Neptunia Game Maker R:Evolution (Choujigen Game Neptune: GameMaker R:Evolution) is the fourteenth spin-off game in the Neptunia series. Developed by Compile Heart and Idea Factory, it was released on August 10th, 2023 in Japan for the Playstation 4, Playstation 5, and Nintendo Switch alongside the Switch port of Neptunia: Sisters vs Sisters, and would be slated to release on May 14, 2024 in the US and Europe for the aforementioned consoles, though a Steam port has yet to be announced.
The game takes place in an Alternate Universe that is different from the main Gamindustri. In this universe, there is a war between each faction that are known as the "Game Makers"; each goddess will compete in a race for the "Market Share", and the one last standing with it will become victorious. Introducing in this game are the "Failure Goddesses" trio, Pippih, Jagaa, and Reedio, who are left to wither and fade into obscurity after their attempt to win the Market Share from the other goddesses had failed. That is, until Older Neptune comes crashing through the windows with her motorcycle, and tries to aid the three goddesses with their loss by becoming the president of their company in hopes of reviving them.
Previews: Teaser
, 1st Trailer, 2nd Trailer, note Gameplay Showcase, Opening Movie, US Announcement Trailer, US Gameplay Overview Trailer (Switch), US Gameplay Overview Trailer (PS5), US Gameplay Overview Trailer (PS4), US Digital Deluxe Edition Trailer
Tropes that apply to this game:
- Alternate Self: Besides Older Neptune and Croire, the returning characters featured in the Failure Goddesses unnamed world, while identical to their main counterparts in terms of design, are businesswoman competing against each other to see who can sell and produce the most games, as opposed to leaders protecting their nation or rivals-turned-allies to said leaders. The Gold Third even have their own businesses. Notably, the four goddesses and their sisters are referred to here as the "First Makers" and "Second Sisters" respectively.
- Art Evolution: Tsunako's designs for the new characters - specifically the Failure Goddesses themselves - are more in-line with her current art style she uses in her other works (King Proposal, Engage Kiss, and the later volumes of Date A Live) than she did in her last game, or even Katsuyuki Hirano's designs that take heavy inspiration from Tsunako's pre-2019 works. The same applies to Older Neptune and Croire, who are given new portraits as opposed to reusing the old VII portraits like with the Gold Third.
- Breaking Old Trends:
- The game marks the first time we have a main character who isn't a Goddess or, in Superdimension Neptune's IF's case, a Maker. Instead, the main character of this game is Older Neptune, a relatively normal human who can change into a Goddess-like form, but only on occasion.
- The Failure Goddesses are the first non-major goddesses/CPUs to...
- ... Be made up of three goddesses/CPUs instead of one or two.
- ... Be introduced at the start of the game, rather than after the major characters (Neptune specifically) are transported to another dimension.
- ... Be non-Planeptune goddesses/CPUs who don't start off as antagonists who later join the party mid-way into the game.
- ... Retain their original identities in Goddess/HDD form, something that was only limited to the Candidates. note
- ... Not go with the "[Color] Heart" naming scheme, and still be on the heroic side.
- ... Have halos attached to top of their heads.
- There are no Multiple Endings this time around; instead, a few of the earlier chapters have different routes that the player can go through if they choose to.
- The Bus Came Back:
- The Gold Third return in this game, after being Put on the Bus since their debut game, which was eight years ago. note In this game, they have their own factions on par with the rest of the goddesses.
- Croire also returns as Older Neptune's Fairy Companion and the antagonist of the game, having been last seen on VII.
- Older Neptune herself returns in this game since her last appearance in VII, this time as the main character.
- Color-Coded Characters: The main heroines are each given a designated color attached to them: Older Neptune is purple, Pippih is orange, Jagaa is red, and Reedio is blue, though it's downplayed in the game proper, where she primarily wears white.
- A Day in the Limelight: Older Neptune is the main character this time around, where her main role in the story is to help the Failure Goddesses win back the respect of the people in their world, after having lost to the other Game Makers in the battle for market share.
- Demoted to Extra: While the main Goddesses and their sisters (known here as First Makers and Second Sisters) play a role in the story and are playable, their mostly put on the back seats in favor of Older Neptune and the Failure Goddesses.
- Endgame+: Clearing the game allows you to unlock the last few areas of the world map that weren't visited during the main story, including gaining access to the Extreme Neptral Tower, and it upgrades the Coliseum to include a Boss Rush mode.
- Infinity -1 Sword: While exploring the Arfoire's Best Company dungeon you can find vending machines that sell various games she's made. They almost all come with the exceptionally powerful All Cancel Optimization ability, but also waste slots on redundant Break, Power, and/or Rapid Cancel Optimization. Additionally you can't produce DLC for them to unlock the fourth ability slot since they're not games produced by Victory, so while they're powerful and much easier to get they're weaker than some of the best possible discs you could make for yourself if you're willing to put in the effort.
- Lighter and Softer: While not without its serious moments, the game is overall more light-hearted than the previous spin-off title, what with its main plot focusing on Older Neptune trying help the Failure Goddesses. And while three of the protagonists are based on failed consoles from companies that ceased to make more, due to living in a universe with different rules, their backstories are nowhere near as tragic or nation-destroying as similar characters from previous games.
- Marathon Level: The Neptral Tower is an infinite dungeon generating its floors based on any dungeon you've visited so far, with minibosses set on every 10th floor. Over the course of the game you'll also unlock the True Neptral Tower and Extreme Neptral Tower. Each one provides a trophy after moving to the 101st floor, at which point it stops bothering to display the floor count. They also lock you out of all items and equipment except for what was already equipped and restrict your starting level to prevent steamrolling the challenge, Neptral Tower's starting level is 30, True Neptral Tower's is 15, and Extreme Neptral Tower's is 1.
- Power Trio: The Failure Goddesses. Pippih is the confident Leader (until Older Neptune showed up), Jagaa is The Stoic Big Girl, and Reedio is a Ditzy Genius Smart Girl.
- Racing Game: After Older Neptune's bike is repaired certain dungeons will have Time Attack and/or Race options unlocked after fully exploring the area.
- Time Attack has Older Neptune riding her bike through the dungeon as fast as possible for rewards based on how quickly the course is cleared, though some additional barriers have been set up to limit the course and the dungeon's own invisible barriers near the edges of paths to get snagged on provide most of the difficulty.
- Race has Older Neptune challenged to a race against a monster waiting by the dungeon's entrance, and takes place on an alternate looped course unrelated to the dungeon itself with gimmicks to provide free boosts, grind you to a halt, or recharge the bike's normal Boost ability with the goal of exhausting the monster and then overtaking them to reap the rewards for the course.
- The Bike itself can be customized to improve Boost efficiency, turning ability, and acceleration through the use of the same cosmetic accessories that can be equipped to the characters themselves or various paint jobs.
- Ret-Canon: Older Neptune's Generator Unit outfit that was created for the anime's 3rd OVA, Nep-Nep Festival, is used in this game. note
- Story Branching: While the game lacks the series' usual Multiple Endings, Chapters 3-5 have multiple routes through them depending on where you choose to go first. The events at the start of each route are helpfully named simply for what route they are. Chapter 3 has three routes, Planepgear, Lastnita, and Dual Small, Chapter 4 has two with Planeptune and Lastation routes, and finally Chapter 5 has two as well with the Helping C-Sha and Helping S-Sha routes. The chosen routes also end up determining a few of the Sub Events in the following Chapters, meaning Chapter 6 will also have slight variations in it before the game gets back on a singular path.
- Super Mode: Pippih, Jagaa, and Reedio are able to activate their Goddess forms when in battle. However, unlike the other Goddesses in the series, their overall appearance (hairstyle and clothing) and personalities remain unchanged; they don't even have names for their Goddess forms.
