Hyperdevotion Noire: Goddess Black Heart

Hyperdimension Neptunia was a bit of a cult hit, garnering the love and attention of those dedicated to the gaming industry and the unique atmosphere surrounding it.

The game's spinoff, Hyperdevotion Noire: Goddess Black Heart, capitalises on that same mentality, drawing from the same well of cultural references and inside jokes. Lines like "Obvious trap is obvious" and jabs at self-awareness lend the game a specific kind of charm and allure.

However, that charm comes at the expense of solid, reliable gameplay and an engaging plot, turning Hyperdevotion Noire into a simplistic strategy game that relies too much on its quirks to keep it afloat.

It's hard to critique a plot that deliberately doesn't take itself seriously, and Noire does just that. The game hits on every gaming cliché in the book, from buxom heroines to the bumbling male lead, and it does so in a entertaining manner.

It creates a nostalgic homage to the recurring cultural themes in video games by personifying the console wars. The player takes the form of an unnamed man known simply as the Secretary, and is joined by Vert, Blanc, Neptune, and Noire: each representing Xbox, the Wii, Sega, and PlayStation, respectively.

These characters rely heavily on anime and gaming tropes to fuel their personalities, and the entire supporting cast also pulls heavily from other genres.

However, as much as the game feels like a love letter to game enthusiasts, it fails to provide an engaging plot for the player. Progression is extremely linear, with very little opportunity to move outside a predetermined path. Side quests come in the form of extra playable maps, but other than the opportunity to gain some levels and find some new items, they don't offer anything substantial.

After a while, the game becomes bogged down in routine: A repetitive process of completing a mission, buying some items, and watching some semi-gratuitous fan service. The extra offerings are also lackluster. A sub-par room decoration “mini-game” attempts to add some personalization, but falls short.

The same goes for the requests section which allows Noire to interact with her fan base. The requests are standard and mostly stereotypical, with limited prompting on how to evoke the best response from Noire. It relies on trial and error more than actually knowing the character’s personality.

After dealing with the plot, I was looking forward to getting to the meat of the game: the combat. Noire is a departure from other games in the series, opting for a strategy RPG motif rather than a turn based one. The result is haphazard at best, with a mix of great animations and awful user interfaces.

Interacting with the environment is inconsistent and infuriating. Environmental hazards apply only to your party members and not to enemy units, and zone attacks only affect members of the other team, making strategic unit placement all but pointless. In fact, most of the game's stages can be cleared with a couple of high level characters performing the same moves again and again.

The in-game display of character stats is also lacking. In order to see any detailed updates on a unit’s stat modifications, the player is required to go into separate sub menus, resulting in a lot of wasted time. This, coupled with the tacked on elemental affinity system, makes fighting either a guessing game or an arduous task of scrolling through menus.

Lily Ranks, the measure of affection between characters, confers bonuses to characters and helps give the game some strategic depth, but it is a simplistic system that seems more focused on fan service than substantial gameplay.

Despite its shortcomings, Noire has a very well developed visual style.

The character designs are detailed and vibrant; each containing subtle (and not so subtle) references to varying video game genres. The chibi-style characters are cute and endearing, and yet also entertaining to watch as they let loose flashy combos and spells. The voice acting is also top notch, full of personality and littered with some genuinely funny moments.

The general aesthetic of the game holds itself together, but pervasive gameplay challenges and mostly superfluous mini-games and add-ons detract from the overall quality of the game, leaving the player with what feels like an unfinished project.