Racing Through Another Neptunia Spin-Off: A Neptunia Riders VS Dogoos Review

By Manuel

Players: 1
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5

It feels like it wasn't that long ago that we took a look at Neptunia Game Maker R:Evolution. That title was a spin-off of the greater Neptunia series, and though it featured some unique gameplay mechanics, it also was not a follow-up to the long-dormant main series. It's now 2025 and it looks like Compile Heart and Idea Factory still aren't quite ready to release another mainline Neptunia RPG. Enter Neptunia Riders VS Dogoos, a game that places our heroines on motorcycles. There's more to it than that of course, but we'll get there in just a bit. It's currently available on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5, and is set to release on Steam this summer. We're going to be taking a look at the game on the Nintendo Switch, and see if this is a spin-off title worth picking up. With the intro out of the way, let's dive in!

It probably goes without saying that Neptunia Riders VS Dogoos is yet another spin-off that doesn't advance the overarching story in any significant way. It features characters from the greater series, but almost feels non-canon. This might sound like an odd way to start the review, but it's one of many problems you're going to encounter here. The game opens with Uzume Tennouboshi, a character from Megadimension Neptunia VII, taking on the role of main heroine. She finds herself on a motorcycle in a world full of Dogoos, and has no memory of how she got there. For those not familiar with the series, Dogoos are Neptunia's most basic enemies, sort of like the slimes in Dragon Quest. She soon meets up with Neptunia herself, and learns that all the Goddesses are under some sort of spell where they absolute love Dogoos. Uzume is the only one who the spell doesn't seem to affect, so she sets out to free her friends from the grip of Dogoo love. While there is a bit more to the story I could lay out, it never really goes beyond that basic premise. This isn't Gamindustri, the full cast isn't present, and the only enemies you'll face off against are Dogoos who also ride motorcycles. There are a few surprise reveals, but most people will see them coming from a mile away. Thin plot aside, I did appreciate the humor and silliness of it all. While it did keep me invested, the stakes are as low as they can be here. Nothing matters to the greater Neptunia lore, and this ultimately makes this game feel like yet another filler episode.

Ditching story for a bit, let's discuss gameplay. You'd be forgiven for thinking that Neptunia Riders VS Dogoos is some sort of racing game, but it actually plays more like Katamari Damacy, with a bit of Twisted Metal thrown in too. Your goal is to gather 100 Dogoos before the enemy, and you can do this solo or with a partner. There is no multiplayer at all here, so you're partner will always be computer-controlled. Your partner will do their best to help out, but sometimes only gets in the way. The enemy team is always made up of two racers, and they'll be doing their best to gather 100 Dogoos before you. Gathering the 100 Dogoos is literally the goal in every stage of the game, so don't expect things to go beyond that. Oh, and the Dogoos trail behind you in a ball, so that's your Katamari Damacy reference. Besides driving you can jump, pull off a speed boost, and even attack. Jumping and speed boosting operate pretty much as you'd expect, though attacking works a bit different. Attacks can either be short or long range, and you have to steer yourself into the path of your enemy if you want them to land. There is no lock-on mechanic, and the enemy can just as easily attack you too when you get close. Getting hit means dropping Dogoos, and this is the only way to keep the enemy from winning if they're ahead of you. You also can attack normal stage enemies too, with their defeat releasing Dogoos as well. Attacking and speed boosting have a cooldown period after they've been used, so you can't exactly abuse either. While both moves are important to master if you want to 100$ the game, you can most likely ignore them most of the time and still win. This will unfortunately be a running theme throughout.

There are other aspects to Neptunia Riders VS Dogoos' gameplay that keep it from being too simple on paper. These other mechanics are attached to specific Dogoos that you'll find in each level. While there are a couple dozen different types of Dogoos for you to gather, most of them only exist to increase your score. Some do unlock certain customization options, but they're just a notch towards that 100. Besides the basic ones, there are special Dogoos that change how specific levels are played. Collecting these Dogoos can allow you to fly, perform a suction maneuver, grow big or small, or even open up otherwise inaccessible parts of the stage. These mechanics are usually locked to specific stages, and have certain criteria that must be met in order to unlock their bonuses. You'd think that these Dogoo-related mechanics would be important, but I promise that you can ignore them and still have an easy time clearing the game. As a matter of fact, some of these additional mechanics will put an end to any fun you might be having. The shrinking mechanic found in the second world was the bane of my existence, and there were times when trying to unlock the bonuses just wasted my time. Since Dogoos respawn over time, and you can always steal them from the enemy, it usually was the better tactic to just get the 100 Dogoos through any other means. Dogoos aside, some stages use things like ramps and tornadoes as their stage gimmicks. These are much simpler to utilize, though they aren't as common as the Dogoo-related mechanics. Being able to ignore seemingly important aspects of gameplay may seem odd, but I'm of the mind that this game isn't exactly a finished product as it currently exists.

When you complete the tutorial you're sent into a hub world. This hub world shows you the entire game right from the start. There's only five worlds, and each have three stages. Considering it only took me about 30 minutes to clear half of them, I couldn't help but wonder if things would suddenly expand. Surely the game isn't this short, right? Each stage is about a minute long, and has story scenes before and after it. These scenes can be long, but usually only run for a minute or two also. It only took me a bit over an hour to beat the game, and I doubled that short time to reach 100% completion. 100% completion entails clearing bonus objectives in the stages, and collecting all the customization options. Speaking of which, you can customize your character and bike, but the upgrades never seemed to change gameplay much. I'm sure my bike goes faster when the bar is maxed out, but it's barely noticeable in-game. All the problems I've been laying out ultimately made me wonder if this was even a complete game. I'm not exaggerating when I say that it feels like a small part of a full release, like a minigame, that was just packaged separately. No matter how you choose to look at it, this doesn't feel like a full release. There are plenty of Neptunia spin-off games, but all of them feel far more substantial than this one. Calling Neptunia Riders VS Dogoos a crash grab might not be totally correct, but this doesn't feel like a game made out of love for the series. It's not just the three hours of gameplay either, it's the fact that this is as low on the mediocre scale as things can get before it just becomes bad.

Though I want to move on to discussing graphics, it is an odd topic too. While I'm not the type of person who judges a game based on its visuals, it's hard to deny that the Neptunia series seems trapped in the PS3 Era as far as visuals go. This isn't something unique to Neptunia Riders VS Dogoos, as it's been the case in all the games released over the past decade. This means that the game is far from impressive, but it's also par the course for the series. That said, I did find the character customization designs to be neat, even though little thought seemed to be put into how they'd work on all the characters. Hats clipping through other hats, and headbands not matching other hairstyles just added to the overall haphazard nature of the game. The stages are small, and don't have a lot of character, and are also filled with random enemies that seem to come from a totally different series. I know that these enemies come from the greater Neptunia series, but that doesn't change the fact that they look like they were taken from some pre-built asset store. Then there's the fact that the stages just come and go so quickly. With most of the stages only lasting a minute, you'll probably never see anything beyond the Dogoos you're collecting. This all comes together to create a game that looks like it's far older than it is, and it even has some Switch-specific issues. Thankfully these issues don't affect gameplay all that much, but I did notice that things got fuzzy and blurry during heated moments. You can actually see some of this in the screenshots, and it made me wonder what could've been holding back this game considering how little was actually going on most of the time. Then again nothing about Neptunia Riders VS Dogoos can surprise me at this point.

Quite possibly the only aspect of Neptunia Riders VS Dogoos that I think is decent is its sound design. The music isn't exactly the best I've heard within the Neptunia series, but it's definitely better than your average JRPG soundtrack. This isn't a JRPG of course, but I think you get what I mean. It's a mix of mostly upbeat tracks, and there isn't a bad one in the bunch. While the soundtrack has a strong showing, the voice acting far surpasses it. Not only does this game feature the original Japanese language track, but it also has an English dub as well. None of the English cast are listed in the end credits for some strange reason, but I can only assume that it's the same actors we've been used to over the past few games. The cast all perform perfectly, and their performances are what kept me going in spite of everything I've been complaining about. While it's not really very impressive that a game this short features a full English dub, it still was a pleasant surprise. Other parts of the game felt so half-assed that I was starting to think that corners would be cut everywhere. This may not make up for the rest of the game, but it made me wonder how things could've gone if the same level of effort was placed elsewhere.

No matter how you look at it, Neptunia Riders VS Dogoos is a very short game. I was able to beat it in under two hours, and it only took another 90 minutes or so to 100% it. I fully completed this game in a bit over three hours, and that's just weird. Admittedly, this doesn't have to be a negative in and of itself, but it is when you realize that this game comes with a $39.99 price tag. That just feels wrong, and it's even worse when you learn that there is launch DLC available as well. I don't think adding in the DLC for free would've changed my opinions very much, but trying to get more money out of what is essentially just an overblown minigame just feels scummy. This should've been priced at $9.99, and even then I'd wonder if it was worth the actual gameplay experience. There's just no content here, and it's not even very replayable. The story is forgettable, the gameplay never really changes, and not adding multiplayer is a huge missed opportunity. I'm not sure who this game is for, but I don't think it's for me.

It probably comes as no surprise that I'm of the opinion that most people are better off simply skipping Neptunia Riders VS Dogoos. I guess there might be some enjoyment to be had if you're a hardcore Neptunia fan, but even that feels like a stretch. Then again, if you're a diehard fan, you probably already have the special limited edition sitting on your shelf. If you're not a fan of the series, this isn't going to be the game that gets you into it. It's my hope that Compile Heart and Idea Factory release another mainline game soon, or at least another spin-off title that isn't rushed to market to fill a release window. I really don't have anything else to say about the game, so I'll just sign off there. See you in the next one.

Check Out Neptunia Riders VS Dogoos on Nintendo Switch:
https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/neptunia-riders-vs-dogoos-switch/

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Story: C
Gameplay: C
Graphics: C
Music/Sound: B
Value: D

Overall: C-

Pros:
+ It's the Neptunia girls on motorcycles. Surely this will appeal to the hardcore fans?
+ Customization options are cool, both for the characters and their motorcycles.
+ The meta, off-the-cuff humor in the story scenes can be entertaining.
+ The voice acting is spot on, as is the music.

Cons:
- The actual gameplay mechanics are very shallow. Most levels can be cleared in a minute or two.
- There are a total of fifteen short stages. I was able to 100% the game in about three hours.
- This feels more like a minigame found in one of the mainline titles rather than a standalone release.
- There seem to have been little thought given to how some of the character customization items would fit on some characters.
- Pricing this at $39.99 just feels wrong. And walling off some of the content behind additional paid DLC just feels scummy.

A copy of this game was provided to us free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This did not affect our review in any way.

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I don't know about that one...

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