Hyperdimension Neptunia (Series)

What began life as a low-budget, technically poor PS3 RPG with some witty jokes and on-point satire has grown into one of the most well-regarded, consistently improving series in all of Japanese gaming. Colourful characters, sharp writing and sidelong glances at the world of gaming make this a series showing no signs of slowing down.


Developer: Compile Heart, Idea Factory
Publisher: Idea Factory International
Available on: Various


Articles about Hyperdimension Neptunia

short;Play: Neptunia Shooter - Don’t you love it when an April Fool escalates into something that is actually rather excellent? That’s what happened with Neptunia Shooter, a game that started as a joke by Idea Factory International — a joke that people responded particularly positively to, resulting in it becoming a real, actual thing. And it’s good! Paying homage to a … Continue reading short;Play: Neptunia Shooter
The MoeGamer 2019 Awards: Developer of the Decade - The MoeGamer Awards are a series of “alternative” awards I’ve devised in collaboration with the community to celebrate the sorts of things that never get celebrated in end-of-year roundups! Find out more here — and feel free to leave a suggestion on that post if you have any good ideas! We’re out of time for this … Continue reading The MoeGamer 2019 Awards: Developer of the Decade
The MoeGamer 2019 Awards: Ten Years, Ten Games - The MoeGamer Awards are a series of “alternative” awards I’ve devised in collaboration with the community to celebrate the sorts of things that never get celebrated in end-of-year roundups! Find out more here — and feel free to leave a suggestion on that post if you have any good ideas! – It is, as we’ve already said, … Continue reading The MoeGamer 2019 Awards: Ten Years, Ten Games
Seven Arbitrarily Chosen Things You’re Missing Out On If You’ve Been Operating Under the Mistaken Belief that JRPGs are “Dead” - It seems that every time we get a new Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy or Persona release, we have the same old “we’re having a JRPG renaissance!” discussion. Well, dear reader, with my coverage of Death End Re;Quest on the horizon at the time of writing and plenty more RPGs in our shared futures, I’m here … Continue reading Seven Arbitrarily Chosen Things You’re Missing Out On If You’ve Been Operating Under the Mistaken Belief that JRPGs are “Dead”
Waifu Wednesday: Neptune - Assuming it arrives on time, I’m hoping to cover Idea Factory’s new game Death End Re;Quest as the next Cover Game feature here on MoeGamer. In the meantime, it occurs to me that in previous Waifu Wednesday installments we have covered many of the characters from throughout Iffy’s Neptunia series (including Vert, Blanc, Uni, Noire, Nepgear, … Continue reading Waifu Wednesday: Neptune
The MoeGamer Awards 2018: Best Girl 2018 - The MoeGamer Awards are a series of “alternative” awards that I’ve devised in collaboration with the community as an excuse to celebrate the games, experiences and fanbases that have left a particular impression on me in 2018. Find out more and leave a suggestion here! Well, if you’re gonna do “best boy” you’ve got to do … Continue reading The MoeGamer Awards 2018: Best Girl 2018
Reflections on PlayStation Vita - At the time of writing, Sony has just announced that production of the PlayStation Vita will be ending in 2019, with no plans for a successor. This follows news from earlier this year that we’re counting down the days until the last Western physical Vita release, with many of the last releases coming in limited … Continue reading Reflections on PlayStation Vita
The “Build a Harem” Tag - It’s been a while since a Community tag post, so let’s let our hair down a bit, since the ever-charming Raistlin was kind enough to nominate me with some very nice words! This particular tag originated from Cactus Matt over at the excellent Anime Q and A blog — he’s a frequent collaborator with a … Continue reading The “Build a Harem” Tag
Waifu Wednesday: Uni - We’ve already covered quite a few Neptunia waifus in our weekly Waifu Wednesday celebrations, but there are still plenty more where those came from. And with today being the six-year anniversary of the release of Hyperdimension Neptunia mk. 2 in North America, I figured it’s only fitting we show our appreciation for one of the CPU Candidates, … Continue reading Waifu Wednesday: Uni
Waifu Wednesday: IF and Compa - I can’t in good conscience separate these two, so it’s a two-hander for this week’s Waifu Wednesday as we give thanks for the lovely IF and Compa. Recurring characters in the Neptunia series since its very inception, IF and Compa are the personifications of developer-publisher Idea Factory and subsidiary developer Compile Heart respectively. They’re an inseparable … Continue reading Waifu Wednesday: IF and Compa
Waifu Wednesday: Blanc - It’s Waifu Wednesday, and a popular request over the last few weeks of Neptunia-themed Waifu Wednesdays has been Lowee’s goddess Blanc. So this week I’m granting that wish! Blanc is quite a contrast to the other goddesses of Gamindustri in quite a few ways, but she’s a popular character in her own right — and, … Continue reading Waifu Wednesday: Blanc
Cyberdimension Neptunia: Narrative, Themes and Characterisation - Cyberdimension Neptunia: 4 Goddesses Online presents us with a satirical story set entirely in the "other world" of a game... within the game we're already playing! Let's take a closer look.
Waifu Wednesday: Noire - Noire is a consistently popular member of the Neptunia cast, and for a variety of reasons. For one, she personifies the range of consoles that have, to date at the time of writing, played exclusive host to the games in the series: Sony’s PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4, with her younger sister Uni representing Sony … Continue reading Waifu Wednesday: Noire
Cyberdimension Neptunia: Action Neptunia’s Latest Evolution - Cyberdimension Neptunia: 4 Goddesses Online represents the latest evolution of a branch of action-based spinoffs on the Neptunia franchise. Let's see how that concept has grown and changed over time.
Waifu Wednesday: Nepgear - A month of coverage for a Neptunia game is as good a reason as any to celebrate my favourite series waifu and indeed joint-favourite waifu of all time (alongside Amane from Grisaia). Yes, it’s Nepgear, the long-suffering sister of series protagonist, reluctant and self-conscious protagonist of her own games (Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2 and its subsequent remake Hyperdimension … Continue reading Waifu Wednesday: Nepgear
Waifu Wednesday: Vert - Everyone has a favourite in the Neptunia cast, but even if she’s not top of your list, it’s hard to dislike Vert. The blonde-haired, big-breasted goddess of Leanbox personifies Microsoft’s Xbox platform as well as embodying the anime trope of “beautiful foreigner” thanks to her physical characteristics. And as with the rest of the Neptunia cast, there’s … Continue reading Waifu Wednesday: Vert
Some Thoughts on Localisation - Localisation is, it seems, a somewhat thorny issue these days — but it’s one worth discussing. Before I begin today, I’d like to emphasise that by no means am I attempting to present a “definitive” opinion here. By its very nature, this is a topic that is highly subjective and a matter of opinion, and … Continue reading Some Thoughts on Localisation
Happy Birthday, Asami Imai - Today, March 16, is the birthday of Japanese voice actress Asami Imai, one of the most distinctive, recognisable voices in modern Japanese entertainment. Since her debut in 1999, she has racked up an impressive number of roles to her name across a variety of different media. Among enthusiasts of Japanese gaming, she’s probably best known … Continue reading Happy Birthday, Asami Imai
From the Archives: Drawing the Line - Any dedicated JRPG fan will know what an uphill struggle it is to get people who have found themselves drifting away from the genre to actually play one of your favorite games. All too often, people are keen to dismiss the whole genre as “Japanese bullshit” at best, depraved disgusting sexist paedophilic misogynist nonsense at worst. Ever-determined … Continue reading From the Archives: Drawing the Line
Waifus I Have Loved - As Valentine’s Day rolls around once again, I find myself keenly aware that not everyone in this world is fortunate enough to be blessed with a partner, lover, spouse or otherwise significant other as understanding, tolerant and patient as my good wife. At times like this, a man often turns to solace in the arms … Continue reading Waifus I Have Loved
Megadimension Neptunia V-II: Sights and Sounds - One of the most distinctive things about the Neptunia series is its visual aesthetic -- you can largely thank artist Tsunako for that.
Megadimension Neptunia V-II: Narrative, Themes and Characterisation - Both strongly allegorical and satirical, the Neptunia series has always had a lot more to it from a narrative perspective than those who would dismiss it as moe fluff would like you to believe.
Megadimension Neptunia V-II: Introduction - Since its initial release in 2010, the Neptunia series has gone from niche-interest title to Idea Factory's most prolific and popular series; testament to what belief in your own work can achieve, for sure.
Ten Great RPGs That Came Out After Final Fantasy VII - As we saw recently, there are those among us who believe that the Japanese role-playing game has been in consistent decline since Final Fantasy VII, and that only now are we starting to see a “comeback”. We’ve already talked about how this is a load of old nonsense, and that in fact the role-playing game … Continue reading Ten Great RPGs That Came Out After Final Fantasy VII
Are JRPGs Primed for a Comeback? No; They Never Went Away - If IGN’s Colin Moriarty is to be believed, then Japanese role-playing games have been in a “steep decline” since Final Fantasy VII. You and I, as fellow enthusiasts of Japanese gaming, both know that this is perhaps a somewhat questionable claim to make, but it’s also worth examining, particularly in light of the fact that Moriarty … Continue reading Are JRPGs Primed for a Comeback? No; They Never Went Away
Goddesses of Gamindustri: Noire - With the Western release of Vita title Hyperdimension Neptunia: Producing Perfection, a character-centric idol management game-cum-dating sim-cum-visual novel based on Compile Heart’s popular RPG series, I thought it high time we took a closer look at the game’s cast. And, since Noire — also known as Black Heart — is indisputably my favorite member of … Continue reading Goddesses of Gamindustri: Noire
Goddesses of Gaming - The time I finished Compile Heart’s moe PlayStation 3 RPG Hyperdimension Neptunia was the time I proved beyond a doubt that review scores were completely and utterly useless to me. I kind of suspected this already, but the fact that I devoured and loved a game that Eurogamer gave a 2/10 spoke volumes about how far my tastes had drifted from the mainstream … Continue reading Goddesses of Gaming


Localisation Notes

NIS America’s original translations changed a lot of terminology to remove explicit references to religion — megami (goddess) became “CPU” (Console Patron Unit), for example. Many of these terms have stuck even after Idea Factory International took over localisation duties, but some of the original terminology is starting to be slipped into later installments.

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