Neptunia Riders VS Dogoos - TV Tropes

Neptunia Riders VS Dogoos, also known as Neptunia VS Titan Dogoo and in Japan as Bakusou Jigen Neptune VS Kyoshin Surainu (lit. Noisy Racing Dimension Neptune VS Giant God Slinu), is a 2024 Japanese Racing Game developed by Compile Heart and published by Idea Factory. It is the fifteenth spin-off game in the Neptunia series, succeeding 2023's Neptunia Game Maker R:Evolution. The game released on June 27, 2024 for the PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch, and in the West on January 28, 2025 for the aforementioned consoles, with a Steam release being at a currently unknown date. A digital pre-order for the Western release opened on January 2, 2025.

The world is inhabited by a see of Dogoos and other enemy monsters, along with humanoid beings with Dogoos for heads. Uzume Tennouboshi, a hotheaded, but respectable girl, has no memory of how she got here, what happened to her friends, or how she's suddenly equipped with a motorbike. Realizing she's in a whole new world, she travels across the land in search for her friends, who are all brainwashed by the Dogoo's adorableness. Once freed from the curse, the six use their motorbikes to try and escape this weird dimension, as well as all of the enemies who oppose them.

Neptunia Riders VS Dogoos provides examples of:

• Adaptational Protagonist: Technically speaking, while Uzume was a major character in VII, she more or less had to share a role with Neptune, the de-facto protag of the series. In Riders VS Dogoos, she's the game's protagonist, while Neptune is relegated to a supporting role.
• Adaptational Villainy: One of the main antagonists in this game is Dogoo Lady, despite being part of the heroes in her debut game, even if she's a little bit narcissistic. Not only is she the commander of the Dogoo Tribe, she was responsible for trapping Uzume and co. in the game and reprogrammed their personalities to make them love Dogoos. Ultimately subverted, however, as her motivation was done out of a necessity to be adored, rather than out of malice.
• Amnesiac Hero: Uzume begins the game not remembering what happened to her before getting into this dimension.
• Antagonist Title: Downplayed. The game is called Neptunia Riders VS Dogoos, but the "Dogoos" part is at the very end of the title instead at the beginning. The same is true for its pre-localized English title, Neptunia VS Titan Dogoo.
• Anti-Villain: Dogoo Lady is revealed to be this by the end of the story. Despite being responsible for trapping the riders in Uzume's video game and changing their personalities to revolve around Dogoos, she wanted to have the goddesses stop attacking the Dogoos by recruiting engineers with black market tech to seal their original memories, and rigged the development environment during the playtest to make them fall in love with the Dogoos. Despite the intentions behind it, it was clearly wasn't done with malicious intent, and eventually, Uzume gives her pass for it as long as she doesn't do it again.
• Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: The Gigodtic Dogoo towers over every character, including the other humanoid Dogoos, and is the main threat of the game.
• Badass Biker: Besides Older/Adult Neptune, all of the Goddesses have motorbikes of their own, and are equally capable of taking down Dogoos as usual. Notably, none of the goddesses knew how to drive a bike before being brainwashed by the Dogoos.
• Based on a Great Big Lie: In-Universe. Dogoo Lady tries to intimidate Uzume and the other riders by telling her a story about the "Hero of the Sky", who tried to confront the Gigodtic Dogoo only to be squashed like a pancake. Neptune, in true Meta Guy fashion, notes that they have seldom in common with the hero, nor has anyone actually defeated the monster. Since Neptune and co. had previously fought other baddies who similarly went One-Winged Angel on them and succeeded, she believes the story was made up by Dogoo Lady just to scare them.
• Beauty Is Bad: Dogoo Lady is a voluptuous lady who claims to have the most "beautiful face of the Dogoo Clan" (despite looking no different from the other Dogoos), and is also the leader of the antagonist Dogoo Clan, as well as being responsible for altering the riders memories. However, it's revealed that she did it so the heroines would respect the Dogoos, rather than attacking them like any other game.
• Big Sister Instinct: Vert, under the brainwashing of the Dogoos, confronts Uzume and co. for making Dogoo Lil' Sister cry, despite Lil' Sis enacting the conflict in the first place by accusing Uzume and co. as being trespassers when she was trying to reason with her.
• Big "WHAT?!": All of the Goddesses scream "WHAT?!" in unison when Older/Adult Neptune reveals that the Dogoo dimension is actually a dive-type game developed by Uzume.
• Breaking Old Trends:
  • This is the first game to have it's ESRB rating be E10+ instead of the usual T rating, due to its Lighter and Softer nature.
  • While previous games (spin-off and mainline), as well as other official media like the anime, feature lyrics in both their opening and ending themes, Riders VS Dogoos is the first to go for a full Instrumental Theme Tune.
  • This is the first game where the main villain's name is on the title, albeit at the very end of the title.
  • This is the first game to have its duration be no longer than four hours at length, making it the shortest game in the series.
  • This is the first game to not have any CGs, fanservice or otherwise, and unlike previous games that used 3D models, it doesn't have any 2D CGs as well.
  • This is the first, and so far only, game where its English dub is fully voiced. While the original game came close to that, some cutscenes, usually involving plot unimportant characters, as well as the DLC scenes with 5pb. and RED, were left unvoiced.
  • This is the first game to have the Fictional Video Game aspect be a spoiler, rather than being established from the start (4 Goddesses Online). It's also the first where the Goddesses don't revert back to their original attire after finishing the game.
  • This is the first game to not have any breast-related jokes and where the Candidates aren't the main characters this time around.
• Brought Down to Normal: For whatever reason, the Goddesses are unable to activate their Super Modes when in the Dogoo dimension. Noire points out that the disconnection between this place and their homeworld must've cut off connection to their Share Energy, stalling their transformation. Older/Adult Neptune reveals that they're actually in a video game developed by Uzume, which restrains them from activating HDD.
• The Bus Came Back:
  • After being absent from the franchise entirely since 4 Goddesses Online^note , Uzume once again returns, albeit as the main lead instead of a side character.
  • Dogoo Man (who doesn't return in his original form, but is split into Dogoo Men Yin and Yang) and Dogoo Lady return to the series since their debut game.
• Butter Face: All of the humanoid Dogoos have impressively fit figures ranging from muscular to curvy, which heavily clashes with their derpy Dogoo heads.
• Competition Freak: Older/Adult Neptune becomes ecstatic about winning in a game that she challenges Uzume and co. to a three-round match. She has Duobear of Despair and Dogoo Man Shadow compete with the riders in a racing game, competes with Uzume herself in the final round, and becomes upset when she loses three in a row. Notably, unlike the other Goddesses who were brainwashed into becoming not themselves, Older/Adult Neptune was never brainwashed; she just wanted to have fun with playing games with her friends.
• Crossing the Desert: The goddesses (off-screen) walk around the Mysterious Sister Kingdom, an area full of desert, to find Vert. Blanc notes how intense the sandstorms are.
• Cuteness Proximity: Weaponized. The Dogoo's cuteness can cause whoever witnesses them first hand to lose any memory prior to meeting the Dogoo bar their name, causing them to act like completely different people, or become flanderized versions of themselves. The only exception is Older/Adult Neptune, who admits to never being brainwashed since she came to the dimension, due to Dogoo Lady reprogramming everyone's personality to love Dogoos.
  • Uzume's How We Got Here prologue was caused by her fantasizing with a Dogoo. Fortunately, she was able to snap out of it and realize she's in another world.
  • Neptune fawns over a sea of Dogoos, something Uzume finds weird. Uzume eventually snaps Neptune out of her trance after she reminds her of her love for pudding.
  • Noire gets so charmed by the Dogoo's cuteness that she develops an unhealthy obsession with them, to the point of attempting to perform a Human Sacrifice. When Neptune and Uzume intervene, she takes it as them trying to threaten the Dogoos and sends Chaser Dogoo to chase them. Uzume and Neptune eventually snap her out of it when they remove her Bishoujo Joker mask.
  • Blanc starts a Dogoo empire with the plan of creating merchandise for its citizens to make them feel closer to the Dogoos. She even proclaims the Dogoos empire to be her "home" nation instead of Lowee, to the point of sending down her guards to hunt down Uzume and co. when she thinks they're trying to poach them. It takes Neptune and Noire reminding her of her rivalry with them to snap her out of it.
  • Vert makes a Dogoo copy of her to fawn over her as a "big sister". She even calls her Dogoo Lil' Sis. She even tries to create a kingdom where she'll be surrounded by her Dogoo sisters and tries to convince the others to become her sisters if they surrender. Knowing that Nepgear is her (pseudo) sister is what snaps her out of it, much to Neptune's chagrin.
• Decomposite Character: Dogoo Man Yin and Dogoo Man Yang are this to Dogoo Man of VII, due to having a similar physique, Butter Face, and role as a servant to a demanding woman, though in Yin and Yang's cases, they're loyal to Dogoo Lady instead of S-Sha.
• Denser and Wackier: Riders VS Dogoos takes the already eccentric franchise to whole new levels. Here, the Goddesses are trapped in a world where Dogoos run rampant throughout the land, with their only chase of evacuating the Dogoo-centered island is through riding their motorbikes.
• The Dividual: Dogoo Men Yin and Yang are similar to each other as similar as they can be. Not only do they have the same muscular physique and role as a bodyguard and serve to Dogoo Lady, but they also finish each other's sentences.
• Don't Look At Me: Noire says this when Uzume and Neptune take off her Bishoujo Joker mask, which is enough for her to faint from the shock.
• The Dreaded: Uzume is feared by all of the Dogoo people, to the point she's given the title of "The Dogoo Divider". She is unimpressed by this status.
• Dub Name Change:
  • Gigodtic Dogoo was originally called Titan Dogoo.
  • Dogoo Man Yin and Dogoo Man Yang, Dogoo Lady's two subordinates/bodyguards, were named A and Un respectively in the Japanese dub.
• Embarrassing Nickname: Or in this case, Embarrassing Title. Uzume is less than pleased by being called "The Dogoo Divider" by every Dogoo citizen, though Neptune and Noire don't mind.
• Escape from the Crazy Place: The main point of the game; the Goddesses use their motorbikes to escape the Dogoo-ridden wasteland, which turns out to be a dive-type game developed by Uzume herself, while also trying to stop the Dogoo Clan.
• Evil Sounds Deep: The Chaser Dogoo has a deep, gravelly voice that intimidates Neptune and Uzume, with the latter calling him a fusion between a Dogoo and a zombie.
• Faint in Shock: After removing Noire gets her masked removed, not only does she regain her previous memories, but becomes so shocked she drops to the floor.
• Five-Second Foreshadowing: "Vert" is shown at the back when Uzume and co. find her at the desert. However, her silhouette doesn't have the long blonde hair like the real Vert, and her character box has her name with a question mark. It's revealed to be Dogoo Lil' Sister in Vert's biker outfit.
• Fusion Dance: Through a summoning chant by Dogoo Lady, Dogoo Men Yin and Yang, as well as the three normal Dogoos, fuse together to become the Gigodtic Dogoo.
• Genre Shift: Rather than a typical RPG, Riders Vs Dogoos is a racing-themed action game where you control your Goddesses motorbikes to collect Dogoos and other enemies.
• Gotta Collect Them All: To complete a stage, you must collect every Dogoo at your area. Picking a Dogoo with a bad effect will make it difficult to collect other Dogoos.
• Happy Circus Music: The first portion of the Layered Cake Tower's theme music starts with a whimsical, circus-like jingle, before switching to an action rock theme.
• How We Got Here: The game begins with Uzume explaining how she got to the Dogoo-infested land — a flashback shows her, in her Daydream mode, cheerfully playing with a Dogoo... only to snap back to normal, flung it to the ground, and question why she's here and why she has a bike. That's where she soon discovers she's in a dimension (or rather, game) infested with Dogoos.
• Human Sacrifice: Noire, by being brainwashed by the Dogoos, forms a ritual with the Dogoos to sacrifice herself to protect the Dogoos from any threat. Neptune and Uzume are bewildered by this. Noire later attempts to do this to Uzume and Neptune themselves, believing that by defeating them and offering their souls to the Gigodtic Dogoo, she'll go live in paradise with the other Dogoos.
• Identity Amnesia: None of the characters remember what happened to them and how they got into this dimension before falling in love with a Dogoo, with the only thing being able to remember is their names. While at first it seems to be the result of them being brainwashed by the Dogoo's Cuteness Proximity, it's revealed later on that they're memories were reprogrammed by Uzume to like Dogoos.
• Instrumental Theme Tune: Unlike previous games, which have lyrics in their intros, Riders VS Dogoos has no vocals in its theme song, instead playing what seems to be synthetic pop action music throughout its duration. The ending is the same.
• Ironic Name: The Dogoo Men serving Dogoo Lady are named Yin and Yang in the English dub, but they're essentially the same person in physique and personality.
• The Leader: Uzume is portrayed as the determined and charismatic leader, being determined to get away from the Dogoo-infested game world no matter why dangerous the environment is, while also trying to find her friends and break them from their Dogoo-loving curse. This is reflected in real-life as well; since she holds the admin rights to her game, she manages to snap out of her brainwashing early on, and thus was able to get the goddesses back to their senses.
• Level Ate: Layered Cake Tower, true to its name, is a level where everything is made out of cake and other kinds of sweets and baked goods. It's also a place where you can drive throughout in to complete a stage.
• Lighter and Softer: More on the light-hearted side, since this game's plot is about trying to Escape from the Crazy Place, run by the series' main Mascot Mooks, with almost no stakes or dark moments. Because of this, it has an E10+ rating in the West.
• Loony Fan: Noire becomes so obsessed with the Dogoos that she performs a Human Sacrifice with herself in a misguided belief that the Dogoos can live freely in paradise. She attempts to convert Uzume and Neptune into one in order to sacrifice them to the Gigodtic Dogoo.
• Manchild: The Dogoo Lil' Sister, despite having the same mature body as Vert, has the personality of a young girl and specifically that of a little sister, e.g. calling Vert "Sissy", wanting to by protected by Vert, etc.
• Mass "Oh, Crap!": All of the riders have this reaction when they find Dogoo Lady with her two subordinates, Dogoo Man Yin and Dogoo Man Yang.
• Mistaken for Insane:
  • The brainwashed Noire accuses Uzume and Neptune of supposedly attempting to harm her precious Dogoos, when in reality the two were trying to bring Noire back to her senses.
  • Uzume assumes Older/Adult Neptune has also succumbed to the Cuteness Proximity like the other Goddesses, as evidenced by her Competition Freak nature. However, Older/Adult Neptune reveals that, much to their shock, she never actually changed once she got into the Dogoo world, since it was actually a video game developed by Uzume herself.
• My God, What Have I Done?: After being freed from her Dogoo-induced brainwashing, Noire admits to feeling guilty about falling for the Dogoo's Cuteness Proximity and the ensuing disaster that caused it. Neptune (who was also in a similar situation herself) and Uzume accepts her apology.
• My Sister Is Off-Limits: Neptune has become more and more disdainful of Vert wanting Nepgear for herself that she's initially ecstatic to learn that her new "sister" is a humanoid Dogoo, believing she's better off with her than Nepgear. Unfortunately, being reminded of Nepgear is what snaps Vert out of her trance, much to Neptune's frustration.
• Mythology Gag: One of the Dogoo's bikes is modeled after Fried Shrimp. Fried Shrimp is also used as the hat for Rolling Dogoo.
• Never Trust a Trailer: The trailers presents the Dogoo world as an Alternate Universe ruled by the series' recurring monsters that the goddesses and Older/Adult Neptune must depart from. While the game initially sets this up, it's later revealed to be an in-universe dive-type video game developed by Uzume herself, with Dogoo Lady tampering with the game's development to make the goddesses love Dogoos.
• Nominal Villain: The subordinates for the brainwashed Goddesses (and the unbrainwashed Older/Adult Neptune) usually explains to the player characters that they need to do one thing to complete a task in order to get that brainwashed character (e.g. Gambler Bird explaining that they need to find a key to unlock the door). They don't actively do anything villainous aside from opposing the player characters, and they'll always admit defeat before falling face first to ground once the task is completed.
• Non-Human Undead: Zombie Dogoos are depicted with darker colored blue skin and gravelly deep voices. Additionally, if your capture one of the Zombie Dogoos with the other normal Dogoos, they will turn into zombies.
• Non Sequitur: When Uzume tries to give Dogoo Lil' Sis the information on Vert's status, she refuses. When Uzume tries to settle things with Dogoo Lil' Sis, she explains that if she runs away, she'll gain one; but if she moves forward, she'll gain two. This irritates Uzume even more.

  Uzume: You make no sense! That means it's better NOT to run away! Why are you running?!

• Not Herself: Whenever a character becomes infatuated with a Dogoo, they not only loose their original memory but become an entirely different person. A notable example is Noire, who becomes a Dogoo-obsessed Loony Fan to a deadly degree, a far cry from the Tsundere we know and love. Only Uzume (who managed to break out of it quickly) and Older/Adult Neptune (who was never brainwashed in the first) retain their original selves.
• Not Distracted by the Sexy: When Uzume tries to make Dogoo Lady spill the beans that she was responsible for trapping her and her friends within her game, Dogoo Lady tries to use her "Sexy Pose" as her last resort, hoping it'll allure the riders to her beauty. Unfortunately for her, none of them are fooled by her sexiness, which she believes must've been the result of them being the same gender.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: Noire disguises herself as the "Bishoujo Masked Joker", which is really just her in a red-with-yellow-eyelids mask. Uzume and Neptune don't by it for one second.
• Perpetual Smiler: No matter which emotion they're having, all of the Dogoo will still maintain a smiling expression.
• Personality Remnant:
  • While Noire is turned into a Loony Fan by the Dogoo's Cuteness Proximity, her love for cosplaying is left intact as she disguises herself as the Bishoujo Masked Joker, something that she tries to hide from Neptune who convinces her if it's really a cosplay.
  • Downplayed with Blanc. Despite succumbing to the Dogoo's cuteness-induced brainwashing, she still retains her care for her citizens, as she mistakes the biker trio for harming them when they try to distance her from the Dogoos. However, her care is more about producing merchandise for them instead of focusing on facilities and services to make them happy.
  • Played straight with Vert, whose sister obsession remains entirely intact even with the brainwashing, with her obsession instead going with the Dogoos instead of Candidates. Neptune is fine with this, however, as this means she'll never go after Nepgear anymore. Unfourtanately for Nep, this is what gets Vert to snap out of it.
• Pokémon Speak: The non-humanoid Dogoos can only say their name.
• Red Baron: Uzume is treated as The Dreaded by the Dogoos, to which she's given the title of "The Dogoo Divider". Uzume is confused by this, but Neptune and Noire tease her about it.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here!: Whenever the playable characters complete a task the brainwashed character's subordinates gives fo them, the brainwashed character immediately exists the scene riding their bike once they're confronted by the player characters.
• Shaped Like Itself: The humanoid Dogoos are named after their appearance or role, e.g. Green Dogoo is green, Chaser Dogoo chases trespassers, Treasuremimic Dogoo has a treasure in his head, etc.
• Sore Loser: Older/Adult Neptune sulks when she loses the three-round match with Uzume and the riders. Unlike most examples, however, her tantrums only last for a few seconds, and after the final round, calmly admits she lost fair-and-square and that anything more would be embarrassing.
• Status Effect-Powered Ability: Depending on the Dogoos you collect, you can get an ability from that Dogoo that can be both an advantage and a disadvantage. Witch Dogoos improve your jumping, Eat Me Dogoos make you and your bike bigger, Virtual Dogoos narrow your field of vision, and Popo Dogoos allow other Dogoos to escape faster.
• Status Infliction Attack: The "Push Shot" ability allows you to transfer your 'bad effect' to the enemy. This happens when you collect a Dogoo with a bad effect, which can create disadvantages when fighting your enemy.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial: Noire, twice, during her brainwashed state.
  • After defeating Chaser Dogoo, Uzume and Neptune convinces Noire to come back to her senses. Noire tries to convince them that she's perfectly "normal", something even Neptune doesn't by since she attempted to perform a ritual with the other Dogoos. When Neptune mentions she was once a Cosplay Otaku Girl, Noire still tells them that she's "normal" before driving off with her bike.
  • Later, upon finding Noire in a bush, wearing a red mask, Uzume and Neptune asks if it's her cosplaying. Noire insists it's not a cosplay, nor is she Noire; she's the "Bishoujo Masked Joker", which is a part of the costume. She further tries to deny Neptune and Uzume being familiar with her. She then admits she's hiding it out of remorse for making herself a Sacrificial Lamb to the Dogoos, because she thinks she won't be able to see the Dogoos reach their glory.
• Tamer and Chaster: Despite the appearance of Dogoo Lady, this game lacks any kind of fanservice, as with previous games released beforehand. Notably, this is the only game — spin-off and mainline — where the Candidates aren't the central focus (mk2 and Sisters) to not have any boob-related jokes, mostly at Blanc's expense. In fact, this game is tame enough that it's the first game in the series to get an E10+ rating in America.
• Took a Level in Cynic: Downplayed. While Neptune doesn't completely lose her cheerfulness, she has become more resentful of Vert pegging Nepgear as her sibling in particular, to the point of outright calling her out on it multiple times whenever she thinks about Nepgear being her sister.
• Triangle Shades: The Gambler Bird is depicted with black triangle-shaped glasses.
• True Final Boss: Gigodtic Dogoo is the last boss you have to face. In fact, this tradition gets mocked by Neptune, who explains to Dogoo Lady that the Gigodtic Dogoo stands no chance for them, as they've beaten enemies like him before and that this is no different.
• Version-Exclusive Content: The swimsuit DLC are only available in the Western releases of the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. It's excluded in the Western release of the Nintendo Switch due to not complying with Nintendo's guidelines.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: In order to make the goddesses fall in love with the Dogoos, Dogoo Lady rigs the playtest of Uzume's game to wipe away the goddesses previous memories and reprograms them to make them love Dogoos. She only stopped due to the game still being in beta. Neptune points out how dumb the plan is, which Dogoo Lady insists it isn't.
• World of Weirdness: Uzume, Older/Adult Neptune, and the four Goddesses are trapped in a land where Dogoos and other recurring enemies inhabit and run rampant throughout the place. The only way they can escape it? By riding motorbikes!
• Written Sound Effect: Words like "Vwooom", "Schreek", and "Zoom" can be seen when your riding your bike.
• "You Used to Be Better" Speech: Blanc becomes consumed by the Dogoo's Cuteness Proximity that she builds a nation dedicated to them. After a few failed attempts to convince her she was the ruler of her original nation, Lowee, Noire reminds Blanc she used to be one of her and Neptune's competitors, fighting for shares and never losing at that. This snaps Blanc out of her obsession.

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