Neptunia Riders VS Dogoos Review – Biker Chick Brawl

Neptunia spin-off games are plenty in number, yet it’s a rare treat to find a guest character promoted to a one-time protagonist in the series. While I’d rather see a return of the tantalising Plutia or the controversial Peashy in starring roles, today, Megadimension Neptunia VII’s Uzume steps up to the plate, leading her own game in a side story with loose ties to previous installment, Neptunia Game Maker R:Evolution.

Motorcycle Action Neptunia

Neptunia Riders VS Dogoos is a ‘Motorcycle Combat’ action game developed by Compile Heart for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, published by Idea Factory International on January 28th, 2025, with the European release supported by Reef Entertainment. Though the game would launch as a budget title in Japan, the European and North American releases remain at full price.

The Story of Neptunia Riders VS Dogoos

The ‘CPU’ goddesses of ‘Gamindustri’ have found themselves in a strange and unfamiliar new world. This dimension is very different from the Gamindustri world of previous games, as the population are pacified by the appearance of a rapidly growing number of ‘Dogoos’; the series’ regular mob enemies which are parodies of Dragon Quest’s ‘Slime’ monsters.

Neptune, Noire, Vert, Blanc, and the dimension-crossing ‘Older’ variant of Neptune (star of the previous game) have been indoctrinated into this bizarre culture. The Dogoos are able to brainwash humans and CPUs alike with their adorable nature, roaming free and rapidly multiplying.

One goddess, Uzume Tennouboshi, CPU of Zero Dimension, awakens from this spell only to find the Dogoos which manipulated her have turned hostile, forcing her to flee by motorcycle. Uzume searches for the other CPUs, hoping to free them from indoctrination and rally their support in wiping out the Dogoo threat.

Collect All The Dogoos

Beginning as just Uzume, a total of 6 playable characters are unlockable throughout the story, each with their own unique motorcycle. While recruiting more girls, you’ll collect as many variants of Dogoos as possible to clear each of the 15 Dogoo-filled stages. Each mission usually tasks you with collecting 100 Dogoos before an enemy rider does, but you can be met with a disadvantaged start if Dogoos spawn closer to your enemy, which can be a tad unfair. You’ll often need to steal Dogoos from rival racers by attacking them.

Each Dogoo has specific types of behaviors, as well as positive/negative effects when collecting them. You can also intentionally launch Dogoos at your enemies to transfer negative effects to them and regain an advantage. Bikes can be modified for cosmetic and performance purposes. By altering the bike’s body, muffler, tyres, and other accessories, can give the riders increased defense, max speed, acceleration, and maneuverability.

Characters have their own strengths and weaknesses; some shine more in close-range combat, while others excel in long-range attacks. You can also jump, drift, and boost. There are Dogoos that can make you fly, shrink and enlarge, change your field of vision, and even change the music. There’s also a Pokédex-like encyclopedia of Dogoos to fill in so you can try to catch ’em all.

High-Definition Graphics and Sound

Whilst the Dogoo enemies can look a little bland and recycled, that’s really the only complaint I could find with the visuals. The playable characters may be fewer in number this time around, yet each has been given a fresh lick of paint in the form of stylish new costumes created exclusively for the game.

Neptunia Riders also shares many elements of its presentation with earlier entry Neptunia Virtual Stars, right down to the assortment of colourful stages, some of which feature neon futuristic lighting, and high definition 3D character models actively appearing in cutscenes, rather than being swapped out for 2D alternatives.

For an experimental, lower-budget title in the series, I was delighted to see the return of the English voice cast, including Melissa Fahn, Erica Mendez, Wendee Lee, and Carrie Keranen, while Uzume actress Erica Lindbeck also reprises her role. Some top-notch new music tracks also work well in boosting that anarchic atmosphere.

Replayability Value

The game does have some replayability to it. After you finish a level once, you can revisit it to tackle two new challenges which reward you with new cosmetics and bike parts. These additional challenges will usually require you to beat the level solo, and within a specified time limit. Probably the most surprising design choice is that, despite the multi-character focus, the game is limited to single-player only.

Completionists and trophy hunters will find collecting every type of Dogoo will be their ultimate goal. There are actually five very hidden Dogoos in the third level of each world with a rare chance of spawning, so do keep a look out for those. Even so, the platinum trophy could be yours in as little as six hours. Even after tying up loose ends, the game is still a very short experience.

Conclusion

It’s not unreasonable to expect a mechanic developed for and introduced in a previous game (in this case Neptunia Game Maker R:Evolution) to be revisited and expanded on to see if this particular investment can bring in a bigger return, and that’s really what we’ve got here with a motorcycle spin-off game. It’s clear Neptunia Riders is an experimental project which exists to test the waters for what could follow for the aging franchise.

Sadly, this maybe isn’t the smartest move when you’re dealing with a series of regular ups and downs, when fans are still waiting for a proper return to form. Perhaps Neptunia Riders is simply meant to hold us off until the next big game, but it’s increasingly difficult to look past that over-inflated price tag in our way. There’s lousy value for money here. If the English version wasn’t £40/$40 when the Japanese version works out at £20/$20, I’d be a lot more forgiving, but like most, I’m now wondering where the rest of the game is.

The incredibly short duration isn’t the only way the game cuts corners. Where previous games have been grand adventures of political upheavals and dimension-crossing dramas with an extra level of depth as each character and key event represents a real-world product of the games industry, and even spin-offs tackle related matters such as anime tropes and technology trends, Neptunia Riders sidesteps such depth entirely.

The motorcycle gimmick and the return of Uzume aren’t really enough to elevate the game out of mediocrity, however it loses further points when faced with repetitive gameplay and an uneven difficulty flow. Sure, it looks nice enough, but such a short game which can be finished in a weekend, and is devoid of those classic Neptunia storylines, leaves us with something that’s ultimately harmless, but equally pointless.