Neptunia: Game Maker R:Evolution
Developers: Compile Heart, Idea Factory
Publisher: Idea Factory International
Platforms: PlayStation 5 (Reviewed), PlayStation 4, PC
Release Date: Available Now, Xbox Series X/S (2024)
Price: $49.99 USD – Available Here
Overview
Looking back at Compile Heart and Idea Factory International’s history with the Hyperdimension Neptunia series, one has to be quite impressed. Despite debuting back in 2010 the franchise has seen sixteen releases over the course of these fourteen years, not counting the remakes of all four mainline entries of course, which is some remarkable production even if the quality of the game’s hasn’t always been the best. These games have ranged from long-form turn-based RPGs, strategy RPGs focused on single characters, idol production games, side-scrolling retro shooters, and more. Lately though the Neptunia franchise has taken a turn towards the action RPG side of things with last year’s Sisters vs Sisters being an impressive offering thanks in part to its strongly written story and solid combat. Now, following a character that hasn’t been given much love over the years and offering yet another take on the Neptunia characters in a new world, is Neptunia Game Maker R:Evolution worth checking out?
Story
Following the events of Megadimension Neptunia VII, the older Neptune (different from the CPU Goddess Neptune who reigns over Planeptune has continued her quest to hunt down and eliminate various bugs that have appeared across dimensions. With the help of her Nep Note where she has captured the ever problematic Croire she uses her dimension hopping ability to prevent issues from arising, mostly from Croire herself. Her latest dimension hop has landed her in a unique one where game developers seem to be the ones that truly hold power over the “shares” that usually belong to the various CPU goddesses. After encountering a rush of fans seeking to buy the latest console on release, Neptune finds herself stumbling into an office where a neglected game lays in wait.
After playing the game and finding that it is so awful that it is actually rather fun, she suddenly finds that she isn’t alone as three “failure goddesses” have been revived thanks to her fun. This sees the return of Jagaa, Reedio, and Pippih (see if you can guess who all three of these girls reference) who immediately beg Neptune to take over as CEO of their video game development company and prevent them from falling into obscurity, and likely oblivion, once more. Temporarily stranded after losing her Nep Note, Neptunia agrees and begins to help these three failures try to rise to power amidst the increasingly competitive world of video game development. Along the way players will see a number of familiar faces including the Gold Third, Arfoire and her new underlings, a handful of new characters including a perfect representation of a certain developer known for their challenging RPGs and incredible success, and of course the various CPU Goddesses themselves including a new unique take on Blanc, Lowee, and her sisters’ relationship.
Once again the best part of Neptunia Game Maker R:Evolution’s storyline is its cast of characters, outlandish comedy, and non-stop references to the video game world as a whole, be it the developers themselves, the latest console news, and much more fourth wall breaking humor. Indeed, the fact that Older Neptune, a character that has been left behind for many years takes a lead role here alongside a number of failed game console Goddesses is already a plus. It also helps that the three brand new characters in the form of Jagaa, Reedio, and Pippih work great here, especially with Jagaa’s signature phrases being direct references to her real world counterpart’s advertisements that eventually failed.
Of course, these new characters still join the litany of familiar characters that everyone knows and loves including the CPUs and CPU Candidates though, as mentioned before, some of the dynamics with the sisters has changed slightly though it doesn’t really get taken advantage of sadly here. Alongside these familiar allies a large number of other characters that have been neglected since Megadimension make a return here in some form though a few key characters are oddly missing. That being said, bringing together this great cast of characters remains a highlight of the game and the Neptunia series never fails to put a smile on the faces of its fans when it is letting its humor run wild.
Unfortunately unlike the most recent entry, Sisters vs Sisters, the writers neglected to provide noteworthy stakes and drama outside of the predictable kind that helps keep most of these Neptunia spin-offs afloat. While it may not be the fairest of comparisons to make, Sisters vs Sisters often felt like it blurred the line between spin-off and a potential main-line entry that fans have been eager for with its story progression and events. In comparison, Game Maker R:Evolution feels more like a mostly easygoing journey with a wonderful cast that fans have grown to love throughout a decade of games. This is far from a bad thing, and some drama and tension does rise from time to time, but those looking for something closer to a mainline entry will be disappointed that this spin-off is cemented clearly in its territory despite re-introducing Older Neptune back into the lore.
Gameplay
When not having fun with the cast of characters, players will be spending nearly the entirety of their time delving into dungeons or taking part in the lighter and simplistic game development management sim. Neptunia Game Maker R:Evolution continues the latest spin-off trend of focusing on being more of an action game than a turn-based RPG with players openly exploring the field with all four of their party members traveling and swappable at any time. Players can trigger a fight by performing a “symbol attack” on an enemy in the field that will… start the fight normally unless players have a bonus disc equipped, but more on that later.
Once in combat players will find that combat is entirely action based with no turns to be had as they will be able to string together three basic attacks and a powerful fourth finishing attack with every combo chain. Each character has two different combo chains that can be customized with attacks that unlock as characters level up but the real power from performing combos are the link attacks. Whether it is landing a full combo or utilizing a character’s skill (available through a slowly filling purple meter during fights) players will be prompted to press a direction on the D-Pad to shift to another fighter and start a link attack for boosted damage. Of course, since most enemies are flimsy they die before players can even get to a second link it rarely is the case but when players manage to pull together entire link-chains they can execute screen-filling moves that deal massive damage to an enemy target. It is worth noting that players can swap to characters not recommended by the game and still perform a link attack, such as fighting as Neptune while the game recommends swapping to Pippih but you swap to Jagaa instead.
Alongside the free-flow of combat that is shockingly floaty in feel and lacks impact, players can eventually unlock the ability to temporarily transform a CPU into their Goddess state for a temporary power up. These power-ups are few and far between and last a surprisingly short time but can be used to easily vanquish the foe that might be a bit more of a health sponge than players expected. It is worth noting that there are dodge and even block options available but it rarely ever felt like using them was necessary and even if one of the player’s party members is low on health, simply tapping a displayed button will use a Nep Bull or other healing item to heal them instantly. This attempt at trying to make sure the game’s combat remains fluid despite how floaty and lacking in impact it feels often makes combat feel lackluster, especially when balance is all over the board with seemingly standard foes occasionally being stronger than “threatening” enemies or bosses.
When not fighting against enemies in dungeons players will eventually gain access to Older Neptune’s motorcycle and that helps speed things up immensely even if most dungeons aren’t quite designed around this speed so players may find themselves crashing into an enemy or a wall if they are boosting around too quickly. Players can zip around dungeon maps and backtrack using Neptune’s motorcycle, which happens to be incredibly helpful when it comes to turning in side-quests that almost only ever appear inside the dungeons themselves and require either slaying an enemy or getting an item, and there are actually some special maps and races that players can take part in that make special use of Neptune’s riding skills.The bike itself can even be customized to some degree.
Finally we have the actual game development part of Game Maker R:Evolution, which basically boils down to a fancier version of the familiar Disc Creation mechanic. Players will select a genre of game that they wish to make, unlock various bonuses for their development team using points earned both in combat and through finishing side-quests, and hire various developers that tend to reference real-life developers all in an effort to create a “popular” game that will then be factored into their score at the end of a chapter but mostly as an equipable item to boost a character’s stats. These little add-ons provide extra bonuses and boosts to combat and exploration so it plays a useful two-sided role here since Disc Creation generally was given little focus in past entries compared to being a core element here even if it doesn’t actually matter too much.
Audio & Visuals
Once again the designs of the characters, both new and old, are wonderful to behold both during their visual novel character portrait dialogue sequences featuring Live2D and during actual field exploration/combat. Players will find that all of their familiar faces look the same and perhaps even a bit better while Older Neptune has seen a visual upgrade especially in her transformed state. The new Goddesses all match their real-world counterparts well enough with Reedio’s hair clip even being a match for her logo. Similarly, all of their transformation sequences and flashy finishing moves are everything that fans have come to expect from the series and even when combat is moving at a brisk pace with players swapping between fighters to create full chain links the game continues to run smoothly. If there is one downside, the enemy designs once again remain the same and while this is good for regular enemies, some boss designs are a bit lackluster. Along these same lines the dungeons that players explore are often incredibly generic to the point that players may debate even going through optional ones if they can avoid it. It is also worth noting that a lot of these dungeons aren’t designed with Neptune’s motorcycle in mind so using it to quickly navigate through an area can be a bit annoying.
The English voice cast for all of the returning characters, including the older version of Neptune, have all returned to reprise their roles here which is just a lovely and consistent touch especially since the series’ strong point is the character interactions and humor. The japanese voice track is readily available for those who wish to use it as well. The background music during exploration of dungeons ranges from mundane to forgetful though it is nice to note that the music that plays both back at “base” and during boss battles is quite enjoyable, plus the opening theme and accompanying animation for the game “Dream On” is a perfect fit for the game.
Overall
Neptunia Game Maker R:Evolution continues Idea Factory and Compile Heart’s rather strange approach to the Hyperdimension Neptunia franchise. It features all of the characters that fans have come to know and love, the same type of self-referential humor and fourth wall-breaking laughs that we’ve come to adore over the past decade alongside some fresh characters, but wraps it around a mostly mediocre experience. With floaty combat that rarely feels satisfying and a core game development mechanic that, while full of fun references and slightly interesting, lacks the level of depth a potential management game to have, Neptunia Game Maker R:Evolution struggles to be more than a mixed bag and falls short of last year’s far more impressively written Sisters vs. Sisters.
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