Neptunia Virtual Stars is an intelligent, relevant, topical and timely satire. It does represent a new direction for the series, and is clearly an effort to find a way to stay relevant now that the jokes that previously provided the foundation for the series have lost their relevance. In doing so Idea Factory decided to experiment with the gameplay, and while that wasn't executed to a particularly fine degree, the heavier focus on narrative and the sheer energy of the whole package means that I found it impossible to remain disappointed by the game's rough edges. The rest of it was too much of a laugh-out-loud delight.

Neptunia Virtual Stars is one of my favourite spin-offs in the delightful franchise as it contains a brilliant blend of gameplay elements, a wonderful cast of characters, and one of the funniest meta premises in gaming history.

Neptunia Virtual Stars is a great new direction for the series. It's weird and unexpected, but it's a breath of fresh-air compared to the familiar territory the last few games have been treading. There's a massive amount of love for vtuber culture in this game and it helps lift up the fun and refreshing story. It's a shame that the combat couldn't reach the same highs as the rest of the game, but while it's a major wrinkle, it doesn't ruin the entire experience. Any hardcore vtuber fan needs to play this game, and some clunky combat won't change that.

While Neptune and her friends are just as enthusiastic and charming as ever, both the gameplay and story feels a little stale. It’s great that the developer has managed to seamlessly blend together real V-tubers with the ladies from Gamesindustri, but it’s a real shame that there’s nothing else that lifts this game above average.

Nearly everything about Neputnia Virtual Stars just feels like half-assed fanservice for the sake of fanservice. The gameplay – while somewhat competent – feels undercooked, the story is flat out boring, and the presentation doesn’t do much to salvage the first two. The inclusion of VTuber content is dim bright spot, but it’s not bright enough to bring this game up to any sort of recommendation. Prospective players should just skip this one, and Neptunia fans deserve better than this disappointment.

While variety is said to be the spice of life, Compile Heart needs to learn that if they want to make genuinely engaging titles, they need to take a step back and try to make these games more fitting of modern hardware and just more fun to play instead of pumping them out at breakneck speed to appease fans’ on a surface level. Diehard and dedicated fans of the Neptunia franchise who want more of the same may derive enjoyment from this title, but otherwise, you are better off staying away.

The inclusion of popular Vtubers’ isn’t enough to save Neptunia Virtual Stars, as it ends up being an underwhelming mess that fails to deliver.