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INTEREST: Compile Heart's New Neptunia V Video Features Tezuka Characters




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Soundmonkey44



Joined: 25 May 2010
Posts: 1243
PostPosted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 10:58 pm Reply with quote
I don't know if thats awesome or insulting or both. Putting classic Tezuka characters in something like this. Which don't get me wrong I like the Neptunia games, but yeah.... not sure if happy or angry. As weird as that may sound.
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Chagen46



Joined: 27 Jun 2010
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 11:05 pm Reply with quote
Soundmonkey44 wrote:
I don't know if thats awesome or insulting or both. Putting classic Tezuka characters in something like this. Which don't get me wrong I like the Neptunia games, but yeah.... not sure if happy or angry. As weird as that may sound.


Me too...this almost seems...disrespectful to the God of Manga himself.
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ximpalullaorg



Joined: 16 Jan 2007
Posts: 396
PostPosted: Thu Jul 19, 2012 10:13 am Reply with quote
To be clear, there's no mention on what they're doing with Tezuka Productions. The Producer, Mizuno, said on the official Neptune V blog that the details of their partnership will be revealed "later".
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RyanSaotome



Joined: 29 Mar 2011
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 19, 2012 10:39 am Reply with quote
Yeah, because some manga legend is working on a video game you don't like, its "Disrespectful" to him. Wow.
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Chagen46



Joined: 27 Jun 2010
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 19, 2012 11:44 am Reply with quote
....You DO realize that I was planning on buying this game because I played and liked the original Hyperdimension Neptunia (never played the second), right?
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Veers



Joined: 31 Oct 2008
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 19, 2012 12:04 pm Reply with quote
Yes, Chagen, of course we all realized that based on your first post in this thread where you clearly stated you liked the original and planned on buying this sequel.

Anyway, the more references the merrier, I say. mk2 was pretty entertaining and I'm looking forward to another dose of ridiculous with V.
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Betenoire



Joined: 11 Jun 2009
Posts: 32
PostPosted: Thu Jul 19, 2012 12:09 pm Reply with quote
Chagen46 wrote:
....You DO realize that I was planning on buying this game because I played and liked the original Hyperdimension Neptunia (never played the second), right?


And now you aren't because the game is looking to use characters you like because it is somehow unholy?

The thing about Tezuka's characters is while the man was undeniably a legend his characters are what they were- tools to tell a story and also a way to make money (which isn't an insult) which is why there were licensed items for his creations.

What putting his characters into a new game does help do is introduce a new audience to their existence- yes they are recognized at large but how many of the younger generations go out of their way to pick up his manga anymore than the younger generations of American comic readers have actually read the work of a number of the people who created the title.

If the characters appear it is a two for one deal- Tezuka's estate gets money (which it can use for...I don't know, promoting Tezuka's work or whatever they do with the money Vertical sends them for the stuff they license) while a generation that may never have thought to pick up a book with "old looking" characters may find themselves curious.

If the game sucks it is a reflection on the game creators, not Tezuka's work but if it succeeds it may work to spark more interest in Tezuka which isn't a loss for anyone. Freaking out site unseen though is kind of like saying "Oh noes, the Japanese have put classic Disney characters in a game, obviously it will ruin all of them forever when Kingdom Hearts fails."

At least wait until there are some concrete examples to freak out about.
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Chagen46



Joined: 27 Jun 2010
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 19, 2012 12:18 pm Reply with quote
Veers: You like Neptunia? Surprising, it doesn't seem like your type of game.

Betenoire: No, what I meant was...it's very strange to see Tezuka's characters in a game that's known for fanservice and being heavily moe-styled, especially how it's very "modern" in it's art style than Tezuka's "classic"-styled art.
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Veers



Joined: 31 Oct 2008
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Location: Texas
PostPosted: Thu Jul 19, 2012 2:07 pm Reply with quote
Chagen46 wrote:
Veers: You like Neptunia? Surprising, it doesn't seem like your type of game.
Now I'm morbidly curious about what kind of game tastes you think I have and how you came to this conclusion and what my type of game would be...

Neptunia (at least mk2, I skipped the first one) is a constant stream of sometimes-obvious-but-still-hilariously-clever parody, pop culture and subculture references, over-the-top commentary on the game industry, 4th-wall-breaking jokes, and meta humor usually done in a way that works for me (compared to, say, Pani Poni which, even when I was getting the references, was too spastic and never funny). That the game has cute girl fanservice often without pretense, a pretty enjoyable battle system, and an awesome import-your-own-model-skins feature that more games should use was just icing on the cake.

My only complaints, honestly, was that the game engine itself is pretty crappy (doesn't look good for its time, has poor FPS, and a not-quite-par camera). I can tell you this, though; if mk2 hadn't followed through so thoroughly with its premise, its parody, and its humor, I would have lost interest very quickly in the plot (if you can call it that), the gameplay, and the fanservice, so if your comment had to do with the fact that the game has young girls in skimpy clothes, yeah, that's not what got me interested in the game, nor why I played it, but it didn't bother me and I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it on some level. However, the majority of the "fanservice" in the game is actually its premise and the parodies, and that's the kind of "fanservice" that I love the most, maybe because it involves a little more intellectual involvement than just staring at T&A or snickering at pantyshots.

I had a ton of fun with the game, but I didn't go into it expecting anything other than what it was, and I got exactly what I was expecting: a ridiculous and silly premise with lots of laugh out loud moments, generic looking but still cute characters, and an RPG gameplay experience that was not ground breaking but engaging enough to play to the end.

So, yeah. I like Neptunia. I like Neptunia for what it is, because sometimes I need a break from the more serious kinds of stories I usually gravitate to.

Edit: Okay, wait, I do have on more complaint about the game. Despite the fact that there's a ton of little free DLC addons for mk2, the combined price for all the DLC is still like $100 and that's kind of absurd considering hardly any of it adds anything of substance to the game. I wish more of that stuff had been built in and unlocked via actually, you know, playing the game itself (like maybe NG+ content or purchased with lots of in-game cash or something). spoiler[Yes, I'm just bitter that I can't danmaku things to death with Cave without buying her DLC.]
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HitokiriShadow



Joined: 09 May 2005
Posts: 6251
PostPosted: Thu Jul 19, 2012 6:19 pm Reply with quote
Veers wrote:

Edit: Okay, wait, I do have on more complaint about the game. Despite the fact that there's a ton of little free DLC addons for mk2, the combined price for all the DLC is still like $100 and that's kind of absurd considering hardly any of it adds anything of substance to the game. I wish more of that stuff had been built in and unlocked via actually, you know, playing the game itself (like maybe NG+ content or purchased with lots of in-game cash or something). spoiler[Yes, I'm just bitter that I can't danmaku things to death with Cave without buying her DLC.]


Yeah, but you're only going to pay anywhere close to that if you feel a need to buy every single costume, accessory and weapon. Half of it is free, including basically all of the non-equipment stuff that effects gameplay except 2 character unlocks. All of the coliseum fights and optional dungeons are free. Though having to download ~20 separate coliseum fights was annoying. I bought the two characters and the only other things I'm going to spend money on are a costume or two for some of the characters, which will run me maybe another $15.

Haven't gotten very far in the game myself yet. I just gained access to Lowee and haven't played for about two weeks due to being busy and probably won't have time to play more until August. My only complaints so far are that the 3D character models are a distinct downgrade from the first game's 2D portraits and the game isn't nearly as amusing so far, but it improved significantly when Uni appeared (I think the problem is that Compa and IF just don't have good comedic chemistry with Nepgear, since they weren't designed to work with someone nearly as laid back as her).

I'm looking forward to Neptunia V. It looks like it should fix the 3D character model problem, as the game looks quite nice. Granted, I think I've mainly or only seen battle scenes, so I guess they could still look like crap in the dialogue scenes.
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RyanSaotome



Joined: 29 Mar 2011
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 19, 2012 6:33 pm Reply with quote
I'd also agree that MK2 was pretty lackluster until Uni came around... but anytime theres a loli voiced by Eri Kitamura, she'll be my favorite character in the game/anime. But overall, I like it better than the first game, but I also had issues with the 3d models in the dialogue parts. Didn't look anywhere near as good as the 2d artwork... fortunately, its been confirmed the 2d art is back in dialogue parts in V.
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Chagen46



Joined: 27 Jun 2010
Posts: 4377
PostPosted: Thu Jul 19, 2012 8:48 pm Reply with quote
Veers: Maybe I confused you with Surrender Artist (I tend to conflate similar people together), but I never took you to be a person privy to fanservicey moe JRPGs.
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Veers



Joined: 31 Oct 2008
Posts: 1197
Location: Texas
PostPosted: Thu Jul 19, 2012 9:46 pm Reply with quote
Chagen46 wrote:
Veers: Maybe I confused you with Surrender Artist (I tend to conflate similar people together), but I never took you to be a person privy to fanservicey moe JRPGs.
I'm not. Neptunia mk2 is definitely an anomaly in my game collection. Unless you count Arland Atelier as fanservicey moe JRPGs (they're super cute, but I don't consider them the same tier of fanservicey as something like Neptunia).
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