xbox controller, DualShock 3 controller with XInput or a DualShock 4 with DS4 Windows. No matter which controller you use, you can remap all of the buttons any way you like. You can also use keyboard or mouse controls, but those felt really strange to me.

All in all, I have to say this is a really solid port. It started off a bit rocky, but, with the patches Idea Factory International has already put out, it’s greatly improved. They are still working on a few issues some users are having with certain rigs, but I think they will smoothe all of these out in due time. So, for its asking price $29.99, you get one of the best RPGs of last year with better graphics and a smoother frame rate. So, if you’re into RPGs with great stories and wonderful characters, you can’t go wrong here.