Name Changes in Neptunia Localizations

Of all the issues discussed in localizations, characters’ names are often the most contentious issue. Hyperdimension Neptunia has had just about every possible different style of name change across its history: different name but same meaning, direct romanization, and even completely made up replacements.

An aspect of localization that’s often hard to grasp is that sometimes wording has to change for the meaning to stay the same, but sometimes things are changed for other reasons (or worse, no reason).

What was changed, and why?

The List

Arfoire ← マジェコンヌ (majekon’nu, romanized “Magiquone”)

Probably the most well known of the name changes. Her Japanese name is taken from a DS flashcart sold in Japan called Majikon. Her English name is taken from the R4 flashcart (which is essentially its Western counterpart), and also happens to fit more in line with the French-style naming.

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Welcome aboard Sik, a new Neptunia focused guest writer

When I started this site I didn’t plan on bringing other writers on board, but plans always change. So today I’m announcing two changes.

First, this site will be somewhat of a home for Neptunia information, as I’ve found it frustratingly difficult to scrape together information on what’s a fairly popular series (for it’s budget/pedigree). These stories will be collected under a new top level menu item for Neptunia. I’ll keep making import guides and covering the release of new games in Japanese, as well as guides once (or before!) the English version hits western shores.

Second, welcome aboard guest writer Sik, who will be assisting in writing about Neptunia!

Sik is a Genesis Homebrew Game developer from Argentina and artist who does lots of Neptunia art, it so happens. Some of his stuff is on itch.io as well.

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Neptunia Re;Birth1 Black Heart Fight Strategy and Save File

So Neptunia Re;Birth 1 has a pretty disastrously hard boss fight: Black Heart, and it’s right at the start of the game. If you’re here, you might have ragequit because of it. I come bearing the following good news:

Re;Birth 1 is the only game in the series this unreasonable
There’s only 2 fights like this, both at the start of the game
A half hour+ of grinding is really all that’s needed to make this quite easy, it’s mostly a level mismatch
I have a PC save file to help you get past it without spoiling the rest of the game!

Guide Index

Return to the Neptunia Mega Guide, which links guides and info for all games.

Fighting Black Heart: Easy Mode (PC Only)

Download this save file (created by @badp) and you’ll be level 15 and just before the Black Heart fight. It copies to save slot 19 so it shouldn’t erase any of your saves. Copy it to “Documents\My Games\Idea Factory International, Inc\Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth1”, on modern Windows systems pasting that into Windows Explorer’s bar will take you right there. Failing that, navigate to your My Documents folder and continue down.

No DLC was used in making the save so it’s maximally compatible, but you’ll have to re-obtain Peashy/Plutia and grind them a tiny bit if you bought the DLC (not a big deal at all since all characters get XP not just the party). Should be fairly easy but read the strategy below if you’re still new to the series/having issues.

Unfortunately due to trophies I do not believe such a method is possible on PS Vita so you’ll have to grind a bit yourself and follow below.

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SuperDimension Neptune vs Sega Hard Girls Guide

This is a mostly complete guide for Superdimension Neptune vs Sega Hard Girls for PS Vita and PC.

I got sidetracked and it’s not quite as complete as I would like, but as always with my guides, feel free to leave any questions or comments in the Comments Section below and I’ll update. All info should be valid for both Playstation Vita and PC versions of the game.

Welcome to SuperDimension Neptune vs Sega Hard Girls!

Missibles Warning

Yes, this game has missable Medals and Baseballs required for trophies. It’s not a big deal unless you’re aware of it, but be mindful. Specifically Panique Cave and floors 1 and 2 of Toyopolis need to be re-explored after certain events (adding the bridge in Megadrive Panique Cave and adding floors to Toyopolis).

Other than these, and the fact that a New Game Plus is required to perform certain actions (including the Delphinus trophy) this game is extremely light on missable content and very stress free!

Is it Good?

I’ll have a full review coming on this site soon. But it’s the best side game so far (almost as good as a Rebirth series game I would say), though it has some flaws. I’d recommend it for any fans of Neptunia or big fans of Sega Hard Girls for sure.

I have a playlist on Youtube with a nearly complete English playthrough already if you want some impressions and gameplay.

Updates

2017-05-30: PC versions’ release date was announced! June 12th. Updated the guide structure a bit in celebration. The table of contents is far less messy.

2016-11-04: Missable warning, more info on baseballs/Medals, FAQ added

2016-10-29: Added more info to walkthrough, about ready to finish it

2016-10-25: Trophy info mostly done. DLC info added. Walkthroughs started.

2016-10-22: Completed Lily Rank section (a critical grind)

2016-10-18: Skeleton of guide

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Guide to Understanding the Hyperdimension Neptunia Timeline

Hyperdimension Neptunia can be a confusing series to try to keep up with for new players; it’s actually pretty simple, but the titles are definitely weird for sure. So here’s two explanations, one short that tells you all you need to know, and one long that tells you probably way more than you need to know.

Update 2018-03-19: So Cyberdimension Neptunia released and it’s largely in the “non-canon spinoffs” section, though it could potentially be in the main timeline post-Victory 2. Not much of consequence story-wise happens in it so it doesn’t really matter where/whether it’s in the timeline, though it’s inclusion of certain characters makes it clearly post V2 if it is “canon”. But it’s mostly focused on slice-of-life and character development over any plot threads.

Guide Index

Return to the Neptunia Mega Guide, which links guides and info for all games.

The Short Version

Easier to show than tell, really:

A diagram of the Hyperdimension Neptunia timeline. See — Click for a higher res version

Basically we have three mainline games which have a PS3 release and a Vita/PC Remake, a fourth mainline game with a single PS4/PC release, and a bunch of Vita/PC side games with no bearing in canon. The remakes are functionally equivalent to the main games in terms of the canon story, so don’t worry about “which” canon.

VIIR is a new addition, but is largely the same as VII as far as story is concerned.

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MegaTagmension Blanc + Neptune VS Zombies Review

On May 10th, MegaTagmension Blanc + Neptune VS Zombies releases. It’s a multiplayer Neptunia spinoff focusing on Blanc (sigh, and Neptune…) that’s based on Neptunia U’s parts but with a new Multiplayer component, some Monster Hunter inspiration and some general retooling that makes it feel more like it’s own game. This title is from Idea Factory and Tamsoft, developers of Senran Kagura and also Neptunia U.

I’ve played both the Japanese and English releases, so let’s see how this multiplayer action spin on the Neptunia franchise stacks up.

Multiplayer Screen Shot 2015-11-22 19-44-07 — Team up for Victory!

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Megadimension Neptunia Victory II Guide

Here you’ll find a mini-walkthrough of important events, True Ending requirements, trophy info and more! If this guide helps, you can consider contributing to my Patreon fan-funding campaign, as I make all my guides and articles for free.

As always any questions or new tips are welcome, and generally best left in the Comments section below.

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Neptunia vs Sega Hard Girls Import Guide

Characters

IF

IF is your standard majorly overpowered Protagonist this time around (much more so than Neptune has ever been). Retaining her incredible AGI and ability to use both magic and physical attacks, she now has a buffed transformation state much like the CPUs and generally has stats well in excess of what she normally would have as a Maker.

IF’s overpoweredness may become rather annoying if you don’t like it, as either she or Segami are required to lead your party and participate in all battles.

Segami

Despite being a deuteragonist, Segami is not nearly as overpowered as IF. Instead of a universally buffed transformation state, she has the ability to transform into any one of the Sega Hard girls and copy their current skills. This is very situational unlike IF’s transformation, and I rarely use it, instead using Segami for her inherent traits and just bringing along whatever other party members I like.

Import Guide

Below lies the original text of my import guide. I’ll eventually move it to another page as soon as I’m done with the English one. It will always be a bit less complete than the English one.

As usual I’ve imported the latest Neptunia game and decided to make a quick guide for my fellow importers.

Welcome to Super Dimension War Neptunia VS Sega Hard Girls Dream of Coalescence Special AKA Cho Jigen Taisen Neptune VS Sega Hard Girls Yume no Gattai Special AKA 超次元大戦ネプテューヌＶＳセガ・ハード・ガールズ夢の合体スペシャル AKA goodness referring to games only availible in another language is difficult, isn’t it. I’ma just call it Neptunia vs Sega Hard Girls.

Trophy Hunter Warning: See the Fetching Balls Master trophy section for some info you should keep in mind the whole game or you’ll make your last few steps of trophy hunting extra painful.

If you want a description of the game in general, check out my Import Impressions post. I’ll keep things clinical for the guide.

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Hyperdimension Neptunia vs Sega Hard Girls Import Impressions

Recently I imported the latest Neptunia side game, called Super Dimension War Neptunia VS Sega Hard Girls Dream of Coalescence Special AKA Cho Jigen Taisen Neptune VS Sega Hard Girls Yume no Gattai Special AKA 超次元大戦ネプテューヌVSセガハードガールズ夢の合体スペシャル

AKA We’re just calling it Neptunia vs Sega Hard Girls okay. I’ve been enjoying it and thought I’d write up a post about the highs and lows so far.

If you’re interested in watching gameplay, I have 6 hours of video from livestreams on my Youtube channel, you can find the first Neptunia vs Sega Hard Girls stream here and the second livestream archive here. That should give you a pretty clear look at the start of the game. I’m also working on a guide for the game I’ll publish soon.

As this is an “import impressions” post, note that I have not fully completed the game (I have played about 10 hours and I would approximate possibly half the game) and I may not properly understand all aspects of the game as it is in Japanese. I do not speak Japanese so I play these games via a combination of Google Translate, trial and error, dumb luck and Determination. If I say something is missing it’s possible I just haven’t seen it, and I may miss otherwise obvious hints in UI text/etc that would have prevented me from making certain mistakes.

Also note the game released last week in Japan–there’s a possibility there will be some patches. Neptunia Victory II actually got quite a few patches to address issues and improve a few things.

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MegaTagmension Blanc + Neptune vs Zombies Import Guide

This is a work in progress guide for importers of MegaTagmension Blanc + Neptune vs Zombies

This game is known in Japanese as Extreme Dimension Tag Blanc + Neptune VS Zombie Army AKA Geki Jigen Tag Blanc + Neptune Vs. Zombie Gundan AKA 激次元タッグブラン＋ネプテューヌVSゾンビ軍団. Thankfully the localized title is slightly shorter.

It’s not going to be perfect as I don’t speak Japanese myself, but I play very thoroughly. You’ll find English Menu Translations and general tips on playing the game.

Note this game is fairly import-friendly especially if you’ve played Neptunia Action Unleashed, as it’s largely a sequel in terms of gameplay, though the equipment mechanics are very different.

Work in progress!

I’ve only gotten to Scene 10 and have not dove too deep into certain things and I haven’t yet bothered translating the specifics of some things. I’ll try and toss a note in this section when I’ve updated, but I’ll try and shove as much useful information into this page as quickly as I can.

Last updated:

2015-11-26: Added English translation of Cheats, one of the Multiplayer screens.

2015-11-22: initial version.

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