When someone mentions Idea Factory, I immediately think of the Neptunia franchise. While most people would disregard it as a simple fanservice-focused JRPG knockoff, the franchise has some serious humor and solid gameplay behind it. Neptunia: Sisters Vs Sisters continues the tradition with some new ideas and a fresh coat of paint. Some of the new ideas work better than others, but the return to Gamindustri is sweet all the same.

Neptunia: Sisters Vs Sisters takes place in the continent of Gamindustri from the previous games. This continent is ruled by four goddesses, each representing a heavy hitter in the gaming industry. Neptune historically represents Sega in the previous games, then there is Noire who represents PlayStation, Blanc who represents Nintendo, and Vert who represents Microsoft/Xbox.

The story revolves around the four goddesses’ sisters who have to pick up the pieces in the wake of a devastating situation. While trying to render aid to the distant PC continent, a calamity causes Neptune and the PC continent to disappear. At the same time, Nepgear, Rom, Ram, and Uni find themselves placed in a two-year sleep, and awaken to find that nothing is as it was before.

Without spoiling anything further, you must play as Nepgear, Neptune’s sister, and her allies as they try to uncover what happened to Neptune, and stop a mysterious new threat. As with the previous games, you must gain “Shares” that represent the faith the people have in Nepgear and her people. Depending on your amount of Shares at the end of the game, there are multiple endings you can acquire.

The gameplay of Neptunia: Sisters Vs Sisters is similar to other games in the franchise. However, instead of combat being turn-based, it uses an active action-RPG system. Each character has a certain number of action points, and their attacks take a certain number of points. If you run out of points, you have to back off, dodge, etc in order to replenish them.

The goddesses can also transform as in previous games and can do EXE drive abilities, as well as combo skills together. By equipping Discs (that you craft) you can enhance their capabilities. You can also purchase weapons and armor, as well as accessories that change their appearance visually. Other familiar elements such as Lily ranks/bonds and side quests are back in full form, just with a fresh coat of paint.

I’m not all that fond of the combat this time around. Personally, I prefer the turn-based affair, because the usage of AP causes combat to slow down while you’re waiting for your AP to charge. Normally I wouldn’t mind, but the enemies don’t have the same restriction, so it feels like you’re fighting with one hand tied behind your back.

The environments are colorful and interesting, and the enemy variants will feel familiar, though there are some new faces. As always, I love the tongue-in-cheek references, fourth-wall breaks, and meta-commentary on the age-old “Console wars,” though this time around there’s a commentary about mobile gaming thrown in that is relatively interesting.

As always, there is a decent amount of fanservice involved, though I didn’t think it got into any excessive territory. In fact, I’d say it’s a little more restrained this time around, which is kinda nice. Overall, I like Neptunia: Sisters Vs Sisters, but I hope the next game polishes up the combat a little more and makes the dungeons more complex. If you like the franchise, I’m sure you’ll enjoy this new entry, though I wouldn’t say it is the best I’ve played.

A PlayStation 5 review copy of Neptunia: Sisters Vs Sisters was provided by Idea Factory for this review.

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Neptunia: Sisters Vs Sisters

$49.99 USD

7

Score

7.0/10

Pros

• Multiple Endings
• Decent Progression Systems
• Fun Characters
• Darker, More Serious Story
• Less Fanservice Than Usual

Cons

• Not a Good Entry Point for Newcomers
• Combat is Clunky
• Dungeons are Simple