MegaTagmension Blanc + Neptune VS Zombies (PC) Review

MegaTagmension Blanc + Neptune VS Zombies' story mode is a bit more light-hearted than one of the main series titles, but it's still nothing to write home about. While fans of the characters will definitely find lots more reasons to love them, it still reaches a bit far. The dialogue is hammy and overdosed with references, and the pace of the plot is absolutely all over the place. Each chapter has a short combat section at the end of it, and that might be the strongest part of Hyperdimension.

As opposed to the usual turn-based combat that's become the hallmark of the mainline games, Tagmension opts for a much more action-oriented approach this time around. It's a refreshing change of pace, providing a much faster combat experience. Characters can perform a variety of different combos while assaulting a veritable army of monsters. With abilities and moves that can vary to suit different playstyles, the cast is decently robust: but given the button mashing nature of the gameplay, it doesn't end up feeling extremely diverse.

Combat feels pretty imprecise to boot. Enemies just get thrown up in a horde in random areas of the map, and fighting them has next to no nuance whatsoever. The camera is all over the place, and locking on feels clunky and unhelpful. The constantly shifting views make playing any of the melee characters slightly dizzying, and there isn't enough variance in the combat to be engaging. Most similar titles at least make some effort to shake up the action now and then, but that obviously isn't a concern here.

For those looking for a Neptunia skinned version of Dynasty Warriors, this is probably a great fit. The action is highly reminiscent of Koei's flagship series, but it's pretty infrequent. The story mode hardly offers enough chances to duke it out, and the amount of loading is absolutely unreal between stages. Moving from the menus, to the story stages, to the combat sections, and back to the menu, takes an obscene amount of time, and the stages aren't that long to begin with.

The multiplayer mode makes the best use of the game systems, and cuts out the tedious levelling and equipment systems that make up the main game. It's decent cooperative action, but it's still subject to the same flaws the basic gameplay has. It's definitely the best execution of the different gameplay techniques used in the game, but it's still nothing special.

MegaTagmension Blanc + Neptune VS Zombies is aiming for a very specific audience this time around; one already enamoured with their franchise but still seeking a new gameplay experience. It's not a terrible experience, but it's clunky, messy, and overall feels extremely unrefined. It's a nice change of pace for Compile Heart, but it's overall a relatively lacklustre endeavour.