Upon discovering this new dimension is a ruined wasteland inhabited only by monsters, the two are surprised to find a survivor, Uzume Tennouboshi, who is also a CPU. Neptune and Nepgear learn that, like Uzume, they are unable to transform to unlock their true powers in this world due to the absence of Shares (faith from the people) and so the trio journey across the land to locate fragments of power known as Share Crystals which they use to empower themselves enough to reclaim the land from the invading monster hoard.
Neptune and Nepgear learn from Umio, Uzume's sentient fish-monster friend, that Uzume has unique abilities that may trigger when the party needs them most. She is also an amnesiac who remembers nothing of her people or the calamity which destroyed her world but believes it to be the work of a giant known as Dark Purple. Uzume's abilities soon begin to benefit the party by granting them Shares from friendly monsters, food, and finally the ability to seal Dark Purple in a pocket dimension; the Sharing Field, where the party are able to defeat her.
Nepgear begins repairs on a transportation device to send herself and Neptune home but the facility is attacked by Arfoire; a powerful CPU-like being with a lust for destruction. Neptune was successfully transported home, but Nepgear, out of reflex, jumped out to help save Uzume from Arfoire's forces. This led the two to abandon their post and retreat. Back home, Neptune finds Histoire incapacitated due to her being an artificial life-form who overloaded as a result of her linking the two dimensions to bring Neptune home. With intel from the other CPUs, Neptune sets out to find an ancient artifact belonging to the original CPU of Planeptune which can reboot and upgrade Histoire. Neptune acquires the artifact from a hidden dungeon and begins to restore Histoire, hoping she can bring Nepgear home.
Meanwhile, in the Zero Dimension, Nepgear and Uzume attempt to regroup at Uzume's base but are intercepted by Arfoire. Fortunately, the two are able to defeat and capture her with assistance from an alternate, older Neptune. The older Neptune reveals that she is a dimension traveler who comes from a Planeptune under the rule of Plutia (a close friend from the previous game, who rules in another dimension, the Ultra Dimension) who came to the Zero Dimension with the power of Croire (a dimension-crossing antagonist, also from the previous game) after capturing her, though Croire has since escaped.
Arfoire manages to escape by manipulating the party and tracks down Croire, resulting in a formidable new alliance. The party are unable to defeat Arfoire who has stolen power from Croire to boost her own, but successfully recaptures Croire. With her enhanced abilities, Arfoire frees Dark Purple from the pocket dimension and fuses with it, though the party are able to re-confine the fused deity by boosting Uzume's powers with Planeptune's shares, creating a cross-dimensional portal in the process. Neptune rejoins the party through the portal and aids the group in destroying the giant deity, though the portal's temperamental nature causes Neptune and Nepgear to return home after the battle, and a heartwarming farewell to their new friend Uzume. Uzume and Umio plan to rebuild their world, though the older Neptune's fate is left uncertain.
Characters
Uzume Tennouboshi (天王星うずめ, Ten'nōboshi uzume)/ Orange Heart Voiced by: Mariko Honda (Erica Lindbeck in the English version): The secondary protagonist and a mysterious tomboy who suffers amnesia like Neptune once did (represents Sega Dreamcast). Unlike Neptune, however, she's serious and straightforward but she has her dreamy side. She's later revealed to be a CPU of Planeptune in Zerodimension, much like Plutia in Ultra Dimension. She later gains the ability to transform into Orange Heart. While as Orange Heart, her personality changes from tomboyish and serious into girly and childish but she can be serious in battle nonetheless, as in contrast to Neptune's personality change during her transformation into Purple Heart. She carries a megaphone as her default weapon.
Gold Third: (ゴールドサァド): A group consisting of four members who attempting to take over the four nations of Gamindustri in Hyperdimension. Among them are:
B-Sha: Represents Bandai Namco. A young girl who plays hero and loves money but is scared of monsters. She rules over Planeptune.
K-Sha: Represents Konami. A young girl attending Lastation's military academy, who becomes ruthless when holding a firearm and falls in love with Noire. She rules over Lastation.
C-Sha: The leader of the group, represents Capcom. Rules over Lowee, but later gets subjected to torture by her own corrupt government.
S-Sha: Represents Square Enix. Rules over Leanbox and has Vert do missions, but has another side to her.
Kurome Ankokuboshi: The main antagonist who is the dark side of Uzume, technically the original Uzume, and one of the Dark CPUs. Her main purpose is to merge all dimensions and destroy them into nothing.
DLC characters
Million Arthur: Represents Square Enix's free-to-play card game, Million Arthur.
God Eater: Represents God Eater
Nitroplus: Represents Nitroplus.
Development
The game was first announced on March 16, 2014 during the "Game no Dengeki Kanshasai 2014" stage event in Akihabara, alongside Hyperdimension Neptunia U: Action Unleashed. On June 16, 2014 it was announced that the game would be a PS4 exclusive. Compile Heart initially considered releasing each of the three chapters as separate games, and as a result different title logos were created for each story. The game is produced by Naoko Mizuno, alongside director Shingo Onodera and character artist Tsunako.
As part of a promotional collaboration with Makai Shin Trillion, costume DLC for the outfits of Makai Shin Trillion characters will be released for the game on July 23, 2015.
VIIR
On March 12, 2017, Compile Heart revealed Megadimension Neptunia VIIR for the PlayStation 4, which adds PlayStation VR functionality. The game uses Silicon Studio's OROCHI 4 game engine and MIZUCHI rendering engine. It was released in Japan on August 24, 2017, in North America on May 8, 2018, and in Europe on May 11, 2018. The Windows version was released via Steam on October 22, 2018, with HTC Vive and Oculus Rift functionality.
Reception
Megadimension Neptunia VII has received mixed reviews from critics, scoring 71/100 on Metacritic.
The game received a review score of 32/40 by Famitsu. Marcus Estrada of Hardcore Gamer gave the game a 3 out of 5 saying, "Megadimension Neptunia VII is slightly refreshing, but not enough to really revitalize this aging series." CJ Andriessen from Destructoid rated the game a 6.5/10 saying, "Megadimension Neptunia VII opts not to use its transition to the new hardware as a reason to try and expand its audience beyond the current player base."
The game sold 22,609 physical retail copies within its debut week of release in Japan.
