TL;DR

This game emits strong JRPG qualities, ecchi vibes, and takes meta to a whole other level. The Neptunia franchise is in good hands, and doesn’t stop modernizing yet maintains its integrity as a JRPG.
[VII stands for Victory II] You do not need to play any of the previous Neptunia titles to enjoy this game, not even its direct predecessor Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory.
Please keep in mind: the Neptunia titles do have a story, however there is an emphasis on parody/references as this is a meta title. (give yourself a break and have fun when playing, remember that there is lots of plot!)
If you are not in anyway interested in waifu/ecchi/fanservice/CG hunting, these games can be a bit much.

[Played on a Nintendo Switch Lite]

The Hyperdimension Neptunia franchise has been doing its thing since its original title came out on PS3, and that is being meta as meta can get. These girls will definitely catch you slipping, and if you are in the business of getting the next waifu or love to collect that ecchi and CG, then this title is definitely for you. I spent probably around 220 hours on the title, and now that is mostly grinding for materials to craft weapons, items, etc. Idea Factory does a good job of making games that utilize the drops from monsters to make equips, and that is where Neptunia truly shines as not just a JRPG, but as an RPG itself. Even though I could say that this title gets underwhelming when I have my characters over-leveled, I still really enjoyed making sure to 100% because there are technically 3 endings to this title.

For newcomers to Hyperdimension Neptunia, just imagine a world where every major console is basically an ecchi anime girl and rules their own respective nations. The original concept was the console war (in reference to the seventh console war between Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii), and they definitely expanded upon that with the newer titles, making room for references to other consoles/systems as well as other references to games, anime/manga, etc. So if you like Japanese video games or anime, definitely give the Neptunia series a try. If you want to have fun while you JRPG, Neptunia is definitely the way to go. There are some mechanical flaws with this title though, especially in dungeons when you use a strike to initiate preemptive attacks. I’m not sure if the developers purposefully left things to be a bit off for this title, but I wouldn’t be surprised as Idea Factory likes to have fun.

Definitely for a prisoner, this title is worth it, as you are thirsty for that CG and have a lot of time to commit to the CG hunting grind that this game presents. This title was worth every minute for me, but it is truly understandable that someone would not 100% it as that takes a lot of time and dedication. While this title does do a great job of using modern turn-based mechanics and is a great JRPG, I do think that there are other titles worth pouring in 100s of hours into. I do have more Neptunia titles to catch up on, and would love to play the remakes (including this title's remake), but life is a bit too hectic and it can be very difficult to fit in a demanding series such as Neptunia into the mix. I know this though, that Neptunia’s world is waiting for me anytime I need it, and it won’t disappoint in scale that’s for sure.