Overview – developed by Compile Heart and Idea Factory with publishing handled by Idea Factory International, Neptunia: Sisters VS Sisters is the latest entry in the long running Neptunia Franchise. In this action RPG hybrid, Nepgear must take the place of her sister Neptune in the wake of her absence, with the fate of the world on her shoulders. This version of the game is available for Nintendo Switch, featuring content exclusive to this release with a link to it at the bottom of this review.
Disclaimer: before I get into the review, I would like to thank Idea Factory International for providing the copy of Neptunia Sisters VS Sisters for this piece, via the keymailer service. The provision of this software has not influenced the contents of this review, all thoughts and opinions contained within are my own.
Now with the introductions out of the way, let’s get into the review, starting off with the story. I previously covered this game for Steam, with the review readable (HERE). Like that review, I will be covering the core elements and mechanics of this title, to prevent spoiling the events of this game. However, I will be covering the content exclusive to this release.
Story – As the Goddesses of Gamindustri were responding to a distress call from the PC continent, the Goddess Candidates were sent on a mission to investigate a monster outbreak. During this assignment, Nepgear and her friends encounter the Ashen Goddess within an abandoned research facility. After this encounter, the mysterious Goddess trapped them in a stasis capsule, placing them in a deep sleep to protect them from danger.
After emerging from their deep slumber, Nepgear and her companions learn that two years have passed, as well as the news that Neptune was missing. In the absence of both the Goddess and Candidate, Planeptune had been ravaged by the mysterious Trendi Phenomenon. Finding that her home and sister are gone, Nepgear faces her greatest challenge, to solve the mystery of the Trendi outbreaks and save Planeptune in the absence of her sister Neptune.
Gameplay – this title is a dungeon crawling JRPG, set in locations across Gamindustri with a visual novel style presentation to story events, told over several chapters. In order to push the narrative forward, players must explore the different environments, fight monsters and complete quest objectives. There are two types of quest objectives for players to take on, with the first being main quests that use a red marker and side quests with a blue marker.
The majority of the game plays out in the dungeon environments, with the player having the option of an active party of up to three characters. The party members will change during the course of the game, but for this release, 4 additional characters will be added to the party after the intro section is cleared. While in a dungeon, players will be able to move freely around the map, uncovering treasures, encountering monsters and overcoming obstacles.
While roaming the dungeons, players will encounter monsters that spawn throughout. These encounters can be avoided or the player can charge into battle. If the player attacks the enemy from behind, the monster is alerted by seeing the party or a preset quest battle is reached, combat will begin. When the player can successfully strike the enemy from behind, the battle will start with the party getting an advantage in the beginning.
Combat in this title takes place in a circular arena, with the player having control over the leader as the other party members move on their own. The battle system has a real time feel to it, with attacks that can be used in sequence to make stylish combos. But each attack uses a resource called Action Point (AP), with the player being unable to attack if they run out. This adds a tactical element to battles, as players must wait for that characters AP to recharge.
However, the player is able to change the character in the active party leader, allowing for tactics to be switched on the fly and combos to be extended. During attacks, a prompt will appear under the support character icons called chain, quickly switching characters and using an enhanced attack for more damage. This system allows attacks to be chained together, increasing the damage that is dealt with each successful switch during a battle.
As well as the combo and chain attacks, the player can also use special skills that have the potential to deal significant damage to enemies. The special skills that can be used have requirements in order to be used, but the payoff is worth the effort. First, there is the Tactical Skill, which can be used when the TAC bar is filled during battles. All characters will have one skill as standard, with the ability to unlock additional skills as the game progresses.
Then we have the EXE Drive, which is a powerful attack activated by using half of the Goddess Gauge. These attacks are much stronger than the other abilities, but they pale in comparison to the Goddess Transformation. This Ultimate, yet temporary ability can be activated when the Goddess Gauge is fully filled in battle. While active, all stats are boosted, combo attacks don’t consume AP and an enhanced Drive attack can be accessed at the cost of reverting to normal.
The different characters that can be in the party can fit a variety of roles, with some excelling at offense and others as support. The different skill sets for the characters allow for a range of party builds to be put together, adding to the tactical style of combat. It is important for players to have a cohesive party build, as item use in battles is restricted unless the TAC meter is filled, making support skills very useful in the heat of battle.
A combat encounter in this title can end in one of three ways, victory, defeat or escape. The first two are self-explanatory, with escape having a special meter that needs to be filled by staying at the edge of the screen. However, it is important to keep in mind that the player cannot escape from some battles, so make sure to monitor the status of the party often. If the party is defeated in battle, the player will get a game over, but they can retry and load data to continue.
When a battle has been won, the party will gain resource rewards, money and experience points. As the active party members earn EXP, they will level up at set milestones and make them stronger, unlocking new skills when set level requirements are met. Inactive characters wont level up as much, but later additions to the party as the story progresses will be sufficiently leveled, adding some balance to the overall progression of the game.
The final element of dungeon exploration to discuss is the safe zones. These points in the dungeons allow players to recover their party with items, save the game and even leave the dungeon to the world map. These points can also be used to fast travel, teleporting between different the different safe zones making them very useful for backtracking. It is important to use these safe points often, as the player can lose significant progress if they are defeated.
Outside of the main story, there are more locations and features that will open up as the player makes their way through the game. Players are able to move between most of the locations that have been discovered, using these areas to grind experience and resources. There will also be side missions that players can challenge, including requests from NPC characters using the “Chirper” system. These different requests provide rewards for success.
There is also a crafting system in this title called Disc Development, where special equipment items can be crafted that provide a range of bonuses for party members. To create a Disc, the player must combine Genre, Scout and Support resources together at the cost of Coins. All Genres are available immediately, but the Scout and Support items must be collected during play. Each Disc takes time to develop and the results will vary.
The Discs can be added to the different characters within the party, with the ability to assign up to 4 discs to a character. When equipped to characters, they can open up new skill possibilities, passive skills and more for players to experiment with. Discs aren’t the only way to augment party members however, as each character can be given better equipment. This gear includes weapons, armor and accessories that will alter their overall stats.
Then we have the Lily System, which will give the active party members additional bonuses when they are paired with another character. These pairings have the potential to provide up to 3 bonuses for the character, increasing the further the player gets into the adventure. In this version of the game, there are 4 additional characters available immediately, with guests Higurashi and Shanghai Alice, along with exclusive versions of Maho and Anri from the main story.
Last to discuss, we have the SHARE system, which will affect the way that the narrative plays out for this release. Depending on the SHARE level that the player has reached, the ending that is obtained will change. The level of the Goddess shares will change depending on a various factors, positive effects include leveling up party members and completing requests. However, the Share rate can be lowered by events such as the party being defeated in battle.
Now with the gameplay covered, it is time to discuss the other aspects of this release, starting with the controls.
Controls – Neptunia Sisters VS Sisters makes the leap to Nintendo Switch well, with the input layout for the controllers working well. The inputs have zero lag and work well with all control options, regardless of if the player chooses to play handheld or on the big screen. I found that the Joy-Cons didn’t have the usual issue with travel that they have with most games, which made it easy to enjoy the game for long play sessions away from the TV.
Difficulty – I feel that this release has a lower difficulty curve to the other release, given the addition of extra characters in the party at the start of the game. If players choose to use these characters, there is an advantage in the early game as the party would otherwise only have one character active. Sometimes there will be difficulty spikes, but this can be reduced with effective leveling, Disc upgrades and character equipment. Overall, this version does feel more balanced.
Presentation – making the leap to the less powerful Switch hasn’t compromised the visual fidelity of this release. The game has been optimized well for the hybrid system, with the vibrancy of the world and the smooth animations of the Live 2D characters, prominently featured during the VN segments. There is nothing noticeable in terms of Lag or frame stutter during play, but there is a slight increase in loading times, but it doesn’t affect the overall gameplay experience.
The music is wonderful as always, with the opening theme Fight For Victory setting the tone for the experience, accompanied by the gorgeous character art. The music used in game fits the setting and events well, with each composition enhancing the overall feel of the experience. The dialogue for this game is available in English and Japanese, with the EN voice cast featuring the talents of Sarah Williams (Jujustu Kaisen), Carrie Keranen (Madoka Magica) and Lindsay Sheppard (Tribe Nine).
Final Thoughts – Having previously covered this game on steam, I was excited to see what the Nintendo Switch version brought to the table. I can happily say that my experience was a very positive one, with the experience feeling fresh and new with the addition of the exclusive characters. I spent a lot of time with this title in handheld mode, which I find is a more personal experience for these types of adventure given the nature of handheld gaming.
I am more than happy to recommend this game to fans of the Neptunia series, especially those who want to enjoy the games away from the big screen. This title fits the Nintendo Switch perfectly, even with the restrictions of the hardware in general, the game looks and plays amazingly on both the big and small screen. There are some reductions in terms of textures and the like, but the title has been optimized very well for the system and is an excellent handheld JRPG adventure.
In the end, I give Neptunia: Sisters VS Sisters for Nintendo Switch a final score of 5/5. This adventure made the transition to the Nintendo switch flawlessly, with perfectly optimized gameplay and presentation. The addition of bonus content in the form of exclusive characters makes this release feel fresh, with the overall experience being perfect for the big or small screen. If you want check this version of the game out for yourself, a link to it will be below.
Link to Nintendo Switch version (HERE)
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