Neptunia: Sisters vs. Sisters

It's been a short while but the delightful meta-RPG series is back with the action-packed Neptunia: Sisters VS Sisters and it's great.

Neptunia: Sisters VS Sisters tells one of their best Neptunia stories in recent years but some rough combat elements and dungeon reuse hold this latest spin-off back.

Neptunia Sisters vs Sisters on Nintendo Switch is a good port, and it runs the game well. I do think it warrants the same score as the base game for some of the new party members. I would still recommend it on PC or PS5 for less loading and pauses in gameplay.

Neptunia: Sisters VS Sisters is nothing more than a decent but unspectacular JRPG. However, for Neptunia fans, it's a blessing. Idea Factory has finally gotten back to continuing the main story and has delivered a product worth talking about. It isn't the mainline entry that fans really want, but it's still leagues ahead of the other Neptunia spin-off games that it succeeds.

Sisters VS Sisters is a quintessential if flawed entry into the Hyperdimension Neptunia the series. Nepgear takes the limelight in this all-new adventure to save Gamindustri from peril yet again - but can she do the same for Sisters VS Sisters?

The Neptunia franchise is known for poking fun at the gaming industry and Neptunia: Sisters VS Sisters continues that trend. The spinoff mocks the rise of smartphones in our lives and how convenient they are. Behind the usual gaming industry parody lies a story that is surprisingly touching, especially if you view all the endings. Even if you haven’t heard of the Neptunia franchise before, this game is easy to learn and there are several opportunities for exposition.

Neptunia Sisters vs. Sisters channels the same cheeky humor and simplistic gameplay that fans have grown to expect. At the same time, some of the creative choices implemented here don't mesh well enough to make a complete concept. It all works and has its own kind of fun, but the game misses out on a more cohesive product that a more broad RPG fan base might have wanted to try.

Neptunia: Sisters VS Sisters has some fun ideas and absolutely beautiful visuals, but with an incredibly flawed combat system that fails to learn from its predecessors, we're ultimately left with another clunky spinoff that fails to move the needle for the franchise. There's so much room for exploring new, exciting, and impactful ideas in the world of Neptunia, but Neptunia: Sisters VS Sisters is adamant in taking another step sideways rather than pushing the series forward.

When Nepgear and her Goddess Candidate friends are forced to sleep for years, they return to a Gameindustri that has abandoned them for the dastardly wiles of smartphones. Can Nepgear retake Planeptune from the Trendi menace? PS4 version reviewed.

It’s nice to see a Neptunia game (and particularly a Compile Heart title) make its way to Xbox platforms. I’ve always thought this series knew its audience and its audience know of it—you’ll know right away whether you like Neptunia: Sisters VS Sisters’ video game-themed world and characters and designs. Just keep in mind that you’ll be putting with a fairly weak RPG trapped in a time period where an overclocked GameCube was the hottest gadget on the market and Hannah Montana once had a presence at E3. ∎

Overall, Neptunia: Sisters VS Sisters is a monotonous journey filled with repetition that plagues its level-design, combat encounters, side quests and overarching structure. There are a few moments where its character’s personalities can usher in some laughter, but its lackluster attempt to make each moment unique results in a dull experience filled with frustration and mindless gameplay.

The Neptunia series essentially releases a minimum of one game a year, to varying results. It might have something to do with the turn around time of these games, like how Assassin’s Creed used to be for a while. It’s also possible that it’s because the games can change in genre to some extent from game to game. Neptunia: Sisters Vs. Sisters is a dungeon crawling RPG that plays a bit like Kingdom Hearts or Ni No Kuni.