REVIEW: Neptunia: Sisters Vs. Sisters (Xbox)


Title	Neptunia: Sisters Vs. Sisters
Developer	Idea Factory, Compile Heart
Publisher	Idea Factory International
Release Date	May 21st, 2024
Genre	RPG
Platform	Xbox One, Xbox Series X\|S, PlayStation 4\|5, Switch, PC
Age Rating	Teen
Official Website

It’s time once again to check out a port of Neptunia: Sisters Vs. Sisters. This time I’m taking a look at the Xbox release of the game. Yes I know, it’s very odd seeing a game from this franchise on the Xbox and with the swimsuits included in base game no less, but here we are. I’ve spent about 25 hours with this one and completed the game, so it’s time to share my thoughts on this port. Does this port perform as well as its PlayStation and PC counterparts? Let’s find out!

This review is going to focus more on the quality of the port rather than details of the game itself. If you want to know more about the inner workings of Neptunia: Sisters Vs. Sisters, check out my PlayStation 4 review, or if you want to know about the Switch version you can check out that review as well. That being said, I do want to do a short story recap for those not up to speed on what this one is all about.

The story begins as Neptune and the other Goddesses receive a distress call from the PC Continent. They depart to handle this emergency while the CPU Candidates are sent to a nearby abandoned lab to investigate its contents. There they discover a sleeping Goddess, the Ashen Goddess, and as she awakens she traps the sisters in capsules for two years! When they are awakened, they find the world is not how they left it. The latest smartphone, “rPhone” dominates all of Gamindustri markets, and Planeptune was lost due to Trendi attacks while both Neptune and Nepgear have been away. Nepgear finds herself in a state of depression having lost both her sister and her home; however, new friends Maho and Anri help Nepgear get back on her feet, and they begin to try to get things back in order. Nepgear’s struggle will be great in the face of this new enemy. Can she overcome it and take back her home and save Gamindustri?

Graphically, I would say the Xbox port is on par with its PlayStation counterpart. The framerate on the Xbox One is very steady and while there are some load times, none of them are out of the realm of reason. The character models are nicely detailed and the environments look great here as well. The game would very likely have better load times on either of the next gen Xbox consoles and a better resolution, but it runs just fine Xbox One.

The action based combat here runs smoothly with no frame dips. Everything is done in real time with no major frame dips, even when the action on screen is full of crazy effects. You can freely switch to any character during combat, and when the time is right you can chain combos together this way as well. Players can also have the girls do some Tactical Skills. These are well known special moves in the franchise, such as Ex Multi Blaster, Cross Combination and other fan favorites in the series. When the Tactical Gauge is full, these can be pulled off with the use of just one button, or using the same button and up or down on the D-Pad for access to up to three moves with each girl. It is good to keep in mind that the Tactical Gauge will also have to be full if you use an item, but sometimes using it for an item rather than a skill, may give you a better benefit.

In the end, you get around 30 hours of a great Neptunia adventure for Xbox One or Series X|S for a great price of $39.99. Neptunia: Sisters Vs. Sisters looks great, runs at a consistent framerate and has the swimsuit DLC that was previously exclusive to the Digital Deluxe Edition, included in the base game. While this may not be a reason to pick it up for current owners, it’s a great addition for those jumping in with the Xbox release. I hope this helps the series find some new fans being its first adventure on the platform.