Neptunia Riders VS Dogoos
Developer: Compile Heart
Publisher: Idea Factory International
Platforms: PlayStation 5 (Reviewed), PlayStation 4, Switch, PC
Release Date: January 28, 2025, PC (TBA 2025)
Price: $39.99 USD – Available Here
Overview
When it comes to the Hyperdimension Neptunia franchise, you never quite know what Idea Factory and Compile Heart might have up their sleeve next. One year fans of the franchise might see their favorite Goddesses fighting in an action game or taking part in a pseudo turn-based RPG, and the next they might find them in a rhythm idol game or even a strategy RPG. One thing is sure though, almost every year sees the release of a new game featuring Neptune and her friends in some form. Some of these cards that Idea Factory has played have been Aces that, despite not being main entry games, match that level of storytelling quality while others have been Jokers that land flat. This time around we have a motorcycle action title in the form of Neptunia Riders VS Dogoos but the question is, is this spin-off a success or a wipeout?
Story
Uzume Tennouboshi might not know where exactly she is, but she does know that the place she has found herself in is not Gamindustri, and that Dogoo she was just cuddling is not cute. In fact, the sheer swarm of Dogoos around is enough to send her running for a motorcycle that happens to be sitting nearby as she rushes away from the angry mob of well, mobs. It doesn’t take long before she finds that she’s not alone in this strange place as she quickly finds Neptune, only rather than gushing about pudding she’s gushing about Dogoos. After doing her best to wrangle up as many of these Dogoos as possible and clearing the confused mind of Neptune, the two realize that something incredibly strange is going on.
Neither one knows where they are or even how they got there, let alone why so many Dogoo are around and seemingly making anyone that isn’t a Dogoo become obsessed with the lowly enemies. This is further proven when they find that even Noire has found herself fallen under their spell. With their friends obsessed with Dogoos and there being seemingly no way to help them other than to capture as many Dogoo as possible, it is up to Uzume, the proclaimed ‘Dogoo Divider’, to come to the rescue.
If it wasn’t clear already, Neptunia Riders VS Dogoos is an incredibly strange title and that is saying something for a Neptunia game. There is some solid humor in the fact that the lowly Dogoo enemies that players generally trounce in every game is now the mainline enemy, coming in all kinds of shapes and sizes, including some rather frightening ones. Unfortunately other than that aspect, and the countless video game references that come from some of the Dogoo designs as well as the hundreds of accessories that players can unlock and have the girls wear, the humor isn’t really the best in this entry. Yes, every character still has their fan favorite likes and phrases, in fact some of the best moments are seeing Uzume and Neptune try to break through the Dogoo haze clouding each of their minds, though Blanc is oddly given very little focus and even some of her signature elements are lacking compared to other characters.
This means that while there is some humor, a lot of it is incredibly simple. Fans of the franchise will still get quite a few chuckles out of the game as well as enjoy their favorite characters interacting again, especially since Uzume hasn’t been given many appearances in spin-offs like some other characters besides the main four but it is also worth noting that Neptunia Riders VS Dogoos is also incredibly short. Completing the game’s storyline will take less than three hours while aiming for a hundred percent completion took a little over four, something that is easy to track thanks to the game’s own glossary saying how long players have been zipping along collecting Dogoos. This means that not only is there a lackluster level of humor here, it is also over quite quickly and the storyline itself is most of the joke in and of itself, with the “twist” being quite obvious.
Gameplay
The gameplay of Neptunia Riders VS Dogoos is relatively straightforward. Players will select their chosen rider and a partner of their choosing (if they so wish) to enter one of the fifteen available stages that players unlock over the course of the game with each realm having three. Upon entering the stage, they are pitted against a pair of other Dogoo riders or, occasionally, an ally that needs saving or a random enemy completely unrelated to the Dogoo. Players then must race around the stage and gather the target number of Dogoo, usually 100 but occasionally more, before their opponents do to win the stage.
Upon initial completion any stage can be replayed for additional “BP” used to purchase items in the unlock shop such as accessories and motorcycle parts as well as tackle two challenges that remain the same for every stage. That being to complete the stage without a partner and to complete it within a certain time limit. Ironically, given the easy nature of the game, it was eventually possible to do both in one go, though players can choose to tackle these extra objectives separately if need be. Completing these side objectives will unlock additional accessories and parts. Players can modify the motorcycle’s body, wheels, and tires, affecting top speed, acceleration, boost, handling, and Dogoo collection range, giving players some choices on how they want to build their bike to best fit a certain rider’s stats, as each rider also has various stat differences in their attack range, attack power, defense, and long range attack range.
Ironically, once again, the title’s ease with there being no difficulty options basically means that players can simply choose to deck their bikes out however they wish, though later unlocks offer pure boosts with no drawbacks, and use their favorite Goddess once they’ve been obtained without needing to worry too much about stats. As for the stages that players will be racing around and collecting Dogoos, many stages have various gimmicks such as whirlwinds that can send players flying into an unreachable location that may contain plenty of Dogoo, flowers that serve as teleportation circles, jump pads, and even special Dogoos that have specific effects.
The various Dogoo that players collect can provide a number of bonuses and detriments as well, even if they are needed to reach the goal. Some Dogoo can reward players with extra BP, increase gathering range or top speed, while others can slow them down, disable their attack, and even take and shrink or enlarge their bike size depending on the stage they are in. There are even some special types of Dogoo that only appear in certain stages, though it is interesting to note that upon beating the game our Dogoo Glossary was only missing two types that were rather easy to track down. Should players want to get rid of any negative Dogoo they may have picked up, they can fire them either at an enemy or simply away by pressing and holding the long range attack button to fire them off like a Dogoo bomb.
As for the actual combat, Neptunia Riders VS Dogoos is a bit of a mixed bag and it is also quite overpowered at times. Various generic enemies from the franchise scatter the field and can be defeated with a melee or long range attack, spawning numerous Dogoo upon their defeat but the primary opponents will be the rival riders. Players can use long range attacks to knock a few Dogoo off of an opponent’s collection, leaving them free to pick up, while melee attacks can strip the enemy of all their Dogoos at once, often providing tens of them at a time. This can mean players may go from being thirty Dogoo away from the goal only to connect a successful melee attack and instantly win the round. Of course, enemies can also use the same tactics and try to steal the player’s Dogoo and it is worth noting that all attacks, including the boost, are on short cooldowns that vary depending on the chosen character.
Sadly, once players complete the short fifteen levels that make up the game’s storyline and complete the easy to fulfill secondary objectives in each level there is nothing else to actually do in Neptunia Riders VS Dogoos. Shockingly, despite being designed for allowing two riders on a team in a competitive match, there is no online multiplayer in any form. Why the team didn’t make a mode where players could compete in teams of two against one another online is incredibly strange, or even offer a local multiplayer option for players to compete or cooperate. This means that once players fill out their Dogoo glossary, which is the only real thing to do post-game if they didn’t already, there is sadly no extra content in any way. Well, there is a photo mode that players can pose their favorite characters around but that’s about it.
Audio & Visuals
Neptunia Riders VS Dogoos is as colorful as fans of the franchise should expect and the 3D models of the characters are nicely detailed, with each character given a special costume designed to match their starting motorcycle, all of which have unique designs depending on the Goddess riding it. There are a number of additional motorcycles that players can unlock and add various parts to, as the mufflers and wheels can be customized as well as the complete body of the vehicle. The Dogoo designs are also wildly different, some are simple recolors while others have entire themes built around them and references to other games. It is worth noting that there is no fan service in any noticeable way and that while there are hundreds of different accessories to unlock, with each character having three they can equip at a time, all other costumes are relegated to paid DLC.
The voice work for the game is handled quite well, with Idea Factory International offering both the original Japanese voice track as well as the English dub. All of the original English voice actors have returned to reprise their roles for their characters, which is a nice treat, though a couple of the voices for the strange Dogoo players encounter throughout the story are a bit odd, though this is likely on purpose. As for the background music, it is unfortunately incredibly generic. There is no vocal opening theme and even as players progress through the five different stages, the background music never stands out in any noticeable way, even when picking up a “Disco Dogoo” to trigger special, but still generic sounding, music.
Overall
Neptunia Riders VS Dogoos isn’t necessarily a bad game and it has some fun ideas, they just feel rather poorly executed. Racing around a stage with Noire and Uzume is all fun, especially when having to knock away an aggressive Dogoo rider or a brainwashed Blanc but nearly every stage is as easy as can be. The title runs incredibly smoothly and looks great for what it is, even if there are no character portraits and only the 3D models are used for dialogue. The humor is still the same signature Hyperdimension Neptunia comedy that fans will remember, though it does lean more on the actual characters’ personalities and preferences than references and absurdity. Ultimately, Neptunia Riders VS Dogoos is a short offering with little to offer once the game is completed, leaving even die-hard fans wanting more. This means that even those fans eager to see what the next spin-off of Hyperdimension Neptunia might have to offer will likely want to wait for a sale if nothing else as this one is far from worth it even at its smaller price tag.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
