Neptunia: Sisters VS Sisters Review

Neptunia: Sisters VS Sisters tells the of Nepgear and the other Candidates sent to investigate an abandoned laboratory while the Goddesses were out responding to a distress call. During their exploration, Nepgear and friends came across Ashen Goddess who trapped them in a sleep bubble. They wake up 2 years later, Nepgear lost her friends, home and family. She needs to rebuild and rediscover herself after this unplanned two years coma.

Neptunia: Sisters VS Sisters is an action RPG where players will navigate a plethora of areas to reach specific objectives, kill enemies and find treasures. The game is split into two types of areas: the city where you move around a cursor where you’ll see a red/yellow ! which indicates a main objectives to progress the story or a blue ! which indicates a secondary (optional, but sometimes mandatory) objective.

And then there’s the dungeons. You’ll roam around semi open areas to reach your next objective. Additionally, enemies are visible on the map, so you can avoid them; although move quickly because if they see you, they will run after you. To engage combat, nothing unsual is required; simply run into the enemy. You’ll also find wooden boxes that can be broken to find useful items (such as to replenish your health) or cosmetic accessories (which adds nothing except a layer of style to your crew).

Combat is where the game shines. It takes a bit of time to adapt, and might feel clunky, but it’s still a unique battle system. You can do combos by pressing the X button; your attacks will vary as you press X. As you combo the enemy, you’ll unlock an option for one of your teammates to complement your assault with a chain attack by pressing LB or RB, depending on the available character. They’ll take over by launching a devastating attack and then you’ll control them. You can switch between your party members at any time.

As combat goes on, there’s a small meter that slowly fills up. Once it fills up, you’ll be able to press Y in order to unleash a stronger attack. But the meter also has another use: item usage. That’s right, you cannot use items willy nilly. While this can add a layer of challenge to the combat, it can be a detriment as well when your two teammates are down and you’re hanging on by a thread; trying to avoid enemies while the meter fills. The chain attacks are vital in order to win, especially against bosses.

And yes, as with any RPG, you can equip gear and accessories. Although it’s quite unique. Instead of just find gear and equipping it, you’ll find resources throughout your adventure in order to craft discs that can be equipped. Discs can be manufactured via the menu and takes a bit of time. You’ll need three ingredients: gaming genre (FPS, RPG, Adventure, etc…), Scout and Support Item.

The game looks great as a whole; very colorful and each dungeon has its own unique theme. The characters are cute-sy anime-like design and the cutscenes are interesting, well done and a bit unhinged; to be expected in this sort of game. Enemy design is interesting and as with any RPG, changes as you progress through. That being said, this isn’t a game that pushes the Xbox console’s technical limits. The soundtrack is a cutesy score that goes hand in hand with the anime style and sometimes goofy conversations. But it won’t go down in history as a classic soundtrack. The voiceover work is fine; nothing really wrong here, except when navigating dungeons, your party members’ one liners become annoying.

There isn’t anything inherently wrong with Neptunia: Sisters VS Sisters except that it’s a bit more overly complex compared to other RPGs, so trying to grasp and master everything can take a bit of time. Also early on, battles do not feel balanced. You’ll encounter humanoid enemies that not only move really fast, which makes magic attacks near impossible to hit, but do insane damage quickly wiping out one or two party members.

Neptunia: Sisters VS Sisters is a great addition to the RPG genre. While the story feels a bit throwaway and won’t be as impactful as more recent Final Fantasy games or 2025 masterpiece Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, the gameplay is solid and unique. There’s a bit to dive into and the disc system allows for a lot of experimenting. Combat is easy to pick up but hard to master. If you’re looking for a new, unique, RPG to sink your teeth into, Neptunia: Sisters VS Sisters is a great choice.