Review of Neptunia: Sisters VS Sisters

Little sisters making an effort!

Neptunia: Sisters VS Sisters
Platform: Switch, previously on PlayStation 4/5
Developer: Idea Factory, Compile Heart
Publisher: Idea Factory International 
Release date: January 23rd, 2024
Price: $49.99 via digital download, $44.49 launch price through February 5th
Availability: Nintendo eShop

A number of media franchises nowadays are having issues. Entries can feel like a meandering thread of course corrections rather than providing a thorough story spread throughout a series of chapters. Too often, properties appear more interested in following the whims of aspiring auteurs and audience predicting than in truly wanting to entertain. The outcomes frequently resemble Disney’s treatment of the Star Wars movies, in which George Lucas’ original ideas were copied, disregarded, and misunderstood by the tag team of J.J. Johnson, Rian Abrams.

Likewise, Idea Factory appears to be having trouble deciding on a direction for the Hyperdimension Neptunia series. Megadimension Neptunia VII (2015) marked the last advancement of the main plot, however eleven spin-off series have followed the characters in a variety of diverse paths in addition to the main series. There’s hardly a genre that hasn’t been adapted for NepNep, ranging from musou-style action games like Hyperdimension Neptunia U: Action Unleashed to tactical role-playing games like Hyperdevotion Noire: Goddess Black Heart and even simulated massively multiplayer online games like Cyberdimension Neptunia: 4 Goddesses Online. But let’s be honest: some of these tangents would have gone unnoticed if the Goddesses hadn’t been mentioned.

Go forward, Histoire!

In keeping with this pattern, Neptunia: Sisters VS Sisters, which was just released for the Switch, delivers yet another intriguing spin-off. It’s certainly one of the better offshoots of the brand and will surely satisfy fans of the franchise who enjoy lively banter between the cast members. However, Sisters occasionally depresses due to problems like an excessive dependency on going back and side missions completed across monotonous-looking dungeons.

Thankfully, there are enjoyable parts of the narrative that revisit the allegorical nuances of market share that the mainline games have addressed. Similar to previous exchanges, Neptunia envisions a future in which SEGA remains a significant participant and a cordial partner of symbolic forms of Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft. In the premise of Sisters VS Sisters, the main cast responds to a distress signal and then departs, leaving the CPU Candidates (representing the handheld systems of each hardware maker) to explore a laboratory independently. However, in the absence of their elder sisters’ wise counsel, the younger siblings fall into a trap that sends them into a two-year sleep.

Parody from the Pandemic Era

The Candidates find that a great deal has changed in the world when they wake up. The tenuous equilibrium of Gamindustri is at jeopardy because the rPhone has surpassed portable systems in popularity. This suggests a certain point in time when development firms began pursuing the mobile market. Attractive features including a cheap entrance barrier, affordable development costs, and the possibility of financial gain made many believe the Nintendo 3DS was the final gasp for portable devices. Of course, the Switch allayed that worry, and Sisters VS Sisters doesn’t pass up the chance to make a dig at Nintendo’s calculated move. That’s not even the sole instance of “meta” humor.

Neptunia excels at parodying actual occurrences, such as Lastation’s wry turn toward puritanism (ironically, Noire is just as silent as Sony Interactive Entertainment) or the frantic crowdfunding and ensuing letdown of a video game named Senmu 3. Furthermore, the game parodies several of the behaviors linked to the COVID-19 epidemic, involving a monster outbreak brought on by excessive phone use. There are shortages of toilet paper, consoles are unavailable at the time of release, locals are advised to seek refuge, and there are even conspiracy theories over vaccinations. Even while the social commentary is entertaining, it should have been more pointed. Where is the future Gamindustri, with his infatuation with box office hits and propensity to overwork franchises? Okay, so perhaps the previous one was a bit too meta.

Without a doubt, Sisters VS Sisters’ pacing could have been better. Not only does the lively skewering take some time to get going, but several of the talks drag on needlessly. Writers sometimes seem to overlook the necessity of a significant payout for lengthy set-ups. On the plus side, though, NepGear provides a welcome diversion from her very active big sister. In addition, there are several nice appearances from other properties that go beyond the meta-humor.

Terminating the Trendfluencers

Unfortunately, Idea Factory has to rewrite its fighting system for the majority of iterations due to the property’s unpredictable trajectory. Here, Sisters VS. Sisters stirs up a sluggish combination of strategy and action, all fueled by the cooldown timer’s cadence. Usually consisting of three characters, parties engage in combat with adversaries on a circular battlefield. With one person under your control at a time, you can launch as many attacks as you have action points, which reload over time. However, Sisters prefers that you use other tactical skills, switch to a different character to enhance the damage multiplier, or use Goddess Transform to do massive quantities of damage rather than waiting for replenishment.

However, opponent strikes might be hard to read and basic attacks can feel insignificant. You can utilize ranged or melee attacks, although both have the potential to be inaccurate; the former may move your character around sometimes, while the latter may miss targets. Because enemy telegraphs move quickly, pressing the dodge button won’t always stop damage from occurring. Similarly, an overworld strike to take the initiative is unduly delayed. Idea Factory seems aware of these problems and adjusted the difficulty of combat against the majority of common enemies accordingly. It follows that battles aren’t tough, even against enemies like ally-spawning Trendfluencers, thanks to quick level advancement and strong AI.

View Nep Run

Understanding how Sisters wants you to conduct battles will take around an hour, but learning the various character skills will take longer. Discs are equipable goods with passive benefits such as longer combos and more potent dodges, but they require a somewhat mysterious production method. In theory, it makes use of items that have been obtained, an NPC’s help, and the categorization of a game genre. However, it’s challenging to determine how to affect the result or why the development process takes various amounts of time without the right instruction. (Hints: choose the developer’s area of expertise to unlock unique skills; support goods shorten development time). Similarly, there’s an advanced suite for creating combos, but because of the erratic nature of the bouts, it’s not always clear when you’ve created a winner. It seems pointless to have the ability to change the starting member locations if your buddies will be moved about by the CPU automatically.

The dungeons in Sisters VS Sisters offer a nice aesthetic, but because of the excessive use of resources, you’ll probably need to utilize the in-game map to avoid getting lost. Live2D makes the characters in the game come to life, showcasing Tsunako’s artistic talent to the fullest. Furthermore, a promotion ought to go to the person who worked on the animations that the girls ran. Watching the characters scuttle around each maze-like setting is delightful. Fortunately, the game fits the Nintendo handheld device well, showcasing Live 2D animation and character models with a reasonable level of detail. In contrast to the PlayStation and PC versions, there are sporadic framerate flutters and some brief loading before a fight. However, overall, the quality is superior to a lot of Idea Factory’s earlier ports.

Overall, there are encouraging moments in Neptunia: Sisters VS Sisters, particularly when the dialogue alludes to the absurdity of business decision-making or cracks a solace-giving joke about pandemic fear. However, on sometimes, combat that doesn’t quite work and systems where you have dozens of goods but no use for any of them might undo the goodwill acquired by animated Goddess conversation. Sisters VS Sisters is an interesting watch at times, but mostly it feels like Idea Factory exploring unfinished new concepts. These girls are worthy of more.

On the Switch, Neptunia: Sisters VS Sisters was played using a review code that the publisher sent.

Review Overview

Gameplay – 65%

Story – 70%

Aesthetics – 80%

Content – 75%

Accessibility – 65%

Value – 60%

69%

OK

Summary : Neptunia: Sisters vs. Sisters shows Idea Factory’s franchise doing yet another odd turnabout rather than taking a bold step forward. As a result, while the language is humorous, the fighting is awkward and supported by oversized systems. Even if the spin-off is one of the best side projects on the property, you’ll undoubtedly long for the level of skill that Neptunia’s mainstream entries offer.