Neptunia Game Maker R:Evolution review

The R:Evolution Should Not Be Televised.

As was the case in many of the previous mainline Hyperdimension Neptunia entries and spin-offs, the future of GameIndustri is once again in peril. But this time out, the actual game industry is facing a mounting crisis and I really wanted Neptunia Game Maker R:Evolution to offer an escape from the inundation of real-world studio shutdowns, lay-offs, and project cancellations.

Sure, it’s probably too late to reverse the tide of big-budget live-service games and the imminent demise of physical media. But it would undoubtedly feel comforting to watch Nep Nep save us from the short-sighted actions concocted by a coven of villainous CEOs. Unfortunately, Neptunia Game Maker makes a familiar error, pushing out an unessential entry that indicates a franchise in decline.

When Your Only Launch Title is Called Crash ‘n Burn

Narratively, R:Evolution starts on a promising note, as it continues its allegorical skewering of the game business. The crafty inclusion here is a trio of ‘failure goddesses’, Jagaa, Pippih, and Reedio. They embody the unsuccessful hardware manufactured by Atari, Apple, and The 3DO Company during the ‘90s.

Expectedly, each embodies traits of their parent company, whether it’s Jagaa’s repeated use of the “Do the Math” marketing slogan or Pippih’s superiority complex. And even if you haven’t played many of the previous Neptunia titles, Arfoire’s maniacal laugh and witch hat or Copy the Hard’s mecha-with-a-skull face shorthand will inform you that pirates are the bad guys. On the upside, the script delivers a steady stream of industry references that should delight any dedicated hobbyist.

There’s Even a Generic Game Awards Event!

But distressingly, the game doesn’t provide enough time for its central conflict to develop. Just as problematic is the game’s continued use of perplexing metaphors. While series veterans will likely accept that dominating dungeons helps you grow market share, newcomers might wish that Compile Heart explained the metaphor a bit better.

Fortunately, the game’s Disc Creation component will be familiar to players who ever played Kairosoft’s Game Dev Story. Here, an alternative ‘older’ Nep serves as company president and is responsible for duties like hiring staff and placing objects around your office to inspire your game creators.

A Cauldron Makes Games Cuter?

There are some cool dividends, with your genre choice affecting the look of your headquarters and while witnessing your game directors level up and specialize is satisfying. The discs your team creates can then be equipped to your party numbers, providing new abilities in combat.

And while R:Evolution allows Nep to tool around on a cool motorbike (entering races that go on far too long), you’ll never get to play the shmups, RPGs, or visual novels created by your company. Sure, that’s been a recurring deficiency, but the presence of standalone diversions like Neptunia Shooter and Dimension Tripper Neptune: Top Nep make it difficult to enjoy generating make-believe games. I would have loved to see simple, 8-bit style adaptations of popular genres with pixelated goddess sprites.

Growing Pains

Certainly, Compile Heart is eager to grow its audience. The Neptunia spin-offs have largely traded the turn-based encounters for responsive action, presumably to grow the property’s audience. But save for 2017’s Cyberdimension Neptunia: 4 Goddesses Online, the developer has struggled to create an involving, real-time combat system. R:Evolution’s battles feel like a damn chore.

Seemingly, the developer was trying to mimic the arena-based fights found in CyberConnect2’s Naruto titles. Here, each character can freely move around while a pair of attack buttons can muster simple combos. As you land blows, you’ll eventually trigger the game’s Link Chain special, where a press of the directional pad shifts control of characters and intensifies your damage output. Additionally, filling up your Link Gauge by transferring control of party members permits players to summon powerful EXE Drive assaults that are accompanied by full-screen animations.

But much of the time, success involves no more than button mashing and following on-screen prompts. Sure, you can issue commands to your fellow party members, create your own combos, and issue buffs and debuffs. But save for the exponentially more difficult boss battles, you likely won’t have to utilize these features. But arguably two of the most irritating design decisions are R:Evolution’s recycled environments and the incessant voice clips that play during exploration. Yes, girls I have already checked the map, please stop nagging. The one upside is being able to bike around dungeons, which is useful given that the level architects employed a copy-and-paste design.

Conclusion

At one time, the Hyperdimension Neptunia franchise supplied sassy satire, spirited fan-service, and entertaining banter. But Neptunia Game Maker R:Evolution offers little of those qualities. Instead, playtime is split between battles combat and a managerial component that feels outdated. Neptune’s ambitions for safeguarding Gamindustri remain admirable. But delivering a half-hearted attempt like this might be doing more harm than good.

Neptunia Game Maker R:Evolution was played on
PlayStation 5 with review code provided by the publisher.