As a first-timer to the Neptunia franchise, I was welcomed by many things. The first was a plethora of anime girls transforming and defeating monsters and enemies within the first few minutes of the intro. Second, while researching what a Neptunia even was, Xbox fans were rejoicing as a “Swimsuit DLC” came free with the purchase of the title. Lastly, I was welcomed to a JRPG packaged with videogame references, a great battle system, and a cast of characters who add variety and personality into the mix.
What is Neptunia About?
The story of Neptunia Sisters Vs Sisters is a rather complicated one for newcomers to immediately follow especially if you’re like me and have never heard of the franchise before. The Neptunia series surrounds CPU Goddesses Neptune, Noir, Blanc, and Vert who act as our main characters of the cast. You heard me right, I said CPUs. The protagonists all represent consoles or portable systems in the video game industry that can transform into HDD Mode making them more powerful. Something I learned as a newcomer coming into this is that if not all most of the names in Neptunia are derived from old gaming consoles. For example, Neptune represents the cancelled Sega Neptune while Noir The goddess of Lastation, represents the PlayStation. If you love video as much as I do it’s hard to not think about how creative and inventive that is. Each of the characters has their personality making them unique not only for when things are upbeat but also when things take a darker shift in theme.
In this installment, however, it seems more like a spinoff than the traditional titles from what I can tell. Nepgear, Uni, Rom, and Ram (Sega Game Gear, Universal Media Disc, ROM, RAM) make a return to the series but this time in the spotlight. After receiving a call from the PC Continent, our protagonists discover a sleeping Goddess and she traps the sisters in capsules for two years. Once awake they return to a world filled with the rPhone taking over theGamindustri and Planeptune. With her allies by her side, it’s time for Nepgear to overthrow the rPhones and take back the theGamindustri and her home. Again I preach about how creative this game’s story is as it is a war between console gaming and mobile gaming.
Neptunia: Sisters Vs. Sisters Gameplay
The gameplay wasn’t too different than what I came in expecting. Characters roam around the combat area and different combos can be used, standard power, rush, and break. After leveling up a few times players will be able to mix these combos offering different combat combinations. What makes this even better is players can switch characters during combat which can lead to even more powerful combinations being discovered. While at first, it takes a bit to fully grasp they’re all actually pretty easy to utilize and use. Did I mention how satisfying it is to switch between characters? The one downside to the combat I noticed was when characters are taking damage will have their combo broken which led to me getting stun-locked and immediately punished. Aside from the main story the Chirper app which vaguely sounds like a parody of Twitter has players taking on a bunch of different side quests, to earn rewards that go toward character development. Unless it’s a boss battle I’d be lying if I said the gameplay had me at the edge of my seat. Once you find your rhythm with the fighting mechanics and your experimental phase has concluded, combat does get old.
Graphically I don’t believe that Neptunia: Sisters Vs. Sisters is something to write home about but it does have its qualities. Most dungeons consist of two types of environments and base characters are your standard 3D models. Transforming into goddess mode and performing moves however did showcase the best that Neptunia: Sisters Vs. Sisters has to offer. You’ll understand what I mean when you let off a volcanic blast and transition into shooting out icicles or performing various slashes with your sword.
Conclusion
The innovation of creating a world with anime girls who represent older videogame systems is what drew a newcomer like me to the world of Neptunia. Overall, the combat system allowed me to utilize characters who caught my interest and freely experiment with them. While at times I was lost in the story which I’m most likely sure is due to the fact I’m fresh, It didn’t deter me from enjoying Neptunia: Sisters Vs. Sisters like the JRPG it is. I can’t say it’s enough for me to engulf myself in the Nepunia lore, mech, or other past titles, but I do hope more games such as this one will continue to make their appearance on Xbox consoles.
This game was reviewed based on Xbox S|X review code, using an Xbox S|X console. All of the opinions and insights here are subject to that version. Game provided by publisher.
