Hyperdevotion Noire: Goddess Black Heart (Neptunia) Reviews

It's definitely not my favourite Neptunia game, but it's decent enough. There's a lot of grind involved with the lily ranks, as per usual, but since there's only two endings most of the grind occurs right before the final boss rather than being spread out across multiple playthroughs. I haven't maxed one lily rank yet, and I'm 64 hours in. Granted, I didn't pay it much attention on my first playthrough about six years ago, but I'm regretting it now I'm trying for 100%. Some of the maps are downright tedious, particularly where different heights are involved. In one map it took me about ten to fifteen turns to try and build some stairs out of a pit, then another five or so to get to a slow-arse train that can only carry three units at once so I could get to the final enemies who just stood there throughout all my struggles since enemy units do not move until someone gets close enough for them to hit. It really drags battles out. The controls are quite janky, and even on keyboard it still shows controller prompts. Story was okay, but quite formulaic -- you get a bit of plot, a battle, gain a new unit and get some fanservice. It was interesting actually playing as a characters, and Noire is adorable. The chibis were cute too. I'd recommend it only on sale, or cheap in a bundle.