My first-ever console online game evaluation was for a Hyperdimension Neptunia sport for the PlayStation 3, so I’ve at all times had a smooth spot for Concept Manufacturing unit and Compile Coronary heart’s franchise. Whereas the turn-based RPGs are hardly ever really nice, they’ve gratifying characters and a few hilarious writing whereas lampooning the online game trade. Spin-off video games over time have seen the collection check out completely different genres, with the most recent 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 fashionable video video games. For instance, the sport is centered round amassing 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 just too quick for the story to be memorable or all that attention-grabbing.
The gameplay is the place Neptunia Riders VS Dogoos sadly falls aside. You journey a motorbike round uninteresting phases, amassing 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.
The truth is, the sport solely takes about two hours to complete. There are some additional challenges — beating phases with none AI companions and underneath a specified time — so as to add in replayability, however until 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, no less than, that are good to take a look at, however it is a quick and never very satisfying expertise that doesn’t have a lot price diving into.
Neptunia Riders VS Dogoos Evaluation: Closing Verdict
Hyperdimension Neptunia spin-off video games will be fairly enjoyable as they provide Concept Manufacturing unit and Compile Coronary heart a chance to strive one thing new with beloved characters. Sadly, Neptunia Riders VS Dogoos is caught in impartial and isn’t in a position to shift into excessive gear. The gameplay fails to captivate, and it begins to really feel repetitive even throughout its quick runtime. It’s a uncommon whole miss for the goddesses of Gamindustri, as even their appeal can’t make this a worthwhile expertise.
SCORE: 5/10
As todaysviralmedia’s evaluation 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 offered a digital PS5 copy for our Neptunia Riders VS Dogoos evaluation. Reviewed on model 1.000.000.