Neptunia: Sisters vs Sisters began a new era for the series of Neptunia. It added a new battle system and a new engine to show off a new graphical direction the series is heading. The next game in that same engine is the newest one, Neptunia Game Maker R:Evolution.
What Sisters VS Sisters Brought
Neptunia: Sisters vs Sisters was a breath of fresh air into the Neptunia series. Not only did it give us a new story in the Hyperdimension universe, but it also gave us a really interesting storyline with brand-new characters in the series. It was still a spin-off due to how the game itself ends but we were in the main universe that Neptunia takes place in.
Something controversial that Neptunia: Sisters vs Sisters gave the Neptunia series was a brand-new battle system. It was not turn-based like most mainline games have been. It added a real-time combat mechanic. There is a mechanic for gauges that makes it more than just real-time since it adds complexity to the combat.
Neptunia: Sisters vs Sisters also finally brought the Neptunia series over to the Xbox, since the prior games were specifically released for the PlayStation and PC.
Neptunia Game Maker R:Evolution
Neptunia Game Maker R: Evolution pushed the real-time combat into a new evolution. There is now an added mechanic that adds character skill chains that swap multiple characters during combat. It began on Sisters vs Sisters but Game Maker R: Evolution stacked it further by giving multiple chains a big boost to damage and new animations to deal even more damage to enemies.
One thing that divided some of the critics between Neptunia: Sisters vs Sisters and Game Maker R:Evolution was removing some of the gauges that slowed down the combat. Some critics enjoyed having more freedom in combat and added more emphasis on disc development. Others thought it made the combat less complex and less strategic.
It also added three new goddesses, a completely new dimension to tell a story, and a brand new type of share energy. Shares based on the game created rather than the will of the people towards the goddesses. Maps in Game Maker were much bigger than in previous Neptunia games and to accommodate bigger maps, we also got a new bike mechanic. The bike itself did make maps better to navigate even if the controls, especially in the beginning, were janky.
Neptunia Riders Vs Dogoos
Even though Neptunia Riders vs Dogoos hasn’t been released yet, it still needs to come up in the discussion of where the future of Neptunia could be headed. This is another spin-off title that seems to be based mainly on the bike gameplay that was introduced in Game Maker R:Evolution. I hope that means the gameplay is more polished personally.
Compile Heart seems to love playing around with different systems and Neptunia Riders is a result of that. They like to reuse their assets to make brand-new games similar to series like Like A Dragon. This means that when we do get a new mainline title, this biking mechanic might make another appearance as well. It could make sense in the game or it could just be dropped for future games based on the perception and sales of the Neptunia Riders game coming out.
Future Titles Of Neptunia
Will the game after Neptunia Riders be the next mainline game in the series? It is possible, but I think Compile Heart may need a bit more feedback on more of the engines and systems in place they are creating before they become more confident in a new mainline title. Compile Heart has big expectations thanks to how great of a game Megadimension Neptunia VII was. It feels like forever since that game came out. That was the last mainline title we have gotten in Neptunia.
Will they make a comeback to the turn-based system that mainline series have all evolved from? I think it will be a mix of the two engines they are currently working on. We will see the real-time combat that Compile Heart has been working on make a comeback even if it isn’t the full combat engine in the new mainline title. The real question is will it be more free-flowing like Game Maker or strategic like Sisters vs Sisters? I hope it is more free-flowing with an even bigger emphasis on disc development. Learning and mastering that system was amazing and it made things a little too easy at times, but I enjoyed knowing I could do that!
What Is Missing?
Neptunia games from before 2018, have a lot of different themes that get touched on than they do now. For one, let’s acknowledge the elephant in the room, Neptunia was a lot more LEWD back then. CG scenes in newer games are a lot more conservative. This means I can play the games with my wife in the room now, but I know some fans of the series were big in the Neptunia games, especially in the PS3 era for the LEWD scenes.
Due to the change in direction, they are a lot more focused on innovating what they can. That is probably the cause of why we see the new battle engines and the new concepts for all these spin-offs. It seems that Compile Heart is gearing up for more annual releases of Neptunia content even with them also developing a spin-off for Death End Re;Quest.
The interesting thing is the Death End Re;Quest games are still very LEWD but also are rated M. I imagine they might be making two different markets for the two games. Those who want the LEWD and more adult themes can move on over Death End Re;Quest while if you want to be more a part of the humor and comedy of Neptunia, you can continue with that series.
Neptunia is moving on to having more themes based on the current gaming industry and with how it constantly evolves, I imagine the next mainline title will have some teeth to bare to the game industry as a whole. I am excited for the main line series to continue and I will continue to support the Neptunia games moving forward.
One major disappointment for me as a PC player is that Neptunia seems to have PC as the final platform they are putting importance on. Neptunia Game Maker R:Evolution skipped PC at launch and Neptunia Riders vs Dogoos will also skip PC. I imagine that it will still come to PC, but it makes it annoying as I have most of my Neptunia Library on Steam.
Don’t get me wrong, I love that Neptunia is expanding to Xbox consoles and getting a new audience there. I also wish they could add a PC version alongside Xbox. I imagine it is easier to optimize for Xbox so it costs less than trying to make the games optimized for different PC builds and parts.
Neptunia Game Maker R:Evolution comes out on Xbox Series X|S on October 29th, 2024. It is available currently for PS4, PS5, and Nintendo Switch.
