NEKOPARA Vol. 4 Reviews

neko

nya nya

uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh interesting

Cute Catgirls :3 Coconut best girl

meow meow meow meow meow meow

cat girls good

At some point you stop concerning yourself with the concept and just appreciate the dichotomy of it all.

I have perfect every NekoPara.... Just saying >.>; Kitties~ Mrow mrow

[h1] A nice conclusive tale of strive, family and personal growth; with a lovely catgirl harem by your side! (8.5/10) [/h1] When people say “Nekopara is good”, I have to assume THIS is what they meant. All previous short titles have built up to this moment; putting building blocks ever so slowly to this lovely, blissful, bit bittersweet story. Since the bundle is ~$40 on steam on base; and some other beloved, popular BxG JP VNs @30h for similar demographics are on par, (R18 costs aside, for V1-V3), I fully recommend getting (thru) the bundle! This game showcases more of Kashou (MC) and his struggles; learning to become a good baker amidst his ever-growing patisserie business and trying to make peace with his stern dad. I actually found it refreshing & interesting, since previous titles are constantly getting new girls to love you; which are fine and served their purposes, but sometimes made the romance(s) with existing girls felt a bit simple; i.e. the appearances of ChocoVani in V2 and V3 kinda seemed like “[i]yes, they still love you, here’s an H[/i]”. It’s good to have a [b]sequel showcase their charms and ongoing love[/b] in a new situation; hence the CGs + dynamics between girls felt more numerous and novel! That being said, the wish-fulfilling-romcom isn’t all there is to it; I don’t know if I just keep having recency bias, but I truly feel like THIS is their best writing yet. It actually focuses on very tangible bits of MC’s struggles; [b]his thoughts and turmoil all felt quite real and meaningful to think on[/b], and the [b]pace[/b] at which it gets slowly resolved + how it leads to scenes [b]flow better than ever before! I think the story is reasonably enjoyable[/b] on its own, and just like previous titles except V1; all-ages versions are nice enough to recommend. The plot kept me hooked, and the resolution is satisfying, tho slightly feeling like a vague exposition dump. And of course, still, there are better stories out there and it might be slightly predictable in hindsight, but in the moment, it was surprisingly better than I expected. I do admit that this title seems to even still build into something greater despite me calling it “conclusive”; questionable it may be. You can meet Fraise; the new sweetheart [spoiler]from long past.[/spoiler] She’s a very cute, good girl, and looking at the synopsis for “Nekopara After” heavily mentioning her and Shigure (the sister) + the fact they deal with feelings to MC; it does seem like we can still expect big things from these potential slowburns! Doubly so if you’re into [i]that![/i] [h3]Information:[/h3] [b](•)Playtime: 11h10m13s[/b] personally & [i]fully[/i] ;) 4h49m32s were H, and 6h20m41s SFW scenes. H scenes are 43.19% total playtime, while V3 had 35.94% and V2’s ~34%. So I’d think this toes the line into being almost in nukige area, except it actually has MOST proper and thought-out plot to-date in the series at the same time. H breakdowns:[table] [tr] [th]H Scene (Girls involved):[/th] [th]Starts at (Out of 11h10m13 Total):[/th] [th]Duration:[/th] [th]Notes:[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]#1 ([spoiler]Chocola & Vanilla[/spoiler])[/td] [td]0m0s[/td] [td]56m3s[/td] [td]-[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]#2 ([spoiler]Azuki & Coconut[/spoiler])[/td] [td]2h49m17s[/td] [td]59m27s[/td] [td]-[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]#3 ([spoiler]Cinnamon & Maple[/spoiler][/td] [td]4h42m31s[/td] [td]49m13s[/td] [td][spoiler]I’d never imagine we’d get Double Intercrural+Scissoring, but here we are.[/spoiler][/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]#4 ([spoiler]Chocola & Vanilla[/spoiler])[/td] [td]7h20m38s[/td] [td]25m17[/td] [td]Just like 3rd H in V3, a special one that’s[spoiler]pure Yuri without MC[/spoiler]and is also relatively short. Has nice kissing cut-in art, tho V3 had 1 more variant.[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]#5 ([spoiler]Every girl. Yes, 6.[/spoiler])[/td] [td]9h16m45s[/td] [td]1h39m49s[/td] [td]Yep, this is among the most notorious for being extremely long, [spoiler]but I think it’s just math. Of course it’ll be 100 mins long if there’s 6 girls each getting a turn with MC. Previous titles give like ~55m for 2 girls, after all. This is even a smaller fit of action than most. I think it’s fine if you just focus on the girls you like and not try to absorb too much out of it, unless you’re me (a degen gooner).[/spoiler][/td] [/tr] [/table] [b](•)Avoidable H?[/b] It actually took me a replay to notice that the “People around you” options all have SFW variants of scenes; which are shorter, sweet on their own, and have new lovely CGs, though it’s still moderately spicy in terms of voice! Granted, I only skimmed! [h3](+) Pros & General Ratings(1-10):[/h3] [b]Writing: 8.3. [/b]Mostly elaborated above, but enjoyable compared to most eroges. Flows nicely and has good moments. I do think some of Fraise’s stuff almost felt much, just like some in V3, but I respect it and it still feels somewhat natural how she’s not instantly-in-love! Scenes generally manage to be sweet & serious, but still with lots of warmth and love for the soul! [b] Art: 9.2.[/b] The fact that we get 2/3 nice outfits for basically everyone and the numerous amounts of the (SFW) CGs in general are a real plus. Definitely felt like an upgrade, if slight. I do sadly think it has flaws; First Maple CG had very weird eyes / expression that I almost thought it wasn’t her. Made me do a double-take thru my folders; but her later CGs are all fine and consistent like in V3-4. First ChocoVani H also almost made me think we got an art style change, but they were more of a surprise welcome. Mostly still superb, with numerous animations that felt even more natural. [b] Overall cast: 8.3.[/b] Real solid. LIs are still cute ofc; and my favorites shine in their own ways. But on top of it, all (new) side characters are wonderful; with surprising amounts of new sprites for them, and having good things to say! [b] VA: 8.2. [/b]Still mostly ok; everyone did as great as in V3, but I do think MC’s mom (Awayuki) has some VERY oddly slow speaking pace. Since her starting CG. I played it on Auto Mode and literally everyone else could’ve said 3 or 4 of her lines in the time it took her 1. She almost feels fine when her talk sprite first appears for a good few, but the pauses between commas and clauses are still almost noticeable. It reverts again not too long after. I really wonder what’s the deal with the VA; and if the devs botched together some separate recordings and that’s why it feels awkward. I know she’s meant to be well-spoken, but if they toned it down.. [b](+) Music 8.[/b] More varied usage, and quite a good bit of additional tracks, compared to the amount added between V1 to 2 / 2 to 3 respectively. This adds basically 5 tracks outside of OP/ED. I do find it slightly funny that “Aibyou” (the notorious H song) was used once or twice during normal SoL flashbacks, and two of the H scenes used “Nyanko to Bansan”, which you might know from V2’s Azuki Date / the V3’s Boat Show. I do think the latter was a good, fitting decision, but both of these cases show a bit of effort. (+)Tech upgrades (💬, In Comments!) General H scene thoughts: 💬 [h3](-) Cons:[/h3] [b](-) Steam Screenshots during the OP / ED Video result in white screens.[/b] Probably because they initially just auto-censor anything animated to prevent H scene screenshots, which is fine, but lol… if only the OP and EDs were exceptions. [b](-) Typos.[/b] As usual, though it does feel like the most polished title yet with even fewer than previous entries. There was one case of a long duplicated line in Coconut’s H loop, almost took me out of the scene. And the usual missing letters/words such as “I got woke(n) up” missing the n in Azuki’s Ch 2 Solo CG. Missing “the” or “-ing” suffixes. Redundant wording on “(you it) could be wrong” from Beignet, only needing one but not both. The usual suspects! [b](-) H-scene Climax bait & other downsides:[/b] 💬 [h1]Overall, I highly recommend the bundle, and anticipate the “Nekopara After” title ASAP![/h1]