My first-ever console online game overview was for a Hyperdimension Neptunia sport for the PlayStation 3, so I’ve all the time had a gentle spot for Thought Manufacturing facility and Compile Coronary heart’s franchise. Whereas the turn-based RPGs are not often actually nice, they’ve pleasant characters and a few hilarious writing whereas lampooning the online game business. Spin-off video games through the years have seen the collection check out totally different genres, with the newest being an arcade-like fight racing title known as Neptunia Riders VS Dogoos.
As talked about, the spotlight of those video games tends to be the writing and getting some laughs over the sport’s parodying of in style video video games. For instance, the sport is centered round gathering varied forms of Dogoos, a parody of the slimes in Dragon Quest. It’s all fairly goofy, however the characters are staple villains within the collection, so it matches in throughout the world of Gamindustri (even when this spin-off takes place in an alternate dimension). As ordinary, attending to see the characters (that are all humanoid variations of various online game consoles) work together is a excessive level of the expertise, though the sport is simply too brief for the story to be memorable or all that fascinating.
The gameplay is the place Neptunia Riders VS Dogoos sadly falls aside. You trip a bike round uninteresting phases, gathering Dogoos as you accomplish that, sometimes firing assaults at your foes. Rinse and repeat for 16 phases, after which the sport is over. The issue is the racing by no means feels notably nice, even when drifting round corners can generally be enjoyable, and there’s so little depth to the general expertise. You get as a lot enjoyment within the tutorial as you do the remainder of the sport, so it’s only a flat expertise.
In reality, the sport solely takes about two hours to complete. There are some further challenges — beating phases with none AI companions and beneath a specified time — so as to add in replayability, however except you’re going for the Platinum, there’s no actual draw as to why you’d need to do them. You do unlock some cosmetics, not less than, that are good to take a look at, however it is a brief and never very satisfying expertise that doesn’t have a lot value diving into.
Neptunia Riders VS Dogoos Evaluation: Closing Verdict
Hyperdimension Neptunia spin-off video games may be fairly enjoyable as they offer Thought Manufacturing facility and Compile Coronary heart a possibility to strive one thing new with beloved characters. Sadly, Neptunia Riders VS Dogoos is caught in impartial and isn’t capable of shift into excessive gear. The gameplay fails to captivate, and it begins to really feel repetitive even throughout its brief runtime. It’s a uncommon complete miss for the goddesses of Gamindustri, as even their appeal can’t make this a worthwhile expertise.
SCORE: 5/10
As sondramedia’s overview coverage explains, a rating of 5 equates to “Mediocre.” The positives and negatives wind up negating one another, making it a wash.
Disclosure: The writer supplied a digital PS5 copy for our Neptunia Riders VS Dogoos overview. Reviewed on model 1.000.000.