Compile Heart is taking us on yet another ride full of corny game industry-related jokes, exaggerated tropes, and lots of adorable anime-style girls. Yep, that’s right, yet another Neptunia game from the comedic geniuses at Compile Heart. Anyone who has ever heard of the franchise before knows exactly what they are in for.
It is always such a pleasantly familiar feel to start up a new Neptunia game. It feels like coming home to a dear childhood friend who has not changed at all during the last ten years. They have the same quirks and it’s easy to remember what made them so likable in the first place.
This feeling runs true for Neptunia Game Maker R:Evolution. Even though the setting is very, very different from a common Neptunia game, a lot of what makes the series, and really, Compile Heart in general, a recognisable name in the industry is rooted in the latest chapter. The feel of the game will be familiar to anyone who has touched the franchise before, even though they are doing the classic Neptunia thing of exploring new mechanics.
In R:Evolution, Neptune ends up taking the helm of a failed video game company, Victory, infamous for creating the Neptunia-verse’s equivalent of the infamous E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial on the Atari 2600. A crime that made the company bankrupt, with the video game police constantly at their tail whenever they try to make a new move. Neptune, who just recently entered the world through dimension-hopping, is entirely unaware of this past when taking up the helm. It soon becomes apparent that the goddess has taken on more than she can chew in making this company successful.
It serves both as an excellent background for the story and as a way to explain the new Neptunia Game Maker R:Evolution mechanic: game development. Neptunia puts together teams of more-or-less experienced developers to create a game. It is charming as the developers are awfully familiar, as they look like actual video game characters of the genres they specialise in. After the player decides on developers, genre, and style, the process begins. It takes somewhere between 3 and 10 IRL minutes, depending on genre and developer skill level.
It is always addicting to see numbers go up, as anyone who has ever played an idle game is painfully aware of, and it does add to the addictive nature of the game. The mechanic makes it harder to put down the controller for better or for worse. It is a double-edged move to add mechanics like this that constantly reward the player just for keeping the game on and checking in on it. On one hand, it does make the player continually feel like they are progressing, even when they are farming certain enemies to clear a quest. On the other, it might be easier for the player to forget the time and play longer than intended.
It is very easy to lose track of time this way, which is why many MMORPGs that rely on high online presence have features like time gates that force the player to be constantly aware of what is happening. In a single-player game, it feels a little bit sleazy. Even though the system is fun and mostly optional in itself, it is very easy to fall for FOMO and constantly keep the production wheels turning. However, it is an oh so charming of a mechanic still.
The process is quite well-packaged with the developers looking like famous game characters, mock reviews of the released games, and the sweet numbers that keep going up. It really highlights the strength of Compile Heart’s game design. They can take mundane systems and package them in an appealing way that is easy to use.
The biggest weakness in this system is that it lacks a few quality-of-life features that would be great. When finishing development of a game, it would be really beneficial for a button that lets the player develop a game with the previous settings. The same developers, genre, and style – because 99% of the time, this is what the player will actually want to do. There is a reason why there are so many different stats on the developers – it opens up for optimisation. Gamers often optimise the fun out of games if there is nothing to stop them from doing so. It is tedious to spend too much time on the development menu repicking the same crews repeatedly, but still, that is what people will do because it is what will give the most profit.
Those tedious aspects bleed into another problem the system has: the timers are too short. Yep, the time gate is too generous. At the end of the day, Neptunia Game Maker R:Evolution is primarily a dungeon crawler action RPG, with game development optional but part of end-of-chapter grades. Skipping this feels like a punishment for not participating in the system, however. This would be a minimal problem if the system took 10 seconds to interact with. Now it becomes a regular, extended break from the action.
The dungeon-crawling aspect of the game is the part that players will feel most familiar with, even though Neptunia Game Maker R:Evolution opts for a more action-RPG-based approach rather than the classic turn-based one. That choice is in line with the spin-offs, which often explore different ways to experience Neptunia. It’s enjoyable and addictive – most of the locations look stellar, have nice, simple puzzles that keep the players engaged without taking over the gameplay. There are, however, some dungeons that feel short and lazy. There is one section where the player has to visit several nearly identical office spaces that are really, really small, but still filled with as many quests as a regular area. Farming mobs in this area quickly becomes boring, and feels like filler material.
It is clear that this is one of the core aspects of the franchise, as it is polished, familiar. The combat that takes place in dungeons is also satisfying, packaged in the same elegant and straightforward Neptunia design philosophy. Players set up combos that are used by spamming the same button over and over, and then when prompts come up, swap characters to perform chains that deal massive damage. It looks impressive and complex, but plays extremely smoothly, requiring minimal player input.
One feeling the Neptunia franchise is good at delivering is a sense of comfort. At its best, Neptunia Game Maker R:Evolution feels like getting a long and wonderful hug. There is genuine warmth in the writing of the characters with quirky humour. Nothing really disrupts the gameplay – everything moves along nicely. Not all games need to be difficult or complex. Sometimes, one wants to lie down under a blanket and while away hours with a comfortable adventure. That sums up R:Evolution.
However, there is a massive if here. Much of the game’s appeal lies in its quirky humour. Said humour pours into all aspects of the game: story, gameplay, menus, characters. Everything. Everything is Neptunia for better and for worse.
It does raise an important question. Does a game need to be more than fan service to be good? Honestly, yes, as long as changes don’t hurt the existing fan base. For those who like it, it is an fun ride. Still, it quickly grows boring and repetitive if one does not enjoy the meta commentary and almost satirically tedious mechanics. Neptunia Game Maker R:Evolution is an enjoyable game because it is a Neptunia game.
Although there isn’t much to it besides that, adding more polish and quality of life would also please the fans more. Fans will like it, though newcomers should pick up another title first to get a taste for the franchise and its humour. To find that one quirky friend amazing in the first place, it is essential to get to know them at their best and Neptunia Game Maker R:Evolution is by far not the best the series has to offer.
