Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth1 PC Review

Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth1 PC
Developed By: Idea Factory/Compile Heart
Published By: Idea Factory
Date of Release: January 28, 2015
Price: $29.99

In the game industry of our world we have seen countless companies come and go, bringing us amazing consoles, epic games, and so much enjoyment and innovation. From the simple joysticks and clunky cartridges of the past, to the sleek disc-based consoles of today, videogaming over the ages has told a rich and and storied saga. Now imagine if you will, a world where people live and die based on the market shares of their respective game comnpanies. A world where software pirates and modchip makers are the scourge of the seas. A world ruled by digitally deified divas who symbolize the hopes and dreams of their console nations. Welcome to the digital frontier of Gamindustri!



Released last year on the Playstation Vita, Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth1 has now been ported onto the PC, and is offered for sale exclusively on Steam. The entire experience is here, with all the trimmings (including plenty of DLC to buy!). Sadly it's been a little clunky so far, with many issues popping up here and there, but Idea Factory has been fast to listen to fan feedback and fix everything up! It's good to see they care about their fans at this level, some companies (COUGHSQUAREENIXCOUGH) can;t seem to take a hint about what their fans think. I'm confident though that IF knows their fanbase, as they have handled everything smoothly thus far.



Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth1 marks the fourth outing for the series, and though it may be a reboot it is also the longest, most hilariously off the wall and over the top game to grace the series yet. If Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2 was considered a reboot of the original, then perhaps that makes Hyperdimension Neptuinia Re:Birth1 a reboot of a reboot! This literal rebirth of the original game takes the original story, polishes it up a few notches, and sticks it on top of the gameplay system that made Hyperdimension Neptunia: Victory so great.



To be brutally honest, the original Hyperdimension Neptunia for PS3 was an absolute soul-breaking slog, with hours of grinding and frankly boring combat dragging the experience on. The only saving grace was its story, which made the most of things with its masterful console war allegory. Thankfully having been moved over to the gameplay stylings of Victory, Re:Birth1 is propelled high and above its clunky progenitor. With the far more exciting battle system on offer in this entry, traveling through the games myriad dungeons and leveling up no longer feels like such a chore. Unrestrained by the formerly boring gameplay, the story is now free to take center stage.



When it comes right down to it, Re;Birth1 is STILL a shining example of that the series can offer, and I can only hope that Re;Birth2 will follow the first entry onto Steam as soon as possible. The PC library could definitely use more JRPG experiences like these, as it's mainly been a bland morass of western RPGS until now. I for one would gladly go for every Neptunia adventure again if they were to be ported to the PC. Now get on Steam and buy this awesome game, or I'll send Iris Heart after you!

Dying Light Review

Dying Light
Developed By: Techland
Published By: Techland/WB
Date of Release: January 27, 2015
Price: $59.99

ZOMBIES! ZOMBIES EVERYWHERE! In a world that had never before seen a zombie related videogame this situation would seem quite frightening. Not in our world, where zombie-killfests are a dime a dozen, and a zombie-related game just HAS to do something to stand out from the crowd, otherwise it just becomes another brick in the wall. Dying Light is NOT just another brick in the wall, let me tell you. Fresh from releasing Dead Island 1 and 2, Techland has definitely learned from the shortcomings of their previous undead endeavors, and Dying Light is all the better for it!



Dying Light is however more than a mere Dead Island 2.0. Everything that was good about the previous games has vastly been improved on, and everything bad has pretty much been checked out the window. I know that this is a different game, in a different series, but it really just feels like a complete successor to Dead Island. If only the that series could have been this good. IMO however this is a complete redemption for any past shortcomings. Dying light is just plain meaty, and a blast to play alone or in co-op. And with one character to play as this time, things don;t feel as fragmented.



The crafting system is in full force here, but completely streamlined, much easier to craft what you need this time around. Combat feels satisfying visceral, and this time around we have guns that act like guns for a change, no dinky popgun this time. You fire a shotgun, and it FEELS like a shotgun. Just prepared to be swarmed by the undead due to the noise. Of course you can always climb to higher ground, as Dying Light has adopted a parkour system that seems to be Mirror's Edge meets Assassin's Creed. Though it's slightly clunky, it more than does it's job, and you'll save your own hide many times by taking the higher ground. In a way the clunkiness makes it that much more real, because you WILL have close calls, you're not some superhero athlete. You're a tough guy, who's taken some damage, and this just drives it home.



The co-op mode feels pretty good, with support for four players. It's a drop in/drop out affair, and you keep your gear and progress as you go. A lot of the missions in the campaign feel suited to having extra help, so it's nice to see that co-op was well thought out and not just slapped on for it's own sake. For those who would rather be an antagonist, there's also a "Be the Zombie" mode, where you play a superpowered undead badass trying to hunt down the other players, and it's pretty decent as well. When it comes right down to it, Dying Light is a very good effort, and by far one of the best zombie games to come out recently. So if you like clubbing the bajeezus out of shambling undead hordes, do yourself a favor and pick it up. Just try not to get eaten.