MegaTagmension Blanc + Neptune VS Zombies will be really familiar to anyone who played Hyperdimension Neptunia U: Action Unleashed. (Or any of Omega Force’s Musou/Warriors games.) It’s a beat’em up where pressing different action button inputs can result in a number of different combos. People who are really skilled will find themselves able to pick up on what different moves do and which combos to rely upon. Most of MegaTagmension Blanc + Neptune VS Zombies’ characters have similar combo strings. Know how to use one, and you could probably use them all. Except for Tamsoft, the newest member of the cast, as Tamsoft (the developer) played favorites.
When you begin MegaTagmension Blanc + Neptune VS Zombies, you’ll first be using familiar faces like Blanc and Neptune. Tamsoft is the first real unlock after them. Shortly after her acquisition, you can run across a loading screen describing her. It says, “She’s got a few different styles of attacks, and her combos, while deadly, require a little more dexterity to pull off cleanly.” The other characters’ loading screens focus on which of their stats are strongest and weakest. Tamsoft’s singles her out and shows she’s more complex than other characters.
There’s a really big difference between her possible combinations and pretty much every other playable character in MegaTagmension Blanc + Neptune VS Zombies. Let’s look at Neptune, as an example. When you start the game, her combos involve triangle, pressing square and following it with triangle, or pressing square between three and five times then pressing triangle and shooting up at the same time. As the diagram above shows, Tamsoft has multiple combos with an array of branching options. Someone using her doesn’t necessarily need to be quick, but they do need to keep track of how many buttons they press and at what time.
Tamsoft is the one character you’ll need to send through the game’s earliest acts multiple times. Each combo requires you to know exactly what you’re doing. CPUs like Neptune, Blanc, Noire, and Vert are relatively simple in comparison. People could button mash their way through fights. While you could do that with Tamsoft, it wouldn’t happen easily. The only characters that come close to comparing with her combos are Famitsu and Uni, since theirs also involve pressing square and triangle at varying times. However, the lack of held attacks with Famitsu’s and absence of shoot up end moves with Uni makes theirs slightly less complex, since you only need to worry about pressing buttons in the right order.
Tamsoft is also a bit of a glass cannon. She can be incredibly powerful when used properly. She’s a great asset. She also has quite low defenses, which drop even more when you use the enhanced version of her. This means you absolutely have to be a beat’em up veteran to use her in a fight. I’ve been leveling up the characters I like most rather evenly. Uni, Tamsoft, Famitsu, and Peashy are all at level 18 as I write this. But Tamsoft doesn’t get through areas as easily as her contemporaries. Enemies like to cluster together in MegaTagmension Blanc + Neptune VS Zombies, and Tamsoft’s attacks require you to get in their faces and fight them. A few good hits will knock her out, if you aren’t being careful.
Tamsoft (the developer) absolutely went out of its way to make Tamsoft (the character) stand out. She fits in perfectly, in terms of character design, personality and lore, but giving her the more complicated combos sets her apart from the other characters. She’s different and mysterious. While people will go to other characters because they know and love them, they’ll use Tamsoft since she offers a different experience.
Think of using Tamsoft as playing MegaTagmension Blanc + Neptune VS Zombies on a higher difficulty level. You don’t have any option to make the game more challenging when first starting the game. The Bonus Skill settings need to be unlocked as you go through the campaign. Going with a character that requires more thoughtful inputs makes the game more interesting. She can become a goal. You can advance through the roster’s ranks, beginning with less complicated heroines like Blanc and Neptune, then testing yourself with Famitsu and Uni, before finally using Tamsoft as your main.
MegaTagmension Blanc + Neptune VS Zombies will come to the PlayStation Vita in North America on May 10, 2016 and Europe on May 13, 2016.
