Part 4: Episode 4: Transformation

Episode 4: Transformation

Oh, hi everyone! Last time we battled some Dogoos for the Guild. Now, on Hyperdimension Neptunia…

Histoire managed to find the mascot character, sleeping deep in the woods.



Really? Where is it?
It resides in the Virtua Forest, slumbering deep within the sea of trees.
Sounds like we can finally take the first step in our long journey. Let’s get moving.
…
Ge-Ge, are you okay? Are you feverish? You haven’t seemed yourself ever since that incident.
Hmm? Oh, I’m sorry. I’m fine. I am perfectly fine, I promise.
Okay. I’m glad to hear that.

The Guild had a few new quests for us, some of them were kind of weird though.











Things got kind of scary as soon as we got to the forest, we were attacked by some really strange monsters.

Video- “Going Viral”

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Where should we start to look?
Whoa, wait, you two! That monster’s acting funny.
Huh?
A monster!?
As I thought.
Huh? What’s going on?
Monsters are very susceptible to the power of people’s faith in Arfoire.
So those poor monsters infected with that filthy energy go berserk like that.
We’ve started calling this phenomenon a ‘viral infection.’
Viral infection…
A monster can become exponentially stronger after getting infected. Don’t let your guards down!
Here it comes!

LWE Feinne on Neptunia Game Mechanics Mark 2
Viral monsters are new to Mark 2. Most normal monsters have a chance to go Viral every time their turn starts. This chance increases significantly if another monster of the same type has already done so. When a monster goes Viral it heals to full, it gets a palette swap, and its stats go up. Just try to kill monsters quickly and it shouldn’t be too much of a thing.

The game also tells us about EX finishes here, so let’s talk about those. EX finishes are special moves that we trigger after attacking with certain combos. For example. Nepgear’s Formula Edge requires us to spend at least 40 AP on a combo of three Rushes. You don’t even need to remember the combinations, the game lets you know what choices lead you to an EX Finish assuming you have enough AP.

I… kind of feel bad for the monsters, even if they are dangerous. It’s really our fault bad things are happening to them too.







Anyway we found the mascot character, but someone had already beat us to it.

Video- “Underling”

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Yes. Oh, wait. I think someone’s there.
It looks like she’s trying to destroy something. No, stop! That doesn’t belong to you!

Hey, Nepgear, are you still busy with that narrating?
Yeah, we were going to get some lunch!



R-Right back at you, mysterious vandal! What’re you doing to that poor mascot?
Killing it. What does it look like, idiot? This thing’s a pain in ASIC’s ass, y’know?
You’re…a member of ASIC?
Pfft, not like I’m obligated to show you my ID, but fine. Listen carefully, dorks.
I am the most ass-kickingest soldier in the Arfoire Syndicate of International Crime…Linda!
Soldier? So like, a fodder character. A peon. An underling.
Underling sounds about right.
Nice to meet you, Miss Underling.
What did you just say? Who’re you calling an underling!?
Shut up. Get some perspective, Underling. Go back to your base or shed and stay out of our way. You stand out.
Miss Underling, it would be very nice if you didn’t try to sabotage us.
If our opponent is just an underling, maybe we can handle her.

No, not quite done yet. I’m still on what happened in the forest.



I can’t take this. I’m pissed off now! You’ll regret calling me that!
Kyaah!
This is unreal. How did such a low-level peon get so strong?
Do you think it has to do with Arfoire’s shares?
Ha, where’s your snarky commentary now? That was fast. Okay, I’ll waste you brats one at a time. First up is…
Eep.
You, the little kid!
No… I’m powerless again…
Watch out!
IF!?

Wait, what? Hold on, I thought we all agreed not to talk about that again.



This is anything but fine! Why did you protect me? I can’t do anything right…
That’s not the point… I protected you because I wanted to.
But why!?
I left you to suffer in the graveyard for three years. I felt like crap. I don’t want to feel that way again.
I made up my mind when we saved you. I’ll defend you, no matter what.
IF…
The hell’s this all-girl soap opera? Whatever. If you prefer to die together, I’d be happy to grant your request.
(My legs are shaky, but if I don’t pull myself together and fight, everyone will get hurt. That can’t happen…)
I definitely will not let that happen!
Your ‘get down to business’ face seems to have come back, Gear. So, can we beat this chick?
We will win. No matter what.
That’s the spirit. All right, Nepgear, if you need a shock to use HDD again…

But how could we not talk about it, you kissed Ge-Ge out of nowhere!



Use my strength to kick start it…

I thought I explained that, I was just letting her borrow my strength!
I mean that was very nice and all but I could have done it without that.



I hope you have made your peace. You shall fall-right here, right now!

LWE Feinne on Neptunia Mechanics Mark 2
HDD is back, and now interacts with the new SP mechanic. It costs 100 SP to enter HDD, and it drains a small amount every turn it’s active. It’s generally easy to keep HDD active as long as you’re actively attacking enemies, though, and since you can bank 100 SP between fights you’re generally in good shape to use it when it’s really worthwhile.

A-Anyway what was the deal with that creepy girl? Am I right?



Boss Battle: Underling
Here’s our first real boss, and she’s actually pretty hard. So, the first thing to keep in mind is that she’ll always start the fight by smacking the crap out of you from a range. Just push in and heal yourself so she’ll switch to her much less dangerous normal swings. Always keep your health up, you’ve got lots of SP to spend on Heal even if you don’t have items. You should have Mirage Dance, which will also really help take her health down. To be quite honest this fight is a lot harder than you’d expect so don’t feel weird if you have to level up a bit more before you can win it.

She was pretty awful, that’s true.



Please give up and fall back. If you do, I’ll forgive your treachery just once.
W-Why yes, ma’am. I understand, yes… You expect me to blabber all that crap? I’ll just do as I originally planned!
No, stop!
Didn’t you hear me? I said screw your request! Hiyah!
Oh dear, the mascot character!
Heh. Serves you right.
All right, I got nothing else to do here. Next up is Lastation’s mascot.
Wait! Tch, she scuttled away like a roach.
The mascot character…

It’s a good thing miss mascot character wasn’t really dead.



Huh? Whose voice is this?
Purple Disc: I am Planeptune’s mascot character. What a pitiable situation, destroyed in my sleep.
W-Well, are you okay? I mean, can you really talk after you’ve been destroyed?
Purple Disc: While I can’t say I’m okay, I was able to funnel some of my powers elsewhere before being destroyed.
I would like to entrust the power that remains to you.
Amazing. Is the ancient mascot’s power really this immense?
Purple Disc: CPU Candidate, I know not what is happening in our world at this time, since I was in a deep slumber, but…
I wholeheartedly believe you will use the remnants of my power wisely.
The voice…is gone. Whew. Seems like we made it through.
Yes, all thanks to your quick thinking.
Hah. I’m kind of embarrassed over what I had to do.
This is really unfair. Only Iffy got to be all lovey-dovey with Ge-Ge.
Ugh, it wasn’t lovey-dovey, it was… A-Anyway, let’s go report to Histoire. Let’s move out, everyone.

LWE Feinne on Neptunia Mechanics Mark 2
Let’s look at our HDD form. The stat changes are much more obvious this time around.



I’ve also got two from DLC. The first is Compile Heart:



Compile Heart is slightly better in every way than Lilac, importantly increasing our Move by one. It’s pretty decent but obviously looks sort of silly.



Delphinius is powerful but slows our movement and makes us slightly more vulnerable to attacks that do elemental damage. It does look pretty badass, though. We can also mix and match pieces to get the benefits with a minimal of downside, though then we look super silly.

Yeah, hopefully we’re faster next time though.

Video- “Chapter Clear”

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Our report indicates that ASIC is targeting the mascot characters.
Miss Underling did tell us she was going to Lastation next. That was very nice of her.
If we don’t chase her down now, she’ll stay one step ahead of us.
It appears to me that Nepgear has overcome the traumas of her past.
Y-Yes, I have. It would be a lie if I said I wasn’t scared, but I’ll push through it.
That is a relief to hear. In that case, I must ask you to journey to Lastation.
Regain shares from Arfoire and secure the mascot character. I also have one more critical point to share, if I may.
Whatever could it be?
CPU Candidates much like Nepgear exist in the nations of Lastation and Lowee.
I suggest you petition their aid.
Miss Noire’s and Miss Blanc’s sisters?
CPU Candidates, sisters, like me…
Both lands have their own complicated situations. It is worth asking, but I am unsure whether or not they will help.
I cannot fathom that the would not share your desire to save their sisters.
Now that we’ve got a plan, let’s go. To Lastation, everyone!
Yes!

Otherwise we’ll be in some trouble.



Now she sets off on another journey to find a way for her to save Gamindustri.
How will her fate’s course change as she meets more and more people?
Next time, Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2, Chapter 2: The Crossrods of Defeat.

So, yeah. Next Time on Hyperdimension Neptunia Mark 2: The Crossroads of Defeat!
Why’d you repeat yourself?
It’s in the script. See?
Oh, I see.