Neptunia: Sisters VS Sisters Reviews
Neptuinia Sisters Vs Sisters feels more accomplished and, dare I say, more grown up than any of the other games I’ve played in the series. The humour remains as cutting and irreverent as ever, taking every opportunity to send up the video game industry and often hitting the mark. Likewise, the gameplay is just as repetitive, and although there is less of a grind this time around, I still felt fatigued after playing through some of the levels. At this point, Idea Factory certainly knows what they are doing when it comes to the series, and with over a decade developing Neptunia, they are still finding ways to surprise and delight players. I’d have preferred more varied environments to explore, though there are signs that future titles will look to take cues from the groundwork laid here. What took me by surprise is that the story is a more genuinely mature (and not lewd) affair, for a series that has often leaned on the fanservice aspect to hide its shortcomings and did make for an enjoyable experience.
A long awaited sequel which also received a proper following number from the original. With traces of considerations from recent gaming vibes spotted, the not-so-friendly progression sequences and wasteful oversized maps are more of a distraction for the fans who expected enjoyment. The combat frequency was also low and slow which makes the action feel a bit lackluster. Story was also a endless chain of dialogues to make it even more slower than it could have been. Since the two main key factors for the game only felt like forceful events of consecutive slideshows only to add more playtime, it made us feel a bit unpleasant after the credit roll instead of the usual joy coming from completing what could have been a proper experience of a video game. The overall contents felt like it was being dragged under a blanket full of unnecessities.
Review in Korean | Read full review
It would be overdramatic to say that Neptunia: Sisters Vs. Sisters broke me. Instead, more accurately is it just bored me to no end. The style of the game and everything it’s doing seems like it should make for a fun experience, but the execution is miles off the mark. Based on previous games, this game would be looking to be about twenty hours of gameplay total, if that’s the case, I would be willing to barter that only the biggest of Neptunia fans will stick with it the whole way through, because even Final Fantasy XIII felt like less of a slog.
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.
Overall, I think Neptunia: Sisters Vs. Sisters is a fine entry in the franchise. The new characters are a lot of fun, the story is well written and feels like a Nep game, and combat is really fun as well. I got some help from a friend on Twitter, so I was able to get the true ending during my playthrough. There is the endless tower you could challenge and an awesome photo mode here to play around with for hours as well. I feel like this one is well worth the $49.99 asking price. I think it’s pretty insane that IFI has decided folks who want the swimsuit DLC should have to buy the Digital Deluxe Edition at $69.99 with no way for anyone buying a physical copy to obtain these, and I probably wouldn’t be as pissed about this if there were any alternate costumes in the game, but that’s not the case. I hope something they do in the next entry is bring those back. Doing that and adding some more CGs to unlock would go a long way to making this an even more solid Neptunia title. That being said, fans shouldn’t miss this one, the sisters are still as cute as you remember, and this a fantastic adventure.
Confusing for newbies, Neptunia: Sisters VS Sisters hooks all genre fans. While it seems dated in many ways, it touches on red-hot topics surrounding influencers and AI, as well as media addiction. For this reason, a recommendation to play at least a little while.
Review in German | Read full review
Neptunia as a series does seem to suffer when it moves away from its JRPG roots. While Neptunia Sisters VS Sisters has a lot of great points, the more action-oriented gameplay aspects do let it down quite a lot. I’d not suggest rushing out and grabbing it, but Neptunia fans will certainly find a lot to enjoy and this is certainly who it’s aimed at. If you can get past the slow start and the gameplay, the story will make it worth it.
Neptunia Sisters VS Sisters feels like a return to form for the Hyperdimension Neptunia franchise, though undermined by boring level design.