Hyperdevotion Noire: Goddess Black Heart is a tactical role-playing game developed by Sting and Compile Heart The game is a spin-off title of the Hyperdimension Neptunia game series featuring Noire as the main character. The game features chibi versions of the original Hyperdimension Neptunia characters which battle against enemies on a tactical grid map. The gameplay is turn-based, and map elevation has an effect on characters' abilities and mobility; certain units are more capable of climbing to higher terrain than others, and units take damage from falling. The field maps feature various gimmicks, including rail cars, flaming pits, logs, artillery batteries, laser beams and moving platforms.
I’d say it’s a shame we haven’t seen more games like this from this dream team — but at the time of writing, the follow-up to stablemate Fairy Fencer F, known as Fairy Fencer F: Refrain Chord, is on the way, and it very much looks like a spiritual successor to Hyperdevotion Noire. So if you, like me, have been waiting nearly ten years for a new Hyperdevotion...
Hyperdevotion Noire: Goddess Blackheart is a rather challenging game. The story is run of the mill, but the game has fun little moments that make it truly feel like a return to the Neptunia universe and it translates the RPG genre to turn-based tactics well. If you like TBT’s and love the Neptunia franchise then this is a must play game.
In the end, the genre change doesn't hurt Hyperdevotion Noire: Goddess Black Heart. The story may be straightforward, but the characters and their personalities make things enjoyable. The gameplay may not bog you down with too many systems and minutiae, but it remains fun. The simple nature of the strategy and some slow elements, like enemy movement,...
All in all, Hyperdevotion Noire is a decent sidetrack from the standard Neptunia games, but it could have used a bit more streamlining and quality-of-life mechanics to bring it up to current SRPG titles.
[OpenCritic note: Jorge S Fernandez separately reviewed the PC (6) and Vita (7) versions. Their scores have been averaged.]
While this strategy RPG does nothing innovative, its the characters and the story that makes it all worth it.
