Into the spotlight.
My history with IF/Compa games like the Neptunia series is well documented at this point.
As the little niche JRPG developer kept pumping out titles, I’ve played through most of them seeing their progress and sometimes, the lack there of, over the years.
With their recent releases on the Vita with the Neptunia Rebirth 2 and Hyperdevotion Noire, I feel they’ve begun hitting their stride to some degree, ironing out a lot of the technical issues that have plagued them in the past.
With their first foray into the PS4 as a platform, they still have a lot to prove and while their new IP showcases much they have learned from their mistakes, there’s still more to be done if they want to find their way to RPG greatness.
Never mind the skirt, look out behind you!
MSRP: $59.99
Platforms: PS4
Voice Acting: ENG/JPN
Multiplayer: NA
Length: 40-60~ hours
The premise of Omega Quintet is relatively simple. You manage a group of idols known as the “Verse Maidens” who also happen to be the only ones with the power to fight an evil that’s slowly engulfing the word known as the “Blare”.
While the actual “management” of the girls doesn’t play a significant role in the scheme of the gameplay, the fact that they are idols, does.
Each fight is presented in a way that it’s being televised to the public(with an announcer and everything) and the better the group performs, the more support they gain from the citizens that allows them use their more powerful attacks.
It’s really nothing more than a gimmick but it’s an amusing one at least and given that the combat itself is quite enjoyable, I didn’t mind it too much.
The combat is rather simple at first but as more girls are added to the roster, it becomes progressively more complex and satisfying as more elaborate mechanics and chain skills become usable.
Careful usage of actions per turn and managing the attack sequence was key to success as I planned my moves ahead of time to try to combo my attacks to execute chain skills with devastating results.
Now that’s what I call BIG damage!
Using the sphere grid leveling system, I learned and upgraded a variety of skills which in turn unlocked even more devastating chain skills until I was strong enough to wipe out even the mightiest of foes with a single carefully orchestrated combo.
It’s quite satisfying and a great improvement over the typical Neptunia combat engine where I would just spam my strongest attack over and over again.
The explorable maps have seen a significant upgrade as well in their size and scale along with a variety of mechanics that block off access to certain areas until exploration skill upgrades are unlocked.
The game itself also runs quite smoothly as well even during the more hectic moments in combat where a dozen enemies are getting pummeled to oblivion and I only noticed infrequent framerate drops in random locations.
Unfortunately, while the combat and technical aspects of the game have seen great strides, the mission structure remains the same inane sequence of quests.
Go here, kill this.
Use the chain skill, “X”.
Go here, collect three of these items that drop from these enemies.
The vast majority of the quests followed this formula which includes the story progression missions.
It’s certainly the simplest way to do progression in a game like this but it’s about time they changed up the progression structure to a more complex, narrative based system instead.
Worse yet is the requirements for getting the True Ending is as ambiguous and arbitrary as they come requiring over a dozen hours of doing dull side quests and grinding out “Affection Points”.
Given how god-awful the normal ending is, it’s even a wonder why anyone in their right mind would make the proper conclusion to their game so difficult to see.
Stoopppppp…
Lastly, while the idol element of the game is underplayed to say the most, there is a mode where you can plan out a music video of sorts with unlocked stages, dance moves and songs.
I’m not a big fan of idol games like Love Live or Idolmaster so I can’t say I delved too deep into this mode to see if its particularly worthwhile but note that this is an RPG first and foremost before anything else.
At the end of the day, Omega Quintet is a solid first effort on the PS4 for IF/Compa with a neat premise and an enjoyable combat engine.
All that’s left to do to move forward is to be rid of this archaic progression structure and before we know it, they could very well become a powerhouse in the JRPG arena.
Fun Tidbit: You didn’t think I’d end a IF/Compa game review without some fan service, did you?
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
