The spin-offs of the Neptunia series have always been odd, since they've chosen to go for very different genres than the mainline RPGs. The result has always varied wildly in quality. For example, both Hyperdimension U: Action Unleashed and MegaTagmension Blanc + Neptune vs. Zombies were fine action titles, while Neptunia Shooter was decent at best, and Neptunia Virtual Stars was perhaps the worst of the spin-offs up to this point. Neptunia Riders vs. Dogoos is the latest of the series' spin-offs, and it also falls on the wrong side of the quality spectrum.

Compared to the stories seen in other Neptunia titles, the narrative in Neptunia Riders vs. Dogoos is both lighthearted and silly. You play the role of Uzume, who is the personification of the Sega Dreamcast in the world of Neptunia. We see her surrounded by the slime-like Dogoos, proclaiming her undying love of the creatures. She somehow snaps herself out of this trance and realizes that some force out there has caused her to love the Dogoos. She hops on her bike and takes off around the world to try and find the rest of the Goddesses on the hunch that they're also put under a spell to love the dog-like slimes. As far as the series goes, this is perhaps one of the more peculiar plots.

Like most of the games in the series so far, the story is delivered through lots of visual novel-style cut scenes. Unlike before, you'll need to have some prior knowledge of the characters, as there's no introductory primer. The characters haven't changed beyond their Dogoo-loving trance, so you can expect the same personalities to shine through with the same kind of antics that the cast has always delivered. The scenes are fully voiced in both Japanese and English, and while the models aren't as large as before, they're still animated and emotive. One thing people might appreciate is that the scenes are of a decent length this time, so you aren't spending more time watching the game than you are playing the game.

You'll be doing some walking in the hub world, where you have to walk to the marker for the next level. The majority of the game takes place with you on your bike, and while that might make you immediately think that this is a racing game, it is more like a vehicular combat game. You're always set in an arena with at least one partner going up against two other riders. While you can attack your opponents, your actual goal is to capture enough Dogoos in the level until you hit the quota. Attacking your enemy simply dislodges some Dogoos from their grasp, and the enemies can do the same to you. Picking up certain Dogoos comes with some benefits, such as letting you pick up zombie Dogoos or creating a tornado to widen your capture area. Some of the special Dogoos also have distinct abilities when used as attacks against other riders.

The idea is straightforward, but there is some nuance. Paying attention to the environment is a must, since there are areas that hide more Dogoos and can only be accessed if you have the right Dogoos in your possession. Character selection is important, since each one comes with different stat values, and that also applies to their bikes and subsequent upgrades. Drifting becomes an important technique to use often, since you'll be able to widen your capture area during the drift. Jumping is also something you'll need to be aware of, but you don't use it that often.

The concept may seem interesting initially, but it doesn't take long to discover the flawed execution. For starters, you can't see any of your attacks. You can press the buttons, and sometimes you'll see a line go out to know if you're about to be hit, but some projectile attacks are almost impossible to see. Melee attacks might as well be invisible, especially if you've already collected a ton of Dogoos. Drifting seems like a cool idea, but it doesn't work as expected. Go into a drift, and you slow down to where you might as well be at a stop. You'll still want to do it due to the benefits of the large capture area, but it doesn't provide the cool factor that racing fans expect. There's no sense of speed when driving around, so the whole thing feels very leisurely instead of being a frantic chase to capture more Dogoos than the opposition. The game is also very repetitive. The overall goals never change. Enemy riders in later levels don't seem to power up like you'd expect them to. Changing out riders never seems to do anything, and neither does applying any upgrades to your bike. It is odd to see a whole upgrade system not function at all, but that's exactly what's happening.

Another complaint players will levy against the game is its length. The missions are fairly short, and the campaign lasts an average of two hours. It may take a bit longer if you're trying to complete every objective, but the only games in the series shorter than this are Neptunia Shooter and Dimension Tripper Neptune: Top Nep. Being a short game isn't bad, but the lack of game variety and the rather high price makes this game a tougher sell than it already is.

Despite the premise, Neptunia Riders vs. Dogoos sports no multiplayer option. Your partner in these missions is always AI controlled, and there's no option for co-op play. The setup seems perfect for versus play, but that's also missing for both local and online. This may not seem like a big miss considering the state of the game, but it's not even having the option present doesn't make anything better.

When it comes to the presentation, you can always count on the sound portion to deliver. As mentioned before, the game sports both Japanese and English voice tracks, and despite some changes in the cast, the acting remains a very good fit for an absurd cast and story. The music and sound effects are fine; they don't break what was established in the series' past games, and that's not a bad thing because it means those who are familiar with the series will find comfort in the familiarity of the game's sonic state.

Graphically, this is quite bad. The models are fine in-game and in the cut scenes. The environments are simple and detailed enough to make each place look a little distinct. As mentioned before, you can't actually see any of the attack animations, so you don't know if you're connecting, and options like transparency for collecting a ton of Dogoos doesn't work. The game looks like it really is a PS4 title instead of a PS5 game, but what makes this worse is the frame rate. The game doesn't ever go beyond 30fps, and you get the feeling that you're actually going below that point several times. This is especially bad for a game that's also on the PS4 and Switch, as there seems to be no reason why the frame rate is so low on a console with this much power.

There are a few good things about Neptunia Riders vs. Dogoos. The silly story provides a good vehicle for the shenanigans of Nep Nep and her friends, and going for a completely different genre is always a welcome move. It would've been nice if the game were actually good in every other area. The gameplay loop is far from exciting, especially since it gets very repetitive rather quickly, and the graphical presentation is terrible when you consider the hardware the game is running on. This is also a painfully short experience without any multiplayer capabilities, despite the format being perfect for team or versus play. Unless you're in the habit of collecting every Neptunia-related game, stay away from this title.

Score: 4.5/10