Neptunia/Shout Out

The Neptunia series is all about a fictional Console Wars, so there are bound to be plenty of references to video game culture.

References from the first Neptunia

• Vert's Limit Break looks like a Giga Drill Break with a Red Ring Of Death.
• Noire's Limit Break looks very suspiciously similar to Yuri's Savage Wolf Fury.
  • To be more exact, Noire performs Yuri's Savage Wolf Fury sword combo barrage, followed by Asbel's Stampede Strike (Juuha Goushouzan) super upperslash, followed by countless sword flashes to dismantle the poor enemies... Did I already mention that Noire is Badass?
• Neptune's second Limit Break is reminiscent of Wren's transformations and Wren's Positron Bolt.
• Noire's third weapon is Elysdeon, the description "This sword is rumored to have come from a distant planet, key to fending off some legendary evil".
• AMAZOO.nep.
  • Dungle Maps.
• When Neptune is in her coma at the beginning of the game, she hopes that she doesn't go crazy and start "collecting rings floating by the ground" or wandering around and "stepping in some ABC gum".
• Nisa screaming "Wait" and "You don't deserve to know my name!"
• Neptune: "Muda muda muda muda muda muda muda!"
• Neptune: "From start to finish, I'm always at a climax!"
• Neptune once met a strange mangaka that talked about the existence of a giant blue shadow in form of a dragon. Said mangaka wore a gas mask.
• Noire's transformation quotes are chock full of these.
• Green Heart invites IF to play a "zombie mall-survival blood fest".
• A set of twins chase a turtle named Wowser from the Shroom Kingdom.
  • Two plot-important Mario ones involving meeting Peach and Yoshi expies.
• "No, this is a herd of super speedy blue hedgehogs!"
• Vert gives us a now-outdated reminder to preorder Hoop: Reach.
• The party runs across a lone member of S.R.A.T.S. who suggests you should be a "master of unlocking". The member even looks like Chris Redfield (his Resident Evil 5 incarnation).
• One of the DLC bosses is a "Traitor Knight" that resembles a gender-flipped Kain Highwind.
• Noire makes references, and even cosplays as one of her lookalikes, complete with ailurophilia. Here are some of her references.
  • "Transformation, ho!"
  • "Lastation Prism Power, Busty in Black!"
  • "Servants of Niflheim, return from whence you came."
  • "Shut up, shut up, shut up!"
  • "Who (the hell) do you think I... No, that's not right either."
• Compa introduces a Fighting Game match: "Heaven or Hell! Let's Rock!"
• Noire attempts to think up a catchphrase. "Through fire, justice is served!"
• The description of the Overlord Momus item says, "If you collect all five, the Overlord will awaken." Overlord Momus, obliterate?
• One of the first few lines Neptune has is, "Neptune does what you all don't," which is appropriate since Sega, which Neptune represents, used "Genesis does what Nintendon't" as an advertising line back in the day. What's more, this was a purely American ad campaign; the translators were actively adding to the shout outs, even obscure ones that many kids today likely wouldn't know about.
• In the manga, apparently a goddess is also a freeloader.
• At Leanbox, the party encounters a man who is looking for the culprit who stole the barrier protecting their town. With the exception of where he's holding his weapon, the silhouette really looks like Yuri Lowell.
• Neptune, Compa and IF run into a group of "road pugilists" beating up on barrels and used cars, among them a sumo wrestler and a cute Chinese girl with "really monstrous thighs".
• In another event, they see a group of movers moving boxes so that they can stack them so that they don't leave any gaps.
• A small dungeon in the Dark God's Cave in Lastation was carved by an evil lord with a pickaxe.
• The first time Neptune and her friends prepare to go terraporting, she thinks she's supposed to make a long jump across to reach the other landmass, and IF dares her to put on overalls and a red hat.
• Neptune: "The expo's on like monkey kong!"
• Neptune: "Greedy Boy appears! Command?"
• In the skit "Amnesiac Buddies", Black Heart complains to Neptune that her followers think "[she] only does everything."
• A dungeon in Lowee is named Bruagga Tower.
  • Another in Leanbox (?!) is named Hirool Castle.
• Nep and company are introduced to the Watch & Game in a skit.
• At Lastation, Nep and company encounter aspiring game creator Zach Unfair, whose favorite title is GG7.
• The kid in the skit "Attack of the Cicada Horde" plays too much Cogs of Battle.
• IF: I've never been trapped in a disc before either. We might have to sit tight until we're summoned back out. Compa: By Mr. Heretic? Do you think he'll ever throw the disc at someone and say "I choose you, Compiffytune?"
• Neptune: "Pretty and mysterious Neptune of love and justice. In the name of the Basilicom, I'll punish you!"
• One of the optional quests is titled "The Goddess Who Leapt Through Time".
• One of the DLC quests comes from an Overlord whose level has deteriorated down to level 1 while he was asleep.
• Neptune: "Let's transform and roll out!"
• There is a bird-type enemy called the Choocoboo, but it's colored pink instead of yellow.
• The skit "Master Idol Production" is a huge reference to The Idolmaster.
• The skit "Brain Age Score" has Nep, Compa, and Iffy having mental ages of 40-60, according to the results.
• Noire: Meh. Maybe someone's breeding them in a monster ranch or something. Neptune: Yeah, whatever. Monster Rancher isn't a job. That's so silly!
• In the Normal Ending, after defeating Arfoire's second form...

Neptune: Drat. When she turned into the dragon, I thought she was gonna offer me half the world or something.

• In one of the RED skits, Red pulls out an assortment of improbable weapons: a kendama, a throwing disc, and a yo-yo. She tells IF that some kid fought off aliens with a yo-yo to rescue his dad.
  • Later, while being used as Red's personal Lap Pillow, IF remarks that her head is really heavy, like a barbarian who powers up by eating caveman meat.

References found in Neptunia mk2:

• Horsebirds won't make any sense unless you've played Final Fantasy XIV where they have renamed Chocobos into horsebirds. Compile Heart took it Up to Eleven.
• Steins;Gate characters Kurisu Makise, Shiina Mayuri, and Itaru "Daru" Hashida make a cameo as part of 5pb's attacks.
• Rorona, Totori, the Chims, Ceci, and Mimi show up for some of Gust's attacks.
• Nepgear's dream reenacts the entire sequence of the third episode of Puella Magi Madoka Magica right down to two of the seiyuus (Nippon Ichi being Mami and Uni being Sayaka) and of course includes the head chomp.
  • Would have also been an awesome Actor Allusion for the English dub too, because Nepgear's VA is Madoka. Alas, Missed Moment of Awesome Casting Gag since the event with the English voices used isn't dubbed during that scene.
• Two things from the opening. Besides the obvious narration, pay attention to the tower of TVs during the opening. Remind you of something?
• Gamindustri's preferred social networking site is Chirper.
• When gaining a level, Neptune may occasionally hum the victory tune from Final Fantasy.
• 5pb provides the voice for a synthesizer, but becomes upset that people are making her sing and dance to rather strange things.
• Metal Dogoos are hidden in a single group of enemies in LAN Castle. They're worth about 4 times the Experience and twice the Credits as the rest of the fight, and their Metal Jelly sells for another 11111 Credits.
• Vert's Military Dress costume adjusts her color scheme in such a way that she looks like Luka.
• Ram insists that Lowee's best games would easily be the Pocketed Monstrosities franchise, with over 1,510,376 monsters to catch and raise.
• Compa's cake is never a lie.
• In one of the events, Neptune tells her sister that the duty of a goddess is to wait for the phone on their desk to ring, then visit the person calling and grant their wish.
• The description for the rock icon quotes the famous "I got a rock" scene from It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown verbatim.