Nekopara Collection (Review on the entire series)

This game is for 18+. Censored version drops this game to a hard M rating though)

!!!WARNING!!!

This game features explicit sexual content and graphic nudity. Scenes depict cute cat girls having vanilla sex-provided you play on the uncensored version of the game. You have been warned.


Foreword
Hello, my ladies and gents. Welcome to another exciting game review. I have something different for everyone today. Long story short, I've decided to add hentai games to my repertoire. For one, they don't get see a lot of attention and so a lot of them don't see an English release. Two, these games are good and I want to spread the word about them. And finally, it's just something I decided to do. These hentai and adult games deserve just as much love as any other game. Of course, I understand that these don't suit everyone and not everyone is into the content in these games. That's why any time I review these types of games. I'll be slapping a warning detailing all the adult content that goes in these games. Oh! And I won't be showing any of adult imagery on the website. It kind of goes without saying why I won't be doing that. Go buy the games if you're so interested. However, with the warning placed. I'm free to use more...explicit terms in these reviews if you know what I'm saying ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°). With all that being said. I hope you enjoy this new world of debauchery with me.

Nekopara (Overview)

Ah, Nekopara. A fantastic gateway game in the world of hentai visual novels. Nekopara developed by Neko Works and published by Sekai Project. These guys are the brains behind the cute world of catgirls from Nekopara volume 0-3, and Nekopara Live and Nekopara Extra. They also made Super Night Riders and Light Fairytale. Each of the Nekopara games can be found on PC, PS4 and weirdly enough the Nintendo Switch. Although the Switch and PS4 version only come with the censored version of the game for obvious reasons. Should you decide to see the adult content, I highly recommend getting the game on PC with the uncensored patch that is sold separately (or with the game depending on if you get it from). Each of the games can be bought for 10$-20$ depending on sales and if you bought the games with the uncensored patch with Nekopara volume 0 and extra being the exception as those games have no adult content, and focus more on story elements (they also happen to be much cheaper to boot). I'll be talking about all the Nekopara games today since the only real difference between all of them are story each game tells (I won't be talking about Nekopara Live as that's a VR game and I don't own a VR and is very different from the other games in the collection. Perhaps I'll talk about it another time). With all of that being said, allow me to introduce you into the world of Nekopara!

Story and Characters

(Our characters from left to right. Vanilla, Chocola, Maple, Cinnamon, Shigure, Coconut, and Azuki)

The story takes place in a world much like ours. Except for one major difference. That would be the existence of catgirls. The story explains why they exist, but it boils down to "They're here. Just accept them". Which I'm cool with. Catgirls have a weird status in this world. They are basically treated as pets who can talk. Again, the story explains this in a way that sort of makes sense. Oh! And the term Nekomata or Nekos is used to describe these catgirls. Just keep this in mind moving forward. Anyway, the story stars our main protagonist- Kashou Minaduki. A young man who moved away from home to open up a confection shop. After he settles in his new place, he finds two stowaways hidden inside his boxes. Two adorable catgirls by the name of Vanilla and Chocola. They couldn't bear the thought of their owner moving away, so they stowed away to be closer to him. Kashou is hesitant at first, but his sister (Shigure) convinces him to have them work and live there. Without going too much into spoilers. Some spicy things happen, and our protagonist becomes closer to the Nekos then he ever had before.
Later, he's joined by the other Nekos that are owned by his family (and his sister who has deep feelings for him) and they all end up working for him in his cafe that was given the grand name- La Soleil. The confection shop attracted a lot of business thanks to the catgirls who work there. Life hasn't been sweeter for our protagonist.

That's basically the story. Each of the volumes focuses on two of the six catgirls and their lives and relationship with Kashou. Technically you can play them out of order if you're interested in a particular girl, but I recommend playing Nekopara Extra first and moving on to volumes 0-3 for the most optimal story experience. Surprisingly, the story is really deep and touches on a lot of subjects which is something I never expected from a game with this concept. Every character is very interesting in their own way except for Kashou who is your average guy that everyone seems to like (he's quite forgettable in my opinion, but he has his moments). Shigure (the younger sister of Kashou and the one who trains and raised the catgirls) is a wise and loveable character who wants nothing more than to see her family happy. Chocola is an energetic Neko who deeply loves Kashou with all her heart. Vanilla is the twin sister of Chocola and follows her pretty much everywhere. She's cool, calm, an collected but she cares for her sister deeply. Then there are the other Nekos of the Minaduki family. Azuki is the eldest of the catgirls and is quite mischievous. She also helps manages to the cafe and likes to act sacastic...she is also very tiny for her age. Maple is the second oldest and acts more independent from her siblings and lacks self-confidence in her abilities despite being talented. Cinnamon is the third oldest and is the closest to Maple. She has a dirty mind and ends up being aroused...a lot. She loves her sister Maple though and helps support her through all of her decisions. Lastly, we have Coconut. She's the third youngest and is depicted as the cool one, but wants to be "cute". She has self-esteem issues due to her klutziness lack of skills and wants to be more dependable. There is, even more, to talk about when it comes to the characters because...

Nekopara Extra is a touching background story on how Chocola and Vanilla adapt to their adopted family. Nekopara Volume 0 is a look into the daily lives of the catgirls and is just there to show more character and story outside the other volumes. Volume 1 is a focus on Chocola and Vanilla and how they live with Kashou. Volume 2 continues the story of the cafe and the Minaduki family. This volume focus on Azuki and Coconuts relationship with one another, and their struggle as they find a place in the cafe. Finally, we have Volume which continues from Volume 2. This volume focuses on Maple and Cinnamon and their strong relationship with another. Witness their story as they support one another, and try to make Maples dreams come true.

The stories of all the volumes surprisingly deal with a lot of issues such as inferiority complexes, self-identity issues, purpose in life. I do have to add though. This isn't a choose your own adventure story. Kashou's story is his own, and you're reading it from start to end. Keep that in mind if you decide to get the game. The story also won't take your breath away or anything. Simplicity is the strength of this game. It's life hearted and sweet and just nice to read...Having cute girls help though.

Gameplay and Features

(Title menu for Nekopara Volume 0)

 This has everything a visual novel needs and more. The game has a surprising amount of options such as changes to the UI, backlogs, autoplay (a must have dammit!!!), quicksaves, quick loading. The game even censored imagery if you decide to save on scenes you don't want your parents to walk into. Speaking of which, there's even option to turn of uncensored content should you decide too. I don't recommend it, but I'll get into the reason why later...it isn't what you think.

The game features a gallery where you can replay scenes, and look at certain images. Another must-have in visual novel games. You can even play the game in Chinese and Japanese should you decide to do so.

There are a couple other small gameplay niches. You can shake the screen to make the girls...jiggle. You can configure settings to make the physics less or more obvious. Lastly, there's a petting mode. You can pause the game at any time and pet the characters. They'll respond accordingly depending on where you pet them. It's not necessary to do so, but it's there and doesn't hinder anything so I'm not complaining.

Art and Music

(Nekopara Vol.1 OST- Cat Work. Uploaded by OshiDood. Please support the official channel by clicking this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kuav0j2wVPc)

The soundtrack is very simple yet memorable. There's an emphasis on upbeat melodies and pop. The game has its fair share of serious dramatic music for the appropriate scenes. The music even gets catchy if you listen to it long enough. Voice acting is also very good. Kudos to the actors for they make every scene engaging. The main protagonist isn't voiced though. Not surprising, for whatever reason these types of games avoid voicing the male protagonist. I'm not sure why. As for art, it's really good. Like worth the price good. Like I would pay to see more good. The art and character design are by an artist by the name of Sayori. She owns a circle called NEKO WORKS and is a very talented artist. I'm willing to support more of her work in the future. 

I also have to add that the game uses a system called "E-MOTE". It allows the game to use animated sprites instead of static ones. Needless to say, the game comes out more alive this way and I wish more games followed this system. It's a lot of work sure, but the end result is so worth it. I'll keep an eye out for more games that use this system.

Uncensored Content

(Censored Bath Scene from Nekopara volume 1)

My first adult game, I figure that for these types of games I talk about the uncensored content and how the game treats it. The matter is subjective, and it all depends on taste I suppose, but if the game doesn't make sense with said content then it's just a bad porno. That being said I will not be showing uncensored content so just imagine these scene without the steam, and you can probably guess what the game has to offer. Like I mentioned before, the uncensored content is very vanilla. You won't find any hardcore stuff like BDSM or anything. If you were looking for that then I suggest turning elsewhere. The vanilla scenes, however, are very nice, well animated, well drawn, and very detailed from the sounds, voice acting, and the characters feelings. It's very intimate, to say the least.

The game does offer an option to turn off uncensored content if you're just in it for the story. I weirdly enough don't recommend it though. See, if you turn off the content. Then some scenes get blacked out and you miss out on some dialogue and story. You don't feel the intimacy this way, and it just feels disgruntled sometimes. I kind of wish this better handled for people got this game on the Switch or PS4.

Conclusion

(Promotional art for the Nekopara Anime)

The game offers something for everyone in terms of characters and story. I simply enjoy reading the story for the characters alone, and I think you would like it too. Even without the uncensored content, it's just a good visual novel. The uncensored content does make it nice to appreciate these types and games and show that they can be much more than simple porn. The reason I reviewed this game, after all, is for that very reason. I'm also not afraid to shy away from such games. I suggest supporting the anime and manga if you like the story and characters as much as I don't. All in all, I wish more visual novels take inspiration from this game because I'll be thinking of Nekopara from now whenever I hear the word "good visual novels".

Nekopara is owned by Neko Works. this includes all images, videos, and sounds shown in today's blog. Please support the official release.

Thank you for reading today's review, and tell me what you think of the game and the review in the comments. Let me know what other games I should review too. Have a nice day everyone!