So... this is Rebirth 2

[Wuewue Gumi]

These are my first impressions.
Gameplay: Is it me, or does this game feel nerfed from Rebirth 1???
I'm already level 22 and have zero exe drive attacks, not to mention the drive is still stuck at one, idea chips are rare as f**k now, Rush attacks barely fill the gauge, and weapon and armor plans seem to be as scarce as chirper events.

Poor Compa has fallen into my "never used" category, I find her healing herself more than others (and slightly replaced by Red)
Oddly enough, Iffy seems a little bit stronger than before, though that isn't saying much since the CPUs are still the top gals.

Story: Please don't give major spoilers, but I've heard that this is a different dimension to RB1 because if not that means that the "true ending" of RB1 wasn't "true" at all. That being said, the tone doesn't feel as lighthearted as the previous game. Which, while not ruining it for me, feels a little bit underwhelming.

[Ztarman]

It's just your imagination as Re;Birth1 and Re;Birth2 are nearly identical in the gameplay department.
- EXE Drives weren't earned in Re;Birth1 until Lv.25 which I don't see your point about and the EXE Drive Gauge increases as you get further into the plot
- Idea chips are tied to harvest points just like the previous game and you'll earn more with change dungeon plans
- The plan Super EXE Drive is required to fill up the EXE Drive quickly just like the previous game or game discs with the right idea chips burned in.
- Armor and Weapon plans are the same thing

Re;Birth1 takes place in the Superdimension while Re;Birth2 takes place in the Hyperdimension which is the official plot of the series going forward.

[Wuewue Gumi]

Originally posted by Ztarman:

- Armor and Weapon plans are the same thing

No. they aren't. Bangles and Bracelets are not the same thing as Blades and Hammers

Also, I thought Plutie and Peashy's dimension was Superdimension.

[Ztarman]

Originally posted by King Kachu:

Originally posted by Ztarman:

- Armor and Weapon plans are the same thing

No. they aren't. Bangles and Bracelets are not the same thing as Blades and Hammers

Also, I thought Plutie and Peashy's dimension was Superdimension.

I meant the availability of the plans are the same as Re;Birth1, NOT that Armor and Weapons are the same thing which they clearly aren't.

Plutia and Peashy are from the Ultradimension.

[Kossy]

EXE drives are more tied to story (at least, for several characters) progress in RB2 compared to RB1 where you can just level directly into them. Once you have them, you have them but actually getting them is a bit more involved (again, for a few characters not all of them) than RB1. This also applies to the gauge levels being more tied to the story the first time around as well.

Idea Chips are actually easier thanks to Stella's Dungeon. Before, they were tied to harvest points and a few enemies. Now, not only do we have the harvest points from the change items plan, we also have change dungeon plans to mix it up further AND can send Stella into dungeons to farm Idea Chips without setting foot in one (especially if you abuse a certain exploit to skip the wait time). Early game idea chips are still pretty bad compared to what's available later so it's basically the same on that end.

Rush attacks are the same as before. You want Super EXE drive or the equivalent Idea Chips to really get your EXE going. The difference is pretty jarring at first but if you go back to RB1 and turn it off you'll see it's the same thing there when you're using your low level rush attacks.

Weapon and armor plan scarcity.... yeah you're right on the money with that but it's because RB2 expects multiple cycles. With RB1, you could see everything in 2-3 cycles if you wanted to unlock the candidates and such plus there were just the two endings. RB2 has 9 endings (though the normal ending can be done at the same time as five of them so it's 8 actually) and a lot of content is locked behind obtaining the True Ending on a prior cycle and you'll want to get Conquest out of the way early on if you care about achievements because once your lily ranks are high enough you'll find yourself locked out of it. The end result being that until you've actually cleared the true Ending, you'll find yourself short on equipment plans and missing a few dungeons as well. The shop is better about providing new gear each chapter this time around, though, so it's not too terrible your first cycle but yeah.

Having a party of 4 gives you more leeway than in RB1 but there are gonna be times when you really need those heals just as much as you'll have opportunity to just nuke your enemies before they can touch your expanded party. The CPUs are still top dogs but there's a couple of makers that can seriously put in work. *glances over at leanbox*

As for the story, yeah this is the dark horse of Neps, so to speak, that generally has a more serious tone than the others. It has its own lighthearted and silly moments, mind you, but it does take itself more seriously than any other main series title. You're correct about it being a different dimension than RB1, however, as this game is the start of the continuous main series story line while RB1 is its own self-contained story.

[Wuewue Gumi]

And here's another thing. why does it seem like they made the whole wild goose chase scavenger hunt even deeper?

To complete plan, find 3 items.
1 item you get from a enemy who's available only in a dungeon change, which can only be obtained through change enemy plan which must be completed from 3 other dungeons.
the other 2 items are 12 dungeons deep in plans, sending you on a goose chase so wild only to find out that the final dungeon plan can't be accessed until NG+

Ik that Rebirth 1 did this too, but this seems 100 times worse! What kind of dungeon only unlocks from NG+?!? RB1 never did that

[Kossy]

Eh... kinda. Item and gear stuff is a lot more spread out because of the whole thing mentioned above, but system/battle/(most) dungeon related hunts are relatively the same-ish. Though the whole "need to clear the true end to get all the goodies another cycle" thing makes it more of a scavenger hunt than it otherwise would be.

[Wuewue Gumi]

Hey Kossy. didnt notice it was you up there. you're turning out to be quite the Nepu fan

[Kossy]

That I am!