Neptunia Virtual Stars Review – Meet the VTubers

Neptunia is a series which I have a lot of respect for. Its concept of combining a ‘moe-verse’ and a multiverse is quite an original idea, one where anything goes; Any object or company can be personified, any twist in the saga is plausible, and any gameplay change or genre switch is entirely possible.

I recall a story about a Call of Duty modder who also happened to be a Neptunia fan (an odd combination but let’s roll with it) creating a mod for one of the more popular Call of Duty games with a strong online community, re-skinning their team with Neptunia character models to create a humourous twist on the shooter. I can’t help but wonder if this event inspired today’s featured game.

Cue the Video Intro

Neptunia Virtual Stars is a third-person shooter action RPG coinciding with the 10th anniversary of the Neptunia series. This game follows the CPUs as virtual idols teaming up with Virtual YouTubers Me and You of MEWTRAL to save another reality. The game was published by Idea Factory International on March 5th, 2021.

Aside from switching gameplay to incorporate third-person shooting mechanics this time around, the integration of real Vtubers into the narrative is also the game’s hot new gimmick. The game features actual Japanese Vtubers from Hololive, Game Club Project, Horror Academian, ReVdol! and many more as guest stars.

Neptunia’s Virtual Star Debut

A great many planets inhabit the vast, digital universe of Virtualand, including the planet Emote, a wonderful planet dedicated to the cultivation of ‘Content’. Now, the serene planet has fallen into crisis. It is being invaded by another planet called Obsoletia. The invading ‘Anti’ army has wrought havoc upon the nations of Emote, in attempts to render their Content obsolete.

Until now, Emote’s security forces have been enough to counter most of the Anti disturbances, however this time Obsoletia has devastated Emote with a surprise attack from Anti forces, greatly outnumbering them. Every planet’s Core contains the power of creation, which not only creates the planet itself, but creates its own entertainment culture; this is ‘Content’. Because of the invasion by Obsoletia, some of Emote’s Content has already been erased from existence by Obsoletia’s leader, Kado.

Before Emote could fall fully into enemy hands, Faira used the power of Emote’s core to search the multiverse for beings “with great abilities and even greater hearts”. Seeking influential warriors to save her world, the rising Vtuber stars, Me and You, members of MEWTRAL, as well as the Goddesses of Gamindustri: Neptune, Noire, Blanc, and Vert, have been summoned to answer the call.

Gameplay

The battle system is a mixed style of a third-person shooter and a hack-and-slash action-RPG. This shift in gameplay is triggered by swapping between the Neptunia CPU goddesses and the MEWTRAL V-Idols at any time, and each have their own unique skills, play-styles and mechanics. Playing as the CPUs offers a simplified third-person shooter experience while switching to MEWTRAL gives you a hack-and-slash experience similar to Hyperdimension Neptunia U and Megatagmension Blanc + Neptune Vs. Zombies.

Movesets are altered depending on which characters are being used. CPUs can use a ‘Boost’ to evade enemy attacks and move faster across each stage. They also have access to a super-move known as a ‘Tokimeki Flash’ which can be activated by continuously shooting the enemy successfully to fill the purification gauge. Once it’s activated, players have an advantage of dealing huge amounts of damage, taking less damage, and temporarily stunning foes.

Alternatively, V-Idols can utilise ‘Step Charm’ by evading enemy attacks with perfect timing and will receive infinite MP for a short time. Their super-move is the ‘Execution Finisher’ which is unlocked by defeating an enemy with a skill when “OVER FLOW” is displayed on-screen; the player can then finish off the enemy with an Execution Finisher and receive boosts to HP recovery or MP limit.

While in the field, the player is confronted with ‘Anti’ enemies. Some groups of enemies must be defeated in order to proceed to the next area. Players will also find transfer gates, various item boxes that give out a random item in a roulette system once it’s stopped at the right time, barricades which can be broken, doors that lead to specific areas, and monitors that have Vtubers cheering for the idols or asking for help. Players can receive special items from the cheering Vtubers by shooting at monitors.

In the game’s home hub, The Cloud, the player can visit different areas to explore, view Virtual Memories, save current progress, and speak with Faira, the other CPUs or V-Idols. While speaking with Faira, they can check the current status of Emote, deposit or withdraw Emote Spheres from your Emote Storage, and receive extra items from DLC.

Graphics/Sound

Like Megadimension Neptunia VIIR, Neptunia Virtual Stars benefits greatly from Silicon Studio’s OROCHI 4 game engine and MIZUCHI rendering engine to produce enhanced character models with more diverse colour palettes and more fluid animations which are delivered with such success that the character models used in cutscenes are no longer replaced with HD 2D avatars, which was the norm for previous games in the series.

It’s a visual transition that works surprisingly well and puts those blurry, cel-shaded abominations trialed back in Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2 to shame. Environments are also gloriously detailed now and crammed with beautiful lighting sources, further enhancing the neon-futuristic theme. This is also supported by a brand new synth/J-pop soundtrack which remains upbeat throughout.

This is the first console game in the series to not have an English dub. There is a reason for this: the inclusion of Japanese Vtubers which don’t have an English language option, and so replacing their respective voices could potentially invalidate the experience. Many will argue it’s a risk they’re happy to take, since going fully Japanese comes at the cost of the Neptunia cast forfeiting their iconic voices.

Replayability/Trophies

Neptunia Virtual Stars is a fairly short experience with only one playthrough required and little grinding to slog through, just like the other spin-offs before it. While the beginning of the game is a bit tougher than it could be, there are ways to exploit the game’s mechanics later on that can make much of the game afterwards something of a breeze.

There is also a rhythm mini-game, ‘BeatTik’, for you to master, but the charts are quite simple and the game is very lenient with missed notes so as long as you can keep the rhythm to an extent, you should be fine. The remaining trophies should give you very little issue, requiring a short grind rather than anything particularly skill-based.

Conclusion

Neptunia Virtual Stars is certainly one of the prettiest games in the series. It’s a game that takes advantage of what the new graphics engine can do, and being one of the later PS4 entries in the series, has received the time to show that extra level of polish. Unfortunately, all that glitters is not gold…

There are substantial issues here that will upset the fans, and the absence of an English dub will be front and centre of this criticism. Yes, Japanese Vtubers aren’t exactly built with an English-speaking audience in mind, yet having the extended series cast step out of their regular roles to play around with some new characters, as we saw in Hyperdevotion Noire, really isn’t so far-fetched an idea. The game just doesn’t feel like Neptunia without the amazing talent of Melissa Fahn voicing Neptune.

We also have to contend with the shifting play-styles as we toggle between the CPUs and Vtubers to find something that better suits both our expectations and our skills-sets, with the Vtubers feeling more akin with classic Neptunia action-RPG spin-off controls, but not really feeling loyal for Neptunia enthusiasts by having us prioritise these odd new characters.

On the other hand, hardcore fans may prefer to stick with the CPUs as their go-to girls, only to find this quartet don’t handle in any way like they did before, with the early hours in particular feeling far more difficult than we expected. There’s a strange imbalance going on, with key characters like Neptune and Vert unable to deliver any significant damage in most combat scenarios, and I found myself relying on Noire’s strange energy-crossbow-thing more often than not.

For a game that doesn’t acknowledge head-shots, long-range sniping or high-ground advantage, Virtual Stars doesn’t deliver on the most basic of mechanics required for a compelling shooter, and instead tries to sell itself on a myriad of other features and quirks. It serves as a great introduction for those of us unfamiliar with the world of Vtubers, yet this is delivered as an indecisive game that can’t seem to decide if it’s a shooter or a JRPG, cutting a lot of corners with both genres.