Neptunia Game Maker R:Evolution Review (Nintendo Switch OLED)
Neptunia Game Maker R:Evolution Review, The goal of this game is to rebuild and manage a game company! Build your company and turn it into a huge corporation! This latest entry to the world of Neptunia is better than ever! The battle system has been expanded and now allows for a 4-person party, dungeons can be explored on a high-speed motorcycle, and the Heartful Photo Mode will let you express yourself via fun, manga-like creations! Oh, and have we even talked about “Admin Mode” yet?! There’s a lot of fun to be had here!
Neptunia Game Maker R:Evolution Review Pros:
- Decent Anime style graphics.
- Download size.
- In game cutscenes with full voice work and subtitles.
- Controller settings – Invert axis and sensitivity sliders along with the ability to remap controls.
- Opening tutorial fight with on screen prompts.
- Combat is free form and you and the enemy can attack whenever making it more hack and slash.
- Basic actions include guard, dash, and many combo styles.
- You see enemy health bars.
- Fantastic soundtrack.
- You can set the text character interactions to skip, log, hide text, and auto scroll.
- Great voicework.
- 3D game World with full 360 degree camera control.
- You are always in a group of four and you can use the d pad to change which character you play as.
- Link chain is where changing characters at the right time will trigger a massive ongoing (as long as you keep it going with fighting) combo link that does more damage.
- End of combat breakdowns showing rewards and hits etc.
- When you nail chain Links it’s so satisfying as players involved have their portraits up, numbers start going up, combo counter goes mental and it has all these explosions and attacks going off.
- Auto saves frequently.
- Earnings reports get produced at the end of a chapter and here you can get rare items and cash.
- Basically your world is all about building games and is destroyed and you are tasked with rebuilding it and you do this by earning cash and expanding your knowledge in the skill tree building structures that create games and genres etc.
- You run a company that is tasked with rebuilding the company and making games and money.
- The world map is all locked off and you have to get the required cash and items to unlock the ability to develop in an area.
- Unlocking areas can give their own rewards and benefits but you can also get valuable dungeon locations and events.
- You need to earn fame and recognition for your company and you do this by doing dungeons and missions.
- Constant tutorial pop ups as you play to help take all this in.
- Dungeons will always have points of interest and particular rewards but it can also have optional side missions for more rewards.
- It’s all free form in the dungeons and you play as you like.
- Handy mini map for dungeon crawling and toy can set the camera to move with you or remain static.
- The in game menu gives full inventory management, team details and the ability to equip items and gear to them, change load outs etc.
- Running game timer in the pause menu.
- The skill tree let’s you unlock new genres for games, obtain new items, level up buildings, unlock new building styles, and then unlock genre specific skill trees.
- Characters will auto attack in combat but you can set their behaviour to offensive, defensive, varied, and default styles.
- Formation let’s you tinker with where party members line up in combat scenarios.
- Each character can earn their own EXP and level up to increase stats and maybe get rewards.
- In dungeons you see enemies walking around, hitting them then triggers the fight in a set arena. Hitting them from behind gives you an advantage as the enemies start stunned.
- The maps in dungeons fill in as you explore.
- Breakable objects around that may contain rewards.
- Characters will talk and give insight and guidance.
- You can edit each party members attacks.
- As you do damage you build up your EX drive attack which a special move that triggers a fool cutscene everytime you activate it.
- Safe areas within a dungeon let’s you save, use items, do training, and fast travel between other safe areas. Or you can just leave the dungeon.
- The shop let’s you buy and sell items and equipment.
Neptunia Game Maker R:Evolution Review Cons:
- The loading times are not always the best.
- Slow starter as the story roots get laid down and the tutorials.
- Chain links take some getting used to as the prompt (optional) is small and you have to pay attention to which character you have to swap too, it can get stressful basically.
- You get cannot set all interactions to auto scroll permanently and instead have to press the button each time.
- Tutorial pop ups are plentiful and can feel overwhelming.
- The story has elements of the tutorials within them and it can all get a bit much.
- Performance can be up and down with a lot of stuttering and slowdown.
- Loading into fights is slow and being that you do these alot it’s very frustrating.
- No touchscreen support.
- All performance issues happen when docked or undocked.
- When hitting an enemy you never know how many and what other enemies are in that encounter.
- General banter between the party members is repetitive and constant.
- The combat is very button mashy.
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Neptunia Game Maker R:Evolution:
Developer: コンパイルハート (compileheart.com)
Publisher: Idea Factory International, Inc. (ifi.games)
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9/10
Summary
Neptunia Game Maker R:Evolution is a game that offers a unique blend of game development and dungeon crawling. The game features decent anime-style graphics and a fantastic soundtrack, which are complemented by in-game cutscenes with full voice work and subtitles. The game world is 3D with full 360-degree camera control, enhancing the player’s immersion.
The game’s combat system is free-form, resembling a hack and slash style. Basic actions include guard, dash, and various combo styles. A unique feature is the Link Chain, where changing characters at the right time triggers a massive ongoing combo link that inflicts more damage. The satisfaction of nailing chain links is heightened by the visual and auditory feedback, with character portraits, increasing numbers, a frantic combo counter, and explosive attacks.
The game’s world revolves around building games. Your world has been destroyed, and you are tasked with rebuilding it by earning cash and expanding your knowledge in the skill tree. This involves building structures that create games and genres. You run a company tasked with rebuilding the company and making games and money. The world map is initially locked off, requiring cash and items to unlock development areas. Unlocking areas can yield rewards and benefits, including valuable dungeon locations and events.
Dungeons are free-form, allowing you to play as you like. They always have points of interest and particular rewards, with optional side missions for additional rewards. A handy mini-map aids in dungeon crawling, and you can set the camera to move with you or remain static. In dungeons, you see enemies walking around, and hitting them triggers a fight in a set arena. Hitting enemies from behind gives you an advantage as the enemies start stunned.
The game has a comprehensive in-game menu for inventory management, team details, and the ability to equip items and gear to characters. The skill tree allows you to unlock new genres for games, obtain new items, level up buildings, unlock new building styles, and then unlock genre-specific skill trees. Characters will auto-attack in combat, but you can set their behavior to offensive, defensive, varied, and default styles.
However, the game does have some drawbacks. The loading times are not always the best, and the game is a slow starter as the story roots get laid down and the tutorials are introduced. The chain links take some getting used to, and the tutorial pop-ups can feel overwhelming. Performance can be up and down with a lot of stuttering and slowdown, and loading into fights is slow. There is no touchscreen support, and all performance issues happen whether the game is docked or undocked. The combat can feel very button-mashy, and the general banter between the party members is repetitive and constant.
Overall, Neptunia Game Maker R:Evolution is a game that offers a new twist on the Neptunia games with a story of game development and dungeon crawling, It definitely doesn’t perform as well as you would like and it does take some shine off of what some would call the best in the Neptunia series, I found the previous games fun but kind of the same, This is the first time it felt and played differently, the story and game development aspect really keep you engaged.