Alright, so I’m a bit late on this, but anyway: the hotly anticipated catgirl moege NEKOPARA Vol. 1 has been released in two incarnations: an adult version on various sites; and an all-ages version on Steam. The Steam version will be a dollar off until 5 January; the current cost is either 8,99 dollars or euros depending on if you live in Steam’s scam zone. Hard copies are currently available for pre-order from Denpa Soft; those will ship in February.
While originally thought to be solely a porn game, there is a decent amount of non-porn text (to the point of frustration at how long it takes to reach the porn for some.) That said, 80% of the CGs are of H-scenes, so the price drop of about $8 for the all-ages version is probably justified.
In NEKOPARA Vol. 1, protagonist Minazuki Kashou surreptitiously moves out of his family home to start the patisserie La Soleil (erroneous French intended.) Upon arrival, he finds two strange cardboard boxes he doesn’t remember telling the moving company to bring… turns out they contain Chocola and Vanilla, two of the catgirls who lived with his family. Said catgirls are genetically modified housecats, and while they have gained some human traits including the ability to speak and read, their catlike nature make them more highly intelligent pet than responsible individual.
Based on (and greatly expanded from) two H-doujins featuring Chocola and Vanilla, one of the main draws of the title is its art, drawn by Sayori. NEKOPARA utilizes highly animated sprites using the E-mote system in most of its scenes, including H-scenes. Presumably intended to be the first in an episodic series (hence Vol. 1), it is a kinetic novel and thus has no choices.
NEKOPARA‘s translation has faced some criticism. Although there has been some improvement after the release of the trial version (which had a part that didn’t really make sense at all, apart from general awkward phrasings), it’s still not the best read. That said, it’s not terrible, gets better after a while, and certainly lets you enjoy the main point of the game: them moe humanoid cats.
There are quite a lot of places where you can buy the adult version; I might as well use the list Nosebleed compiled for our Facebook post:
Digital versions:
18+ (2,160 yen, aprox 18 USD)
DLSite: http://www.dlsite.com/ecchi-eng/work/=/product_id/RE144678.html
Neko Works: https://nekoworks.booth.pm/items/65412
Getchu: http://dl.getchu.com/index.php?action=gd&gcd=D0034085
Gyutto: http://gyutto.com/i/item135679
All ages (9 USD, to be 10 after 5 January)
Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/app/333600/
Physical versions:
18+ (20 USD + Shipping)
Denpasoft: https://denpasoft.com/shop/nekopara-vol-1-regular-edition/
Getchu: http://www.getchu.com/soft.phtml?id=837160 (as far as I know Getchu doesn’t do international shipping)
This may prove helpful for when i need some mindless moe, which is usually always…
ya jerk off and then feel that emptyness inside your heart because these kind of filthy things doesnt lead you anywhere and you know it. time to rethink what you been doing and search for real treasures. clannad is one of them tho
I agree, these games are quite meaningless if you compare them to anything that isn’t waifu bait. Despite that, they still have their uses. When you’re feeling pissed off, or you’re damn sad, you’re not going to be able to stomach a serious and heart-wrenching plot. In these cases, I always need a good dose of moe to calm down.
I felt pretty fulfilled, personally.
That autism
I played it and i liked it a lot. While is really short, only a few hours long and nothing happens whatsoever… the e-mote animation turns the girls so cute that it was worth it. I expect many more games using this feature in the future. It really brings up the game to a higher level of moe.
[…] in green have progressed since last week; this week, we saw progress on 11 projects, the release of Nekopara, and Sekai Project picking up fault -milestone […]
I personally Enjoyed this game a ton. I wasn’t expecting a Heart-wrenching, convoluted, Multi-ending Plot (Like my Personal Favourite, Katawa Shoujo).
The Reason I played it was specifically so relax and just watch 2 Kawaii Catgirls Be Kawaii.