Now that we know Hyperdimension Neptunia will be heading to North American shores it is time to let out that breath you were holding in. Also it is time to take a sampling of some English translated screenshots of the game. NIS America has decided to show off a handful of English screenshots that they have ready for the game itself. There is also an in-depth detailing of the battle system which I will go over below.
The battle system is unique inside of Hyperdimension Neptunia, for it allows a customizable approach to battle. This is because players will be able to choose which skills they want to add to the various face buttons such as X, O, and triangle and then string together these various attacks into combination. But what this also means is that if the player happens to put together a four attack combination that combines certain skills together, it will create something known as a Skill Link that will do extra damage, more combination attacks and restore AP.
To quote from Ryan Phillips a little more in depth:
In other words, if you create a combo as X, X, O, O, with the final O using “Skill Link,” you will begin a new combo with O as the first command. Then, you can chain your second combo like, say O, X, X, X, with the final X using “Skill Link,” or another ability. One such ability is “Transform,” a mechanic allowing you to access a CPU’s HDD form (or Console Patron Unit’s Hard Drive Divinity form) at the end of a combo chain so the goddess characters can transform into their true forms for extra power and much… tighter… clothing. It comes in real handy against that boss who would otherwise own you, or those lonely nights on the couch. Hah!
There is also a different combo attack that will allow you to switch an active party member out with a character that is in reserve so that they will continue to attack afterwords, effectively switching out party members in mid battle. The more you level up the better your characters will be obviously with new abilities and attacks to be unlocked and provides an overall streamlined experience that fans will enjoy.
Beyond the battle system a little of the world we will be exploring was explained as well. Some we already knew, such as the fact that Neptune will meet Noire, Vert, and Blanc in the world of Gamindustri and that these girls will transform into Black/Green/White Heart when they turn into their goddess character forms. The various characters relate to different companies in the real world, with some more obvious than others in the end. We also hear about the main enemy known as Arfoire that is set on destroying Gamindustri.
Sounds like a lot of fun and I can’t wait to play it myself, you can read the full blog post over on Playstation Blog, and we are hoping to hear of a set release date sometime in the near future.
