Nekopara Vol. 1 Review – Like Gone Home but less racist

This post was written by Dark_Sage. He is Dark_Sage.

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Catgirls are justice.

 

Para Para Time

Para Para Pokemon

All right, fine!
All right, fine!

 

Note: Because Steam is run by prudes, if you buy Nekopara on that platform, all the “adult” content is cut. As I assume none of you would want the gimped version, the way to get around this is:

Spoiler for

1. Buy the Japanese version to get the naked catgirl files.

a. You can get them from DLSite or the Neko Works Booth.

i. With DLSite, I believe you can straight up use your credit card with no problem. If you want to use PayPal, you need to sign into the SFW version of the site, add money to your account, and then check out on the adult side.

ii. For Neko Works, you should be able to run your credit card through without a problem (though I believe you need to have a (free) Pixiv account). Just be prepared for your cc company to decline the transaction at first for fraud protection like they always do even when you fucking call them beforehand and tell them to stop pulling that shit. I should join a fucking credit union, fuck.

iii. You could also grab the physical version, but at that point you’re looking at like $40-$50 to play this game.

b. As this is an extra $20, I wouldn’t blame you for acquiring them from alternate methods.

2. Install the Steam version.

3. Install the uncut version.

3. Copy all the files from the uncut version to the Steam version’s folder.

Nekopara Copying Files Over
“Replace All” when given the choice.

4. Steam Library -> right click Nekopara -> Properties -> Set Launch Options… -> -steam=”yes”

Nekopara - Steam

5. Fap/schlick accordingly.

Or if you don’t give a shit about Steam, you could just get the Japanese version by itself, since it already comes translated. I would’ve gone that route had I not bought the Steam version when I saw it was only $9.

Note 2: I’ll be including a few images from the H version of the game. They’ll be spoilered, so you won’t accidentally find yourself with your hand down your pants. No worries; you won’t “miss” much from the review if you don’t click them, so feel free to share this post with your parents.

 

 

Catgirl Bushido

The essence of the catgirl is perhaps the most important aspect of any game that involves catgirls. Nekopara did -okay-.

 

The theme for today's post is Night of Fire!

This is patently false at best, and slander at worst. While catgirls do indeed behave like cats, they are far closer to humans. Hell, catgirls don’t even need to have ears or tails; it’s the catgirl on the inside that matters, not the one on the outside.

I did not spend an extra $20 to jack off to a cat like some “trans-human” furfag who can’t come to grips with reality. Fix your fucking world-building, Nekopara.

 

Perhaps the most important piece in any localization involving catgirls is whether “nyan” is translated to “meow” or not. We all know Japanese is objectively cuter, because maid cafes are a thing over there. But apparently the translator didn’t get that memo.

Meow

But, uh, then they did…

Fuck, am I the only one for whom consistency matters?!
Fuck, am I the only one for whom consistency matters?!

 

There are individual sliders for voices, but no individual sliders for boob bounce. This is probably the biggest oversight in the game.

The ideal.
The ideal.

 

Other than all that, they bushi’d it pretty well.

 

 

Opening

It quickly sets in that Nekopara isn’t like every VN that came before it. Oh wait, did I say isn’t? I meant it is.

Better use your imagination for these scenes, cuz the girls only have like three animations.
Better use your imagination for these scenes, cuz the girls only have like three animations.

Any gameplay here is based on how fast you can skip through the bullshit “emotional” scenes and unvoiced dialogue.

Catgirls being cute is about all you can expect from this title. The basic plot is protag-kun buys a cafe and decides to run it alone, but two of his catgirls (yes, “his” — slavery ain’t exactly frowned on in this VN) follow him “because goshujin-sama”. Other than protag-kun deciding to “let” them work for free in his cafe, no other developments are presented.

Hm Fwahp Fwahp 2 Fap fap fap

Again, know what the fuck you’re getting into. If this is enough for you…

…then you’ll be fine.

 

 

Ch 1-4

Main developments here are the introduction of the imouto and the other catgirls, and a plot line where the main catgirls study to get their catgirl bell.

Nekopara - Fuck you too Shigure
I wish I was into imoutos, because she’s actually a pretty damn good one.

Have some vids pix of the other catgirls:

Nekopara - Azuki Maple 01 Nekopara - Azuki Maple 02 Nekopara - Cinnamon Coconut 01 Nekopara - Cinnamon Coconut 02

Nekopara - Starting to Becoming
If you weren’t expecting Engrish, you don’t know Japanese games well enough.

And have some chibi:

Azuki Attacks!

Azuki Noms!

The uncut and cut versions should both be pretty similar through these chapters, except for the shower scene, which shows tits.

Spoiler for

Nekopara - H-Scene Papa

When it’s revealed that protag-kun thinks of the girls as his daughters, and they reciprocate… well, it puts a certain spin on Chapter 5.

 

 

Ch 5

Nekopara Chapter 5 - Bell 01 Nekopara Chapter 5 - Bell 02

Oh man, oh wow. This chapter going forward justifies the price tag of the H-version.

After Vanilla and Chocola get their bells, Chocola goes into heat, and you fuck her… as Vanilla gets all handsy — and mouthy — with her too.

Spoiler for

Nekopara H-Scene 02 - 01 Nekopara H-Scene 02 - 02 Nekopara H-Scene 02 - 03 Nekopara H-Scene 02 - 04 Nekopara H-Scene 02 - 05 Nekopara H-Scene 02 - 06 Nekopara H-Scene 02 - 07 Nekopara H-Scene 02 - 08 Nekopara H-Scene 02 - 09 Nekopara H-Scene 02 - 10 Nekopara H-Scene 02 - 11 Nekopara H-Scene 02 - 12 Nekopara H-Scene 02 - 13 Nekopara H-Scene 02 - 14 Nekopara H-Scene 02 - 15 Nekopara H-Scene 02 - 16

I believe it’s just a bit after that scene where Chocola and Vanilla are revealed to be twin sisters.

 

 

Ch 6

Protag-kun just keeps thinking about how he wants to fuck Vanilla and how Vanilla probably wants to fuck him. Even though she totally doesn’t give that vibe off at all.

Nekopara - Pastry Puffer

Still, Mr. Puffy Pastries doesn’t give up that easily. So they end up fucking.

Nekopara - Nekocest
Of course her sister joins in. The fuck kinda game did you think this was?

 

Spoiler for

Nekopara H-Scene 03 - 01 Nekopara H-Scene 03 - 02 Nekopara H-Scene 03 - 03 Nekopara H-Scene 03 - 04 Nekopara H-Scene 03 - 05 Nekopara H-Scene 03 - 06 Nekopara H-Scene 03 - 07 Nekopara H-Scene 03 - 08 Nekopara H-Scene 03 - 09 Nekopara H-Scene 03 - 10 Nekopara H-Scene 03 - 11 Nekopara H-Scene 03 - 12 Nekopara H-Scene 03 - 13 Nekopara H-Scene 03 - 14 Nekopara H-Scene 03 - 15 Nekopara H-Scene 03 - 16 Nekopara H-Scene 03 - 17

 

 

Ch 7

Nekopara - Daughters and even Lovers
You know, just in case you thought this game wasn’t being explicit enough.

I’m a little pissed off that the best character in Nekopara is not only an imouto — normally vastly inferior to the high-class onee-san — but she ain’t even a fucking catgirl!

Nekopara - Imouto 01 Nekopara - Imouto 02

Japan, you can’t play with my heart like this.

 

Anyway, in this episode, protag-kun brings his waifu-slaves to the amusement park.

Nekopara - Fish Tank

Afterward, they feel obligated to clean his dick.

 

 

I feel it’s worth noting at this point that I honestly didn’t think this was gonna be a legit softcore game. There’s a lot of things I could’ve spent my time masturbating to instead. I mean, Christ, I haven’t finished Free! yet. Ain’t even gay — those dudes are just sexy as fuck.

Well, whatever. Have some more porn gameplay.

Spoiler for

Nekopara H-Scene 04 - 01 Nekopara H-Scene 04 - 02 Nekopara H-Scene 04 - 03 Nekopara H-Scene 04 - 04 Nekopara H-Scene 04 - 05 Nekopara H-Scene 04 - 06 Nekopara H-Scene 04 - 07 Nekopara H-Scene 04 - 08 Nekopara H-Scene 04 - 09 Nekopara H-Scene 04 - 10 Nekopara H-Scene 04 - 11 Nekopara H-Scene 04 - 12 Nekopara H-Scene 04 - 13 Nekopara H-Scene 04 - 14 Nekopara H-Scene 04 - 15 Nekopara H-Scene 04 - 16 Nekopara H-Scene 04 - 17 Nekopara H-Scene 04 - 18 Nekopara H-Scene 04 - 19 Nekopara H-Scene 04 - 20

Yep, that last scene was totes re-used. Much like the catgirls.

 

 

Ch 8

Post-third-catfuck is pretty short. Basically protag-kun comes down with a fever,

Nekopara Imouto Desu 01 Nekopara Imouto Desu 02

the catgirls try to get medicine for him, but get arrested because catgirls without bells who wander the streets need to be euthanized or something,

Nekopara - Arrest

he finds and rescues them, then wakes up the next morning to a bunch of catgirls in meido uniforms, indicating he’ll fuck all of them in the upcoming volumes,

Nekopara Cafe

and then we’re treated again to the fact that these catgirls are fucking slaves.

Nekopara - They are literally slaves

Good end. Roll credits.

 

 

Verdict

Nekos Up

Length: Steam says it took me 3.5 hours to finish, which seems reasonable. I’d say 3-5 is about what you can expect, with 2-4 being the range if you get the censored version.

 

Steam version: MSRP ~$10 ($9 with 10% off sale)

Anime faces and over-excited VAs are what you’re playing this game for, and this game delivers that… although not much more. The price is fair for that level of content, but I wouldn’t wholly recommend the Steam version.

 

Uncut version: MSRP ~$20 ($18 with current exchange rate)

In addition to the above, you get a decent amount of hentai… which is a significant portion of the story. And without it, there really isn’t a payoff to the character interactions. Honestly, I can’t see how they’d even make sense. Having sex with one’s twin and adopted father generally introduces relationship dynamics that mix things up a bit. With even just that aspect alone, the cut version is leaving out too much to be considered a finished product.

As such, I recommend this one if you want to play Nekopara. Which you should, cuz it has catgirls. …And it’s less racist than Gone Home.

22 thoughts on “Nekopara Vol. 1 Review – Like Gone Home but less racist”

  1. I played the demo and that is exactly what i said after.
    “Catgirls being cute is about all you can expect from this title.”
    I like the style of the game, but there is zero inside (other than some cum it seems, at least in the h-version). :d

    Reply
    • You’re missing out on the hilarious audio during sex. I swear, half of it was just some guy trying to simulate farting noises with his mouth.

      Reply
  2. >I’m a little pissed off that the best character in Nekopara is not only an imouto — normally vastly inferior to the high-class onee-san
    >vastly inferior to the high-class onee-san
    shit taste/10

    Also, re: exchange rates at end: man I’m pretty happy with current exchange rates. I swear like two weeks ago it was 5000 yen for ~$50, but now it’s a little over $41 (or at least was like a couple days ago)
    Not sure if the yen’s gotten weak or the dollar’s gotten stronger, or both, even. Pretty happy regardless. Good time to stock up on pocky and JP virtual currency cards, amirite

    Reply
  3. That avatar change though, guess you liked it a lot if it left you in that state, or didn’t, can’t really tell.
    Also, these catgirls actually grow as fast as cats it seems, kinda sad they’ll die in 10 years, and you’ve to wonder, if Japan’s birthrate is already low as fuck, how would this affect things? It also seems like there are plenty of them who are abandoned even as babies, since they can’t reproduce I wonder why they are abandoned, failed products? What even happens to them after that? Illegal neko sex slaves companies? That’d probably all they’d be used for in the real world actually.
    Ah, who fucking cares, my penis doesn’t.

    Reply
    • Catgirls can be mass-cloned without moral issues. Just try out enough of them and when you find one like, start cloning her. As a bonus, the clones will be virgins. I see no downside except the resources needed.

      Reply
  4. Does this method work if im using crack version to replace game in steam library? i dont have credit card to buy.. only can buy game on steam via mol point.. really sad

    Reply

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