1256: V for Victory

Been playing a bit more Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory this evening. While the newest game is, as I mentioned a few days ago, more of an evolution from mk2 than the revolution that mk2 was over the original, I’m starting to notice some more pronounced differences — differences that make it abundantly clear Idea Factory and Compile Heart are both receptive to feedback and keen to iterate on their past work in order to make things better in subsequent installments.

Let’s take Victory’s battle system as an example. At first glance, it appears almost identical to mk2’s mechanics. On a single character’s turn, they can move within a set radius according to their Move stat (which tends to be improved from its per-character baseline value via equipment rather than increased through levelling up) and, if they can reach an enemy, they may attack it. Different weapons have different “threat” areas, meaning that some are designed for focusing on a single enemy, while others have long areas that can attack enemies in a line; others can “sweep” in a wide arc in front of the character. Usually, you can position yourself in such a way that it’s possible to hit two or more enemies at once for the most efficient combat. There are three different “types” of attack — Rush attacks hit more times, Power attacks are stronger (and often magical) and Break attacks have a stronger effect on the enemy’s “Guard Points” bar, which, when depleted, causes them to take more damage.

In these respects, the two battle systems are identical. But from hereon, they diverge somewhat. Today I am going to talk in detail about how they are different from one another. A good proportion of you will not find this in the slightest bit interesting, and I make absolutely no apologies whatsoever for that. I’m going to talk about it anyway.

In mk2, the amount of attacks a single character could perform in a turn was determined by their “AP” (Ability Points) value. Each attack they performed cost a set number of ability points to perform, and the character could continue attacking until they had run out. Alternatively, it was also possible to finish the combo early and “bank” some AP for the following turn — in order to perform some of the special moves, this was necessary, as the AP cost was more than the character’s baseline maximum AP in many cases. If a combo spent over a particular number of AP in a single turn, an “EX” move became possible, which tended to be more powerful, hit more times or have some sort of special effect.

In Victory, meanwhile, the AP system has been removed entirely, and each character’s combo in a turn may only ever consist of up to four moves. (At least, this is true at the early stage I’m at, anyway.) The big difference comes in how you assign the Rush, Power and Break moves to each character; rather than being able to assign any unlocked moves at will and being able to perform them if you had enough AP, Victory gives each move a “CP” (Combo Points) cost, and each character an allowance of CP that gradually increases as they level up. Early in the game, there are not enough CP available to fill all possible slots in the command list, meaning that you’re forced to think a bit more carefully about each character’s strengths and weaknesses when prioritising which moves they should have available.

This is a very simple and straightforward change to mk2’s system, but it works incredibly well. While I enjoyed fighting in mk2, there was relatively little to differentiate between a lot of the different characters, special moves aside. In Victory, meanwhile, it becomes possible (and indeed necessary) to specialise characters in each of the three types of attack, then make them work as a team to take down enemies. For example, my current party contains Plutia, who is weak at physical attacks (particularly Rushes) but has some strong elemental-infused Power attacks and is also very good at Break attacks; Neptune, who is a fairly well-rounded character I have focusing on Rush attacks; and Noire, who I have using some strong Power attacks.

With this configuration, I can have Plutia run in and wear down the enemy’s guard, then Neptune and Noire can step in for the kill. Noire does more damage with her power attacks; Neptune’s Rush attacks cause the “EX meter” to rise quicker. When said meter reaches particular boundaries, strong “EX Finisher” moves become available, allowing for slightly longer combos with special effects at the end. Later in the game, the EX meter can also be used to unleash extremely powerful special attacks, though doing so depletes it, unlike the Finisher moves.

Another big change comes in the SP (Skill Point) system. In mk2, SP, which were used to cast spells and/or allow the characters to transform into their more powerful “Hard Drive Divinity” forms, gradually charged up as the characters took and received damage. In Victory, they start a dungeon expedition with a full bar, which gradually depletes as special abilities are used. In this sense, it’s more like a traditional bank of magic points, which is arguably a little less creative but works somewhat better. The SP system of mk2 nerfed the Hard Drive Divinity feature significantly in that it was often only possible to remain transformed for a turn or two at a time, which didn’t seem quite in keeping with the supposedly awesome power of these “CPU” goddesses. In Victory, meanwhile, you can transform at the start of a fight and remain comfortably in HDD for quite some time — what you have to take into account here instead is managing your stock of SP over the course of the whole dungeon, rather than within the individual fight.

These few changes to Victory’s battle system help make a game that initially seems rather similar actually quite distinct from its predecessor, which is very much a good thing. The enemies have been buffed up somewhat, too, meaning that you have to work quite hard to defeat some of them, and many of them are more than capable of giving you a good smack in the face in return. I don’t remember getting a Game Over more than once or twice over the course of mk2; less than 10 hours into Victory and I’ve already had 4 or 5, and all of them have been my own stupid fault rather than the game being cheap. This is a good sign — while piss-easy combat has its appeal, it’s nice to have a bit of challenge now and then.

Anyway. Suffice to say I am enjoying Victory so far and have little doubt that I will spend an obscene amount of time on seeing everything it has to offer in the long term. I am, however, a bit put out that my favourite character IF doesn’t seem to be in this one very much! Oh well. You can’t have everything, and Plutia is kind of adorable in a dopey sort of way. Also, Noire still makes me weak at the knees. “I-it’s not like I’m lonely or anything…!”