Cyberdimension Neptunia: 4 Goddesses Online/Gameplay
- Note: This page is largely taken from [1]
- This page is also written for the PS4 version of Cyberdimension Neptunia: 4 Goddesses Online, when referring to button commands.
Gameplay Basics
Cyberdimension Neptunia: 4 Goddesses Online is an Action RPG where the world within 4 Goddesses Online, Alsgard, can be explored by Neptune and the others. To progress the game, the player must take Quests at the Guild Facility in the Adventurer's hub, Wishuel. They will be required to complete a number of objectives in various dungeons to clear the quest in order to progress the story.
Stats
Each character has stats in HP, SP, STR, INT and DEF. Stats can be increased by leveling up, getting stat booster items, equipment and gems.
- HP is your hit points and when it reduces to zero, your character will be unable to function. Having all your party knocked out will return the party to Wishuel.
- SP is your special points expanded by using skills and recovered by recovery items or hitting enemies with normal attacks
- STR plays a role in increasing the damage of the character's physical attacks and skills. With regards to magic using character, this stat increases the damage of their close range attacks when they hit the enemy with their staff.
- INT plays a role in increasing the damage of the character's magical attacks and skills. This stat also makes it easier for the character to lower the enemies' Break Gauge
- DEF reduces the damage a character takes on all attacks, whether physical or magical.
Battle Basics
The player controls one character in a party of up to 4. 3 players can be controlled by friends if the player is playing online. Otherwise an AI will take control of the three other characters. When the player launches an attack on monsters within the dungeons, a battle will seamlessly begin. There are aggressive enemies that will attack when you get close, so be careful! If you're in a pinch, guide your party members according to the situation by changing Tactics, or distancing yourself from the enemy.
In addition, the characters that participate in battle gain exp, bells and likely items when a monster is slain and fades away. However for those attempting a low-level run, killing a monster and switching to a character before it fades away that has not participated in battle will give no exp, bells nor items but will register the counter for a quest to be completed.
- 1) Current Tactics: Depending on the contents of the Tactics, the actions of your allies (AI) will change. Tactics can be changed on the menu, however when interacting with the menu, the player will not be able to defend themselves should monsters choose to attack.
- 2) Party Members: Party members' levels and HP are displayed here. Status up, enchantment, and status effect icons are also displayed in this area.
- 3) Player Character: The character that the player is controlling is the party's leader. The Awakening Gauge, along with HP and SP, is displayed as basic information. The gauge to the left of the character's icon at the bottom of the screen is the Awakening Gauge. The stage of the gauge is displayed beneath the character's level. Status up, enchantment, and status effect icons are also displayed in this area.
Normal Attacks and Skills
The player will be fighting enemies with normal attacks and skills. The player can launch a series of normal attacks, on the ground or in the air by pressing their attacking button. In the PS4, that would be the □ button but can be changed in the menu. By attacking enemies with normal, your SP will restore by 1 each hit, and the Awakening Gauge will rise. Attacking with aerial attacks that are melee will restore the SP by 3. By using SP, you can use powerful special attacks. You will learn skills by increasing your Level.
Battle System
Skills
Within Skill Set, you can assign a skill to the ○△×□ buttons. There are two Skill Sheets available to assign skills to, and you can switch between them during battle.
You can use skills by pressing [L1 button + each button (○, △, ×, □)]. You can check the skills you've set by pressing the L1 button. (※The display will disappear when you let go of the button) Skill Sheets can be toggled using the up/down directional buttons. The skill button L1 can be changed on the menu.
These are special attacks activated by using SP. The Skills learned by each character differs, such as close-combat consecutive attacks, attack magic, and recovery magic. Skills are generally separated into two types: Physical (STR) Skills and Magic (INT) Skills. Physical Skills are good for lowering HP, and Magic Skills more easily lower the enemy's Break Gauge.
Lock On and Break Gauge
By locking on with the R1 button, the enemy's status will be displayed in the screen's upper left. The player can view their HP Gauge, their weaknesses, and their Break Gauge. By reducing the Break Gauge to 0, the enemy will be immobilized for a short time where they will take additional damage. The attack that reduces the Break Gauge to 0 will be first attack that cause additional damage. When fighting bosses, this is especially important to prevent a drawn out fight where bosses may have the opportunity to use more devastating attacks on the player.
When locking on to an enemy, a cursor will be displayed above them. Switch targets with the right stick. The trick to being victorious in battles is to aim for an early Break by using skills effectively. Attacking using elements displayed under "Weak" is also effective. There are four types of elements: Fire, Ice, Lightning, and Wind.
Guard
By holding down the R2 button, the player character will guard and take reduced damage from attacks. By getting the timing right, the player character will launch a counterattack at the enemy. Physically oriented characters will close the distance on the enemy during their attack while ranged-oriented characters will launch a projectile at the enemy. Landing a successful counter attack will recover a characater's SP by 10.
Step
By using the L2 button, the player character can step forward quickly closing the gap on the enemy. Using the normal attack while stepping forward allows the player to "dash-attack".
Awakening
Awakening can be activated by raising the Awakening Gauge to 1 or higher after unlocking the ability by progressing through Logi Mountain. To use Awakening, use the L3 button. When the player attacks an enemy or takes damage, the Awakening Gauge will increase by 1 stage, up to a max 5. The player starts out with 1 gauge and at level 10, they will have 2 gauges. Every 10 levels, the character gains one maximum gauge, up to a limit of 5 stages at level 40.
Furthermore, by raising the Awakening Gauge above 3, you can use an Awakening Skill, a powerful special attack that has a special animation specific to each character. You will need to awaken the Godddesses Awakening Skills.
When using Awakening, the power of Skills increase and the character's SP Gauge to replenish at a rapid rate. Using Awakening will be your chance to unleash a massive amount of damage by using a crazy amount of Skills!
Awakening Skills are the ultimate special skills that can greatly decrease the enemy's HP and Break Gauges. However, by using an Awakening Skill, the Awakening Gauge will decrease by 3 stages, decreasing the remaining amount of time in the Awakening mode. Using these skills to reduce the Break Gauge to 0 is the key to making short work of bosses.
While in Awakening, the Awakening Gauge will slowly deplete. Once it reaches 0, Awakening will end. When playing offline, Awakening and Awakening Skills can only be used by the character controlled by the player (AI cannot activate Awakening). In multiplayer, each player is able to use Awakening and Awakening Skills.
Tactics
With Tactics, you can decide what strategy to instruct to your party members with. You can choose from 9 types of tactics. Since your party members (AI) change their behavior according to the Tactics specified, make sure to choose them carefully according to the situation.
Facility Introduction
In Wishuel, the hub for adventurers, there are "Facilities" which assist the player in adventuring. There are numerous shops, a Cathedral, a blacksmith, training grounds, a guild, a bulletin board and a minstrel. Facilities are unlocked as the player progresses the game.
Cathedral
The Caultprim Cathedral, which is the core symbol of Wishuel, is the sacred place in which the statues of Goddesses are enshrined. In the Cathedral, there are 3 things the player can do:
- Prayer: Offer prayer to the Goddesses. The player can pay to get a specific effect, or a strong random effect or get a free prayer which offers a random effect. Prayers offer a percentage bonus to player in stats, exp rate or drop rate. Prayers wear off once the player returns to Wishuel after entering a dungeon
- Gallery: The player can view event CG here.
- Save: The player can save their in-game progress.
Guild
The player can accept various quests depending on your Guild Rank, and by clearing certain quests, your Guild Rank will increase. The player is rewarded with bells and items for completing quests. Quests are location specific. If there is a quest to hunt a certain type of monster in a specific dungeon. Only killing monsters in that dungeon will count for the player's objective. Quests are divided into 5 categories:
- Monster Quest: Defeat specified number of small monsters.
- Boss Quest: Defeat a boss monster.
- Delivery Quest: Gather a specified number of items.
- Arrival Quest: Reach a specified area.
- Certification Quest: By completing this, the player's Guild Rank will increase. Certification Quests are important quests that raise your Guild Rank. They will appear depending on story progression and quest completion.
Pierre's Emporium
This shop deals in general items such as equipment and consumable items. You can buy and sell things here. It can be more reassuring to prepare recovery items for yourself in order to progress your adventure safely.
Gem Shop
The Gem Shop is unlocked after the player achieves Guild Rank 2. Gems are items that hold special effects. It is possible to equip up to 3 Gems. By equipping them, you can gain various effects like Status Up or EXP increase.
Training Grounds
This is where the player can practice controls via Basic Training. You can also view Tutorials here via the View Documents area. In Basic Training, you can better familiarize yourself with controls.
- Basic Training: You can review normal attacks, lock on, and other basic controls.
- Guard Training: You can review Guard and Perfect Guard.
- Skill Training: You can check how to activate skills.
- Mock Battle: You will review basic movement.
The player can leave Mock Battle by pressing the OPTIONS button. In addition, items and bells gained from training will be kept.
Minstrel
By speaking to the Minstrel, the player can listen to any BGM that you've heard during your playthrough. Choosing a BGM here will also change the BGM of the city to the player's selection.
Fancy Shop
The Fancy Shop is unlocked after completing Bouquet's nursing event. The shop is run by Plutia and Peashy. They carry fancy items that change the appearance of characters.
Chaos Factory
Chaos Factory is unlocked after the player achieves Guild Rank 2. This shop is run by IF and Compa. Although their selection is quite... chaotic... most of the items found here are high quality.
Gion Blacksmith
Gion Blacksmith is unlocked after the player achieves Guild Rank 2. The shop of the blacksmith known as Tamsoft. By offering the required materials and money, the player can strengthen your weapons and armor. The player can acquire materials from Material Acquisition Points or Treasure Chests in dungeons. They can also be acquired via defeated enemies. By strengthening weapons and armor, their parameters will increase. The upper limit to the number of times the player can strengthen something is dependent on its type.
Bulletin Board
The player can play with others using Room Creation and Search. The player can take on Multiplayer Quests with a maximum of 4 people. The types of Quests you can choose from will increase when your Guild Rank increases throughout the game. This facility requires PlayStation Plus Membership and a working internet connection to function.
In Room Creation, the player can create a room by selecting your required conditions, such as number of participating people and the Quest the player would like to attempt. When the player wishes to join another player's party, the player can set the conditions that suit them using Room Search. There is also a matching function that allows the player to join their friends' rooms by using a room code.
Chat
The player can send messages to other players through the Chat Menu. Via Chat, there is "Normal Chat" which sends fixed messages, and "EX Chat" which sends lines from the character being controlled along with voice clips. The player can also freely enter any text and send it.
By pressing the touch pad button, the player can open the Chat Screen without having to open the Menu. Normal chat allows you to edit and register the fixed sentences freely. It's convenient to register frequently used phrases.
Customize
There are 2 menus within Customize. One of which is Equipment where the player can equip weapons, armor, and gems. The other is Costume where the player can change hair, costumes, and accessories. The player can equip up to 5 different accessories.
Accessory
The player can can adjust accessories in detail within Edit Settings, such as size, position, and rotation. There are 5 methods to quickly and carefully adjust accessories.
- Move Mode: The player can adjust accessories while moving it in any desired direction.
- Number Input: The player can finely adjust an accessory's position, size, and direction by inputting numbers.
- Attach Setting: The player can set the attachment destination for the accessory. The accessory can attached to various spots, such as the head or arms.
- Accessory Options: The player can add movement to accessories, increasing the possibilities.
- Restore to Default: Restores the accessory's setting to its initial state.